European Team Championship 23rd - 28th March

Following after the EBSA European Under 21 Championship, the European Team Championships take place in Bor, Serbia between 22nd and 28th March. No English or Northern Irish teams, but other teams from the British Isles are taking part in the Mens and Masters Championships (but no-one in the Ladies Championship), teams as follows:

Mens Championship

Ireland 1 - Rodney Goggins, Brendan O'Donoghue, John Sutton

Ireland 2 - Jason Devaney, Ryan Cronin, Philip Browne

Scotland - Rhys Clark, Dylan Craig, Joseph McLaren

Wales - David John, Rhydian Richards, John Bevan

(Plus Darren Paris is in the Swiss team, and Alan Trigg in the Ukrainian team)

Masters Championship

Ireland 1 - Mark Tuite, Anthony Bonner

Ireland 2 - Stephen Merrigan, George O'Hara

Scotland - David Hutchison, Colin McAlpine

Wales - John Terry, Ian Sergeant

It's almost incomprehensible that England, supposedly the world's leading snooker nation, isn't sending teams.
All the more because they're the defending champions in the Men's team event.

Jamie Bodle was selected for the Masters on his ranking and couldn't wait for his first chance to represent his country but no one else asked either wanted to go or could afford to go. I am on the ranking list and would have gone with him and could have taken Hannah but neither of us were asked however I am near the bottom of the ranking list barrel having only played in the Championships and none of the tour events - in fact I am 32nd from 51 members!!!!! :). To be fair it would be silly for them to ring around everyone on the list however I would have put out a slip in the members pack asking the question of whether players would be interested in playing for their country should the opportunity arise detailing the approximate costs that the player will have to come up with to play for their country. There could be a selection list different from the ranking list and if people don't reply to letters or do accept their place without good reason then they would drop down the list.

I have paid for Hannah to be a member of the EASB to play in the ladies events but there haven't been any ranking events and still no sign of the Ladies Championship, although I expect the date for this to be released shortly. Fingers crossed! So in effect there are no ranking lists to work from other than the previous years. I know Reanne has been asked to represent England even though she said that she isn't a member of the association. There is an opportunity for England to send out Jasmine Bolsover to events to give her the experience that Hannah had when she was very young. Jasmine is only 13 at the moment and I believe would do well in some of the events.

England need to get an International liaison on the board soon to co-ordinate directly with the players.

Hannah was only asked to play in the Team event last year because Gaye Jones happened to be at the World Billiards in Leeds and it was there that Maxime Cassis asked her why England weren't sending any female representatives and it was only because the chairman, John Hartley, happened to be at the event that she could approach him directly and get his permission for selection.

Sad state of affairs that I hope can be sorted out in the future for Men, Masters AND Ladies.

Group stages well under way.

Group A
Israel One 10 - 2 Belarus
Belgium 12 - 0 Croatia
Ireland Two 7 - 5 Belgium (Philip Browne 2 - 2 Pascal Raes; Jason Devaney 4 - 0 Alain Vandersteen; Ryan Cronin 1 - 3 Yvan Van Velthoven)
Israel One 11 - 1 Croatia

Group B
Wales (David John, Rhydian Richards, John Bevan) 12 - 0 Serbia Three
Poland Two 12 - 0 Russia
Finland 11 - 1 Romania
Wales 12 - 0 Russia
Poland Two 9 - 3 Romania (Mateusz Baranowski 3 - 1 Paul Croitoru; Michał Zieliński 4 - 0 Craciun Sorin; Grzegorz Biernadski 2 - 2 Rares Sinca)
Finland 12 - 0 Serbia Three

Group C
Ireland One 7 - 5 Germany (John Sutton 3 - 1 Sascha Lippe; Rodney Goggins 2 - 2 Patrick Einsle; Brendan O'Donoghue 2 - 2 Roman Dietzel)
Austria 10 - 2 Bulgaria
Switzerland 11 - 1 Serbia One
Ireland One 11 - 1 Serbia One
Switzerland 8 - 4 Bulgaria (Darren Paris 3 - 1 Bratislav Krastev; Pascal Camenzind 1 - 3 Georgi Velichkov; Alexander Ursenbacher 4 - 0 Vergil Mavrodiev)
Austria 7 - 5 Germany (Andreas Ploner 2 -2 Patrock Einsle; Paul Schopf 4 - 0 Sascha Lippe; Dominik Scherübl 1 - 3 Roman Dietzel)

