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Team Golds For Finland And Germany

Janni Siekkinen, Casper Matikainen, Jani Uski and Petri Makkonen

In the penultimate day at the Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships in Lasko, Slovenia, it was an evening of drama and excitement as the destination of the medals in the men’s and women’s team events was determined. And it was Finland in the men’s and Germany in the ladies’ who took the gold medals in a pair of thrilling finals.

In the men’s event, there were three matches playing simultaneously with the first team to achieve two wins carrying off the gold medals and the trophy. The featured match was on the TV table and involved Casper Matikainen (Finland) facing off against Daniel Maciol of Poland in 9-Ball.

The willowy Finn was always ahead of the game with some quality shot-making while his opponent never quite got to grips with the match. Matikainen had led 3-1 and 4-2, while the other two tables saw it at 3-3 in the 10-ball match between Petri Makkonen and Sebastian Batkowski, with the 8-ball encounter between Jani Uski and Wojciech Szewczyk also tied up at 3-3.

Always staying ahead of his opponent, Matikainen maintained his two-rack margin before leaping into a 6-3 lead. The Finn enjoyed some beneficial fortune as that became 7-3 and victory was in his grasp. At that same juncture, the other two games were in Poland’s favour as they led 6-4 in the 10-Ball encounter and 4-3 in the 8-Ball.

A fruitless break from Maciol gave the table back to Matikainen and with the balls spread nicely, he cleared up to reach the hill with a five-game cushion. Maciol relaxed a little as he won the next for 8-4 but in what was the final rack, Matikainen made an excellent bank on the 2 ball, leaving a difficult 3/9 combo but with a comfortable lead, he took it on and made it, giving the first of the three available points to Finland.

The focus now shifted to tables two and three as Petri Makkonen moved to the hill in the 10-ball match, having overcome a two-rack deficit to leave Finland within a rack of the gold medals. Makkonen, with the break, delivered an enormous shot to down three balls. Sucking down deep breaths to keep himself calm, Makkonen rattled the jaws with the 1 ball to give the table back to Batkowski as the 8-ball match moved to five racks each.

Makkonen though got back to the table and had a terrific opportunity to bring home the gold. The balls were all there for the Finn as he pocketed the orange 5 into the centre pocket. The 6 was down the rail and the 8, 9 and 10 all out in the open. The seasoned Finn composed himself and took them down as his two jubilant team mates ran into the arena to celebrate their first ever team gold medal.

Commented Matikainen, “It feels great! I have a really nice team with me and we all trust each other. We didn’t really think it was going to be this time but this feels really good. It was a good match for me in the final but throughout the tournament I think everybody played good.”

For Petri Makkonen it was a nerve-racking affair but potting the championship 10 ball was a supreme moment; “I was one rack down all the way until I was 6-4 down but I dug deep. I had a few hiccups but I overcame them. I saw Casper was winning and Uski was playing good so it was easy to play and I relaxed a little bit when I saw we were one up and Uski was 6-5 up.

“I played good, we played good and here’s the result. Watching your team mates winning and at the table really gives you energy and it’s much easier to overcome things in your own match. Relieved is the word and we got the result we wanted,” he added.

Final

Finland 2 – 0 Poland
Casper Matikainen 9 – 4 Daniel Maciol (9 Ball)
Petri Makkonen 8 – 7 Sebastian Batkowski (10 Ball)
Jani Uski v Wojciech Szewczyk (8 Ball) Did not complete

Semi Finals

Finland 2 – 0 Poland
Jani Uski 8 – 5 Diego Pedro Simon (8 Ball)
Casper Matikainen 9 – 7 Jonas Souto (9 Ball)
Petri Makkonen 8 – 1 Francisco Diaz Pizarro (10 Ball)

Poland 2 – 1 Denmark
Wojciech Szewczyk 8 – 5 Jeppe Thyde (8 Ball)
Daniel Maciol 9 – 3 Mickey Krause (9 Ball)
Sebastian Batkowski 5 – 8 Andreas Madsen (10 Ball)

Veronika Ivanovskaia, Melanie Subenguth, Tina Vogelmann and Pia Filler and German National Coach Tom Damm

In the women’s event it was Germany who prevailed with the winning duo of Pia Filler and Tina Vogelmann who defeated the Norwegian pairing of Line Kjorsvik and Nina Torvund via a deciding shootout after the two teams couldn’t be separated in regulation play. The format of the Dynamic Billards Women’s Team event saw two matches in 8 ball and 9 ball, with a shootout in operation should the two teams be tied at one match apiece.

After defeating Switzerland 2-0 in their semi-final, the German pair had a tougher proposition against Norway. The first match to finish was Pia Filler’s 7-1 9-ball win over Torvund, leaving the medal destination resting on the other game of 8 ball. With a big lead though, Kjorsvik closed out a 6-2 victory over Vogelmann to leave a shoot-out decider, where the black ball rests on the spot, with and the cue ball positioned at the centre of the head-string.

