JUST CHAMPION!

David John of Wales retained his European Championship title in emphatic style, taking all four frames of the final session in forty-five minutes to defeat his Welsh compatriot Andrew Pagett 7-3.

Tied at 3-3 after an exhilarating morning session, John swept through the remaining frames adding breaks of 79, 52 and 62 to his morning tally and bring the final match statistics to nine breaks over 50 in ten frames, including three centuries.

Chairman of the EBSA Jim Lacey, summed up the feelings of everyone privileged to be present saying "These two boys deserve to be playing at the Crucible. They have produced snooker of a fantastic standard throughout the tournament and have being a great credit to their country and the game of snooker.

In an eloquent victor's speech David John said "I just can't believe it. It was hard to play my best mate on the circuit, so really I didn't mind who won."

The first player to successfully defend the title, John continued "I'm thrilled and it was a great match."

Still smiling despite his defeat Pagett said "If we'd carried on at 3-3 it might have been different, but after the break I just couldn't stop him scoring."

The EBSA awaits official confirmation from the WPBSA as to whether David John's victory will earn him one of the wildcard invitation's to next season's main tour.

KELLY KEEPS HER CROWN - BUT  ONLY JUST

World Champion and World No. 1 Kelly Fisher collected her seventh European Ladies title with a 5-4 win over Belgium's Wendy Jans, who for the fifth time in succession, had to settle for runners-up spot.

Fisher established a 3-1 lead, a break of 69 in the second frame proving to be the best of an uncharacteristically low scoring match.

Jans took the next but Fisher regained a two frame margin thanks to a break of 65.

Jans, the new World Ladies No. 2, fought back, winning the next two frames to send the match into a decider. An early error from the Belgian gave the World Champion the chance she needed and Fisher slotted in a match winning 54 break.

"Phew!" said Fisher after the match. "That was really hard work today, but I'm thrilled to win again. I would have liked to have produced my best form but I'll take the win."

Belgium's leading lady was philosophical in defeat commenting "I'd rather lose 5-4 than 5-0 like last year. I'm getting closer!"

JOE CAN'T KEEP UP WITH THE JONESES

Welshman Ron Jones retained his seniors' title after a hard fought 6-4 win over Republic of Ireland's Joe Delaney.

Jones took an early 2-0 lead assisted by efforts of 33 and 58, before Delaney countered with 39 to establish a foot hold in the match. The Irishman snatched the fourth with a late run of 32, countering Jones' 37 to bring the match all-square.

The Welshman put his foot down after the interval to take the next three frames and leave Delaney staring defeat in the face.

But the gallant Irishman, who spent several years living in Wales and is thus nicknamed the Welsh Irishman, battled back, pulling back two frames, before Jones finally clinched victory in a marathon tenth frame, 81-60.

SNOOKER'S FINEST HOUR

The opening session of the final produced an awesome display of break building from David John and Andrew Pagett, contesting the all-Welsh final.

The players were introduced into the arena to the strains of the Welsh National Anthem booming through the speakers and if the players needed any further inspiration they certainly got it.

Prior to the match both the Welsh lads agreed that it didn't matter who won because they had already won for their country.

And taking huge national pride into the match inspired both players to produce a quite superlative, record-breaking session as the six opening frames took exactly one hour to complete.

David John got the show underway with a break of exactly 100 in the opening frame, launching the break off a long red, cueing from tight under the baulk cushion.

Andrew Pagett immediately responded with a run of 62 to level and then launched into a sparkling break of 115, which could have been a 133 total clearance, had he not rattled the blue.

The fourth frame was more sedate but it went the way of Pagett to give him a 3-1 lead.

Back came the champion in the next, with a supreme 141 total clearance, which might have taken the high break prize, but for Bjorn Haneveer's 147 earlier in the event.

And John added another quick fire 74 in the last of the morning, sportingly calling a foul on himself as another red sailed into the pocket and a fourth century beckoned.

The packed and enthralled crowd rose to give the players a standing ovation.

Both players need four of the remaining seven frames to take the title. But who will pay the excess baggage fee to carrying the trophy home again to Wales is anybodies' guess.

SUPER TAFFS!

The final of the mens seniors championship will be an all-Welsh affair with defending champion David John facing Andrew Pagett.

Both players went into their semi finals as under dogs. David John faced Bjorn Haneveer and Pagett lined up against Malta's number one Alex Borg.

But the pair of former Welsh junior champions were both in unstoppable form, powering their way to 6-2 wins and setting the phone lines across Wales ringing.

Former World Champion Terry Griffiths said "I don't believe it, it's great news", whilst Welsh official Gordon Pantall was also incredulous, commenting "it's fabulous, a great credit to Welsh snooker."

David John stole the first frame on the black from Haneveer, despite an opening 50 from the Belgian and that seemed to take the wind out of the Belgian's sails as the Welshman powered into a virtually unassailable 4-0 lead.

The World No. 59 pulled one frame back but John quickly re-establish his superiority with a 114 clearance. A slight hiccup came for John in the seventh, when he led 59-0 but had to sit out a 67 clearance from Haneveer. But John stormed through the next with a 70 break.

