PHILIP MORRIS EUROPA CUP
The 'Europa Cup' held under the sponsorship support of PHILIP MORRIS, took place in the period 1979-88. It was meant to be a competition between the EBL member countries, represented by the winning team of the national inter-club championship. Countries were placed in regional qualifying hits, taking into account their geographical vicinity as to minimize travel expenses. The winners of these hits were invited to take part in the European final, held over an extended weekend.
The tournament suffered because not all EBL member countries hold inter-club competitions. The countries which did not, sent a team consisting of their strongest players and this created an anomaly. The other drawback was that the competition involved very few players - at least in the final stage. The PHILIP MORRIS 'Europa Cup' was discontinued after 1988, and was replaced by the European Mixed (Teams & Pairs) Championships, inaugurated in 1990. |