It took 16 shots to separate the pair as Norway missed with the score at 7-7 and the Germans converted to give themselves team gold, breaking a run of two consecutive silver medals. As well as Vogelmann and Filler, who collected her second gold of the Championships, medals also went to team members Veronika Ivanovskaia and Melanie Suβenguth who had won the team’s winners’ qualification match, also against Norway.

Commented Vogelmann, “It’s amazing, I can’t believe it at this moment. I was sure we were well-prepared; we’re a good team and we have so many good players in Germany at the moment, many more than the four playing in this tournament. You have pressure because you know you want to win it and you can win it but I think we are a shoot-out monster team!”

Suβenguth added, “I’m very proud of the team and of course the final was very exciting to watch and I’m very happy we got the win.”

For Ivanovskaia who had played her part in the earlier rounds, it wasn’t an easy experience; “It was very nervy watching. There’s a lot of support between each other and a lot of belief in ourselves and they both played very good in the final.”

Finally, for Pia Filler, who is still alive in the 9-ball event which concludes on Saturday, it was another great day at the ECs; “It was my first time playing in the team event and I’m very proud of us, I think we did a really good job. I know the job for today was done very well but there’s another gold medal to be won and of course I’ll be trying my very best to win that too.”

Final

Germany 2 – 1 Norway
Pia Filler 7 – 1 Nina Torvund (9 Ball)
Tina Vogelmann 2 – 6 Line Kjorsvik (8 Ball)
Germany 8 – 7 Norway (Shoot Out)

Semi Finals

Germany 2 – 0 Switzerland
Tina Vogelmann 6 – 2 Claudia Von Rohr (8 Ball)
Pia Filler 7 – 2 Christine Feldmann (9 Ball)

Norway 2 – 0 Poland
Line Kjorsvik 6 – 1 Oliwia Zalewska (8 Ball)
Nina Torvund 7 – 3 Izabela Lacka (9 Ball)

The 2022 Dynamic Billards European Championship sees 15 separate events
across four disciplines – 8, 9 and 10 ball as well as straight pool –
plus the men’s and women’s team competitions. In total there are four
divisions; men, women, under 23 men and wheelchair users.

All matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com

Results, live scoring and draw are available at
www.epbf.com/tournaments/european-championships/

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Kazakis takes his first title at the Euro-Tour

Alexander Kazakis (GRE)

After a match against Denis Grabe (EST) which was dominated by him most of the time, Alexander Kazakis (GRE) won the Dynamic Billard Sankt Johann im Pongau Open 2018 with a clear 9:5 result in the final match.
 
Kazakis’ way into the final was not an easy one in this tournament. Already in winner’s round two he lost 6:9 to Edmond Zaja (ALB). He had a long way in fron of him on the loser’s side. In the loser’s qualification round, he was already 4:8 down to Mieszko Fortunski (POL) when he fought back and stayed alive in the tournament with 9:8. Maybe that match kind of woke him up since the results from then on were much clearer. 9:4 over Oliver Szolnoki (HUN), 9:1 over Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS), 9:2 over Abdullah Alshammari (KSA) and finally 9:5 over Eklent Kaci (ALB) the winner of the last Euro-Tour event in Treviso. The final match with Grabe was close until the score was 5:4 for Kazakis after 9 racks. Then both players went for a time-out. Kazakis came back a lot fresher and had better layouts after his break shot than Grabe did. Furthermore, Grabe played some poor safety shots which Kazakis turned into points for his account. His consistent break shot and his structured performance brought Kazakis the advantage he needed to get on the hill with 8:4. In rack 13, Grabe pocketed a 2-9 combination shot and turned the scoreboard to 8:5 with Kazakis’ break shot coming up next. The likeable Greek fired his break shot and pocketed the 1-ball, 5-ball and 6-ball, having a nice and easy layout in front of him. He did not commit any mistake anymore and consequently ran the table, winning the match and the tournament with 9:5. „I’m playing the Euro-Tour for four or five years now“, stated Kazakis after the award ceremony, „I lost the final twice and once I finished third. those were my best results so far. This time I won it, so of course I am very happy“. „When I started the tournament I was not feeling comfortable at the table. I had hard times making the balls“, Kazakis added, „for whatever reason I don’t know. I have prepared well for this tournament and practised hard but somehow I was thinking other things so I was not focussed on the table.“ „When I was 4:8 down to Fortunski I thought to myself ‚just play pool now an don’t think too much about other things‘ which I did and it seemed to help me. Of course, I was also lucky in that match. When you are 4:8 down in a match, you need luck if you still want to win it.“ „After that match it seemed as if the holy spirit came inside me. I played much better and felt much more comfortable at the table“.
 
Top Eight Finishers
1. Alexander Kazakis GRE
2. Denis Grabe EST
3. Eklent Kaci ALB
    Mario He AUT
5. Wiktor Zielinski POL
    Roman Hybler CZE
    Abdullah Alshammari KSA
    Joshua Filler GER
 
In the women’s tournament which started today, most favourites won their opening matches. Jasmin Ouschan (AUT), Kristina Tkach (RUS) and Oliwia Czuprynska (POL), all ranked in the top 5 of the European rankings are already in the round of the last 16 players single elimination. However, the #1 ranked player Marharyta Fefilava (BLR) lost her first match against Claudia Von Rohr (SUI) with 5:7. She went to the loser’s side and ousted Denise Steinmetz (GER) 7:1 and Ortenzia Haefliger (SUI) 7:2. Tonight, she will face Tina Vogelmann (GER) for a spot among the top 16 women.
 