Andrew Pagett, who recently enjoyed his twenty-first birthday, took a 4-1 lead over Malta's Alex Borg. Further breaks of 59 and 61 saw the Welshman into the final.

HANEVEER ENDS MARK'S DREAM AND BORG WINS THE MALTESE CHALLENGE

Bjorn Haneveer justified his number one seeding with a 5-2 win over Northern Ireland's Mark Allen to book his place in the semi finals.

While in the bottom half of the draw Alex Borg completed a 5-1 win over his countryman Simon Zammit 5-1.

Defending champion David John booked his place in the semi final line up with a 5-3 win over England's young gun Ben Woollaston, beating the sixteen year old 5-3 and his fellow Welshman Andrew Pagett, close friend of World champion Mark Williams, beat Northern Ireland's Joe Meara 5-4.

Haneveer sat out the first frame and a half as his young seventeen year old opponent came out of the blocks faster than Linford Christie. From the first safety exchange Allen smacked in a long red and took thirteen reds and blacks, before coming up for the blue. The break finally ended at 119 when the youngster missed an awkward green. Allen moved 50 ahead in the second before Haneveer produced a 70 clearance. That break gave the Belgian a boost from an interval score of 2-2 he powered away with breaks of 64 and 72 to clinch a 5-2 win.

Alex Borg, the number two seed made short work of his match against last year's semi finalist Simon Zammit. The first two frames were shared, but from there on it was Borg all the way as he chipped in with runs of 60, 39, 44, 31 twice, and 48 to book his semi final place.

Welshman Andrew Pagett likes to do things the hard way. He was 3-1 down to Joe Meara before he woke up and produced the sort of form that had taken him to the quarters. But he pulled back with breaks of 72 and 92 to send the match into a decider. Meara held the initiative and a 40 points lead after a break of 58, but Pagett stepped in and compiled a match winning 60 break to the pink to clinch victory.

Defending champion David John completed the line up after a young guns shoot out against England's Ben Woollaston. John snatched the first frame with a 32 clearance and then powered through the second with a 120 clearance, which set the crowd roaring as John potted an amazing black off the cushion at an acute angle.

The Englishman pulled the match level at 3-3, but in the next David John got that vital stroke of luck, fluking a red and clearing up to lead 4-3. The Englishman had a chance to level but an awkward shot bridging over the pack eluded him and the champion grabbed his chance.

FISHER STILL ON COURSE FOR SEVENTH TITLE

Kelly Fisher cruised into the final with a 4-0 win over practice partner Val Finnie of Scotland, and, yet again, will face Belgium's Wendy Jans in the final. Jans, from Belgium, now the official World Ladies No. 2 behind Fisher, beat Germany's Natascha Niermann 4-1 to book her place in her fifth consecutive final.

Neither match produced any fireworks, as Fisher produced small contributions of 32, 35 and 27 as opposed to 24 and 26 from Scotland's Finnie. Meanwhile Jans effort of 29 in the fourth frame was the best break of her match again Niermann.

Jans and Niermann fought a magnificent final in the 2003 Continental Team Cup, with Jans snatching victory of the final pink of the match, but today Jans had the upper hand throughout, taking a 3-0 lead before Germany's last player in the event took the fourth.

The seniors' semi finals produced an all-Ireland clash and an all-Welsh clash, which guaranteed some very partisan support! Ron Jones, the defending champion beat his team mate John Terry, from Swansea, a British junior champion as long ago as 1968. Terry opened with 33 in the first but the wily champion took the frame with 39. A break of 34 was enough to give Jones the third, but Terry responded with 32 to take the fourth. Thereafter the champion moved away with a run of 37 and finished with a flourish, making 60 to secure victory.

The Irish "final" was a toe-to-toe fight from start to finish. Delaney, a Dublin bus driver, took a 2-0 lead, helped by a run of 39 in the first. He stretched this to 4-2 before former World No. 20 Eugene Hughes started his fight back. Breaks of 40 and 46 brought Hughes level and sent the match into a decider, from which Delaney, the 2000 champion emerged victorious.

Hughes, who owns and runs a snooker club, lamented afterwards that business in the club is so good that it keeps him from the practice table.

BIRTHDAY BOY SETS UP AN ALL-MALTESE QUARTER FINAL

Alex Borg celebrated his thirty-fourth birthday with a 5-2 win over Northern Ireland's Julian Logue. The highlight of the match came in the opening frame when Borg rattled in a 99 break. And he will now face his Maltese team mate Simon Zammit who was in superb form as he hammered in breaks of 102 in the third frame and 113 in the fifth on the way to a 5-2 win over Iceland's Brynjar Valdimarsson.

Top seed Bjorn Haneveer was untroubled as he strolled to a 5-0 win over Holland's Roy Stolk. A 69 break in the third frame was Haneveer's best effort. But he will now play Northern Ireland's Mark Allen who was in thrilling form as he turned on an exhibition of potting and break buildings against Rene Rijsbergen of Holland, who could only sit back and watch as the teenager made breaks of 56, 76, 130 and 52 in stunning style.

