Two New European Champions in Straight Pool

Mar 22, 2012

Kjoersvik and van den Berg take the crowns
Line Kjoersvik from Norway and Nick van den Berg from the Netherlands are the newly crowned European Champions 2012 in straight pool.
In an all Dutch clash, Nick van den Berg managed to roll over Niels Feijen with 125:18. Van den Berg was better in all aspects. “It was a long day. I pocketed 750 plus today plus the ones that I’ve missed, so probably around 800 balls”, said van den Berg, “I feel like I have a heavy jetlag”. That came right after the final from the new straight pool champion. The match was unexpectedly one-sided. Nick ran away with 72:11 and even 100:11 and Niels never seemed to get his game in gear. “I think he struggled a bit with the conditions”, said van den Berg when asked about his opponent’s performance. In fact, Feijen played his worst match of the day. In all earlier matches, he seemed to perform like a train running down a track–focused, strong and self-secure. In the final, that was all gone. “To be honest, I think that Niels has played a better tournament than I have”, admitted van den Berg, “but in the final match, he simply couldn’t get going which I used for my benefit. If you give me the chances as he did, you can’t win”. “For ten years I used to have problems playing Niels. I choked every time”, said van den Berg, “but since two or three years I’m feeling more confident against him. We’re both World class pool players, and today was my day”!
In the women’s division, Line Kjoersvik from Norway defeated Anna Majirina from Russia with 75:42. Majirina had just defeated Jasmin Ouschan in the semi-finals and the match was open from the start. Kjoersvik got momentum first and achieved a 40:8 lead over the Russian. She never let that advantage out of her hands anymore. Whatever Majirina tried, Kjoersvik had the answer for. In the end, Kjoersvik turned out to be a deserved winner with a proud Majirina
receiving the silver medal.
Top 8 Men
1. Nick van den Berg NED
2. Niels Feijen NED
3. Denis Grabe EST
Mario He AUT
5. Tony Drago MLT
Klaus Zobrekis GER
Konrad Piekarski POL
Zoran Svilar SRB
Top 8 Women
1. Line Kjoersvik NOR
2. Anna Majirina RUS
3. Jasmin Ouschan AUT
Christine Wiechert GER
5. Petra Stadlbauer AUT
Katerina Polovinchuk UKR
Louise Furberg SWE
Nataliya Seroshtan RUS
Medals table
1. Netherlands 1 Gold 1 Silver
2. Norway 1 Gold
3. Russia 1 Silver
4. Austria 2 Bronze
5. Estonia 1 Bronze
Germany 1 Bronze
Tomorrow, the Dynamic European Championships continue with the 10-ball competition for men, women and wheelchair players. Matches will start at 09:00 CET. 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.