He entered the main arena with a house cue and lost his match to Damianos Giallourakis (GRE) with 0:9…. but it seemed that he was enjoying his time.
The talk is of Frank Dane, a well known Dutch Radio DJ and leisure time pool player. "We love to have a game of 9-ball in between our radio shows“, explained Dane after his match, "and once we were talking about it. We then got a call and me and my friend got invited to this event.“ "Actually, I’m not a pool player at all, everything started from a joke and I just showed up but I must say I really enjoyed my day here. Everyone is so nice and friendly but probably also everyone here would beat me“, added Dane. He was certainly an asset to the Dynamic Billard Dutch Open.
More remarkable results of today include Mateusz Szaszor (POL) defeating favored Nick Malai (GRE) with 9:7. Ralph Eckert (GER) just remained the upper hand over Pawel Misiak (POL), winning with 9:8. Andy Worthington (GBR) got the better of Ivo Aarts (NED) by winning with 9:7. Being 7:8 down, Aarts forfeited the match with 7 balls still remaining on the table.
In the first winner’s round, we had "The Terminator“ Niels Feijen (NED), currently ranked Nr. 1 in the Euro-Tour rankings, snatching his match with 9:3 over Evangelos Vettas (GRE). Feijen’s teammate Nick Van Den Berg (NED) also won with 9:5 over Alan Conway (IRE). Mihai Robert Braga (ROM) delivered a small upset to the event, winning with 9:8 over Karol Skowerski (POL). Young gun Joshua Filler (GER) won his first match clearly by smashing Lars Van Dijk (NED) 9:4. Mark Gray (GBR) took care of Babken Melkonyan (ROM) also with 9:4.
Matches will continue tomorrow at 09:00 with the matches of the first loser’s round.
All matches can be viewed LIVE at www.kozoom.com. Up to 11 tables in HiRes quality are providing you with all the action of the event. You do not miss out one single match! Join today!
More information about participants, schedules, achievements, rankings, etc can be found on the event website www.eurotouronline.com
The event will be hosted by the European Pocket Billiard Federation EPBF and organized by International Billiard Promotion Foundation IBPF.
The Northern Masters final for 2013 was contested between two of the most seasoned players in the UK right now. Karl Boyes, finally hitting somewhat of a purple patch in the domestic season, and Mark Gray who was looking to cement his place at the top of the provisional British rankings in readiness for the end of season World Pool Masters qualifiers.
Boyes started his campaign started his campaign in the tournament with a comfortable 9 racks to 2 victory against Brett Armer, following this up with a 9-5 victory over Jez Graham to put him safely into the last 32 stage. An international flavour came up in the next match as Bruno Muratore tried to stop Boyes in his tracks. It was Boyes who made it though, however, as he overcame the efforts of the pony-tailed Italian in a tense 9-8 win. This saw him through to a match against Sunderland’s Adam Benn Smith in the last 16, a match which he came through 9 racks to 4 and safely putting him into the last 8. There he faced an almighty fright from Benji Buckley before again coming through another hill-hill encounter, eliminating the Sheffield shooter 9-8 and putting him into the final four. Waiting for him there was Chris Hall of Wakefield, and he made sure of back to back victories over Yorkshiremen with a gritty 9-5 win, seeing him into his first main event final since July 2010.
Mark Gray began his challenge for the title against Colin Connor, and a straightforward 9-3 victory meant he next faced Pablo Garcia Lagar for a place in the last 32. He managed to go one better in this match, disposing of the Spaniard 9-2 and paving the way for a clash with April’s Paul Medati Trophy runner-up Craig Osborne. The man from Ipswich wasn’t going to replicate April’s feats as Gray eliminated him from the tournament 9 racks to 4. Gray saw himself into the last 16 against Andy Worthington, but another 9-2 victory saw him ease through to a potentially mouth-watering clash against Chris Melling, hoping to take the title back to Keighley with him in what was practically a home tournament for the Mosconi Cup MVP. The match was anything but the classic people were expecting, however, with Gray easing through 9-1 and setting up a semi-final against Imran Majid, himself looking to keep the pressure on Gray at the top of the provisional rankings. Gray was once again on the right end of the scoreline, and another 9-4 victory meant he made his way into the final without dropping more than four racks in any of his matches. A staggering statistic and form that was sure to bring out a brutal final.
The match was as tense as people were expecting, with Gray taking a 10-8 lead before Boyes edged the match back to level pegging at 10-10 with one rack to play. Gray had already run four racks in the match and Boyes picked the perfect time to make his fourth and final dish, sealing the title with a superb run out and an 11-10 victory which saw him rise to 2nd place in the provisional rankings with only his beaten finalist Mark Gray now standing above him.