Northern Ireland's Joe Meara prevailed 5-2 over the Republic of Ireland's Garry Hardiman. Breaks of 52 and 64 helped Meara to his win.

And Republic of Ireland also lost out to England, as Ben Woollaston, at just sixteen years old, the youngest player left in the event, beat Martin McCrudden 5-2. The turning point came in the third frame when Woollaston negated a 42 from McCrudden with 84 and then added 62 in the fourth.

The Welsh were involved in the final frame thrillers of the night. Defending champion David John sped into a 2-0 lead of France's Yannick Poulain. The Welshman opened the first frame with eight red and blacks in a break which finished at 79 and then stroked in 66. But the Frenchman levelled at 2-2 and it was game on. John took the next with 62, Poulain retaliated with 73 and 60 to send the match into the final frame. Both player had chances but Poulain missed a red and the Welshman calmly took the last three reds to ensure victory.

Fellow Welshman Andrew Pagett left it to the final black of the match to clinch victory over Finland's Jussi Tyrkko - but what a black. Twenty five up with one red on, Tyrkko missed the red, but kissed the black over to the side cushion by the middle pocket. Pagett gave the black a scowl and set about the clearance. He got a good angle on the pink to kick the black off the cushion, but he double kissed it and it landed smack on the baulk cushion. Another deep scowl from the frustrated Welshman, but he got down and doubled it at top speed straight into the top pocket, amidst a huge roar from a packed auditorium.

JANS STARS IN LADIES QUARTER FINALS

Wendy Jans of Belgium compiled breaks of 32, 34, 43 and rounded off her 4-0 win against Finland's Riitta Koskinen with an 81 as she swept into the semi finals.

Number one seed Kelly Fisher wasn't far behind her and she stroked in a 73 clearance in an equally comprehensive 4-0 win over Belgium's Candid Binon.

Fisher's semi final opposition will be Scotland's Valerie Finnie who came through 4-1 against Finland's Aino Pehkonen. There were no high breaks, but having being held at 1-1, the Scot's greater experience saw her through.

Germany's number one Natascha Niermann beat Belgium's Caty Dehaene 4-1 in a match which was a lot closer than the result suggests. Every frame could have gone either way, but only one went in favour of the Belgian as the Continental Team Cup finalist battled through.

SENIORS LINE UP A CELTIC CHALLENGE

The Welsh and the Irish are both guaranteed a finalist in the seniors championships. Defending champion Ron Jones claimed a 4-2 win over Malta's Tony Mifsud in a thoroughly entertaining match, littered with useful breaks. Jones opened up with 30 and 59 in the opener, and subsequently added runs of 41 and 56, and Mifsud contributed two breaks of 30.

Now Jones will face fellow Welshman John Terry (pictured), who came through a titanic struggle against Malta's Tony Brincat (pictured right) 4-3.

And the top half of the draw saw number one seed Eugene Hughes make short work of his match against Switzerland's Piotr Kruze, winning 3-1 with breaks of 78, a 57 clearance and 31, and the Swiss senior did well to take a frame from the in-form Irishman.

After a tortuous match between Belgium's Yvan Leus and Irishman Joe Delaney, the Irishman eventually emerged victorious 4-3, but not without nearly throwing the match away. Delaney took a 2-0 lead, with two breaks of 41, but Leus came back to take a 3-2 lead, at which point the match was suspended to allow the next session of play. The enforced break played more on the Belgian's nerves and the experienced Irishman came out and turned the match back in his favour.

BIG THREE TOP THE SEEDINGS

It came as no great surprise to anyone that Bjorn Haneveer topped the seedings in the Men's championships, Kelly Fisher in the Ladies and Eugene Hughes in the Seniors, but alongside them some first time qualifiers got their names into the knock out draw and there were the usual sob stories of those who missed out by the narrowest of margins.

Bjorn Haneveer, champion in 1999 and 2001 is seeded to meet Malta's Alex Borg in the final. The Maltese star, who celebrates his thirty-fourth birthday today, swept through his final qualification match in style with breaks of 102, 60 and 77. Haneveer however was given a bit of work to do by Latvia's Peteris Strazdins. The Belgian nicked the first frame on the black, but Strazdins levelled the match before Haneveer moved ahead with a run of 85 and closed out the match comfortably.

Northern Ireland's Julian Logue and Mark Allen both needed to win their final match to secure qualification and they did so in the best possible way, both making centuries to secure their wins. Seventeen year old Allen, the new and youngest ever Northern Ireland champion beat Germany's Kurt Stock. From 2-2, Allen stormed through with breaks of 52 and a match winning 102. Logue was also held 2-2, by Belgium's Kevin van Hove, but he then ran in 52 and exactly 100 for victory.

Scotland's James McBain failed to qualify but left a lasting impression on the event with a quite superb final performance. He smashed in breaks of 63, 57, 84, 95 and 96 against his German opponent Jorn Hannes Huhn.