Tomorrow, the EPBF Ballazzo Women Open will continue at 09:00 CET with matches from the last 16 players single elimination. 
 
Every day, two matches from the event will be shown LIVE on the Facebook page of the EPBF for free. All Facebook users may check out the high standard of quality which is provided for all the events and see what the Kozoom members receive all the time. You can see all the matches live via www.kozoom.com who stream the whole event on 20 tables on the internet LIVE. The FB live matches are announced on the EPBF Facebook page every day. Results and schedules can be found at www.eurotouronline.com  so why not come and check out all the LIVE action of the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open.
 
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 federation website www.eurotouronline.com  visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.

Jasmin Ouschan completes Austrian victory

Jasmin Ouschan

Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) just won the Dynamic Billard Austria Women’s Open in Alpina Wellness & Sports Hotel, St. Johann i.Pg., Austria, with a clear 7:2 victory over Veronika Ivanovskaia (GER).
 
She was and is the powerhouse in European women’s pool billiard. Jasmin Ouschan has just completed the Austrian victory in St. Johann i.Pg. After Mario He’s victory from yesterday, she did not fall short and took the title in the women’s version of the Euro-Tour. Ouschan had a good start into the tournament. She took her first three victories impressively clear with 7:0 over Anne Darda (GER), 7:2 against Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR) and 7:1 against Martine Christiansen (NOR). Then, her performance suffered a little bit. „I needed some help during some matches of this tournament“, stated Ouschan after the final match, „but our new national coach Andreas Roschkowsky from Germany is a really nice and knowledgeable person who I have a great contact with. He knew exactly what to say and analysed my matches spot-on so I could find my personal rhythm back“. The „turbulences“ in Ouschan’s way into the final match were caused by Ana Gradisnik (SLO) 7:4 and Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) where Ouschan was already trailing 0:4 but managed to win the match with 7:5. „There is still a lot of work to do“, said Roschkowsky, „we are on a great track but I have some new ideas for the future“. The semi-final was again a clear 7:1 victory for Ouschan. Her opponent in the final match was Veronika Ivanovskaia. The German lady had defeated Claudia Von Rohr (SUI) 7:5, Sara Rocha (POR) 7:1 and in an epic battle in the semi-final Kristina Tkach (RUS) with 7:5. That match was broadcasted LIVE on the EPBF Facebook page today. However, the final match was far from exciting and turned into a disaster for Ivanovskaia. Ouschan was too strong for her and rightfully took the match 7:2 and added another tournament victory to her portfolio.
 
Result final match
Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) v Veronika Ivanovskaia (GER) 7:2
 
Results semi-finals
Kristina Tkach (RUS) v Veronika Ivanovskaia 5:7
Jasmin Ouschan v Tina Vogelmann (GER) 7:1
 
Results quarter-finals
Kristina Tkach v Amalia Matas (ESP) 7:3
Veronika Ivanovskaia v Sara Rocha (POR) 7:1
Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) v Jasmin Ouschan 5:7
Melanie Suessenguth (GER) v Tina Vogelmann 4:7
 
Top eight players Dynamic Billard Austrian Open
1. Jasmin Ouschan
2. Veronika Ivanovskaia
3. Kristina Tkach
Tina Vogelmann
5. Amalia Matas
Sara Rocha
Katarzyna Wesolowska
Melanie Suessenguth
 
That concludes the coverage from the Dynamic Billard Austrian Open in Alpina Wellness & Sports Hotel, St. Johann i.Pg., Austria.
 
The events were 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 federation website www.epbf.com, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.

Van den Berg, Ouschan win Portuguese Dynamic Open

The winners of the Portuguese Dynamic Billard Open are Nick Van Den Berg (NED) and Jasmin Ouschan (AUT).

 

Nick van den Berg had a huge mountain to climb today. He had really big obstacles in the way on his quest for the glory. Before he met David Alcaide (ESP) in the final match, he had to overcome Vitaly Patsura (UKR) in a heartbreaker with 9:8, then Tomasz Kaplan (POL) 9:6 and in the semi-final match Mark Gray (GBR) with 9:3. Van den Berg played extremely well and solid and this also continued in the final match. Alcaide could not get into the match and missed a few easy shots in the early stage of the match. That brought van den Berg in advance. Alcaide had started a few attempts for a comeback and it looked like he would be able to make the match closer again. However, whenever Alcaide got closer, he was unlucky or fell out of position or the cue ball scratched. The match just went along in van den Berg’s favour who used his chance and very deservedly took the match with 9:5 in the final match to win his 10th Euro-Tour title.

