THE BALL – Tiago Silva gives Portugal victory in the European Championship (Snooker)
The two-time champion (2021 and 2022), Tiago Silva, 32, a player for Boavista, beat this Wednesday 3-1 against Romanian Maxim Ene in his third and final game of the group stage of the main competition of the European Championships in Snooker, which runs from the 7th of the current month to the 19th in Shengjin, Albania.
With only the top two in the group going to the knockout stage and with no chance of qualifying – Northern Irishman Declan Lavery and Scotsman Michael Collumb qualified –, Portugal gave an air of grace and came out with a good header lifted from the tournament, with a victory after nine matches: six defeats by Miguel Ruivo (three in the sub-18 and three in the sub-21) and after two defeats, when Tiago Silva said goodbye, he managed to win.
A game that the Portuguese started in front and in which, with another resourcefulness, he declared ‘breaks’ of 46 and 40 points, already more adapted to the competition. Tiago started to win by 1-0 (69-31 in points), the Romanian equalized 1-1 (18-62) but the triumph in the black ball and by a point in the third frame, for the 2-1 (56 -55 in points) gave even more confidence to, in the fourth quarter, win by 57-9, with the Romanian conceding with 51 possible points on the table.
“It’s a good feeling, I’ve played close to my level, looser and more fluid. I fought and I feel happy. It’s just a shame I can’t continue. that the game starts to come out, but already knew beforehand that both look now. It was a good experience, learning and evolving. God willing, I’ll be back next year», the two-time national champion told A BOLA.