Press Release | 12 March 2026 (web version)
GOLD FOR TEAM SPAIN AND RAYMUND SWERTZ
Two gold medals were decided on the sixth day of the CEB All-in-One Carom European Championships in Antalya, Türkiye. The new continental champions are the Spanish national team in artistic billiards and Dutchman Raymund Swertz in Cadre 47/2.
Artistic Billiards – National Teams
The first decision of the day came in artistic billiards, where the team competition concluded with a final between Spain and the host nation Türkiye. As expected, many fans gathered in the arena today to cheer on the local heroes Baris Cin and Haci Arap Yaman. However, the Spaniards Sergio Sanchez and Hector Cuadrado also wanted their say in the title race and promptly claimed the first set. This had an effect, and the Spanish team subsequently managed to win the next two sets as well, securing both the match and the European Championship title.
The bronze medals went to the teams from Germany and the Netherlands. On the German side, Thomas Ahrens and Marvin Heinrich lost their semifinal match against Spain 1–3 in sets. René Dericks and Benny Smits, representing Netherlands 1, were also defeated by Türkiye in four sets.
Cadre 47/2
Raymund Swertz is the new European Champion in Cadre 47/2. The Dutchman celebrated the game over the past two days and deservedly crowned himself European Champion.
However, in the final against Jean-François Florent of France, Swertz had to leave the table unusually early after scoring only three points. Florent then built a run of 129 points before he too missed his next carom. Swertz immediately seized the opportunity and began one of his seemingly endless runs. Point after point followed, and in his unmistakable style he eventually reached 247 points to secure the gold medal. Florent could only offer fair congratulations, just as his compatriot and defending champion Willy Gerimont had done earlier in the semifinals. Gerimont also had to concede defeat after two innings, losing 59–250. Alongside Gerimont, Austrian Michael Hikl stood on the podium as the second bronze medalist. He lost his semifinal against Florent 180–250 after five innings.
As mentioned, the highest run of the day was played by Raymund Swertz with 247 points. He also recorded the best average of the day (125 points) and finished the entire tournament with an incredible overall average of 112.5 points.
Results
3-Cushion Individual
In the individual 3-cushion competition, 48 players started this morning in sixteen groups of three. The group winners and the two best runners-up qualified for the round of the last 32, where they met 14 seeded players.
The most prominent casualty of the qualification round was probably German U25 European Champion Amir Ibraimov. For a long time he looked like the group winner, but in the final moments he lost 37–40 to Tommy Ebeling of Denmark. Meanwhile, Dick Jaspers of the Netherlands unfortunately withdrew his participation at short notice.
In the round of the last 32, almost all of the seeded players prevailed. Only Tolgahan Kiraz (Türkiye), who lost 47–50 to Sam van Etten of the Netherlands, and Arnim Kahofer (Austria), who was defeated 47–50 by Sergio Jimenez of Spain, were eliminated in the first round.
The highest run in qualification was played today by Portugal’s Luis Pinto with 13 points, while Germany’s Tom Löwe recorded the best average with 2.352. After the transition to the knockout stage, Jean van Erp (Netherlands) produced the highest run with twelve points, while veteran Eddy Merckx (Belgium) achieved the best average with 2.941.
Round of 16 Draw (09:00):
Martin Horn – Birol Uymaz
Glenn Hofman – Torbjörn Blomdahl
Peter Ceulemans – Frédéric Caudron
Sergio Jimenez – Jeremy Bury
Tayfun Tasdemir – Sam van Etten
Ruben Legazpi – Roland Forthomme
Nikos Polychronopoulos – Berkay Karakurt
Mikael Devogelaere – Eddy Merckx
All European Championship results can be found here
There is also a livestream available for fans covering all 24 tables. A paid service is available at www.tv.kozoom.com.
The entire European Championship and all tables can be watched from 12–15 March for €9.99 (special offer).
Additionally table 3 is always visible for free on Kozoom YouTube channel.
You are welcome to use this press release for republication with a source attribution to "CEB".
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us by e-mail.
CEB Media Office
E-mail: media@eurobillard.org
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