Top Eight Men:
1. Nick van den Berg (NED)
2. David Alcaide (ESP)
3. Mark Gray (GBR)
Ralf Souquet (GER)
5. Marc Bijsterbosch (NED)
Wiktor Zielinski (POL)
Joshua Filler (GER)
Tomasz Kaplan (POL)

 

In the women’s division, Jasmin Ouschan has been through a real rollercoaster ride over the past weeks. Silver medal, then early out, then Gold, then out again just to come out strong and win the Dynamic Billard Portuguese Women Open with a  tremendously strong performance over Kristina Tkach (RUS) in the final match with 7:3. „I am really exhausted now and need some time for regeneration“, stated Ouschan after the final match, „these tournaments took all out of me and I am really looking forward to going home and enjoy my bike and the sun for a few days“.

 

Final match:
Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) v Kristina Tkach (RUS) 7:3

 

Semi-finals:
Jasmin Ouschan v Ina Kaplan (GER) 7:3
Kristina Tkach v Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) 7:0

 

Top Eight Women:
1. Jasmin Ouschan (AUT)
2. Kristina Tkach (RUS)
3. Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL)
Ina Kaplan (GER)
5. Oliwia Czuprynska (POL)
Claudia Von Rohr (SUI)
Marharyta Fefilava (BLR)
Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR)

 

With these results in the rankings, the following players qualify for this year’s World Games in Wroclaw, Poland, through the Euro-Tour rankings: Kristina Tkach, Ina Kaplan, David Alcaide and Joshua Filler.

 

That concludes the coverage from the Dynamic Billard Portuguese Open in Salgados Palace Hotel in Albufeira, Portugal. The next tournament of the Euro-Tour will be the Dynamic Billard Austrian Open to be staged in St. Johann i.Pg, Austria, May 18th to 20th, 2017.

 

The event was 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 federation website www.epbf.com, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.

10-Ball Brings Upsets at the European Championships

Stephan Cohen

The first day of the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair athletes brought several surprises in all divisions. 102 men, 40 women and 14 participants in the wheelchair division have entered the discipline in order to see who will take the titles in the end.

 

In the winner’s qualification round of the men’s division 10-ball, Stephan Cohen (FRA) defeated Nick Van Den Berg (NED) surprisingly clear with 8:3. There is a story behind both of the two opponents. Cohen just today received his luggage after being here already for three days. He had to borrow cue stick and equipment and went through the straight pool with stuff from his fellow players. Probably he was very happy today to play in his own clothes with his own cue stick and equipment. On the other side, Nick van den Berg needs a good finish during these European Championships. Just like Niels Feijen who achieved his A-status yesterday by winning the title in straight pool, Nick van den Berg has the chance to get funding through his national olympic committee if he gets among the top eight players in a discipline. So the mindset of the two contestants were quite opposite before the match. Maybe that was the advantage that Cohen had over van den Berg. The Dutch never got into gear and had to watch Cohen snatching rack after rack from him. After six racks, the score was all square at 3:3. But then Cohen overtook on the left side and left van den Berg no other choice but watching him run away. In the end, 8:3 was the justified result for Cohen. The French advanced to the round of the last 64 players single elimination. Other remarkable results in the men’s division include Saki Kanatlar (TUR) pipping Denis Grabe (EST) to the post 8:7. In his loser’s qualification round match, Grabe wasted no time with Karim Belhaj (FRA), smashing him 8:1 out of the 10-ball and grabbing his seat among the final 64 tomorrow. Ivar Saris (NED) came up with the next upset, defeating Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) 8:6. Finally, Evgenii Buslaev (RUS) overpowered Mario He (AUT) 8:6.

 

One huge upset occurred in the women’s division today. Defending Champion Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) is already out of the 10-ball competition after having played only two matches. In her first match, she fell to the sharp blade of Ana Gradisnik (SLO) 5:6. She had to go to the loser’s side where she unfortunately met Kristina Tkach (RUS). Tkach, newly crowned straight pool Champion, lost to Tina Vogelmann (GER) earlier today and was also on the loser’s side, as unexpected as Ouschan. In their encounter, Tkach played rock solid and did not leave many chances for Ouschan. She proved to have nerves of steel and ousted Ouschan 6:2 from the 10-ball competition. Another remarkable result in the women’s division includes Claudia Von Rohr (SUI) beating Amalia Matas (ESP) 6:3. Matas missed too many balls in deciding situations and von Rohr was cool enough to benefit from it so the result is perfectly in order with the way the match went.

 

In the wheelchair division, two long-time rivals met in the first round. Kurt Deklerck (BEL) took on Henrik Larsson (SWE) in winner’s round one and snatched the victory by a whisker with 5:4.

 

Tomorrow, the tournament will continue at 09:00 GMT with matches from the 10-ball individuals competition.

 

Every day, one match from the events will be shown LIVE on the Facebook page of the EPBF. All Facebook users may check out the high standard of quality which is provided for all the events and see what the Kozoom members receive all the time. You can see all the matches live via www.kozoom.com who stream the whole event on 24 tables on the internet LIVE. The FB live matches are announced on the EPBF Facebook page around noon every day. Results and schedule can be found at www.eurotouronline.com so why not come and check out all the LIVE action of the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes starting Saturday 18th March at 09:00h GMT.

