Congratulations to Nick van den Berg of the Netherlands for going undefeated in winning the 3rd Annual OnePocket.org Hague 5 European Championship. We increased yet again, to 56 players this year — Nick being player number 56! The format was double elimination down to the final 8, then single elimination, all races to 3. Each year we have steadily grown in both the number of entries and international representation. This year it was 14 different flags in the tournament field, including two from Spain — and in fact 2nd place went to new participant Manuel Montejo Fernandez from Spain. 3rd and 4th went to Alex Lely and Tim Jonkman (full payouts below).
While the finals finished in short order 3-0, the semifinals featured an especially tightly contested match between former Mosconi cup teammates Alex Lely and Nick van den Berg that came down to hill-hill and one final ball, which finished with a resounding cross corner bank by van den Berg to advance to the finals.
Talk is next year to increase the entry fee to 100 Euro, but still hope to fill the goal of a 64 player field. Our host, Staaf Verharen has reported that a new 5 year lease is in place for Hague 5, ensuring the location is secure for future tournaments.
Payouts:
1. Nick van den Berg € 2000
2. Manuel Montejo Fernandez € 900
3. Alex Lely € 425
4. Tim Jonkman € 425
5. Jim Tomassoni €200
6. Thomas Kirsch €200
7. Kyle van den Bosch € 200
8. Benjamin Baier € 200
9. Roy Steffesen € 50
10. Alain Desmet € 50
11. Mario Stahl € 20
12. Ivan Belmonte € 20
13. Richard Eijmberts €20
14. Pascal de Smit € 20
15. Sebastiaan Trolle € 20
16. Joe Long € 20
There were two side events: a banks challenge Friday night and One Ball One Pocket Saturday night. The Banks challenge was an interesting format, with prescribed banks prepared ahead of time, each player getting 3 chances per shot. The full shot array here:
The 1B1P standard game race to 4.
Despite them both starting late at night after the main tournament matches they drew fields of 38 1B1P and 24 for the banks.
Banks challenge winner: Vincent Rauwerda (Peru/Netherlands)
1B1P winner: Hendrik Franke (Germany)
Big thank you to tournament director Espen Falkenhaug and hard working assistant Anna Boswijk! Thank you to Attorney Joseph Long for sponsorship, and OrangeForks productions for the top notch *free* live stream (available for rewatching on YouTube also).
Anyone who has not attended, you will find an amazing combination of One Pocket camaraderie, a location immersed in European culture, and of course fierce but good natured competition! See you next year!!