Kamui European Youth Pool Championships
Terme Olimia, Podčetrtek, Slovenia
SLOVENIA & PORTUGAL TAKE OPENING 14.1 GOLDS
14th July 2026
THE OPENING FINALS of the KAMUI European Youth Pool Championships completed this evening at the Terme Olimia resort as Maks Benko (SLO) retained the title he won last year in the Under 17s, and Ruben Gomes (POR) claimed a second European Championship gold in the Under 19s.
Benko, who claimed his fifth gold medal and tenth overall in his short European Championship career, defeated Germany’s Haojing Zhang by 75-41. On Table One, Gomes, who won the 9-ball title this time last year in the same venue, put paid to the hopes of WPA World Junior Champion, Jakub Chrobot of Poland by 100-25.
Earlier, Gomes confessed to not having played a whole lot of 14.1 in his native Portugal but his performances and natural potting ability over the past two days belied his lack of experience. Tailing by 12-0, a superb run of 56 put him into a strong position and although Chrobot endeavoured to force his way back into the game, the Portuguese closed the match out with a run of 27 to claim the gold.
He said, “I’m very happy; in this final I performed very good and all of my work is getting results so I’m very happy and ready for the next one. This was my best game by far and in the other games I didn’t play that good but things went well so I’m very happy I could show my capacity and talent.
“If the week ended tomorrow, I would be very happy because I just won one trophy but tomorrow, I’m here again to fight for the 10-ball and then 9-ball. I want to win a lot more.
This was a nice practice for the next discipline so I’m very excited for what is coming.
“I never play straight pool but the balls were in front of me and I played them. I know I’m very good at potting balls so I just have to be intelligent playing the game and the luck is by my side. My opponent Chrobot is very good and he played well the whole tournament but in the final, I didn’t give him a lot of chances,” he concluded.
For medal-winning phenom Benko, it was another day at the office but the stress of performing at the highest level showed at the end as he sunk into his chair, head in hands, to gather his thoughts.
A succession of small runs kept him ahead throughout the match, although Zhang was never more than a decent run away from closing the deficit. Benko, though, held on to reach the 75 points required to add to his extensive medal collection.
Commented Benko, “I don’t know what happened now but I’ve won two in a row somehow. Ive trained a lot of straight pool lately, I’ve won two times in a row and let’s see how many more I can win.
“It’s tough to play and today I played four matches but I’ll sleep today and I’ll try to win as many matches as possible but its match-by-match. Zhang was a very good player, young I think, and playing in his first European Championships and it’s crazy to be in the final but I needed to do my job and today I did it.
“Of course, there are expectations and that’s why there is more pressure on me but it’s match-by-match, ball-by-ball, try to come to 75 first and in 10-ball try to make six 10-balls before him. Tomorrow is another game and I play at 10am so I’ll sleep as much as possible and that’s it!”
10-ball events in all three categories commenced today as the field narrowed to a conclusion in the straight pool. They continue on Wednesday, with the medal-deciders taking place on Thursday evening.
Tables 1, 2 and 3 at the Kamui European Youth Pool Championships are streamed throughout on YouTube, via the Pro Billiard TV channel -https://www.youtube.com/@ProBilliardTV
For all results, live scoring and draw, visit www.epbf.com/tournaments/european-championships/
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