BERGISCH GLADBACH – The Grand Prix for young billiard players under 21 in Bergisch Gladbach enters the final round with eight players from five countries. The Spanish are the best nation with four players, the Germans, Belgians, Turks, and French each have one player competing for the podium spots. German Amir Ibraimov, Spaniard Marco Morales, and Frenchman Tangui Duriez are the top contenders for victory with averages just over 1. For the Belgians, Toon Bollansee is still in the field of eight. The Dutch, with a very young team of five players, were eliminated in the final rounds. The team coach said: "We've made further progress." Luca Philipoom was the best of the five with three wins and a score 0.649. Joeri Wilkowski and Jayden van Buren also achieved three wins but fell just short of qualifying on average.
The 13- and 14-year-olds haven't made the jump yet. German Amir Ibraimov, who already shone in the junior ranks at a very young age, the Spaniards, and Tangui Duriez have already gained more experience in these types of tournaments, which are organized by the CEB and Longoni to develop young talents. Amir Ibraimov will play Cenk bartu Sengul in the quarterfinals on Sunday morning at 10:00 AM. Bruno Martinez faces Tangui Duriez, Toni Garcia faces Belgian Toon Bollansee, and Marcos Morales vs Arturo Zotov is the Spanish clash in this round. These four matches are at 10:00 AM.
Amir Ibraimov played the best match in the preliminary rounds against Italian Paolo Turla: 25-7 in 15 innings, a 1.666 average. Marcos Morales just needed one more inning against Jakob Ide (25-17 in 16 innings). Amir Ibraimov defeated Lorenzo Fiore 25-8 in 22 innings in his final qualifying matches and defeated Tangui Duriez 25-12 in 17 innings in the group win match: 1.470.
Two players also achieved this: Tangui Duriez and Cinar Korkmaz, the Turkish player who finished just outside the top eight, also played matches of 25 in 17 innings.
Toon Bollansee reached the final round for Belgium with eight, defeating Jakob Ide 25-13 in 28 innings, Engin ali Kozluca 25-23 in 30 innings, and a draw against Gilano Vloedmans: 25-25 in 30 innings.
Luca Philipoom needed a draw to qualify, but lost to the Spaniard Toni Garcia 25-17 in 26 innings. Spaniard Arturo Zotov defeated Levi van der Hout 25-16 in 34 in the very last round, eliminating Joeri Wilkowski from the tournament. The Dutchman himself lost his final match to Bruno Martinez 25-18 in 28. Jayden van Buren, the 13-year-old Dutchman, also narrowly missed the final round, losing to Demir Kaan 25-19 in 48 innings.
The Dutch players had a strong start to the tournament but suffered a setback in the final rounds. Jayden van Buren was the last to achieve a narrow victory, defeating Arturo Zotov 25-24 in 41.
The standings after the preliminary rounds (top 8, Dutch and Belgian):
1 Amir Ibraimov 10-1.157-6
2 Marcos Morales 8-1.000-9
3 Toni Garcia 10-0.899-7
4 Bruno Martinez 6-0.720-8
5 Tangui Duriez 8-1.000-6
6 Toon Bollansee 5-0.732-5
7 Arturo Zotov 6-0.705-5
8 Cenk bartu Sengul 7-0.511-4
10 Luca Philipoom 6-0.649-8
16 Joeri Wilkowski 6-0.502-3
17 Jayden van Buren 6-0.493-7
18 Gilano Vloedmans 1-0.559-4
20 Noah Rosier 2-0.446-4
22 Levi van der Hout 0-0.358-4
23 Thomas Verhulst 0-0.320-3
Foto's Paulus Brekelmans.
Tangui Duriez
Marcos Morales
Arturo Sotos
Toon Bollansee