 

The event will be 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 federation website www.eurotouronline.com, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.

Tkach and Feijen Dethrone the Austrian Superpower Siblings

Niels Feijen and Kristina Tkach

Kristina Tkach (RUS) and Niels Feijen (NED) have just won the gold medals in the straight pool discipline of the Dynamic Billard European Championships in Albufeira, Portugal.

 

In the men’s division, „The Terminator“ Niels Feijen played an outstanding tournament. Having won the coveted title in straight pool already 5-times before, Feijen really had an incentive this time. His A-status with the Dutch Olympic Committee and therefore the funding for another year was in danger if he would not have made in into the last eight of the event. After having ousted Stephan Cohen (FRA) 125:3 in the round of the last 32 players, he met the defending Champion Albin Ouschan (AUT) in the next round. Ouschan was a very high obstacle that Feijen needed to overcome in order to get into the round of the last 8. But „The Terminator“ stood tall today and took down Ouschan with 125:88 after a firefly fought match. In the quarter-final, Feijen eliminated Jakub Koniar (SVK) with 125:46 without further problems. Even clearer was Feijen’s victory in the semi-final with Kim Laaksonen (FIN). He ousted the Finish player 125:19 and one could witness Feijen’s hunger to grab his 6th title in straight pool growing strong. In the final match, Feijen met Tomasz Kaplan (POL) who has also earned his merits in the past in straight pool. Today, Feijen was too strong for Kaplan. The Dutch turned the final match into a one man show and after one hour and ten minutes, „The Terminator“ sank the final ball for a 125:13 victory over Kaplan, having used only four innings to claim the victory.

 

Top 8 Men
1. Niels Feijen (NED)
2. Tomasz Kaplan (POL)
3. Kim Laaksonen (FIN)
Mieszko Fortunski (POL)
5. Jakub Koniar (SVK)
Miguel Silva (POR)
Andreas Roschkowsky (GER)
Konstantin Stepanov (RUS)

In the women’s competition, Kristina Tkach was up against the Austrian title defender, Jasmin Ouschan (AUT). Tkach’s way into the final looked quite impressive. In the round of the last 16 players she bested Marharyta Fefilava (BLR) 75:4. Then she marched on and triumphed clearly over Amalia Matas (ESP) 75:15. In the semi-final match, Tkach got the better of her teammate Nataliya Seroshtan (RUS) and remained the upper hand with 75:57. In the final match of course, Jasmin Ouschan was awaiting her. The Austrian title defender started furiously and took a 39:-2 lead over Tkach. But the young Russian remained cool as ice and played her game whenever Ouschan allowed her to do so. And she got more chances than expected. Ouschan committed several serious and avoidable mistakes. Leading 61:45, Tkach missed the break ball and Ouschan got back to an open table. The audience and Ouschan were shocked when the Austrian missed the first clear and easy shot! Tkach thanked her in her own way by running the rack and pocketing the remaining 14 balls in order to win the match and the title 75:45. It’s Tkach’s second title in the women’s division after having won the 8-ball in St. Johann i.Pg, Austria last year.

 

Top 8 Women
1. Kristina Tkach (RUS)
2. Jasmin Ouschan (AUT)
3. Tina Vogelmann (GER)
Nataliya Seroshtan (RUS)
5. Lousie Furberg (SWE)
Monica Margeta (SWE)
Amalia Matas (ESP)
Claudia Von Rohr (SUI)

 

Medal table after 1 of 5 events:

 

Tomorrow, the tournament will continue at 09:00 GMT with matches from the 10-ball individuals competition.

 

Every day, one match from the events will be shown LIVE on the Facebook page of the EPBF. All Facebook users may check out the high standard of quality which is provided for all the events and see what the Kozoom members receive all the time. You can see all the matches live via www.kozoom.com who stream the whole event on 24 tables on the internet LIVE. The FB live matches are announced on the EPBF Facebook page around noon every day. Results and schedule can be found at www.eurotouronline.com so why not come and check out all the LIVE action of the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes starting Saturday 18th March at 09:00h GMT.

 

The event will be 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 federation website www.eurotouronline.com, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.

Amway Cup Day 2 – Surprising Whitewash on TV Table

Kelly Fisher (Photo courtesy of Samuel Lai)

The Amway eSpring International Women 9-Ball Championship 2017 continued its action today (Mar 3 local time) at the Taipei Gymnasium.  All matches in the round robin stage were completed, with the leader of the respective group advancing directly into the last 16, while the players in second and third place will have to play in the last 24.
 
FURY sponsored Kelly Fisher (GBR) won the last match on the TV table against WEI Tzu-Chien (TPE) to gain a direct entry to the last 16 of the tournament.  Kelly was one of the players that had 4 wins in her respective group after the initial round robin stage.  Wei and Veronika Ivanovskaia (GER) came in as 2nd and 3rd place respectively in Group H, hence advancing to play in the round of last 24.
 