Republic of Ireland's Martin McCrudden qualified safely, although he lost his final match to Martin McCrudden, but the Irishman turned on the style with a break of 129.

Scotland's Gary Thomson also compiled a century, a 113 clearance, during his 4-2 win over Sasche Lippe, but he lost out on frame difference to gain qualification.

Kelly Fisher sailed through her groups without dropping a frame, but Belgium's Wendy Jans, runner up for the past four years, dropped three frames and lost the second seeding spot to Germany's Natascha Niermann. Much to Germany's delight their leading lady only lost one frame during her group matches. Finland provided two qualifiers, Aino Pehkonen and Riitta Koskinen, and likewise, Belgium bagged two quarter final places through Caty Dehaene and Candide Binon.

Belgium also featured in the struggle for places in the Seniors' quarter finals. Bavo Vandersande bid the event farewell after losing to Ireland's Joe Delaney, but Yvan Leus secured a place after beating England's Winston Dwyer 3-2, helped by breaks of 36 and 30.

Malta, Wales and Republic of Ireland each took two places. Tony Brincat and Tony Mifsud (pictured with Eugene Hughes) won through for Malta, their first time in the event. Wales' took the number two seeding spot through defending champion Ron Jones and he's joined by team mate John Terry.

Eugene Hughes, beaten finalist last year, took the number one spot and former champion Joe Delaney completed the line up. KNOCK OUT RESULTS

IT'S ALL IN THE RUNES

Defending champion David John faces a winner take all shoot out against Rune Kampe to decide who will qualify from Group A, for the knock out stages. Already safely through is Malta's Simon Zammit. A semi finalist last year, Zammit has won five out of five matches and currently tops the group.

He strolled through 4-1 against Germany's Patrick Einsle in Tuesday's group match.

Ben Woollaston, sixteen only last week, looks pretty safe in Group B. Despite his one slip up against Sasche Lippe, the four time Pontins junior champion has won his other four matches. He plays his remaining match on Wednesday against Costas Konnaris of Cyprus.

Konnaris, Gary Thomson, Kevin van Hove and Julian Logue are all locked in a battle for the second qualification spot.

Republic of Ireland's Garry Hardiman  has swept through Group C and he is joined by France's Yannick Poulain in the knock outs. The pair play for honour and seeding places in their final match.

A similar situation governs Group D. Malta's Alex Borg has kept a clean sheet and Germany's Kurt Stock  improved his chances with a 4-1 win over Holland's Bas Jansen. But mathematically any of Stock, Jansen or Northern Ireland's young champion Mark Allen could snatch the second place.

Holland's Rene van Rijsbergen leads Group E and he's into the knock outs. Northern Ireland's Joe Meara looks favourite to join him but if Meara were to lose to Rene and James McBain beats Risto Vayrynen then the calculators will be called for!

Iceland's Brynjar Valdimarsson (pictured right) leads Group F, but if the Iceland player were to beat Holland's Roy Stolk and Ireland's Robert Redmond beat Laszlo Penzes, then the qualification alongside Valdimarsson will depend on frame average.

After a rocky start Welshman Andrew Pagett has completed his Group G matches with five wins. Ireland's Martin McCrudden has four wins, but might live to rue his loss to the Welshman if he were to lose against Jim Spapen and Gerrit bij de Leij beats Eljer Hame.

Belgian star Bjorn Haneveer has lost only four frames in Group G. Three of those came today in a thrilling match with Germany's Lasse Munsterman. Trailing 1-0 Haneveer turned that into a 3-2 lead. Munstermann levelled the match with a gritty 67, but Haneveer yet again showed why he's the star of the show with a match winning 107 in the decider.

The loss for Munstermann leaves him needing to beat England's Alex Davies in his final match and hoping that Finland's Jussi Tyrkko comes a cropper against Rafal Jewtuch. The young Englishman forfeited his Tuesday group match after suffering a stomach upset.

FISHER KEEPS A CLEAN SHEET IN THE LADIES GROUPS

Defending champion Kelly Fisher continued unchallenged in the group stages, notching her fourth 3-0 win and in some style. Fisher compiled a break of 91 in the opening frame of her match against Latvia's Diana Bukina, but missed a red with a possible 133 clearance at her mercy.

Hot on Fisher's heels if Natascha Niermann (pictured). Germany's leading lady has dropped only one frame in Group B and she swept aside Latvia's Inese Kazoka for her fourth victory.

Belgium's Wendy Jans heads up Group D, but she let one frame slip to Ireland's Ann McMahon and had McMahon not missed a vital blue, another frame would have gone astray. Qualification in Group D is still there for the taking with Aino Pehkonen, Angelique Vialard and Ann McMahon all chasing second spot.

Group C also looks like being a four horse race. Only Scotland's Val Finnie has kept a clean sheet with a vital 3-2 win over Norway's Anita Rizzuti. Belgium's Caty Dehane and Rizzuti both have two wins and Holland's Rosanna Lo-A-Tjong is hoping to come with a late run on the rails, after eventually putting her first win on the board, beating Germany's Yvonne Kampmann 3-1.

