SAN DIEGO - The final of the 2007 Open European Mahjong Championship-Online (OEMC), hosted by Mahjong Time, has been won by Juliani Leo (JulJul), a player from the USA. Best European player and, thus, European champion, was 'Fleurtje': Dutch player Gerda van Oorschot.
The final was a replay of the original final round, which was declared invalid because the original winner had been cheating. She was disqualified and replaced by the #5 player in the original ranking, i.e. JulJul.

The participants in the final were Fleurtje, Thorgal (Dutch player Ton Rijnders), Dragonka (Erika Mago from Hungary) and JulJul.

The final consisted of 12 deals and proved to be a very exciting game. Fleurtje took the lead in the first deal with a Half Flush. Poor JulJul was waiting for a 5 character tile to make a Pure Straight but that never came.

During the first 4 deals there was very little to split the players. Dragonka, representing Hungary, did not give any chances to the others by placing a self Mahjong with a Half Flush and All Pungs in the 5th deal. However, the fortune soon turned in JulJul’s favour as she won the next two deals. Dragonka did not want to give up without a fight and won the 8th deal.  Then back came JulJul with a very quick win and 90 points for a Pure Straight and self mahjong in the 9th deal.  

Towards the end of the tournament, Fleurtje claimed 75 points for a self Mahjong, confirming her position as the best European player. In the final deal of the game, JulJul proved a worthy winner, as she gathered Knitted Tiles and Greater Honors – a fantastic way to be crowned champion.

European Mahjong Association (EMA) President, Uwe Martens, commented: "The EMA congratulates Juliani on a fantastic success in the inaugural Open European Mahjong Championship-Online. It was thoroughly deserved. However, the pressure is now on Juliani to defend her title in the 2008 Championship. Our thanks go to all participants in the tournament as well as to Mahjong Time for hosting such a well-run event. The EMA will look to build on the success of this Tournament by running a series of satellite qualifiers for next year’s event, involving the various national mahjong associations based around Europe.”

Interview with JulJul

Cheating in OEMC 2007 On Line

Interview with William Sutjiadi of Mahjong Time

Website MahjongTime