Sandy LIU ShaSha (CHN) and Angeline Ticoalu (INA), the other two FURY sponsored players, were drawn into the same group.  They finished off 2nd and 3rd respectively in Group B, thus advancing into the last 24.  Even though Sandy was leading most of the time throughout the stage, Allison Fisher (GBR) took her down on TV table to equal their scores in games and had a better rack-difference to snatch the first place and advanced directly into the last 16.
 
In Group D, PAN XiaoTing (CHN) was another player that had 4 wins after whitewashing the three times Amway Cup champion and the local favourite Rita CHOU Chieh-Yu, giving as much pleasure as well as shock to the audience both at the stadium and on TV.  During an interview earlier on, Pan reviewed that this was a match long expected, while the result was a pleasant surprise as she expressed in the post-interview.  Oliwia Czuprynska (POL) came in as third and will follow Rita into the next round.
 
In the other groups, despite the fact that Jasmine Ouschan (AUT) lost to the defending champion Chezka Centeno (PHI) yesterday, Jasmine had more wins in the end and therefore became first place in Group A.  Chezka finished second after making a couple of critical errors to lose two hill-hill matches against Kristina Tkach (RUS) and WU Hsiso-Wen (TPE).  Wu successfully made it into the last 24 after qualifying from stage 1.
 
Japanese leading lady Chihiro Kawahara had a rough ride in Group C, with only one win against Claudia Von Rohr (SUI), the new face in the tour.  All of the other three players had the same result of 3 wins, but in the end it was Karen Corr (IRL) that secured a seat in the last 16 with a 2-rack difference.  FAN Yu-Hsuan (TPE), who had made her appearance in stage 2 through qualifiers, fell short marginally by one rack against her local senior CHEN Ho-Yun.
 
Current world #1 Han Yu (CHN) gave no chance to HSIEH Yu-Wen(TPE) on the TV table yesterday, then went on to win all the matches in Group E.  HSIEH, who came through from the Taiwanese qualifier, and LEE Woo-Jin, the rising star from South Korea that made her way through stage 1, were on the same page before their last encounter with each other.  In the end, it was HSIEH that had a better day, turning an hill-hill excitement into an entry ticket to the last 24 for herself, leaving her opponent out of the tour.  Two times world champion Rubilen Amit (PHI) finished second in the group.
 
KIM Ga-Young (KOR) stood out in Group F with 4 straight wins, thus advancing to the last 16.  For the remaining players, it was a close call amongst Natalia Seroshtan (RUS), CHEN Chia-Hua and qualifier Bean HUNG Meng-Hsia, with all three of them winning 2 games and losing 2.  Natalia was the lowest one after rack counts and therefore the two Taiwanese girls went through to the last 24.
 
It was not exactly a joyride but CHEN SiMing (CHN) still surfed through Group G by winning all of her matches.  Twice Amway Cup winner LIN Yuan-Chun had a close one, lost in the decider against Chen, but still managed to win all of her other matches to go through to the next stage.  Kristina Grim of Germany, who took down qualifier KUO Szu-Ting (TPE) on the first TV match yesterday, came third in the group.
 
Upon the completion of the last match on the day, all players gathered at the TV table to draw for the positions tomorrow in the last 16 to 24 stage.
 
Round-robin stage Results & Draw for last 16 to 24 stage: click here

Amway Cup Day 1 – Han Yu, ShaSha going strong

Chieh-Yu Chau (Photo courtesy of Samuel Lai)

The Amway eSpring International Women 9-Ball Championship 2017 started its official matches of stage 2 at 10:00 this morning (Mar 2 local time) back at the good old Taipei Gymnasium again this year, with the first 6 matches featuring players from 8 different countries and regions.
 
      FURY, the official cues of the tournament, immediately felt the excitement as two of their sponsored players, former world #1 Sandy Liu (ShaSha) of China and South-East Asian gold medalist Angelina Ticoalu of Indonesia, also being a semi-finalist in 2015 after taking down Sandy two years ago, faced each other again this year in one of the opening matches in Group B.
 
     Angelina managed to snatch the first point on the scoreboard but her opponent soon settled down and took over to lead the match all the way.  In the end, Sandy was the better one in the FURY derby and took her “revenge” with the final score standing at 7-4.  Later on during the day, Angelina recovered her lost ground by beating the Japanese Triple-Crown winner Joana Wu (Zhi-Ting) of Chinese Taipei, as well as the all-time multiple world champion “Duchess of Doom” Allison Fisher, who is also a 5-times winner of the Amway Cup, in a hill-hill thriller on TV table.  Sandy then extended her lead overnight in the group by beating Joana Wu 7-4 in the evening session.
 
      The 2013 Amway Cup winner as well as multiple world champions Kelly Fisher of England, came back from behind to beat LIM Yun-Mi of South Korea 7-5.  Kelly, also sponsored by FURY, is coming back in good form after her surgery and is looking to stay strong against her other opponents in Group H.  These shall include Longasy Tips sponsored WEI Tzu-Chien as well as her Taiwanese comrade HO Hsin-Ju who came through from the qualifiers.
 
