On May 11th and 12th, the third round of the Balkan Billiards Championship, organized by the Balkan Billiards Association, took place in Petrich, Bulgaria. The tournament saw the participation of 92 competitors from Bulgaria, Kosovo, Greece, and North Macedonia. The host of the tournament was the BO&BO Billiards Sports Club.
Hristo Vasilevski from North Macedonia emerged as the winner, defeating one of the Kosovo competitors, Labinot Markaj, in the final with a contested score of 9:7. The third-place finishers were Mal Shehu, who managed to defeat one of Greece’s top players, Georgi Kampourlidis, in a highly dramatic quarterfinal match that ended 9:8 in his favor. However, he was eliminated in the semifinals by the tournament winner, Hristo Vasilevski. The other bronze medalist was Faaton Bajgora, who won a closely contested match against the young talent from Kosovo, Irish Gashi, in the quarterfinals with a score of 9:8 but was defeated by Labinot Markaj in the semifinals – the title holder from the Balkan Billiards Championship in 2023?!
Alongside the men’s tournament, the third round of the youth tournaments was also held. The winner was Andrey Gyuchinovski, who managed to defeat Iris Gashi from Kosovo in the final with a decisive score of 7:0. The third-place finishers were Diel Veseli and Dijar Kutleshi, who shared the bronze medals. The fifth places were taken by the Bulgarian juniors – Vasil Sandukchiev, who lost to Iris Gashi with a score of 6:1, and Petar Tsanev, who lost to the tournament winner Andrey Gyurchinovich with a contested score of 6:5. Iliya Dimovski remained in fifth place, being defeated in the quarterfinals by Diel Veseli from Kosovo with a score of 6:3, and Blend Kuzimi, who lost to his compatriot Dijar Kutleshi with a score of 6:5.
