Europeisk Pool i Laško
Igjen er Laško stedet hvor Poolfolket samles. Med Eurotour allerede i gang og EM for Veteraner som starter til uka, er alles øyne rettet mot den idylliske spa-landsbyen øst i Slovenia.
De som allerede er i gang er Emil André Gangfløt (Fredrikstad BK), Mats Brujordet Schjetne (Ask BC) og Mikael Øgaard (Bex BK) som har startet Eurotour for menn. For første gang stiller også Nina Torvund (Trondheim BK) opp i denne klassen før hun selv – på lørdag – får følge av Ine Helvik (Svithun BK) i Eurotour for kvinner.
Vi ønsker våre utøvere i Eurotour lykke til. Du kan følge de to turneringene ved å trykke på bildene under.
Når Ine er ferdig med sin Eurotour, blir hun bare værende i byen, for da starter EM for Veteraner. Hun får da besøk av Bjørn Erik Bergh (Grenland BK), Henrik Hagen (Bex BK), Jørgen Nilsen (Bex BK) og Kenneth Rognstad (Gjøvik og Raufoss BK). De skal da – i løpet av en uke – gjennom et mesterskap i alle fire disipliner pluss lagkonkurranse.
Vi ønsker våre utøvere i EM lykke til. Mesterskapet for Veteraner kan du følge ved å trykke på bildet under.
Som en forsmak til Eurotour og EM fortsatte Longoni 9-Ball League sin sesongturnering. Dette var en nyvinning i fjor, og den norske laget spilte seg i går til finale etter å ha slått fjorårsvinnerne Polen.
Longoni League er en lagturnering hvor de to høyest rankede spillerne påmeldt til Eurotour fra de deltakende nasjonene får plass på laget. I de to første gruppespillkampene var det Mats og Emil som sikret semifinaleplass, mens det i går var Emil og Mikael som slo Polen 7-6.
Gratulerer med innsatsen så langt og lykke til i finalen som spilles i Treviso 23. november i forbindelse med siste Eurotour-runde for året.
Nedenfor har vi sakset inn EPBFs publisering av hendelsene i vår kamp (på engelsk).
THE SEMI-FINALS of the 2023 LONGONI 9 BALL LEAGUE played out on Wednesday evening as the Netherlands and Norway secured spots in November’s championship match in Treviso, Italy. Both matches were full of drama as they went to deciding racks.
The featured match was defending champions Poland, made up of Mieszko
Fortunski and Daniel Maciol, against Norway – Emil-Andre Gangflot and Mikael Oegaard. Teams are selected from the Euro Tour rankings with the two highest rated players in attendance competing.
Gangflot, a former multiple European Youth gold medallist, who isseasoning himself in the senior ranks with some good results, was
partnered by Mikael Oegaard, the No.19 ranked player on the Euro Tour.
They took the opening rack in the race-to-7, alternate shot format. In the next, Gangflot gave up ball-in-hand as he failed to connect with a rail, kicking out of a snooker, and the Poles levelled the match at 1-1.
A huge break from Gangflot saw three balls drop and a tricky pot on the red 3-ball. Oegaard made it, centre pocket but Gangflot couldn’t nudge the 5-ball fee when pocketing the 4. Maciol escaped from the subsequent
safety but a 5/9 combination sealed the rack for Norway. 2-1.
Poland failed on the three-point rule but a missed 2-ball from Oegaard saw both teams go back and forth with safeties. In the end it was a loose shot on the 5-ball by Fortunski that gave the Norwegians the opportunity to close the rack out for 3-1.
Norway took the next to leave themselves looking good with a 4-1 lead. A good break was required from Fortunski and he duly obliged, downing four and leaving a nice open table that allowed the Poles to grab one back.
Following a push out from Norway, the Poles handed a table-length jump shot back to Gangflot and he executed it superbly, downing the 2 and gaining perfect position on the 3-ball and from that position, Norway
made it 5-2. Poland, though, ran out the next rack to stay within two racks. In the ninth game, Gangflot left a testing 9-ball to reach the hill but Oegaard was equal to it.
The Poles cleared from the break to keep themselves in the match at 6-4 and a ball-in-hand opportunity following an Oegaard scratch, saw Poland run through the table to reduce the arrears to a single rack.
Norway had a great opportunity to close the match out in the penultimate rack. The two players left each other a succession of difficult shots before Oegaard missed on the 8-ball to hand the rack to Poland and take it to a decider. It was Norway who prevailed though, to reach the final of the second running of this event.
“We’re very happy with that. We played pretty solid all match, although we struggled a bit to close the match and fortunately, they missed on 6-6,” said Gangflot.
Foto: EPBF
