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EBSA U21

Postby gninnur karona

78 participants in Albufeira (Portugal), 199 matches over 4 days (beginning yesterday) to designate not only the new Under 21 champion of Europe, but also the first recipient of a 2022-24 WST tour card.

Dylan Emery, Ross Bulman and Florian Nüßle amongst those with 100% group records to have sealed their places in the last 32. Robbie McGuigan is guaranteed at least a last 48 slot whilst European Under 18 champion Ben Mertens has one final group match to confirm his place in the last 32.

Link giving access to results, tables, live scores, and some live video.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby chengdufan

Lots of familiar names in the mix there, as well as plenty of new names.
Interesting to see that McGuigan lost a group game to 18 year old Serb Vasilije Pesic, and Mertens lost a game with 14 year old Latvian Andrejs Pripjoks.
Amaan Iqbal (Scotland) and Christopher Clifford (Northern Ireland), who are wildcards in the upcoming home nations events, have also lost matches in the group stage.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby chengdufan

Traditionally, the players getting their tour card via the European U21s have been some of the weakest players on tour.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby lhpirnie

chengdufan wrote:Traditionally, the players getting their tour card via the European U21s have been some of the weakest players on tour.

Yes, probably they will be outclassed in 2022 - whoever wins it will be a new professional.


But we are talking about players like Jackson Page and Arnie Ursenbacher, who have been able to learn from the experience and become competitive.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby cupotee

Just going through these tour qualifying events why did iulian boiko enter the ebsa snooker championship in march 2020 when he already got a two year tour card from being runner up in the world snooker federation open two months earlier ?

Re: EBSA U21

Postby HappyCamper

cupotee wrote:Just going through these tour qualifying events why did iulian boiko enter the ebsa snooker championship in march 2020 when he already got a two year tour card from being runner up in the world snooker federation open two months earlier ?


he would still have been eligible as his pro tour card wouldn't start until the start of the 20-21 season.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby lhpirnie

cupotee wrote:Just going through these tour qualifying events why did iulian boiko enter the ebsa snooker championship in march 2020 when he already got a two year tour card from being runner up in the world snooker federation open two months earlier ?

No, I think the decision to give him a tour card for that runner-up place was made later. At the time, only the winner got a tour card, but there was a shortfall.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby gninnur karona

And then there were four.

Appreciated the talents of the players I watched on stream today and look forward to the final stages tomorrow. Felt the difference between winning and losing about one player being further along the path to greater tactical maturity or attaining clear match-environment composure than his opponent.

Maybe none of the competitors are ready to take a place on the WST tour but perhaps there are 20+ who could make the grade over the next few years if professional snooker had a planned development path. The question I have after watching seven players on stream today is how can snooker aid raw young talent to blossom rather than fall to waste although I'm not sure whether that is possible within the constraints of the current WST tour.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby cupotee

gninnur karona wrote:And then there were four.

Appreciated the talents of the players I watched on stream today and look forward to the final stages tomorrow. Felt the difference between winning and losing about one player being further along the path to greater tactical maturity or attaining clear match-environment composure than his opponent.

Maybe none of the competitors are ready to take a place on the WST tour but perhaps there are 20+ who could make the grade over the next few years if professional snooker had a planned development path. The question I have after watching seven players on stream today is how can snooker aid raw young talent to blossom rather than fall to waste although I'm not sure whether that is possible within the constraints of the current WST tour.


Good question but I’m not sure if wst can afford or wants to afford young talent to blossom outside of the constraints of the q tour , the onus i suppose on prospective new players is to find good clubs to practice and good experienced players to practice against .

e.g. to practice against the likes of anthony hamilton alfie burden martin gould and hammad miah in north london , vs andy hicks in devon or vs robert milkins at the swsa , vs mark davis and jimmy robertson in hastings , vs barry pinches in norfolk or vs the leicestershire and midlands based players in leicester or nuneaton , to try and get practice vs andrew higginson and robbie williams in liverpool or vs david grace and peter lines in leeds , vs good players at the facilities in sheffield or the north east players gary wilson elliot slessor and sam craigie somewhere up there , also the south wales players based or at least part based around terry griffiths club in llanelli , and not forgetting finding practice time vs q school players on the order of merit , to keep persevering and take it from there.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby Andre147

I'm here reffing all the events. Was on table 1 today.

Fully enjoying it.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby chengdufan

Julien Leclercq of Belgium playing Dylan Emery of Wales in the final right now. I'd have Emery as the slight favourite, but wouldn't be surprised if Leclercq won.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby chengdufan

Andre is reffing Kakovskii v Kazakov in the 6-reds event at the moment. Both are promising young players.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby cupotee

good to see darren morgan in the main mens event but why would he enter this and not enter the q school , i'm not sure if he's actually ever played at the q school.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby HappyCamper

cupotee wrote:good to see darren morgan in the main mens event but why would he enter this and not enter the q school , i'm not sure if he's actually ever played at the q school.


Maybe he's happy playing on the amateur and seniors circuits, and doesn't want to return to full time pro ranks.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby cupotee

HappyCamper wrote:
cupotee wrote:good to see darren morgan in the main mens event but why would he enter this and not enter the q school , i'm not sure if he's actually ever played at the q school.


Maybe he's happy playing on the amateur and seniors circuits, and doesn't want to return to full time pro ranks.


but why would he go all the way to albufeira and potentially give his newly won two year card to the player he beat in the final , maybe he's funded here by welsh amateur snooker where as he isn't at the q school , i don't know.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby HappyCamper

cupotee wrote:
HappyCamper wrote:
cupotee wrote:good to see darren morgan in the main mens event but why would he enter this and not enter the q school , i'm not sure if he's actually ever played at the q school.


