Confederación Española de y Dardos July 2008

SPANISH CHAMPIONSHIPS 2008

Confederación Española de Pool y Dardos

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E : “P AQ U I T O ” WA R D S O F F F O R E I G N EPBF Ban on players 2 I N VA D E R S I N L U G O Rico Diks 2 Francisco “Paquito” Diaz 32 participants. 2 Player’s Quotes Pizzaro also known as “The In this phase of the Tornado” for his fast style of CEP 4 tournament, Diaz saw off the play, took the title in the challenge of Antonio Gomez Alccaide wins 8 Ball 4 International “City of Lugo” by 9 racks to 4 followed by a Open 9 Ball event. 9-5 victory over Ivan Parra, Photos 4 another 9-5 win over Rafael Despite the EPBF banning Guzman and in the semi their top players from taking finals took out one of the part in this event due to the favourites, Carlos Cabello by Qatar tournament taking 9 racks to 3. place at the same time, a classy field including the Manuel Gama, who travelled likes of , semi from neighbouring Portugal take the win by one rack, 9- finalist in the 2007 World for this event had wins of 8- 8. A semi final match Pool Championship, turned 1, and 8-2 before suffering between the Portuguese up for a tilt at the 10,000 € defeat in the preliminaries at player and the stylish Rico first prize. the hands of Spain’s Carlos Diks of Holland, who was Cabello. On the losers side making a rare appearance in he faced up to Kilt wearing For the second year running a tournament, had all the Pat Holtz of Scotland in the the title stayed in Spain but, ingredients for a great battle. qualifying match. Pat, who The Cathedral in Lugo only just, as Manuel Gama of Rico looked to be cruising was not playing his best 9 Portugal was edged out in a towards the final with wins of Ball, let Gama through with thrilling final which finished 8-1, 8-2, 8-0, 9-1, 9-2 and 9- an 8-5 victory. City of Lugo 11-10 in favour of the 6 but suddenly fell apart in Spaniard who is known for Gama then faced some the semi final and bowed out International 9 Ball Open his fast play and shares the tough opposition in the last of the tournament after a 9-3 nickname “Tornado” with 32, after a first round win loss to Gama. Prize Money of Malta. over Ignacio Schmidt by 9-5, he then came up against 1st…………….10,000 euros Jonni Fulcher of Scotland The International 9 Ball Diaz had breezed through who fell by the wayside after tournament is held each year the preliminary rounds with 2nd……………..5,000 euros an “awsome“, (in Jonni’s and is the closing event of victories of 8-6 over Irish words) performance, seeing the Spanish National 3rd/4th.. ……….2,000 euros visitor Paddy Mcloughlin, 8-4 off the challenge of the Championships where 17 with Juan Antonio Sanchez, a former Eurotour winner by 9 tournaments are disputed 5th/8th…………1,000 euros similar scoreline with racks to 3. In the quarters, a involving all levels and both Francisco Sanchez to find close run race with the Dutch sexes. 9th/16th……...…..500 euros himself in the final stage of player , saw Gama 17th/32nd………..150 euros S H O C K I N T H E S PA N I S H 9 B A L L E V E N T Up and coming player, 16 Francisco took out some of rack to take the match with year old Francisco Sanchez Spain’s best players on his a 9—1 victory. Ruiz of Murcia provided the way to the final. Left in his Francisco next goes to shock of the week when he wake were former Germany in August to bested one of Spain’s and champions Dani Gaspar, represent his country in the Europe’s top talents, David Raul Hebles and Hector del EuropeanJunior Alcaide, in the final of the Amo. Alcaide was a mere Championships Spanish 9 Ball spectator in the final as the Championships youngster ran rack after Spanish Championships 2008 Page 2

EPBF BA NS P L AY ER S FRO M AT TE ND IN G L U GO EV ENT

This tournament created some controversy when the European Pocket Billiards Federation (EPBF) banned its top players from taking part.

This decision was made by the President of the EPBF, Gre Leenders who informed the organizers of the Lugo On the 20th May a list of the WPA was sent to Peter The walls of the City of e ve n t t h at an o t h e r banned players was sent to A p r i l e , I n t e r n a t i o n a l Lugo which were built tournament in Qatar had the CEP Representative of the CEP 1700 years ago. been previously sanctioned on the 1st April 2008 , ask- by the WPA and would By then a number of top ing that the Lugo dates be therefore take priority. E u r o p e a n p l a y e r s changed. including the current World Champion, had At this late stage and with The application by the Con- already shown interest in the many commitments to federación Española de Pool, attending the Spanish the hotels in the area and to (CEP) to sanction the Lugo tournament . the venue, Pazos de Feiras e Congresos of Lugo, it was event was turned down in A letter from Kazuo Fujima, March of 2008 impossible to comply with Assistant Sports Director of the request.

