FOLLOWING A YEAR of competition, the Inaugural Longoni 9-Ball League concludes next Friday 25th Novemberwhen Poland takes on Spain in the championship match. Starting out in Lasko, Slovenia in February, there were 12 national teams split into four groups who have played down to the final two.
With current EuroTour rankings determining the selection of teams playing at any time during the course of the year, the dynamic Spanish duo of Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz and David Alcaide have led the way for their country. However, with both having been called up to represent Europe in the Mosconi Cup, it opens the window for the next two highest ranked players to step forward.
That means that Jose Alberto Delgado and Jonas Souto, who are ranked 17th and 37th on the EuroTour respectively, will be handed the golden opportunity of taking on Team Poland. Both Spaniards are playing well this year having both made it to the last 16 at the Tour stop in Slovenia and Souto making the same grade a few more times since.
They’re up against a formidable duo though, in Wiktor Zielinski and Wojciech Szewczyk, who are both enjoying stellar seasons. After the Polish pair came through a tough group consisting of Austria and Italy, they then beat a strong German side in the semi-finals and are surely now favourites to lift the Longoni 9-Ball League title.
The Longoni 9-ball league is a scotch doubles format involving 12 countries highest on the EuroTour rankings at the beginning of the year. The countries were split into four groups of three teams with each group winner proceeding to the semi-finals.
The winning team will receive €4,500 which includes prize money for wins in the group stages. The runners-up receive 2500 Euro plus group earnings and as with all the teams, the total prize money will be divided into match shares with one share for each team appearance.
The Final between Poland and Spain can be viewed live on the platform, TV. kozoom as well as on the Longoni 9 Ball League & EPBF Facebook pages on Friday 25th November starting at approximately 9pm.