WALES, BELGIUM AND IRELAND LEAD THE OLD BOYS NETWORK

Defending champion Ron Jones and Ireland's Eugene Hughes maintained their 100% records in the second events, as did Belgium's Bavo Vanderzande, after Day Four of the group matches.

Welshman Jones trailed 2-0 to Ireland's Phil Martin, but he took the third and levelled the match with a break of 60 before dominating the final frame.

Hughes beat Malta's Tony Mifsud 3-1 but the Maltese player, who has only recently started playing again after several years lay off, was thrilled to take a frame from the former professional star.

Malta's Tony Brincat inflicted a rare defeat on the 2000 champion Joe Delaney. The Irishman lead 2-0 with a break of 48, but a run of 36 helped Brincat back into the match and he held on for a 3-2 win. It was a bad night for Ireland as Belgium's Yvan Leus then inflicted a 3-2 defeat on Brian Mullens.

A real fight to the end match eventually went to Iceland's Gylfi Ingason who was helped to his 3-2 win over Austria's Clausdieter Franschitz by a 40 break.

HANEVEER MAKES THE FIRST MAXIMUM IN THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

World No. 59 Bjorn Haneveer from Belgian set the Maritim hotel alight on Sunday morning with a fabulous 147 maximum break, his third in competition but a first for the EBSA European Championships.

Haneveer's break came against Poland's Rafal Jewtuch who had already had to sit out a break of 81 from the Belgium, which comprises 11 reds and 10 blacks. Having tuned up with that Haneveer set about his 'max' and was rarely troubled throughout. Adroitly chipping reds out of the pack, he held position and although the pink was off its spot, the final clearance was straightforward.

Haneveer made his first maximum as a junior in the 1996 Belgian Junior ranking series and he repeated the feat in 2002 in a Belgian senior ranking event.

Sadly for Haneveer his fabulous break will not join the official list as the tables have not been officially templated to WSA tournament conditions.

The Belgian went on to rattle in a break of 58 in the fourth frame to complete a 4-0 win.

Holland's Bas Jansen couldn't quite match that feat, but he had his scoring boots on as well, smacking in 74 and 100 to beat Estonia's Oliver Auns 4-0. And the big breaks kept piling in as Welshman Andrew Pagett rattled in a pair of 49's, 105 and 85 in a 4-0 demolition of Ejler Hame.

And his scoring feast was matched by Finland's Risto Vayrynen who compiled 110, 59 and 60 in a superb 4-0 win against Switzerland's Dominic Lienhard

SASCHA PULLS THE WOOL OVER BEN'S EYES

Germany's Sascha Lippe pulled off a shock 4-0 result over English starlet Ben Woollaston on Day four of the group stages. At least three of the four frames could have gone either way, but the Germany put them on the board. It shouldn't unduly affect Woollaston's chances of qualification, but the win brings Lippe level with Northern Ireland's Julian Logue who beat Costas Konnaris 4-1.

The rest of the German contingent had a bad morning. Joe Meara beat Jorn Hannes Huhn 4-1 and Mike Henson went down 4-2 to Roy Stolk. Belgium's Jim Spapen cracked a 90 clearance in his 4-2 win over Jakob Stacha. Finland's Jussi Tyrkko added to German misery as breaks of 75 and 78 helped him to a 4-2 win against Lasse Munstermann. Defending champion David John stroked in a 59 and nicked another frame on a respot black, after angling Patrick Einsle, who was yet another German loser and there were also losses for Olaf Thode, 4-1 to Garry Hardiman who compiled an 87 and Kurt Stock. The German led Alex Borg 3-1 before the Maltese turned the match round to snatch a 4-3 win.

McBAIN RATTLES UP THE BREAK BUT FAILS TO IMPRESS MEARA

Scottish champion James McBain compiled an 86 clearance, a 102 clearance and a break of 52, but still lost out 4-3 to Northern Ireland's Joe Meara. They are playing Group E of the men's event and it already looks very likely that the group will be very tight with qualification being decided on frame difference. Welshman Gareth Coppack notched his second win at the expense of Switzerland's Dominic Lienhard.

Finland's Jussi Tyrkko gave the young English champion Alex Davies a shock. Breaks of 53 and 55 helped the Finn to a 4-2 win.

And the 2003 European Under 19 champion also got a nasty shock. Trailing 2-1 Jamie O'Neill levelled the match against Malta's Duncan Bezzina with a break of 52, but the Maltese calmly took the next two frames with breaks of 54 and 56.

In the afternoon session it was Germany all the way, much to the delight of the large German audience. There were wins for Jakob Stacha, Lasse Munstermann, Fransiska Stark, Patrick ensle, Olaf Thode, Mike Henson, Kurt Stock, Jorn Hannes Huhn. Only a defeat for Sascha Lippe by Kevin van Hove, prevented a clean sweep of wins.

BRAVO BAVO

Belgium's Bavo Vandezande completed a hat trick of wins in the Seniors event with a 3-1 win over the experienced Tony Brincat of Malta. He now lies joint top of his group alongside Irishman Joe Delaney who had an a straightforward 3-0 win over France's Pascal Guillaume.