      In the other groups, even though Kristina Tkach of Russia had a bad opening after scratching on her first 8-ball and eventually losing the match to the 2004 Amway Cup champion LIU Sin-Mei of Chinese Taipei, she was able to re-strengthen her position in Group A with two hill-hill wins over qualifier WU Hsiao-Wen (Chinese Taipei) and the 2016 Amway Cup winner Chezka Centeno of the Philippines respectively.  Earlier on, the defending champion had a relatively comfortable win over European Jasmine Ouschan of Austria.
 
      Multiple world champions Karen Corr of Northern Ireland had wins over Japanese #1 Chihiro Kawahara and qualifier FAN Yu-Hsuan (Chinese Taipei) to lead in Group C.  Karen will be facing the 2015 Videoland Year-End Champion CHEN He-Yun, who had lost to her Taiwanese comrade Fan in another match.  Claudia Von Rohr of Switzerland made her debut in the Amway Cup this year, but lost both of her matches against Chen and Fan.
 
      Three times Amway Cup Champion Rita CHOU (Chieh-Yu) made both of her wins on TV table by taking down Oliwia Czuprynska of Poland and Molrudee Kasemchaiyanan of New Zealand.  The great PAN XiaoTing of China, who won the Amway Cup exactly ten years back, missed her action last year but now returning to the scene brighter than ever, beat Molrudee and qualifier MU Shu-Fong of Chinese Taipei to equal Rita in Group D overnight.
 
     Han Yu of China, the recently selected AZB player of the Year, current world #1 as well as a semi-finalist last year, marked the first absolute win of the day by whitewashing the Taiwanese qualifier HSIEH Yu-Wen on TV table, then moved on to beat Pia Plaeser of Germany in Group E.  Two times world champion Rubilen Amit copied Han and gave a lesson to the young South Korean rising star Woo-Jin LEE, being the only non-Taiwanese that came through from stage one.  Lee lost in an hill-hill encounter with Hsieh but was able to win over Pia that saved a last hope for her against Han in the afternoon session tomorrow.
 
      Ga-Young Kim, the two times Amway Cup winner from South Korea, stands out in Group F by beating Jennifer McCulla of Australia and qualifier Bean Hung (Meng-Hsia), who is coincidentally working in Australia.  The 17-years old Taiwanese Amber Chen (Chia-Hua), being the youngest player on board, enjoys her first direct-entry to stage 2 this year, had 1 win and 1 lost on the day, and will be facing Kim on TV table tomorrow.
 
     LIN Yuan-Chun of Chinese Taipei, also a two times Amway Cup winner, won her first match 7-4 in Group G against Kristina Grim of Germany.  Kristina, who almost broke down to tears after having a good lead but still lost to Kelly Fisher on TV table last year, celebrated her victory over a deciding rack on TV this year against qualifier KUO Szu-Ting of Chinese Taipei.  She will be playing again on TV tomorrow at 4pm against the almighty CHEN SiMing of China.
 
     Action continues tomorrow at the Taipei Gymnasium (#10, Section 4, Nanjing East Road, Songshan District, near Taipei Arena) to decide the last 24 players in the knockout stage.
 
     All Results (Group Stage) : click here
 

“The Kaiser” wins his 22nd Euro-Tour event

Ralf Souquet (GER), also known as „The Kaiser“, wins his 22nd Euro-Tour event Italy with an impressive 9:5 victory over „The Siberian Express“ Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) in the final match of the Dynamic Billard Italian Open in BHR Best Western Hotel in Treviso, Italy.

 

The single elimination started with a huge effort for Souquet. He met Ivar Sarin (NED) in the round of the last 32 players and barely made it with 9:8 over the young Dutch player. Then today, he marched on and eliminated Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) 9:7, surprise player Damianos Giallourakis (GRE) 9:6 and in the semi-final match he ousted Daryl Peach (GBR) with another 9:7 victory. Chinakhov’s way to the final match was not easier. He dealt with Wojciech Sroczynski (POL) 9:2, ousted his young teammate Sergey Lutsker (RUS) 9:4, ended Mario He’s (AUT) run 9:4 and finally took down Denis Grabe (EST) 9:3. The outcome of the final match could not have been predicted at all. Both players have made their way through one of the toughest fields of contestants that the pool World could imagine. They were the last two men standing. However, in the final match Chinakhov committed some mistakes. He miscued two times and allowed his opponent Souquet back to the table. Chinakhov really wanted this time since it would have been his first Euro-Tour win. But Souquet was too strong for him today and brutally punished each mistake that Chinakhov made without showing any mercy. The final score of 9:5 in favour of Souquet displays the supremacy that Souquet held in the whole match. A deserved winner after his last victory dates back to 2014 in Kyrenia, North Cyprus.