Maybe he's happy playing on the amateur and seniors circuits, and doesn't want to return to full time pro ranks.


but why would he go all the way to albufeira and potentially give his newly won two year card to the player he beat in the final , maybe he's funded here by welsh amateur snooker where as he isn't at the q school , i don't know.


To play in and try to win the tournament?

The tour card is just an extra benefit which he wouldn't have to accept, unlike Q school which exists for the sole purpose of awarding tour slots.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby chengdufan

I note that Michael Kane is in the main event.
Taking a break from acting to represent Gibraltar.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby chengdufan

cupotee wrote:good to see darren morgan in the main mens event but why would he enter this and not enter the q school , i'm not sure if he's actually ever played at the q school.

Summer holiday plans: 2 weeks in Portugal or 3 weeks in Sheffield :chin:

Re: EBSA U21

Postby lhpirnie

HappyCamper wrote:
cupotee wrote:
HappyCamper wrote:
cupotee wrote:good to see darren morgan in the main mens event but why would he enter this and not enter the q school , i'm not sure if he's actually ever played at the q school.


Maybe he's happy playing on the amateur and seniors circuits, and doesn't want to return to full time pro ranks.


but why would he go all the way to albufeira and potentially give his newly won two year card to the player he beat in the final , maybe he's funded here by welsh amateur snooker where as he isn't at the q school , i don't know.


To play in and try to win the tournament?

The tour card is just an extra benefit which he wouldn't have to accept, unlike Q school which exists for the sole purpose of awarding tour slots.

Yes, I agree. It's a tournament open to anyone. I also think it's reasonable to want to play in Q School just for the love of competition, but the format isn't really suitable.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby cupotee

Wales seem to be the dominant british country at this ebsa mens and under 21’s event , emery , pagett , jak jones , jamie clarke , jackson page.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby lhpirnie

cupotee wrote:Wales seem to be the dominant british country at this ebsa mens and under 21’s event , emery , pagett , jak jones , jamie clarke , jackson page.

I think Dylan Emery was the player most likely to be competitive on the tour next season. I was disappointed with Mertens after his U18 win. Leclercq was pretty good but allows his opponent too many chances. Emery has a reasonable amount of experience in pro tournaments, but it's a heck of a step-up.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby SnookerEd25

HappyCamper wrote:
cupotee wrote:good to see darren morgan in the main mens event but why would he enter this and not enter the q school , i'm not sure if he's actually ever played at the q school.


Maybe he's happy playing on the amateur and seniors circuits, and doesn't want to return to full time pro ranks.


I recently set a question on the Never Ending Quiz regarding his run to the Riga Masters semi-final in 2016; I think the question was posed to him at the time and the answer was he had too much else going on - he does coaching, has business interests, does the odd bit of commentary & punditry at tournaments like the Welsh Open, and is (was) enjoying his snooker as and when he plays on the amateur circuit. He didn’t’t feel like he had the time or inclination to pursue anything higher than that. Seems like he has his head screwed on, is comfortable financially and happy personally. Why jeopardise all that chasing past glories?

Good luck to him, I say <ok>

Re: EBSA U21

Postby cupotee

lhpirnie wrote:
cupotee wrote:Wales seem to be the dominant british country at this ebsa mens and under 21’s event , emery , pagett , jak jones , jamie clarke , jackson page.

I think Dylan Emery was the player most likely to be competitive on the tour next season. I was disappointed with Mertens after his U18 win. Leclercq was pretty good but allows his opponent too many chances. Emery has a reasonable amount of experience in pro tournaments, but it's a heck of a step-up.


yes i think emery will be fine for next season , he's already beaten gao yang and drew with ben hancorn as a top up this season and has plenty of time between now and next july to reflect and consolidate on his play.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby lhpirnie

cupotee wrote:
lhpirnie wrote:
cupotee wrote:Wales seem to be the dominant british country at this ebsa mens and under 21’s event , emery , pagett , jak jones , jamie clarke , jackson page.

I think Dylan Emery was the player most likely to be competitive on the tour next season. I was disappointed with Mertens after his U18 win. Leclercq was pretty good but allows his opponent too many chances. Emery has a reasonable amount of experience in pro tournaments, but it's a heck of a step-up.


yes i think emery will be fine for next season , he's already beaten gao yang and drew with ben hancorn as a top up this season and has plenty of time between now and next july to reflect and consolidate on his play.

Well, he was extremely lucky to beat Gao! But he's looked quite comfortable in the matches he's had at professional level. The main thing is he's been scoring quite well, which is essential. Of course it's almost impossible for a young player to establish himself on tour quickly, but this first 2-year card is the next step.

Re: EBSA U21

Postby chengdufan

For the record, here were the results from the L16 stage onwards:

L16
Julien Leclercq (Bel) (aged 18) 4-2 Sybren Sokolowski (Bel (20)
Aiden Murphy (Eng) (17) 4-1 Niel Vincent (Fra) (21)
Anton Kazakov (Ukr) (16) 4-2 Liam Graham (Sco) (17)
Ben Mertens (Bel) (16) 4-2 Fergal Quinn (NIr) (21)
Dylan Emery (Wal) (20) 4-0 Connor Benzey (Eng) (19)
Liam Davies (Wal) (15) 4-1 Hamim Hussain (Eng) (20)
Florian Nüßle (Aut) (19) 4-2 Ross Bulman (Ire) (20)
Antoni Kowalski (Pol) (17) 4-0 Nicolas Montreux (Fra) (19)

QFs
Leclercq 4-2 Murphy
Kazakov 4-3 Mertens
Emery 4-3 Davies
Kowalski 4-2 Nüßle

SFs
Leclercq 4-2 Kazakov
Emery 4-0 Kowalski

Final
Emery 5-2 Leclercq