Eugene Hughes proved he's still a 'hit with the ladies', after being besieged by two young German fans, who came to watch him play - and win - and get his autograph. Don't tell Eugene, but the keen young snooker fans spent the entire day collecting every players' autograph!

Germany's Lutz Koch made it three out of three with a 3-1 win over Belgium's Yvan Leus, and that despite a break of 51 in the opener from the Belgian.

Malta's Tony Mifsud also compiled a break of 51 as he beat England's Ali Bassiri. London based Bassiri is one of two Iranian born players competing. Bassiri representing England and Ebrahim Baghi represents Austria. The pair have become firm friends and are laying down plans to help promote snooker in their native country.

High break of the day in the seniors went the way of Welshman Alan Tanner. The Tonypandy player ran in 52 against Austria's Clausdieter Franschitz.

Val Finnie took the honours for the ladies. The Scot compiled a break of 51 in beating Belgium's Caty Dehaene 3-0. Finnie has yet to drop a frame in the event.

Belgium's Candide Binon was close behind with 59 in her match against Ireland's Cathy Dunne which ended 3-0 for the Belgian.

Finland's Riitta Koskinen clinched a marathon against Poland's Malgorzata Klys. Having trailed 2-0 Koskinen fought back to a 3-2 win.

Inese Kazoka put a win on the board for Latvia, with a 3-2 win over Holland's Lea Lindhout.

DELANEY DELIGHT AS HE TANS ALAN

Joe Delaney, Seniors champion in 20001 won the Celtic challenge on the final black after a superb match against Welshman Alan Tanner. Two breaks of 53 helped Delaney to a 2-1 lead but Tanner battled back and held a twenty point lead going into the colours in the decider.

But despite being placed in a string of nasty snookers, Delaney extricated himself gradually chipped away at the colours, until he had a stroke of luck in kissing the black right into the jaws of the green pocket while potting the blue. But he took on and potted an amazing pink and ultimately deserved the tap-in black and his victory.

The match, as expected was conducted in the spirit and good humour that pervades the entire event. In fact the pair had already been swapping their tactics before the match, defying the other to beat him. As soon as the match was over the Welsh and Irish all went to enjoy a post match discussion and a well earned drink!

Defending champion Ron Jones rattled in a break of 90 in a 3-0 win over Switzerland's Piotr Kruze and John Terry claimed his second win with a 3-1 win over Winston Dwyer, the highlight being a break of 82 from Terry.

Former French champion Luc Allain, sporting a very 'chic' waistcoat was a narrow loser to Ireland's Brian Mullens but his team mate Daniel Sperandio had the French cheering as he notched a 3-2 win over Englishman Ali Bassiri and Austria's Ebrahim Baghi made it a miserable night for the English as he beat Malcolm Meeson 3-2.

Belgium's Yvan Leus compiled breaks of 32, 32 and 50 as he left Iceland's Palmi Einarsson a mere spectator.

Kelly Fisher found her match being watched by an enthusiastic crowd of German fans who had heard that the world champion was in town. She obliged her fans with breaks of 58 and 47 during her 3-0 win against Germany's Andrea Beiche.

Belgiam's Wendy Jans, last year's finalist, notched a run of 52 during her match against Poland's Maria Neilubowicz.

Germany's Natashca Niermann also had the home fans cheering when she beat Poland's Ewa Pieniazek 3-0, but Malgorzata Klys put a smile back on Polish faces with a win over Germany's Franziska Stark.

KONNARIS WIN COULD COSTAS THOMSON

Costas Konnaris from Cyprus produced the shock result of the day in the men's event, clinching a fine 4-3 victory over Scotland's Gary Thomson, who only last week won promotion to the WSA Main tour.

The Cypriot took a 2-0 lead before Thomson retaliated with a run of 72 and then drew level. Again Konnaris took the lead and again Thomson came back, but he couldn't do it a third time and Konnaris took the decider.

The German snooker fans are flocking to the Maritim hotel in their droves to watch. Starved of any live international snooker since the European Open ranking tournament was last hosted in Germany in 1997/8 in Bingen, many news fans are now seeing live snooker for the first time and learning the intricacies of the game. Particularly puzzling for the new spectators are nuances of the miss rule, but they're not alone in that!

England's Ben Woollaston gave the fans some great entertainment as he whistled in breaks of 66, 63 and 97 to beat the talented Belgian Kevin van Hove 4-0 in no time at all.

Anthony Brabin couldn't quite emulate the heroics of his Cypriot team mate, and he lost out in a decider to Republic of Ireland's Garry Hardiman.

Denmark's Eljer Hame and Finland's Jussi Tyrkko were in fine form for the Baltic countries, as both rattled up 4-0 wins. Spapen from Belgium was Hame's victim, while Tyrkko beat Latvia's Peteris Strazdins.

Rune Kampe also joined in the Baltic fun, as he put another Danish win on the board and in style, with breaks of 93 and 54 during a 4-1 win over Frenchman Laurent Carcel.

