Netherlands made heavy weather of defeating Slovakia

Mar 28, 2012

Team competition and 9-ball individuals on from today on
Team Netherlands defeated Team Slovakia in a very tight match with 2:1. Day 8 started with the team competition of the Dynamic European Championships. Nr. 2 seeded Team The Netherlands, consisting of Niels Feijen, Ivar Saris and Nick van den Berg had to compete with Team Slovakia which was made up of Jakub Koniar, Milan Klobucnik and Jaroslav Polach. What looked like an easy task for the Dutch on paper turned into a dramatic thriller. Feijen had won the 10-ball 8:6 while Saris had lost the 8-ball with 4:8. That made the score in the team match 1:1. It ball boiled down to the 9-ball match between Nick van den Berg and Jaroslav Polach. Van den Berg was definitely favoured to win this match but Polach cannot be underestimated. In fact, the Slovakian consistently performed on a high level and brought the Dutch team to the verge of defeat. He was already leading 8:6 over van den Berg and The Netherlands would have been shocked if they were defeated in the first round of the Team’s event. However, “El Nino” van den Berg struck back and after a furious fight tied the match at hill-hill. He broke the final rack with a power break shot and ran the rack under high pressure, getting an8:7 victory over Polach. That took care of the Dutch team winning 2:1 over unlucky Slovakia. The Dutch will now deal with team Russian in the next round of the winner’s side while team Slovakia goes to the loser’s bracket.
Other notable results include team Russia defeating team Serbia with 3:0. Team Austria was victorious over Team Poland 2:1 with Werner Scheu winning the deciding match in 10-ball over Radoslaw Babica with 8:5. After 13:00 CET, the event continues with the 9-ball individuals competition.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office.