Shane Van Boening (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)
Shane Van Boening will begin the defense of his World Pool Championship title against Japan’s Masato Yoshioka in Kielce, Poland from February 1-5 live on Sky Sports in the UK, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia and the Baltics, DAZN in the USA as well as Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide.
The American will look to become only the second player in history to defend the title following in the footsteps of Earl Strickland in a packed arena at Targi Kielce. 46 countries will be represented in the 128-player field as it is whittled down to the Last 64 over the first two days of action before it’s straight knockout to the end where one will claim the $60,000 first-place prize and the world crown.
The draw was completed with the top 64 players from the Nineball World Rankings against an unseeded player from the other 64 in the hat. Standout first-round ties include 2015 world champion Ko Pin Yi facing James Aranas of the Philippines whilst 2022 semi-finalist Abdullah Alyousef faces the tricky prospect of Johann Chua. 2004 world champion Alex Pagulayan was unseeded and will meet Michael Schneider.
World Cup of Pool winner David Alcaide takes on Billy Thorpe and Shane Wolford‘s mission for a spot on Team USA at the 2023 Mosconi Cup takes on Pia Filler. Francisco Sanchez Ruiz had a year to remember last year and will begin his Nineball campaign against So Shaw of Iran.
Double elimination matches are all race to 9, with all matches from the Last 64 a race to 11 except the final, which is a race to 13.
Table 1 will be live on broadcasters worldwide including Sky Sports in the UK, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia, Baltics, and the Netherlands, DAZN in the USA, Canada, and Italy, as well as on Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide. See where to watch here.
Table 2 will be live on Viaplay in selected territories as well as on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel.
Table 3 will be live on Viaplay in selected territories as well as on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube channel.
Jasmin Ouschan, organizing two WPA World Championship events in her hometown, reverted to her familiar playing role and won through the first round of the Predator World Women’s 10-Ball Championship with a confident 7-2 win over Kristina Grim at Sportpark Klagenfurt on Tuesday.
Three-time Pro Billiard Series champion Kelly Fisher was a 7-1 winner against Seo Seoa, while the current Women’s 10-Ball Championship – who won her title when the event was last staged in 2013 – also got off to a winning start, registering a 7-0 victory against Yi Yun Su.
Ouschan has been heavily involved in the organization of these events but more recently has switched her focus to preparations for competing, and she had plenty of support as she got her tournament underway against Grim.
Ouschan took the first rack after Grim gave herself a tough cut on the 10, which she hit too thin. The match was levelled when a dry break and subsequent foul from Ouschan allowed Grim back in with ball in hand. The Slovakian, who has previously represented Germany, couldn’t capitalize on her own break, however, and hit a tough 9 too full and Ouschan’s lead was restored at 2-1. The following two racks also went against the breaker, but Ouschan made it 4-2 from her own break.
That lead was extended further after Grim left an opening from a 1-ball safety. Ouschan completed another run out on her own break to reach the hill 6-2 up, and her progression to the next round was confirmed the next rack when the hometown hero cleared after Grim missed a long 1 under shot-clock pressure.
“The first match is always a big question mark, how it will feel,” said Ouschan. “But it went well and I’m totally happy with the set up in general, the whole team did great and of course I am proud to have such an event in my hometown.”
The World Women’s 10-Ball Championship was last held in 2013, when the Philipinnes’ Rubilen Amit won the title for a second time, beating Kelly Fisher in the final to add to her 2009 success. Amit has had a long time to wait to defend her title but made a perfect start with a 7-0 win over Yi Yun Su of Chinese Taipei.
Elsewhere, three-time Pro Billiard Series champion Kelly Fisher eased into the winners’ side of the brackets with a 7-1 win over Korea’s Seo Seoa, and there was a win for Austria’s 17-year-old rising star Lena Primus, who defeated Laura Saarinen 7-6.
Before the start of the World Teams Championship, players and officials paid tribute to Molrudee Kasemchaiyanan, who sadly died on Tuesday. Kasemchaiyanan fell ill after representing New Zealand at The World Games in July and was remembered by her billiard family with a minute of silence in Klagenfurt. Kelly Fisher paid tribute, saying: “She was a sweetheart who did a lot for the billiard world and was very passionate about the game, and was part of our billiard family. She is going to be missed very much.”
Matches in the World Teams Championship are a best of five sets and teams are made up one two male and one female player. The first set is between the two female players, before teams nominate a player for mens singles. All four players must have played by the third set, which is mixed doubles. Players can then nominate a singles player of their choice for the fourth set, and if scores are tied at 2-2 then all team members participate in a best-of-four shootout.
