In this year the European Championship was a very special event. Not only the new European Champions were determined it was also time to celebrate 30 - years EPBF, European Pocket Billiard Federation. For this Jubilee the organizers and the EPBF had special plans. It was also the first time that all divisions (pupils, juniors, girls, women, men, seniors, ladies and wheelchair) met at one European Championship. This amazing event was held in a small town called Willingen which is famous for the skijumping every year. In the huge Sauerland Stern Hotel which possesses a few big event arenas, the 52 tables were set up. With the same number of laptops, flat screens and live coverage on the internet the technical part was also impressive.
Also at this European Championships Jasmin Ouschan was the top favourite in all 3 disciplines.
„I know that situation being the favourite for all 3 gold medals. In the last year I played a great tournament but in the end it was only enough for 1 gold and 2 bronze medals. Even though I am little bit jetlagged and my result at the US Open wasn't to good I am looking forward to this event. I worked a lot on my endurance for this long event and I will try to arrange my energy over the long event, so that I can trigger my performance at the right time. I am not concentrating on the medals yet, or at least I try because my goal making all 3 medals is always in the back of my head.”
Straight Pool
In the first discipline straight pool, Ouschan had a walk-over due to her gold medal from last year. In the second round Ouschan met an old friend who formally played in her club. It was Sandra Baumgartner from Austria. Ouschan felt very comfortable on the table and acted very confident. Without any problems Ouschan won the match with a 75:22 score. On the next day Ouschan had to play Neslihan Gurel from Turkey. Even though Ouschan adjusted pretty good to the conditions, she started to make a few unnecessary mistakes. Jasmin Ouschan, who couldn´t bring her best game on the table, still managed to win with a clear 75:39 score.
„I am very happy with the start of this event. To play against somebody from your country is always a special situation but I think I managed it well. In the second match which was played in the morning, I could feel the jetlag but it shouldn´t be an excuse. I did what I needed to do and I am happy with that.”
With the victory over the player from Turkey Ouschan was in the round before the quarterfinal and had to play the 8 Ball European Champion from 2007 Diana Stateczny from Germany. Stateczny who highly motivated started the match took a little lead. But Ouschan used her first chance to take the lead with a 63 balls run. The German had no answer to this strong return from Ouschan and was defeated with a 75:23 score.
„After the little bit tough start in the morning I could bring my game to the table and then it gets hard for my opponents. Tomorrow will be even tougher because If I want to win I have to trigger this performance in all 3 possible matches and I know that in the past it didn´t always work out. But I am confident and I want to defend my title.”
But before Ouschan played her quarterfinal she had to start with the first rounds of the 8 Ball division. In the first match Ouschan met the polish hope Karolina Stawarz. Ouschan found her rhythm right away and simply crushed the woman from Poland 6:1 with a flawless performance. In the second match Ouschan played Athanasiou from Greece. Again she gave her opponent no chance and sent her to the losers round with a 6:1 score.
„When you have to switch between two disciplines it can get a bit confusing because it is two different games. But I am glad I didn´t have that problem today. I felt really good and I played a good performance which makes me really happy.”
In the straight pool quarterfinal the titleholder played against Kynthia Orfanidis from Holland. Again this table was dominated by a very focused Jasmin Ouschan which led to a 75:20 victory and a spot in the semi final. In the semi final Ouschan faced Line Kjörsvik from Norway. In the last couple of matches Ouschan didn´t leave the table as the winner very often and so it was for sure that it will be an exciting match again. The match started going back and forward and both athletes made a few mistakes. But the Norwegian was the first who found a little bit into her rhythm and managed to crash Ouschans dream from the 4th gold medal in straight pool.
„I am really disappointed, that I lost this match. Since I have the European and World record in this discipline I can´t be satisfied with the bronze medal. It was the first bad match from me in this event and then you get punished so hard right away. But that is sport and it actually fits into the bad season I had. But there are still two more disciplines to go and I hope I can erasethe last match out of my head so that I can achieve my goals in the other disciplines.”
Women 1st Charlotte Sörensen (DEN)
Men 1st Ivica Putnik (CRO) 2nd Line Kjörsvik (NOR) 2nd Ralf Souquet (GER) 3rd Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) 3rd Andreas Rosckkowsky (GER) Olga Levina (RUS) Veger Christiansen (NOR)
8 Ball
After the frustration over the bronze medal in straight pool was digested the event went on with 8 ball. In the third round Ouschan met Tina Vogelmann from Germany. Obviously the lost in straight pool didn´t influence her 8 Ball game and so Ouschan managed to win 6:0 with a great performance. In the qualifying match for the quarterfinal Jasmin Ouschan had to play the European 9 Ball Champion from 2007 Eylul Kibaroglu from Turkey. Ouschan seemed to be in a 8 Ball flow and simply rolled over the Champion with a 6:2 score.
Again the started to mix the 8 Ball event with a few rounds of 9 Ball. There Ouschan faced the strongest dutch player Tamara Rademakers. Ouschan took over the table and left her no air to breath. After a short time it said 7:1 on the scoreboard for Ouschan.
In the 8 Ball quarterfinal Ouschan played Tamara Rademakers sister Melissa. In this match Ouschan set up a new personal record. The first game took 40 min. due to safty battles. In spite of the nerve racking but also funny first games Ouschan stayed calm and entered the semi final with a 6.2 score.
„So far I am very happy with my 8 Ball game and 9 Ball game. I was always able to play my game and so I put a lot of pressure on my opponents. I also have a new personal 8 Ball record. It was really incredible how long it took us for the first rack. At the end we both had to laugh but I am glad that it didn´t influence me so much. Now I have to bundle my energy for the semi final and hopefully final.”
