Romanian victory in Oradea.
In the third Dynamic Billard Best of the East tournament this year, the final was played between two players from Romania. Ultimately, Cristian Surdea defeated Ioan Ladanyi 7:3. Hubert Łopotko (POL) and Mykola Moroz (UKR) said goodbye to the tournament in the semi-finals.
60 billiard players from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Hungary and Romania came to the Black & White club. The favorites included: Czechs – Zalman and Urban, Romanians – Ladanyi, Gindać, Surdea and Poles – Skoneczny, Łopotko and Jastrzab.
Polish plans were thwarted by the defeat of Hubert Łopotko in the group stage. Seeded number one, he advanced to the knockout phase from second place and after the draw landed in the vicinity of M. Skoneczny. These two met in the quarterfinals and Łopotko won 7:5. Jastrzab was stopped in the 1/8 finals by C. Surdea 7:3.
Czech stars fared even worse. In the first match of the knockout phase, Urban lost to Onishchenko Mykhailo (UKR) 4:7, and Zalman was sent home in the 1/8 finals by Polish junior Wojciech Głąb 4:7. From Romania, the bronze medalist from 2023, Cristian Gindać, lost 4:7 to Mykola Moroz from Ukraine and finished the tournament in 17th place.
Surdea and Ladanyi performed well. Surdea defeated Lisik D. (SVK) 7:1; Jastrzab (POL) 7:3, A. Pitea (ROM) 7:4 and in the semi-final 7:5 M. Moroz.
Ladanyi won successively against: A. Dobocan (ROM) 7:2, Onishchenko (UKR) 7:0, W. Głąb (POL) 7:2 and in the semi-final 7:5 H. Łopotko.
The strongest Slovakian, Koles Balas, reached the quarterfinals. Here he lost 7:5 to M. Moroz. Congratulations are due to the Ukrainians. Moroz and Onishchenko played good billiards.
Surdea started the final match very effectively. He took a 4-0 lead and then a 5-2 lead and could have scored an important 6th point, but he made a simple mistake. Ladanyi came dangerously close to 5:3, but he did not score any more points. It should be added that Ioan Ladanyi won the annual Dynamic Billard Best of the East ranking in 2014 and 2015.
The competition was officiated by Alexandru Balas from Romania, who is the main referee of the EEBC. Thanks to the financial support of Levente Czirjak, the cloth on all tables was replaced in the club. The whole thing was managed by Marcin Krzemiński – president of EEBC and Mak Marketing.
After three tournaments in 2024, H. Łopotko (POL)-225 points, and M. Skoneczny (POL) -115 points are still at the top of the ranking. Behind them are: D. Zalman (CZE) -175 points, Koleś Balaś (SVK)- 175 points, C. Gindać (ROM) -170 points and P. Urban (CZE)-155 points.
The sponsors of the series are: Dynamic Billard Organization, Iwan Simonis S.A., Aramith, Cuetec, Kamui and Dominus Cues.
The 2024 cycle will close with the tournament in Pardubice on October 12-13, 2024.