With Austria ‘A’ among eight teams seeded through the first round, it was left to the B team to fly the flag on the feature table. However, they were up against a USA team in no mood to be gracious to their hosts. April Larson set the tone for a defiant victory, defeated Lina Primus 4-0.
The momentum was carried into the second set by Tyler Styer, who defeated Daniel Guttenberger 4-1. Guttenberger’s rack was the only one won by Austria, however, as Joey Tate teamed up with Larson to send Austria B to the losers’ side of the brackets, winning the set 4-0 against Primus and Max Lechner. That sets up a mouth-watering clash between Great Britain (Jayson Shaw, Darren Appleton and Kelly Fisher) and USA tomorrow evening.
Japan (Yuki Hiraguchi, Masato Yoshioka & Tatsu Kuribayashi) won a thrilling encounter against Serbia (Bojana Sarac, Aleksa Pecelj & Andreja Klasovic). Japan took the first two sets by close scorelines of 4-3 for Hiraguchi over Sarac and 4-2 for Yoshioka over Pecelj. Serbia fought back strongly as Sarac and Klasovic won from hill-hill in mixed doubles against Hiraguchi and Kuribayashi but Yoshioka took his team into the next round with an emphatic 4-0 win against Pecelj.
Canada won the first shootout of the event to advance at the expense of Costa Rica, and a short while later Switzerland also advanced by shootout, sending Finland to the losers’ side.
The draw and brackets for the Predator World Women’s 10-Ball Championship can be seen here: https://probilliardseries.com/event/1677/. Play continues at 9am on Wednesday.
The event is broadcasting two tables with full live coverage and commentary every day. One will be available on the World Billiard TV YouTube Channel and another will be at watchbilliard.tv. All tables can be viewed live at Kozoom.com.
Follow @probilliardseries on Facebook, @probilliardseries on Instagram or @PBilliardSeries on Twitter to follow the next events.
A drained Shane Van Boening (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)
Shane Van Boening produced a comeback for the ages as he came from 10-3 down to defeat Hall of Famer and former World Champion Mika Immonen 11-10 to reach the Last 16 of the 2022 World Pool Championship at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes. Coverage live on Sky Sports in the UK/Ireland, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria as well as Viaplay and networks worldwide.
Van Boening will face Chinese Taipei’s Ko Pin Yi who downed Mosconi Cup MVP Jayson Shaw in a hill-hill finish as action heated up dramatically. Shaw had taken the early lead, but it was Pin Yi who hit back to lead 8-6 before reaching the hill first at 10-7. The Brit was never down and out though after a huge fluke on the 9 ball after he kicked the 2 ball into it and in. Pin Yi though is a former World Champion, and he showed the qualities that won him that title in 2015 to beat Shaw by a slender margin to meet Van Boening next.
Elsewhere, last year’s runner-up Omar Al Shaheen made a remarkable comeback from 10-1 down to beat Daniel Guttenberger in the last rack in the Last 32 before making lightwork of Masato Yoshioka in the Last 16 to set up a clash with Oliver Szolnoki who reached the semi-finals in 2021.
Two-time champion Thorsten Hohmann will meet fellow two-timer Albin Ouschan in the opening Last 16 match tomorrow morning on Table 1 after Hohmann knocked out Live 2023 Nineball World No.1 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz in the afternoon and Ko Ping Hang in the evening. Ouschan meanwhile got the better of Nicholas De Leon and Norweigan Mats Schjetne who gave Ouschan one of his toughest matches of the tournament so far sneaking through 11-8.
Darren Appleton keeps rolling back the years overcoming Tomasz Kaplan and Lo Ho Sum only dropping three racks in the process. The former World Champion will face his sternest test to date though tomorrow against the Killer, Joshua Filler. There was drama wherever you looked at the Marshall Arena and Naoyuki Oi‘s match with Oscar Dominguez for a place in the Last 16 delivered.
Oi had cantered in front against Oscar Dominguez at 8-1 before it was the American who reached the hill first with Oi trailing by two racks at 10-8. The Japanese stalwart though showed why he renowned as one of the world’s best to book a Last 32 spot against the last remaining Pole, Konrad Juszczyszyn. Juszczyszyn proved no match for Oi who had found his groove though and now meets Chang Jung-Lin who slew Niels Feijen.
