Report – 2020 Dynamic Best versus COVID 19.
In the year struck by the pandemic, we managed to organize four international tournaments in the Dynamic Billard Best of the East series. This gives us the right to say that we have won the battle against the coronavirus. Unfortunately, every war brings losses. We planned five tournaments for 2020, and participation was down. However, the most important thing is that thanks to regional cooperation we provided over 160 players with the opportunity to prove their skills in an international setting. “I’m proud of our work. I would like to thank hosts of all events, sponsors, players, referees and clubs. In these difficult times, we found we have a strong team and driven players with ambition to sharpen their skills,” said Marcin Krzemiński, president of EEBC and CEO of Mak Marketing.
At the beginning of the season, there were plans to organize five tournaments. Officials from Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Czechia and Bulgaria volunteered to host the events. The circuit was supposed to start in April. Unfortunately, life got in the way. The coronavirus pandemic resulted in closed borders and cancelled sports events. In the end, EEBC cancelled the tournament in Hungary after postponing it twice. For the first time, billiard players could take out their cues only in July, in Maple club in Pardubice. The tournament in Czechia attracted 64 players from five countries. The winners were:
- Oliver Szolnoki – Hungary
- Karol Skowerski – Poland
- Szymon Kural and Dominik Jastrząb – Poland
A month later, in the middle of August, a tournament in Bratislava was held. Galaxia club welcomed 80 players from seven countries. This tournament proved lucky for:
- Tomasz Kapłan – Poland
- Mariusz Skoneczny – Poland
- Karol Skowerski and Sebastian Batkowski – Poland
The third tournament in this year’s Dynamic Billard Best of the East series was part of the 5th International Billiard Festival Kielce 2020. This Polish-based event hosted 86 players from six countries. All medals went to the locals:
- Mieszko Fortuński – Poland
- Mariusz Skoneczny – Poland
- Karol Skowerski and Radosław Babica – Poland
The tournament director and all partners had to wait long for any news from Petrich. Unfortunately, once it came, it was bad – the Bulgarian tournament had to be cancelled. Slovakia again volunteered to host the event, but one week before the tournament the Slovak government closed the border with Czechia. Since many players from the country participated in the Dynamic Best, the tournament was cancelled. The second wave of the pandemic brought many restrictions. In this situation, Poland was the only country which could welcome the players. Billiard players were again invited to Kielce. Decisions of the Czech and Slovak governments, made in the first half of November, hit the circuit organizer hard. It turned out that players who wanted to return to those countries after the tournament either had to present a negative COVID-19 test taken in Poland (valid for 72 hours) or be quarantined for 14 days. This decision significantly limited the number of players. Fighting to keep the tournament going, on the first day the hosts invited all foreign players to a medical lab and paid for their tests. They also offered financial support. Such actions proved effective, because 48 players from five countries took part in the International Championship of Swietokrzyskie Province – a tournament promoted by the Regional Office of the Swietokrzyskie Region. The winning trophies went to Polish players again:
- Tomasz Kapłan – Poland
- Daniel Macioł – Poland
- Szymon Kural and Mieszko Fortuński – Poland
The circuit organizers decided that the 2020 season would end after four tournaments. The annual ranking was closed with 162 billiard players from nine countries (Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Italy, Belarus, Austria, Germany and Spain). The number is not as impressive as in previous years, but the number of participants had to be limited due to safety concerns. The leader board is as follows:
- Tomasz Kapłan – POL – 295 points
- Mariusz Skoneczny – POL – 275 points
- Dominik Jastrząb– POL –255 points
- Szymon Kural – POL – 240 points
- Grzegorz Lasota -– POL – 240 points
- Mieszko Fortuński – POL – 225 points
- Karol Skowerski – POL – 220 points
- Oskar Jamorski – POL – 210 points
- Oliver Szolnoki – HUN– 205 points
- Ladislav Hajšman – CZE– 205 points
Tournament statistics are important for sports purposes, but we are aware that a very large number of players could not participate in all or some events in the circuit. This was the case for players from Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Ukraine or Russia who had to stay home due to international restrictions on travelling between countries. Some players decided to opt out for fear of infection, while others withdrew from events because they got sick right before the tournament. All this needs to be taken into account when summarizing this year’s circuit. Still, sports performance is a result of work. Polish billiard players worked hard this year. Mak Marketing organized all Grand Prix of Poland tournaments. The Polish Billiard Association was regularly organizing training camps for the national team as well as league games. This was not possible in many countries. In effect, Polish players were better prepared for the tournaments, as seen in their results achieved in individual events.
Thanks to cooperation with TVSports.pl, over 35 matches were broadcast live. Sport Klub channel in Poland rebroadcast three Polish 9-Ball matches, and news about the tournaments was promoted by national TV station “Telewizja Polska TVP 3” and radio station “Radio Kielce”.
A challenge of its own was to guarantee safety of all participants. The circuit director hired people tasked with disinfecting tables and balls, measuring the temperature of people entering the game area and collecting questionnaires about players’ health. The number of participants was limited, all events were closed to the public, and a new system of organizing the tournaments was implemented. Players were divided into groups which played during set hours. This way contact between players was limited.
Mak Marketing and EEBC would like to thank general sponsors of the series: Dynamic Billard Organization (Germany), Iwan Simonis S.A. (Belgium) and Saluc S.A. -Aramith (Belgium). We would like to thank the clubs: Maple in Pardubice, Galaxia in Bratislava and KCB in Kielce, as well as our colleagues – officials from the Slovakian, Czech and Moravian as well as Polish Billiard Associations: Samuel Koniar, Jaroslav Horenovsky and Grzegorz Kedzierski. We can be proud of the fact that our Dynamic Best was the only series of billiard tournaments organized in Europe during the pandemic. This is a success no other organizer managed to enjoy this year.
Regards
Marcin Krzeminski