Holland's Rene van Rijsbergen shocked Scottish champion James McBain in a quality match. Frame five proved the Scot's undoing as he opened with a run of 51 before letting the Dutchman back in and Rijsbergen produced a 55 clearance to nick the frame. There were also breaks of 51 from Risjbergen and 76 from McBain.

Welshman Andrew Pagett was also in fine form after a disappointing opening day. Pagett stroked in breaks of 69 and 83 against Germany's Jakob Stacha.

REDMOND WINS A SEVEN FRAME THRILLER IN STYLE

Republic of Ireland's Robert Redmond secured victory in the final frame against Malta's Duncan Bezzina with a stunning matching winning 106. This was the highlight of a high quality, tit for tat match, in which Redmond also ran in a break of 69 and Bezzina 51.

Switzerland's Falk Hollenwaeger gave Johannes B Johannesson a mighty struggle before the genial Iceland player snatched the decider with a crucial break of 58. The Swiss man rattled in a break of 87.

Not to be outdone by his Irish team mate Eugene Hughes made his entrance into the seniors event with a break of 102. The former world top 20 star restricted Germany's Klaus Niers to a meagre tally of 25 points in the match as he breezed through 3-0.

Malta's Tony Mifsud knocked in a break of 55 during his 3-0 win over Daniel Sperandio from France.

Defending champion Ron Jones from Wales found himself in a slightly strange situation. Billed as playing Del Taylor from Germany Jones was somewhat surprised to find himself facing an opponent parading Welsh flags and stickers all over his cue case. Taylor, domiciled in Germany for 15 years, is actually a Welshman from Cardiff. After a 3-0 loss in which Jones made two breaks of 46, Taylor remembered why he left Wales! Fellow Welshmen John Terry and Alan Tanner also notched wins on their seniors debuts. Tanner, playing his first international match for Wales since 1991 had a routine 3-0 win over France's Pascal Guillaume, but John Terry only emerged victorious 3-2, after a titanic struggle with Republic of Ireland's Brian Mullens. The Welshman let a 2-0 lead evaporated before gritting his teeth to make sure of the decider.

Scotland's duo of James McBain, the Scottish champion, and Gary Thomson, the finalist, both notched quick 4-0 wins, but it was Thomson who turned on the style with breaks of 75 and 109 and gained himself a new fan in the process. The match referee came off the table positively purring about the quality of Thomson's play. Another Scot, David Hutchison came unstuck in the seniors, beaten 3-1 by Switzerland's Piotr Kruze, who celebrated his victory with possible the biggest cigar ever seen!

The ladies matches also got under way late on day one. Predictably enough the big guns Kelly Fisher and Wendy Jans both had 3-0 wins, Fisher making a 50 in the process. But the World Champion was pipped to the best beak of the day by Finland's Aino Pehkonen who compiled 51 against Poland's Maria Nieulubowicz, but eventually lost out 3-2.

And so the first day's play in Euro 2003  drew to a close (nearly) with 49 matches played over a gruelling five sessions. Play commenced at 10.00 and the clock ticked past 1.40am before the last match finished, which, for the record was a 3-2 win for Holland's Lea Lindhout over Ireland's Cathy Dunne.

ZAMMIT STUNS THE CHAMP

Malta's Simon Zammit, semi finalist last year, set early morning alarm bells ringing for defending champion David John, as he inflicted a 4-2 defeat on the Welshman. John came out of the blocks all guns blazing with a 78 clearance in the first frame of the day. But subsequently lost his his way as Zammit piled on the pressure.

On a neighbouring table, England's fifteen year old star Ben Woollaston was showing the sort of skills that took him to the English Amateur Championship final. In only the second frame of the day Woollaston smacked in a break of 103 as he cantered to a 4-0 win over the very experienced Northern Ireland player Julian Logue. Fellow English junior, the new European Under 19 champion Jamie O'Neill also showed that he can move up into senior snooker. The Wellingborough practice partner of Peter Ebdon notched up breaks of 79 and 58 to put a 4-2 win over Roy Stolk on the score sheet.

Poland's Sebastian Slugacz stroked in successive breaks of 99 and 87, but still came out a 4-2 loser to Ireland's Garry Hardiman.

Belgium's Bjorn Haneveer, the highest ranked player in the event, opened his campaign with a 4-1 win over Finland's Jussi Tyrkko, including breaks of 74 and 72.

The first carried over match came when Northern Ireland's Joe Meara and Welshman Gareth Coppack were pulled off at 3-3. The high quality match had already produced breaks of 89 and 87 from Coppack, but Meara set an early high break target with an exquisite clearance. But when the match resumed, it was the obdurate Welshman who held off Meara's challenge to clinch the decider and conclude a thoroughly entertaining opening session of play.

OPENING TIME IN BAD WILDUNGEN

One hundred and twelve players from 24 European countries have descended on the little spa town of Bad Wildungen for the 2003 European Championships.