Feijen, a previous winner of the tournament himself, was frozen to his chair and 6-0 before he knew it after losing the lag, but he fought back to 6-4. It did prove to be all in vain though as Jung-Lin pushed back to make it two Chinese Taipei players in the Last 16.
Niels Feijen, the 45-year-old multi-titled Dutch star, added another championship to his resume as he over-powered Austria’s Daniel Guttenberg in the final match of the Men’s 9 Ball Division at the Dynamic Billard European Championships in Lasko, Slovenia. It was the Terminator’s second gold medal in 9-ball and 11th overall.
Coming into the match as a big underdog, Guttenberger made just too many mistakes and against a player of Feijen’s calibre, they were ruthlessly punished. The Dutchman’s confidence was in full bloom from the very start of the match and it grew with every successive rack won.
Commented Feijen, “People say it’s a young man’s game and it is and it isn’t. As long as you stay fit and keep improving and you stay hungry, then it’s anybody’s game. The older you get, the commitment changes a little bit. I’m a family man and I have other things on the side, so my commitment and drive are not like it was in my 20’s and 30’s.
“But I’m going to enjoy this now. We’re going to jump in the river across from the hotel and enjoy the night. It’s an amazing feeling and it’s not getting any easier, the level of play is so high. But to win two bronzes and to finish it off with a gold is a great feeling.”
Feijen won the lag and saw the 1 ball drop into the corner pocket and quick-fire combination on the 2/9 gave him the opening rack. Guttenberger, playing in his first ever European Championship final, looked very comfortable as he ran through the balls to level the score at 1-1.
Feijen pushed out in the next after five balls were locked together around the head rail. The Austrian gave the table back and both players went back and forth with safeties. Guttenberger looked in the ascendancy after Feijen left the 3 ball out which Guttenberg potted. He did all the hard work but missed a relatively simple 5 into the centre pocket and The Terminator took his chance and the lead at 2.1.
A dry break from the Austrian left a messy table as the rack became tactical. Feijen, though, failed to put the 1 ball safe and
Guttenberger, rather than pot it, laid an easy snooker that left Feijen few options. He went for a one rail escape but missed to give ball in hand. Guttenberger, though, missed the 5 ball when the run out looked favourite and Feijen once again, took the opportunity to increase his lead. 3-1.
Feijen made the 1 and 2 balls on the break and with a makeable shot on the 3 ball, managed the run out to give himself a very tidy 4-1 lead. Guttenberger was under some pressure now. Coming into the match as the underdog, he really needed to stick with Feijen but a few needless mistakes had let the Dutchman forge ahead. Another bad error from the Austrian handed the table back to Feijen, and looking the picture of determination, he cleared up to take a 5-1 lead in the race to 9.
Feijen looked unstoppable in the next as he ran out, executing shots to perfection, to move his lead to 6-1. It looked like mission impossible for Guttenberger, and it became worse when he scratched pocketing the 2-ball and handing an open table to his opponent. Feijen though made an uncharacteristic slip as he missed the 6 ball and Guttenberger wrapped it up to trail 6-2.
Three balls went down for Feijen on the break and with a shot on the 3 ball, the run out looked a certainty and he increased his lead to 7-2. Guttenberger made two balls on his break and with the 3-ball available into the centre pocket, it was a golden chance to stop the rot. Holding off his nerves, he ran out as the score moved to 7-3.
Another crushing break from the veteran Dutchman saw two balls drop and he made no mistakes as he quickly ran out to reach the hill. In the next, with no pocket available for the 2 ball, Guttenberger tied the cue ball up behind the 4 ball. Feijen’s escape left a long pressure 2-ball which the Austrian potted and held himself together well to take the rack.
With the title a rack away, Feijen played a perfect break. The balls were all out in the open, and the master Dutchman ran out for his 11th European Championship Individual gold medal.
“The Europeans hold Olympic status for the Dutch players and it’s super important. I got that right away in straight pool and then I went all out for the 10 ball – if I’m still in, I want to get a gold medal, then bronze again, I lost in the 8 ball; I got a bit tired but then I said, one more time, all-in because I want to hear that national anthem and that was an amazing feeling!” added the champion.
Semi Finals
Daniel Guttenberger (AUT) 9 – 1 Jakub Koniar (SVK)
Niels Feijen (NED) 9 – 6 Jani Uski (FIN)
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.
Three more Gold Medals have been awarded at the Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth in the Alpina Sports & Wellness Hotel, St. Johann i.Pg, Austria. The 8-ball individuals are over and the titles were taken by Diana Khodjaeva (BEL), Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) and Pascal Bruckmann (GER) in their respective categories.
