"Young Carrom player of France is again European Champion.
Thrilling matches in 11th Euro Cup in Dortmund, Germany
(Report by Media Commission of ICF)

21 year old Pierre Dubois of France once again established supremacy by defending successfully the Title in Singles 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 six 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 and Paolo Martinelli came on 4th and Swiss team with Viktor Baumgartner, 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 plairs. 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 table in the 8th round by winning with a sensational shot which pocket his most difficult piece and opened he 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 Eurocup 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 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 Joerg 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 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 supervised 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 slotted 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."

by
Arif Naqvi
Chairman
Media Commission of ICF