Group D
Poland One 8 - 4 Israel 2 (Marcin Nitschke 2 - 2 Danni Bismoot; Krzysztof Wróbel 3 - 1 Shay Arama; Adam Stefanów 3 - 1 David Vaitzman)
Scotland (Rhys Clark; Dylan Craig; Joseph McLaren) 12 - 0 Serbia Two
France 7 - 5 Ukraine (Stephane Ochoiski 3 - 1 Alan Trigg; Franck Dufays 2 - 2 Sergiy Isayenko; Ahmed Benraïssi 2 - 2 Vladyslav Vyshnevskyy)
Poland One 12 - 0 Serbia Two

Masters results so far:

Group A
Belgium One 6 - 0 Russia One
Scotland 4 - 2 Poland (David Hutchison 3 - 0 Jerzy Król; Colin McAlpine 1 - 2 Jacek Rudowicz)
Germany 4 - 2 Bulgaria
Belgium One 5 - 1 Poland
Bulgaria 3 - 3 Scotland (Luchezar Gergov 1 - 2 David Hutchison; Krasimir Kameshev 2 - 1 Colin McAlpine)
Germany 6 - 0 Russia One

Group B
France 3 - 3 Israel
Wales 6 - 0 Belarus
Belgium Two 3 - 3 Ireland Two (Erwin Goethals 1 - 2 Stephen Merrigan; Rene Hemelsoet 2 - 1 George O`Hara)

Group C
Iceland 3 - 3 Ireland One (Brynjar Valdimarsson 2 - 1 Anthony Bonnar; Tryggvi Erlingsson 1 - 2 Mark Tuite)
Netherlands 5 - 1 Serbia One
Romania 4 - 2 Russia Two

Ladies results so far:

Group A
Russia One 6 - 0 Serbia
Germany 6 - 0 Romania One
Russia One 5 - 1 Romania One
Germany 4 - 2 Belarus

Group B
Poland 5 - 1 Romania Two
Russia Two 6 - 0 Bulgaria
Poland 4 - 2 Bulgaria

More results from the Mens :

Group A
Ireland Two 8 - 4 Israel One (Ryan Cronin 3 - 1 Roey Fernandez; Jason Devaney 3 - 1 Shachar Ruberg; Philip Browne 2 - 2 Maor Shalom)
Belarus 6 - 6 Croatia

Group B
Wales 11 – 1 Romania ( Rhydian Richards 4 – 0 Paul Croitoru; John Bevan 4 – 0 Craciun Sorin; David John 3 – 1 Rares Sinca)
Russia 9 – 3 Serbia Three
Poland Two 9 – 3 Finland ( Mateusz Baranowski 3 – 1 Timo Salovaara; Grzegorz Biernadski 3 – 1 Tero Suvanto; Michał Zieliński 3 – 1 Heikki Niva)

Group C
Ireland One 10 – 2 Bulgaria ( Brendan O`Donoghue 3 – 1 Bratislav Krastev; John Sutton 3 – 1 Georgi Velichkov; Rodney Goggins 4 – 0 Vergil Mavrodiev)

Group D
Scotland (Rhys Clark; Dylan Craig; Joseph McLaren) 12 - 0 France
Ukraine 8 - 4 Israel Two (Sergiy Isayenko 2 - 2 Shay Arama; Vladyslav Vyshnevskyy 3 - 1 David Vaitzman; Alan Trigg 3 - 1 Danni Bismoot)

More from the Masters:

Group A
Belgium One 4 - 2 Bulgaria ('Pistol' Pete Bullen 3 - 0 Luchezar Gergov; Mario Van Herk 1 - 2 Krasimir Kameshev)
Germany 5 - 1 Scotland (Miro Popovic 3 - 0 Colin McAlpine; Michael Heeger 2 - 1 David Hutchison)

Group B
Belgium Two 6 - 0 Belarus
Wales 4 - 2 France (Ian Sargeant 1 - 2 Gilles Grzeskowiak; John Terry 3 - 0 Marc Chouillier)
Ireland Two (Stephen Merrigan + George O'Hara) 6 - 0 Israel