In the Under 19’s, Pascal Bruckmann was definitely the underdog. His opponent Maksim Dudanets (RUS) has already won the Gold Medal in straight pool and a Bronze Medal in 10-ball this week. But the match took a course as nobody would have expected it. Bruckmann had a furious start and after six racks, the scoreboard displayed a 5:1 lead for the German. Then Dudanets pulled one rack back, making the score 2:5. But Bruckmann was on fire. He played almost perfectly and won the next two racks as well, winning the match and the title with 7:2.
The final in the Under 17’s between Sanjin Pehlivanovic and Eklent Kaci (ALB) was the encounter of two players with excellent shotmaking talents and hard breaks. Both players showed strong and consisting performances throughout the week so far. No wonder the match was quite even from beginning to end. Being 5:4 up, Eklent Kaci had his own break shot and the chance to finish the match in his favor. But he scratched while trying to clear his group and allowed Pehlivanovic back to the table. The young player from Sarajevo committed several mistakes earlier but this time he cleared the table, turning the match into a hill-hill thriller at 5:5. With his own break coming up, Pehlivanovic had a good chance to win the match. And he made use of it. He broke, cleared the table and won the title 6:5 over Kaci.
In the girls division, Diana Khodajeva was the favorite player. She managed to eliminate Russian star player Kristina Tkach 5:3 in the semi-final. Her opponent Emily Heidergott (GER) was probably on no-one’s list for the final match in girl’s 8-ball. She lost in the first winner’s round to her teammate Jana Peters. With victories over Dina Fatihova (RUS) 5:2, Vilde-Mary Holme (NOR) 5:0 and Hannah Memic (BIH) 5:0, she came back to the semi-finals in the girls division where she was able to take revenge for her defeat, ousting Jana Peters with 5:1. The final match was exciting. Both players played at even strength. After 5 racks, Heidergott was 3:2 in the lead. Khodjaeva missed the 8-ball and gave Heidergott the chance to get a two point lead in the match and get on the hill. But Heidergott’s nerves played a trick on her. She missed the last ball of her group and Khodjaeva won that match to turn the score to 3:3. The next rack was run out by Khodjaeva and it put her on the h ill with 4:3. Rack eight turned out to be a struggle for both. One ball of each group were frozen to the side rail and the match turned into a tactical battle. However, Khodjaeva proved to be the more experienced player forcing Heidergott to commit a foul. With ball in hand, Khodjaeva pocketed the remaining balls and won the match and the title 5:3.
Top Six 8-Ball Girls
1. Diana Khodjaeva (BEL)
2. Emily Heidergott (GER)
3. Kristina Tkach (RUS)
Jana Peters (GER)
4. Hanna Memic (BIH)
Marharyta Fefilava (BLR)
Medal table after 3 of 5 events
1. Russia
2. Germany
3. Belgium
4. Ukraine
5. Bosnia & Hercegovina
6. Poland
7. Albania
8. Switzerland
9. Belarus
Finland
Hungary
Italy
Norway
Earlier today, the first rounds of the 9-ball individuals have been played. An outstanding match took place between Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) and Jonas Souto (ESP). Both players are 13 year old but Pehlivanovic, being the defending Champion, has a lot more experience that Souto who is attending his first EC. That was also what made the difference in that match. Pehlivanovic did not play his A-game, but since Souto always missed easy shots due to lack of concentration and playing too fast, the match was leveled all the way through. The situation got to hill-hill. At 6:6, it was Souto’s break shot. The young lad from Spain had a ball down but only one more ball crossed the headstring. According to the rules, that is deemed to be an illegal break and the opponent gets to the table. That’s what Pehlivanovic did. He found an open table in front of him with no real problems. He focussed on the game and pocketed ball after ball, winning the rack and the match with a lucky 7:6 over So uto. „I know I did not play well in this match“, admitted Pehlivanovic after the match, but I will also play the semi-final in 8-ball this afternoon. I need to get better then though“, Pehlivanovic added.
The tournament will continue tomorrow at 09:00 local time with the team competition. In the afternoon, the 9-ball individuals will continue.
All matches can be viewed LIVE at www.kozoom.com. Up to 24 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.epconline.eu.
The event will is hosted by the European Pocket Billiard Federation EPBF and organized by International Billiard Promotion Foundation IBPF.
In the quarter-finals of the 8-ball Under 19’s of the Dynamic Billard European Championship Youth, Oliver Szolnoki (HUN) overpowered defending Champion Raphael Wahl (GER) with 7:3.