In the 8 Ball semi final Ouschans opponent was Janine Schwan from Germany and old friend from the youth years. This match started out to be totally different than the matches before. Both players seemed to find their rhythm and made very atypical mistakes. Even though Ouschan was obviously a little bit frustrated about the bad performance she managed to bundle the last energy to leave the table as the winner with a 6:3 score.
In the final she faced Line Kjörsvik from Norway again. But this time Ouschan changed the rules for this match and hardly let the Norwegian on the table. The highly focused Austrian showed an amazing 8 Ball game and also didn´t get influence by the tactical game of Kjörsvik. With a 7:2 score Ouschan won the 8 Ball gold medal.
„Finally – finally I was able to break out of the negative match series against my trainings partner and play my game. When you look at my results in the pre rounds, I was the favourite and with this match I showed it one more time. I am very happy about this title and I will give my best in the 9 Ball division. Maybe the knot that I carry with me since the World Championship finally broke.”
Women 1st Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) Men 1st Marcus Chamat (SWE) Wheelchair 1st Karl Read (GBR) 2nd Line Kjörsvik (NOR) 2nd Zoran Svilar (SRB) 2nd Henrik Larsson (SWE) 3rd Janine Schwan (GER) 3rd Thorsten Hohmann (GER) 3rd Jouni Thati (FIN) Amalia Matas (ESP) Robert Sudic (CRO) Tankred Volkmer (GER)
9 Ball
After the success in the 8 Ball division, Ouschan had to go on with the third round in 9 Ball. The new titleholder had to play Diana Stateczny from Germany again. In the same style like in 8 Ball Ouschan shoot flawless pool. Again there was not much that the German could do and had to accept another 7:1 defeat.
With entering the last round before the quarterfinal Ouschan secured herself a free day.
„This day off is really good. The last 8 days of constant competition are showing on me and for the next days it is important to relax as good as I can.”
After the regeneration Ouschan had to play the new Straight Pool European Champion Charlotte Sörensen from Denmark. Actually it should have been an open match but Ouschan put a lot of pressure on her and gave her no chance to find into the match. With a clear 7:2 victory Ouschan secured her spot in the quarterfinal.
In the quarterfinal Ouschan faced the Finnish hope Marika Poikkijoki. Again Ouschan didn´t give her much time on the pool table and kicked her out of the event with a 7:2 score.
In the semi final Ouschan surprisingly played the 16 – times Swiss Champion Sabina Dederding who kicked out Line Kjörsvik in the round before.
„I am satisfied with my performance today even though I am really glad that there is only one more day to go. The mental strength is slowly leaving me because nobody played so many matches than me. Considering the last day Ouschan said:” On the one side I think it is too bad that Line Kjörsvik is out since we always have good battles but on the other side I have higher chances winning against the Swiss player and I really want to win the gold medal. In case I reach the final, I have to say that I don´t really care who I will get, Dutch Estelle Bijnen or the dangerous Amalia Matas from Spain – for the title you have to beat everybody.”
In the semi final against the Swiss Ouschan seemed to have lost the strong rhythm from the days before. The Austrian was visible insecure and made a lot of mistakes. At the beginning Dederding couldn´t take the chances either and so Ouschan managed to take a 4:1 lead which still didn´t help her find into her game. The Swiss started to turn the match around and all of a sudden Ouschan found herself in the opposite situation. She couldn´t live up to her previous performance and had to accept a 5:7 defeat.
„Sadly it was a very weak performance of me and I couldn’t hold my concentration. I even took a 4:1 lead and gave away a 100% chance to go 5:1 and after that the match started to turn. Well I made 3 medals, but in two cases the colour is not the right one and so I didn´t completely achieve my goals.”
Women 1st Sabina Dederding (SUI) Men 1st Stephan Cohen (FRA) Wheelchair 1st Jouni Thati (FIN) 2nd Estelle Bijnen (NED) 2nd Zoran Svilar (SRB) 2nd Emil Schranz (AUT) 3rd Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) 3rd Bruno Muratore (ITA) 3rd Matt Duffy (GBR) Amalia Matas (ESP) Imran Majid (GBR) Matej Brajkovic (SLO)
Match Results:
Straight Pool Results:
Jasmin Ouschan
vs.
Sandra Baumgartner (AUT)
75:22
Jasmin Ouschan
vs.
Neslihan Gurel (TUR)
75:39
Jasmin Ouschan
vs.
Diana Stateczny (GER)
75:23
Jasmin Ouschan
vs.
Kynthia Orfanidis (NED)
75:20
Jasmin Ouschan
vs.
Line Kjörsvik (NOR)
55:75
8 Ball Results:
Jasmin Ouschan
vs.
Karolina Stawarz (POL)
6:1
Jasmin Ouschan
vs.
Athanasiou (GRE)
6:1
Jasmin Ouschan
vs.
Eylul Kibaroglu (TUR)
6:1
Jasmin Ouschan
vs.
Melissa Rademakers (NED)
6:2
Jasmin Ouschan
vs.
Janine Schwan (GER)
6:3
Jasmin Ouschan
Vs.
Line Kjörsvik (NOR)
7:2
9 Ball Results:
Jasmin Ouschan
vs.
Tamara Rademakers (NED)
7:1
Jasmin Ouschan
vs.
Diana Stateczny (GER)
7:1
Jasmin Ouschan
vs.
Charlotte Sörensen (DEN)
7:2
Jasmin Ouschan
vs.
Marika Poikkijoki (FIN)
7.2
Jasmin Ouschan
vs.
Sabina Dederding (SUI)
5:7