Group C
Ireland One (Anthony Bonnar + Mark Tuite) 6 - 0 Serbia One
Netherlands 3 - 3 Romania
Iceland 3 - 3 Russia Two

Ladies Championship:

Group B
Russia Two 4 - 2 Romania Two

Updating the Mens Groups:

Group A
Israel One 7 - 5 Belgium (Maor Shalom 1 - 3 Yvan Van Velthoven; Roey Fernandez 2 - 2 Alain Vandersteen; Shachar Ruberg 4 - 0 Pascal Raes)
Ireland Two 12 - 0 Belarus
Belgium 12 - 0 Belarus

Just one match to go, Ireland Two v Croatia, Croatia need two frames to overtake Belarus and reach the knockout stages, they're currently 5 - 1 down (not sure what happens if they get one frame and the teams are tied ...)


Group B
Poland Two 12 - 0 Serbia Three
Romania 11 - 1 Russia
Wales 11 - 1 Finland (Rhydian Richards 4 - 0 Tero Suvanto; John Bevan 4 - 0 Heikki Niva; David John 3 - 1 Timo Salovaara)

Wales currently playing Poland Two, leading 5 - 2.
Finland v Russia and Romania v Serbia Three this afternoon

Group C
Switzerland 8 - 4 Austria (Pascal Camenzind 1 - 3 Andreas Ploner; Darren Paris 3 - 1 Dominik Scherübl; Alexander Ursenbacher 4 - 0 Paul Schopf)
Germany 10 - 2 Serbia Two
Ireland One 8 - 4 Austria (Brendan O`Donoghue 3 - 1 Paul Schopf; John Sutton 2 - 2 Andreas Ploner; Rodney Goggins 3 - 1 Dominik Scherübl)
Germany 7 - 5 Switzerland (Roman Dietzel 2 - 2 Alexander Ursenbacher; Patrick Einsle 3 -1 Darren Paris; Sascha Lippe 2 - 2 Pascal Camenzind)
Bulgaria 8 - 4 Serbia One (Bratislav Krastev 3 - 1 Marko Vukovic; Vergil Mavrodiev 2 - 2 Marko Stoilkovic; Georgi Velichkov 3 - 1 Sasa Stojanovic)
Suspect this was the toughest group by far, Bulgaria losing out - unless they beat Germany 12-0 this evening - whereas they'd have made the last 16 in Groups A or B I think, and stood a fair chance in Group D ...

Playing this afternoon, Ireland One v Switzerland and Austria v Serbia One

Group D
Poland One 10 - 2 France (Adam Stefanów 3 - 1 Stephane Ochoiski; Krzysztof Wróbel 3 - 1 Ahmed Benraïssi; Marcin Nitschke 4 - 0 Franck Dufays)
Scotland 9 - 3 Ukraine (Rhys Clark 3 - 1 Alan Trigg; Joseph McLaren 4 - 0 Vladyslav Vyshnevskyy; Dylan Craig 2 - 2 Sergiy Isayenko)
Israel Two 11 - 1 Serbia Two
Scotland 7 - 5 Israel Two (Dylan Craig 3 - 1 David Vaitzman; Rhys Clark 2 - 2 Danni Bismoot; Joseph McLaren 2 -2 Shay Arama)
Poland One 6 - 6 Ukraine (Krzysztof Wróbel 2 - 2 Vladyslav Vyshnevskyy; Adam Stefanów 2 - 2 Alan Trigg; Marcin Nitschke 2 - 2 Sergiy Isayenko)
France 12 - 0 Serbia Two

This evenings matches to finish the group will be Ukraine v Serbia Two, Poland One v Scotland and France v Israel Two - in this last match, France probably need to beat Israel Two 8 - 4 or better to avoid going out (assuming - as is very likely - Ukraine beat Serbia Two)

Remaining Mens matches:

Group A
Ireland Two 10 - 2 Croatia (Jason Devaney 4 - 0 Goran Puškaš; Ryan Cronin 2 - 2 Božo Primić; Philip Browne 4 - 0 Roberto Bartol)
So Božo Primić claims the two frames Croatia needed to reach the last 16