Szolnoki had the better break shot throughout the match. Though he started a bit inconsistently, he grew stronger and pocketed very well. Wahl could not find his rhythm and after 9 racks he found himself trailing with 3:6. Having his own break shot coming up, Wahl decided to change his strategy. He executed a slow break shot in order to leave as many balls in clusters as possible. He saw that Szolnoki was playing with great confidence while he could not find his game so he needed to try a change. That final rack took over 21 minutes. Wahl only tried to leave bad positions for Szolnoki who struggled with that tactics. IN the end, Wahl tried to pocket one of his own balls together with one of Szolnoki’s group but he failed. He did not even block the pocket for Szolnoki. That was the moment when the curtain came down on Wahl. Szolnoki went to the table, pocketed all of his remaining balls and sank the 8-ball in the side pocket to win the match with 7:3. In the semi-final he will pl ay Maksim Dudanets (RUS) who won 7:2 over Daniel Guttenberger (AUT). The other semi-final in the Under 19’s will be played between Pascal Bruckmann (GER) and Krystian Cwikla (POL).
In the Under 17’s, defending Champion Daniel Maciol (POL) is still on track. He made his way through to the semi-finals with a more than clear 6:1 victory over Jan Van Lierop (NED). In the semis, Maciol will face last year’s 9-ball Champion Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) who took down Kamil Szasor (POL) 6:1 to book his seat in the semi-final. Unheralded Sajid Raheem (NOR) will face last year’s bronze medallist Eklent Kaci (ALB) in the other semi-final.
The semifinals in the girls division will feature Kristina Tkach (RUS) playing with Diana Khodjaeva (BEL) and in an all German affair, Jana Peters will encounter Emily Heidergott. All semi-finals will begin at 17:00 CET on Sunday, July 26th.
The tournament will continue tomorrow at 09:00 local time with the start of the 9-ball individuals competition. At 17:00, the 8-ball semi-finals will be played, followed by the final matches.
All matches can be viewed LIVE at www.kozoom.com. Up to 24 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.epconline.eu.
The event will is hosted by the European Pocket Billiard Federation EPBF and organized by International Billiard Promotion Foundation IBPF.
In the Under 17 category of the Dynamic Billard European Championships Youth at the Alpina Sports & Wellness Hotel in St. Johann i.Pg, Austria, defending Champion Daniel Maciol (POL) is on his way in the straight pool competition. Three consecutive wins over Mustafa Alnar (TNC) 75:35, Andreas-Steen Bonnelykke (NOR) 75:20 and Kamil Szasor (POL) 75:61 put him in his spot in the quarter-final against Tony Da Costa (FRA). Maciol played rock solid pool and the only real challenge for him today was his teammate Szasor who managed to oust last year’s runner-up Jan Van Lierop (NED) in the round of the last 32 players with 75:66.
Under 17 Quarter-finals
Daniel Maciol (POL) v Tony Da Costa (FRA)
Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) v Frederico Amendola (ITA)
In the Under 19 category, Maksim Dudanets (RUS) is currently playing in his own class. Victories over Michal Muklewicz (POL) 100:37, Sandrino File (NED) 100:11 and Austrian local hero Daniel Guttenberger (AUT) 100:55 booked the ticket for Dudanets’ quarter-final seat. The Russian is playing in the U19 category for the first time this year and is already belonging to the circle of the favorite players. Another hot candidate for a seat in the final match is Andreas Madsen (DEN). He won his matches today over Kevin Makelberge (BEL) 100:33, Konrad Kleinszmit (POL) 100:59, Hungarian hope Oliver Szolnoki (HUN) 100:57 and Marcel Willing (AUT) 100:93. Madsen will meet Marsel Safiullin (RUS) in the quarter-final match while Dudanets will have to deal with Dogukan Dogu (TNC).
Under 19 Quarter-finals
Michael Schneider (SUI) v Krystian Cwikla (POL)
Adrijan Todic (SUI) v Vitaly Patsura (UKR)
Andreas Madsen (DEN) v Marsel Safiullin (RUS)
Maksim Dudanets (RUS) v Dogukan Dogu (TNC)
The tournament will continue tomorrow at 09:00 local time with the first round of the 10-ball competition. The quarter-finals matches of the straight pool competition will be played at15:30 local time with the semi-finals and finals to follow right after.
All matches can be viewed LIVE at www.kozoom.com. Up to 24 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.epconline.eu.
The event will is hosted by the European Pocket Billiard Federation EPBF and organized by International Billiard Promotion Foundation IBPF.