A superb opening ceremony, organised by the German Association and Maritim Hotel saw all the players and officials welcomed to the event by Bad Wildungen's mayor, German officials, Chairman of the EBSA - Jim Lacey (pictured right) , and Secretary of the EBSA - Maxime Cassis. Every player from every country was introduced to the strains of their national anthem and presented with a commemorative mug and championship programme.

After the formalities players and guests were treated to a lavish buffet and the 2003 championships were open for business.

The fabulous Maritim hotel is proving a hugely popular venue. Not only are the snooker facilities all under one roof, but the hotel is a renowned health spa hotel and players have already been seen rushing across reception armed with a towel and wearing barely more than a smile as they head for the swimming pool.

But the hotel does not only cater for its human customers. It is also a health resort for dogs! Some very overweight German dogs are being put through a strict diet and exercise routine to shed a few extra kilos!

Naturally there are always a few traumas and dramas for people travelling to participate and Latvian players Inese Kazoka (pictured below) and Peteris Strazdins set the endurance record for making their journey from Riga by Euro bus, which took a total of 28 hours, travelling across Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany.

There was only one lost luggage story, but much to the amusement of the players, the unlucky victim on this occasion was EBSA Vice Chairman Billy Telford from Northern Ireland. Jim Lacey came to Bill's rescue with a smart white shirt, but the EBSA vice-chairman will have to wait two days for his luggage to be sent on from Dublin airport, where it was stranded!

The cynics who often trot out the line that there are no characters in snooker these days, should take a trip to the European Championships. Whilst on the table all will be deadly earnest, but off the table a bewildering array of characters have assembled.

Germany's Del Taylor has taken to strolling round the venue wearing a straw boater, looking like he should be singing the 'Eton Boating Song', while England's Winston Dwyer has firmly established that "he's the man", having everybody laughing and managing, despite the language barrier, to make firm friends with a group of non-English speaking German visitors.

No event would be complete without the referees and vying for the title of 'clown prince' (off the table) are the two leading contenders Willie Mifsud (pictured above) from Malta and Kazimierz  Olejniczak from Poland.

Visitors are arriving from all parts of the globe to watch the snooker, and a great number of Germans are making the trip to get their first taste of live snooker. Amongst the guests has been Chris Henry, coach of Peter Ebdon, who has been in great demand, as players wonder if a chat with him might make some of the magic rub off. One surprise visitor was Mohammed Al Qassimi, chairman of the Qatar Association, and a gentleman from Kenya who is such a huge snooker fan that he is determined not to miss a single shot of the entire event. Also ensuring that the event has a truly international flavour is South African referee Lynda Martinez, officiating as an IBSF guest referee.

GERMANY PLAY HOST TO THE 2003 EURO HOPEFULS

More than 100 players will converge on Bad Wildungen in Germany for the 2003 Men's, Ladies' and Senior's European Championships.

All three defending champions are in the field, in a bid to retain their titles. England's Kelly Fisher reigns supreme in the European Championship as she does in all world ladies snooker. She'll be keen to add the Euro title to her recently won fifth world crown.

Wales scooped both the men's and the senior's titles last year and David John and Ron Jones both face strong opposition bidding to wrest their titles from them.

Host country Germany will be led in the men's event by their up and coming young star Patrick Einsle. The German teenager has been honing his match skills in the UK during the past season. But Germany can also boast former pro Lasse Munstermann, Mike Henson and Sasche Lippe among their contenders. Leading German lady Natascha Niermann will mount a fierce challenge to the leading ladies' contenders Kelly Fisher and Belgium's Wendy Jans.

The senior's event is fiercely contested and the previous winners, Joe Delaney and Eugene Hughes from Ireland and Wales' Ron Jones are all in the starting line up. They certainly won't have things their way if players like France's legendary Luc Allain, Malta's due of Tony Mifsud and Tony Brincat and an experienced English trio have anything to do with it. Wales also send John Terry, who clinched his first major title as long ago as 1966, when he won the British Boys Championships.

The men's event has all Europe's heavy guns lining up. Pre-event favourite tag will probably fall to Belgium's Bjorn Haneveer, twice a previous winner. Also tipped to reach the latter stages will be Wales' David John, the English player Jamie O'Neill, who has just won the European Under 19 title and has stormed through England's junior rankings in the past year or so. O'Neill is a regular practice partner of 2002 World Champion Peter Ebdon and has undoubtedly benefited greatly from the experience. Another up and coming junior moving up to senior events is Northern Ireland's vastly talented Mark Allen. Holland and Iceland both send vastly experienced players, well capable of being in the final shake-up and Malta's Alex Borg, who knocked in a 141 total clearance in the Continental Team Cup in March, will also be amongst the favourites.

Live results, news and photographs will be available exclusively on GSC/EBSA from the start of the event on 28 May. Bookmark the European Championship HERE. Associations wishing to use links on their sites please contact EBSA. Also contact us for specific reports or results on your countries' players.

In addition to the players, the event could not take place at all without the sponsors, Maritim Hotels, where the event is being staged, Saluc and Strachan. Also an army of referees and officials from all over Europe will work tirelessly to ensure the smooth running of the event, led by tournament director Maxime Cassis.