Group B
Wales 8 - 4 Poland Two (David John 2 - 2 Michał Zieliński; John Bevan 2 - 2 Mateusz Baranowski; Rhydian Richards 4 - 0 Grzegorz Biernadski)
Finland 12 - 0 Russia
Romania 12 - 0 Serbia Three

Group C
Ireland One 9 - 3 Switzerland (Brendan O`Donoghue 4 - 0 Darren Paris; Rodney Goggins 4 - 0 Pascal Camenzind; John Sutton 1 - 3 Alexander Ursenbacher)
Austria 7 - 5 Serbia One (Paul Schopf 3 - 1 Marko Vukovic; Dominik Scherübl 2 - 2 Sasa Stojanovic; Andreas Ploner 2 - 2 Marko Stoilkovic)
Germany 7 - 5 Bulgaria (Roman Dietzel 0 - 4 Georgi Velichkov; Sascha Lippe 3 - 1 Vergil Mavrodiev; Patrick Einsle 4 - 0 Bratislav Krastev)

Group D
Ukraine 12 - 0 Serbia Two
Scotland 4 - 0 Poland One (Rhys Clark 4 - 0 Krzysztof Wróbel; Dylan Craig 2 - 2 Adam Stefanów; Joseph McLaren 2 - 2 Marcin Nitschke)

At the moment the Group D result of Israel Two v France has not been posted - wins for Israeli David Vaitzman 4 - 0 over Stephane Ochoiski, and for France's Ahmed Benraïssi 4 - 0 over Danni Bismoot, but no result posted for the third game, Shay Arama v Franck Dufays. Israel Two would be through and France out if Arama won at least 1 frame, and the Knockout list is showing Israel Two as having qualified ...

Remaining Masters results:

Group A
Poland 3 - 3 Russia One
Belgium One 5 - 1 Germany
Bulgaria 6 - 0 Poland
Scotland 5 - 1 Russia
Belgium One 6 - 0 Scotland
Germany 6 - 0 Poland
Bulgaria 3 - 3 Russia One

Belgium One, Germany, Bulgaria and Scotland through to knock-out stage

Group B
Belgium Two 4 - 2 France
Wales 6 - 0 Israel
Ireland Two 6 - 0 Belarus
Belgium Two 5 - 1 Israel
Ireland Two 4 - 2 Wales (George O`Hara 2 - 1 Ian Sargeant; Stephen Merrigan 2 - 1 John Terry)
France 6 - 0 Belarus
Wales 4 - 2 Belgium Two (Ian Sargeant 2 - 1 Erwin Goethals; John Terry 2 - 1 Rene Hemelsoet)
Israel 5 - 1 Belarus
Ireland Two 6 - 0 France

Ireland Two, Wales, Belgium Two and France through to knock-out stage

Group C
Iceland 6 - 0 Serbia One
Ireland One 6 - 0 Romania
Russia Two 4 - 2 Netherlands
Ireland One 6 - 0 Russia Two
Romania 6 - 0 Serbia One
Iceland 4 - 2 Netherlands
Russia Two 6 - 0 Serbia One
Ireland One 6 - 0 Netherlands
Iceland 4 - 2 Romania

Ireland One, Iceland, Romania and Russia Two through to knock-out stage

remaining Ladies results:

Group A
Russia One 6 - 0 Belarus
Romania One 3 - 3 Serbia
Russia One 6 - 0 Germany
Belarus 6 - 0 Serbia
Belarus 4 - 2 Romania One
Germany 5 - 1 Serbia

Russia One, Germany and Belarus qualify for knock-out stage

Group B
Poland 5 - 1 Russia Two
Romania Two 4 - 2 Bulgaria

Poland, Russia Two and Romania Two qualify for knock-out stage

Best breaks in the group stages:

Ladies
Daria Sirotina (Russia One) 46, 39, 36, 35
Małgorzata Sikorska (Poland) 38
Anastasia Nechaeva (Russia One) 38
Yana Shut (Belarus) 36

Masters
'Pistol' Pete Bullen (Belgium One) 82, 81, 66
George O`Hara (Ireland Two) 76
Mark Tuite (Ireland One) 72
Mario Van Herk (Belgium One) 62
Anthony Bonnar (Ireland One) 61
Brynjar Valdimarsson (Iceland) 61
Ian Sargeant (Wales) 60

