European Straight Pool Championships Won by Croatia!

At the start of the European Championships in Willingen, the German team celebrated a double victory. In the senior's division, Gunter Geisen beat Tony Fransson from Sweden and in the junior's division, Stefan Nolle surprisingly won against his fellow countryman Dominic Jentsch. The final in the men's division was unexpectedly won by Croatian Ivica Putnik, who defeated world champion Ralf Souquet in the finals!

The first cheer during the "Dynamic All in One EC" however came from the Russian contingency. In the pupil's division, Ruslan Chinahov won the Gold Medal. He trailed his opponent's score from the beginning. In the end, he managed to turn the match around with extremely well performed tactical play and defeated Dutchman Ivar Saris with 75-55. He presented himself and the Russian team the first gold medal of this 30th EC.

In an all Austrian match in the girl's division, Petra Stadlbaur unexpectedly defeated her compatriot Sabrina Naverschnig. She achieved her so far most impressive victory in any competition with a final score of 50-31. The two girls were able to ease the Austrian wounds a little bit since the Austrian medal hopes Jasmin and Albin Ouschan did not reach any medal in the straight pool competition.

The final in the junior's division was a one-man-show. Dominic Jentsch, German favorite for the title, was almost whitewashed by his teammate Stefan Nolle with 100-3. Nolle performed gorgeous pool. He did not leave any chance for Jentsch to even think about the title.

In the senior's division, German Gunter Geisen played up to everyone's expectations. He got the second gold medal for the German team that evening. He ended the one-sided match against Tony Fransson from Sweden with a final score of 100-23.

In the women's division, the final match was very exciting and close. Danish dynamite Charlotte Sorensen and Norwegian hope Line Kjorsvik never really succeeded in getting a competitive edge. In the end, Sorensen managed to get ahead of her opponent and win the match with a run of 14 balls.

The final in the men's division ended with a big surprise. Ivica Putnik won the gold medal against Ralf Souquet. He defeated the newly crowned 8-Ball World Champion to be runner-up in this year's straight pool EC. Souquet, who played at a very high level throughout the event, was not able to convert that in the final. He missed an important ball which the Croatian was very thankful for. Putnik potted the needed amount of balls and was hailed as a hero by his Croatian friends. Pictured: Ivica Putnik, Croatia's winner of the European Straight Pool Championships!

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