 

Final standings top eight players

1. Ralf Souquet (GER)

2. Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS)

3. Denis Grabe (EST)

Daryl Peach (GBR)

5. Mario He (AUT)

Albin Ouschan (AUT)

Nick Van Den Berg (NED)

Damianos Giallourakis (GRE)

Painful end for van Boening

 

Earlier today, US superstar player Shane Van Boening suffered a defeat in the round of the last 16 players. Van Boening has entertained many people with his performance in Treviso. His last match against Mario He (AUT) however turned out to become a drama for him in the end. Leading 8:7, van Boening was at the table and had all balls in front of him for a nice run out. But he played a bad position for the 5-ball and consequently got a tough position for the 6-ball.   He missed the 6-ball and left a thin cut for He. The Austrian got to the table and also missed the 6-ball but he got lucky in the end. He fluked it in into the corner pocket on the other side of the table and then fired the 7-ball over one rail into the side pocket to run out the rack and tie the match at 8:8. Rack 17 coming up with Mario He to break. Three balls flew in the pockets and He saw himself in front of an open table with an easy opening shot. He cleared the table and took the match with 9:8, sending an unlucky van Boening home after a great event from the American.

 

The Dynamic Billard Italian Women Open has also commenced today.

 

39 players have found their way to Treviso to try and conquer some prize money and important ranking points. Sara Rocha (POR) came up with the biggest surprise of the event so far, defeating European star player Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) 7:6 in the winner’s qualification round. Russia’s Kristina Tkach is also straight on track in the event. She won both her first matches against Vania Franco (POR) 7:5 and Monika Zabel (POL) 7:1 and advanced to the single elimination round of the last 16 players. Germany’s Pia Blaeser is also in a pretty good condition here in Treviso. She managed to overmaster Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) 7:5 and Claudia Von Rohr (SUI) 7:5 to book her seat in the round of the last 16 players.

 

Tomorrow, the Dynamic Billard Italian Women Open will continue at 09:30 CET with matches from the round of the last 16 player single elimination. The final match is scheduled for 14:30local time.

 

The Euro-Tour is played on 20 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be purchased at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.

 

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 federation website www.eurotouronline.com, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.

German Wonderkid Filler Knocks Immonen For Eight

Joshua Filler

Joshua Filler (GER), the German wonderkid, just defeated Mika Immonen (FIN) in the single elimination round of the last 32 players of the Dynamic Billard Albanian Open in Tirana, Albania, with 9:7.

 

The result of the match is definitely a surprise but not yet the biggest story about the match. Also the pure fact that Filler won against Immonen in itself is not the biggest upset here. The major surprise of the match is the fact how Filler managed to triumph over Immonen. After eight racks played, Immonen was leading 7:1 (!) over Filler and just needed two more racks to waltz into the round of the last 16 players tomorrow. But then the match turned 180 degrees. Filler did not miss any more shots while Immonen started making mistakes. He scratched while playing a push-out, ran out of position and hooked himself up behind the wrong ball and left safety situations for Filler that the young German was able to run-out. What could hardly be believed became bitter reality for Immonen in this match. Filler succeeded in turning the match around, tore eight consecutive racks off Immonen and left the slate as the winner with a final result of 9:7. Filler will now face Nick Van Den Berg (NED) in the round of the final 16 players tomorrow morning at 10:00 CET. The Dutch just managed to stay alive in the field in squeaking past Maximilian Lechner (AUT) 9:8.

 

More surprising results happened in the round of the last 32 players tonight. Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) who already eliminated Ralf Souquet (GER) one round earlier got the better of Mats Schjetne (NOR) and sneaked through with 9:8. The last remaining Albanian player, Eklent Kaci (ALB), out of the blue ousted EPBF Player of the Year 2015 Francisco Diaz-Pizarro (ESP) 9:6 and keeps his hopes alive for a high finish in the tournament on his home soil. 15-year-old Polish player Wiktor Zielinski (POL) continues his good performance from last week at the Youth European Championships. He sent former Mosconi-Cup player Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) home with 9:5 and will now face Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) in the next round. Spanish stellar player David Alcaide (ESP) made short work with former World 9-Ball Champion Daryl Peach (GBR) and took him down with 9:3 in a single sided match. Tomorrow Alcaide will be up against Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) who eliminated Joao Grilo (POR) from the event with 9:8

 

Last 16 Players Single Elimination Lineups

Mark Gray (GBR) v Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP)

Joshua Filler (GER) v Nick van den Berg (NED)

Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) v David Alcaide (ESP)

Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) v Wiktor Zielinski (POL)

Albin Ouschan (AUT) v Marcus Chamat (SWE)

Eklent Kaci (ALB) v Mateusz Sniegocki (POL)

Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) v Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH)

Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) v Niels Feijen (NED)

 

In the Women Albanian Open, the quarterfinalists who made their way through the winner’s round are Nataliya Seroshtan (RUS), Veronika Ivanovskaia (GER), Diana Khodjaeva (BEL) and Kristina Tkach (RUS). They are waiting for the winners from the following matches:

 

Losers Qualifikation Round

Marharyta Fefilava (BLR) v Monika Zabek (POL)

Claudia Von Rohr (SUI) v Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL)

Ina Kaplan (GER) v Melanie Suessenguth (GER)

Pia Blaeser (GER) v Ine Helvik (NOR)

 

Tomorrow, the Dynamic Billard Albanian Open will continue at 10:00 local time with matches from the last 16 single elimination. The Women Albanian Open will commence at the same time with matches from the loser’s qualification round.

 

The Euro-Tour is played on 24 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be purchased at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.

 

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 federation website www.eurotouronline.com, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.