Thrilling matches in 11th Euro Cup in Dortmund, Germany

21 year old Pierre Dubois of France once again established supremacy by defending successfully

the Title in Siongles Events on Sunday at the 11th Euro Cup in Dortmund, Germany. While Teams

Trophy was defended successfully by the UK team and Doubles Title went to Karnal Abdin and

Shaheen Miah of UK.

Four Slams were scored during the matches: One white and one black slam by Nazrul Islam of UK,

one Whilte Slam by Jonathan Leau (France) and one White Slam by Karnal Abdin (UK).

The high standard of the games and excellent technical arrangements and hospitality were praised

by all participants of the Euro Cup. Around one hundred players from five European countries

participated in three disciplines between 13th and 15th July 2007( 85 in Singles, 64 in Doubles and

four each in five teams). The matches were conducted with Swiss System with the help of computer.

In Teams Event the UK team with Nazrul Islam, Abdul Rahman Khan, Abdul Malik and Abdul Wahid

dominated from the very begining getting tough fights only from France and Germany. France with

Pierre Dubois, Steeve Collard, Jonathan Leau and Mouraly Venou snatched second place from Germany

(Peter Boecker, Stefan Besser, Dirk Polchow and Robert Hauke) which came on third place. Italy with

Francesco Pedicini, Stefano Stucchi, Claudio Motta snd Paolo Martinelli came on 4th and Swiss team with

Viktor Baumgarten, Lorenzo Hurlimann, Stefan Eigenmann and Kurt Scherrer came on 5th place.

The Doubles Event was also dominated by the UK players who received tough opposition from the

French and German players. The Doubles Event was a one sided affair for UK players. Karnal

Abdin/ Shahin Miah defeated in final their team mates Abdul Mumit/ Ish Gupta 25:0 and Ala

Miah/ Tufail Ahmed Malik of UK defeated Fabian Pereira/ Jeremie Cieply of France by 25:22 for

position 3 and 4.

The Singles Event was conducted with 11 rounds in two days. Especially Pierre Dubois (France),

Nazrul Islam (UK), Karnal Abdin (UK), peter Boecker (Germany) Fabian Pereirra (France), Juergen

Husmann (Germany) and Lal Rodrigo (Italy) gave very tough fights to opponents.

The final match of the Singles Events was full of dramatic elements. While Nazrul Islam was leading

with 23 to 18 points after seven boards in the first game against Pierre Dubois, the French boy turned

the situation in the 8th round by winning with a sensational shot which pocketed his most difficul piece

and opened the rest for a smooth finish, winning by 25:23. The second game was a clear affair for

Pierre Dubois who won 25:10. The third place in Singles event went to Karnal Abdin of UK while

Peter Boecker of Germany came on 4th place.

Earlier at the Opening Ceremony on 12th July, Joerg Kijanski, President of the German Carrom

Federation welcomed the players from different parts of Europe for their participation in Euro Cup.

Arif Naqvi, President of the European Carrom Confederation inaugurated the 11th Eurocup and

praised the development of the standard of Carrom in Europe. The Euro Cup is helping not only to

increase the standard of the game in Europe but also contributing to friendship and cooperation

among the players. The Euro Cup should be considered as a practice ground for the coming Malasiya

Open in November this year and World Championship in February next year. GCF Vice President

Dirk Polchow explained the modalities of the Euro Cup mentioning to the hard and dedicated work of

the members of the RCS association in Dortmund.

Also at the Prize giving ceremony on 15th evening the GCF president Jorg Kijanski acknowledged

the support from all federations of Europe and the excellent atmosphere during the tournament.

ECC President Arif Naqvi, who also conveyed greetings form the ICF, praised the high standard of

the matches, technical arrangements and excellent hospitality and hoped that the European players

will be able demonstrate this rising standard during the coming international tournaments, especially

during the World Championship in February 2008 in Cannes, France. GCF Vice President Dirk

Polchow especially thanked the sponsors and media for their support. President of the UKCF Vijay

Sharma extended invitation to all European players for the participation in 12th Euro Cup in London

next year.

The results of the matches were announced by Gunter Seibert, who along with Markus Ense super-

vised the matches with computer. While Laurent Prost of France and Claudio Motta of Italy were

happy with their jobs as Chief Referee and Assistant Chief Referee.

The 11th Euro Cup was also given wide coverage by the news papers and TV stations of Dortmund.

Earlier a meeting of the Board of Management of the ECC alloted the 12th Euro Cup 2008 to UK

Carrom Federation and appealed to all federations to extend helping hands for the preparations of

the World Championship in Cannes, France next year. 

Arif Naqvi

Chairman

Media Commission of ICF

 We thank the German Carrom Federation for the following photos of the 11th Euro Cup 2007 in Dortmund, Germany.