Many close matches in first round of European Championship 10-Ball

Scott Higgins

Wednesday, March 30, 2011: Nick van den Berg (NED) was clearly favoured over his relatively unknown opponent Dino Cerimagic (BIH). But the Bosnian turned out to be anything but a victim to Nick. “I was happy that he made a mistake at 6:6”, van den Berg said after the match. “That allowed me to run that rack and another one to win the match. Dino has played very well and this victory was not easy for me”.

Almost the same scenario happened at another table at the same time. Scott Higgins (GBR) had to cross swords with Vittorio di Falco (ITA). In the beginning, things went in favour of the British player, allowing him a comfortable 5:1 lead over diFalco. But Vittorio did not think about leaving the table as the loser and he came back with a run of his own. Rack after rack went on Vittorio's scorecard until the match was tied at 6:6. Then Higgins got momentum again and managed to cross the winning line by defeating di Falco 8:6.

Other notable results are “Napoleon” Marcus Chamat (SWE) winning a close match over Denmark's Jan Keller 8:7. With the same result, Fabio Petroni (ITA) sent Albin Ouschan (AUT) to the loser's side. Melissa Rademakers (NED) defeated 8-ball semi-finalist Petra Stadlbauer (AUT) 6:5. She will play her sister Tamara in the next round of the winner's side.

The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the event website www.epconline.eu or contact our press office.