R E T U R N O F R I C O D I K S

Spanish pool fans were delighted to see Dutch player Rico Diks who made a welcome return to tournament play at the Spanish event. Galicia is famous for its Rico, former European 9 Ball Champion is one of the most stylish players around and it is always a pleasure to watch him play. national dish During the last three years he has rarely been seen in tournaments Pulpo a la Gallega. as he has been dedicating his time to music and the development of (Octopus) his band, “The Pressure Room”. The Spanish fans will be looking forward to his return to the Iberian Peninsular. In the preliminary rounds of the International 9 Ball event Rico flew through the three matches necessary to advance to the final phase with victories over Spaniards Alejandro Castro 8 — 1, Miguel Angel Lopez 8—2 and Francisco Javier Lopez 8—0. In the final phase of 32 participants, Diks carried on as before with a 9—0 win over the newly crowned Spanish 9 Ball Champion, 16 year old Francisco Sanchez. He then brushed aside the leader of the Spanish Rankings, David Alcoberro by 9 racks to 2. In the quarter finals he came up against top Spanish Player, Samir Kaduur who put up a hard fight but eventually succumbed with a 9-6 score line in favour of the Dutchman. In the semi-final it all began to go wrong, struggling to find his form against Manuel Gama of Portugal, Rico finally bowed out of the tournament after losing by 9 to 5 in a match where he was making little off the break and where he made more mistakes than the Portuguese player. Finishing 4th, Diks took home $3000 in prize money

Trophies for the Spanish Championships Spanish Championships 2008 Page 3

QUOT ES F RO M T HE PL AYE RS

Rico Diks, Raj Hundal Mohammed Ahasan, s R Karl Boyes and Paddy nd aj H erla un McLoughlin at the Annual eth dal— e N Ind Gala —Th , its “L ia ee up ugo ji S set s fo is uid le yer od a H dib pla en an gre cre ny pp “m d n at c n in ma ha agn ice ity t a so n’t “ ific pe wit ha ee oes it i en opl h g “W o s it d n s th t or e” ood e t n, am e gan nic g fu se” en bes isa vin el t I t E tio ha ere hav uro n” ywh e e pea an ver n t pla our yed - in.

Karl Boyes—

Giorgio Margola - Italy

Rico Diks—The Nether- David Pascasi —Italy lands Jonni Fulcher—Scotland

“I always enjoy coming to Great organisation, this “Great organisation…” Spain.” tournament is unrivalled “The venue itself is stun- anywhere in Europe. ning. The people are Nice to see the players “The organisation is great too, everyone being taken so much excellent, there is greets you with huge care of…….. nothing like it in Italy” Pat Holtz—Scotland

“also the chicas are just as pretty as the Italian girls.”

nd gla —En san Aha ed nts mm me oha rna M tou Jas all on at ne” “ Law th s o Awe ren ish thi som ce— “I w ike e e En re l ve gla we nt” nd Paddy Mcloughlin—Ireland Spanish Championships 2008 Page 4

Confederación The Confederación Española de Pool (CEP) under the auspices of the Real Federación Española de Pool y Dardos Española de Billar (RFEB) is the major entity responsible for the organization of leagues, both local and national, and tournaments in Spain. The CEP was founded in the year 2000 for the purpose of promoting and developing the sport of pool. Later in the same year an agreement was reached with the RFEB, responsible to the Higher Council for Sport, for all , ceding to the CEP the exclusive responsibility for the official organization of National Championships in Spain. c/ Los Naranjos Urb. Altos del Lagarejo 4 The RFEB and the CEP are proud to host each year a tour stop of the Eurotour, an event 29649 Mijas Costa Málaga which takes place seven times each year in different countries of Europe and attracts up to 256 Spain of the continent’s top players.

Phone: +34 678-274-552 Fax: +34 952-663-963 The Spanish Championships, held in July of each year provide sporting opportunities for all Email: [email protected] categories of players, Juniors, Seniors, Women and Men in four different divisions in both individual and team competition. An integral part of the Spanish Championships is the International Open 9 Ball Tourna- We’re on the web ment which allows the Spanish public an opportunity to witness the skills of Europe’s and the www.confederacionpool.com World’s top players

AL C AI DE TA K E S 8 BA L L TI T LE

David Alcaide, showed that A view of the he is one of the best 8 Ball venue, Pazo Players in Europe after de Feiras e retaining the title for the Congresos de second consecutive year of Lugo Spanish 8 Ball Champion. Alcaide was one of the European players banned by 25 Dynamic the EPBF from taking part in 9´ Tables the International Open but Francisco Sanchez Ruiz was allowed to participate in 48 Valley 9 Ball Champion the National championships 7 ’ Tables which are reserved for Spanish players only. In the preliminary rounds, Alcaide showed no mercy to his opponents dropping only 8 games out of the 38 in which he played. The latter stages went just as easily for the Málaga born player and his 8—3 victory over Raul Hebles in the final, gave David some compensation for his defeat in the 9 Ball final.

The Television Arena David Alcaide 8 Ball Champion