Mens
Rhydian Richards (Wales) 126, 87
Patrick Einsle (Germany) 111
Brendan O`Donoghue (Ireland One) 110
Rodney Goggins (Ireland One) 108, 95
Adam Stefanów (Poland One) 102, 81
John Bevan (Wales) 101
Shachar Ruberg (Israel One) 93, 90, 84
Darren Paris (Switzerland) 93
John Sutton (Ireland One) 92
Grzegorz Biernadski (Poland Two) 85
Alan Trigg (Ukraine) 85
Andreas Ploner(Austria) 83
Rhys Clark (Scotland) 82
Krzysztof Wróbel (Poland One) 81
Dylan Craig (Scotland) 80

Unfortunately having been on project work up 'til now today, didn't see the scores as they happened and can't find any breakdown of which player played which frame etc, but here are the results for the Mens Last 16:

Wales 8 - 3 Austria
Ukraine 8 - 7 Belgium

Israel One 8 - 3 Poland One
Ireland One 8 - 2 Romania

Ireland Two 8 - 1 Israel Two
Poland Two 8 - 6 Germany

Finland 8 - 4 Switzerland
Scotland 8 - 0 Croatia

Line up for the Masters Last 12

Bulgaria v Belgium Two, winner plays Ireland One
Wales v Russia Two, winner plays Germany

Iceland v Scotland, winner plays Ireland Two
Romania v France, winner plays Belgium One

Line up for the Ladies Last 6

Russia Two v Belarus, winner plays Russia One
Germany v Romania Two, winner plays Poland

Scotland and Wales are my tips for this. Both seem to have really been in form all week.

Mens Quarter Finals

Wales 8 - 4 Ukraine
Ireland One 8 - 6 Israel One

Poland Two 8 - 6 Ireland Two
Scotland 9 - 2 Finland

Masters Last 12

Belgium Two 5 - 2 Bulgaria
Wales 6 - 0 Russia Two
Iceland 5 - 4 Scotland
France 5 - 2 Romania

Masters Quarter Finals

Ireland One 5 - 2 Belgium Two
Wales 5 - 1 Germany

Ireland Two 5 - 3 Iceland
Belgium One 5 - 0 France

Ladies Last 6
Belarus 4 - 3 Russia Two, Belarus plays Russia One in the semi finals
Germany 4 - 3 Romania Two, Germany plays Poland in the semi finals

Semi finals

Men
Wales 8 - 6 Ireland (John Bevan 2 - 3 John Sutton; David John 4 - 1 Rodney Goggins; Rhydian Richards 2 - 2 Brendan O`Donoghue)
Scotland 8 - 6 Poland (Rhys Clark 2 - 3 Michał Zieliński; Dylan Craig 3 - 1 Grzegorz Biernadski; Joseph McLaren 3 - 2 Mateusz Baranowski; Scotland were up 4 - 0 at one stage)

Masters
Ireland One 5 - 2 Wales (Anthony Bonnar 3 - 1 Ian Sargeant; Mark Tuite 2 - 1 John Terry)
Belgium One 5 - 4 Ireland Two ('Pistol' Pete Bullen 3 - 2 George O'Hara; Mario Van Herk 2 - 2 Stephen Merrigan)

Ladies (display of scores switched to the final line-ups as I was doing this, so this is from memory!)
Russia One 4 - 0 Belarus (Anastasia Nechaeva and Daria Sirotina both 2 - 0 victors, can't remember who played Yana Shut and who played Nastya Toumilovitch)
Poland 4 - 2 Germany (Ewa Pawińska 2 - 1 Diana Schuler; Małgorzata Sikorska 2 - 1 Jennifer Zehentner)

The Finals

Men
Wales 8 - 7 Scotland (David John 2 - 3 Rhys Clark; John Bevan 3 - 2 Joseph McLaren; Rhydian Richards 3 - 2 Dylan Craig)

Masters
Ireland One 5 -3 Belgium One (Mark Tuite 1 - 3 Mario Van Herk; Anthony Bonnar 4 - 0 'Pistol' Pete Bullen)

Ladies
Russia One 4 - 2 Poland (Daria Sirotina 2 - 1 Ewa Pawińska; Anastasia Nechaeva 2 -1 Małgorzata Sikorska)

Congratulations to the winning teams