Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) has won the Predator Veldhoven Open 2019, the third tournament of the women’s Euro-Tour series, with a 7-4 victory over Melanie Suessenguth (GER).
What really made the difference between Ouschan and the other 59 contestants in this event, her second straight tour stop win, was her break shot and her playing intelligence. Though Ouschan is known as a strong shotmaker, she also knows when to go for a safety in order to achieve an even better situation. Her break shot is also much more consistent than the break shot of her opponents. On her way to the final match, Ouschan defeated Kristina Jaeger (GER) 7-3, Ewa Bak (POL) 7-2, Marharyta Fefilava (BLR) 7-1, Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL) 7-1 and in the semi-final, Tina Vogelmann (GER) 7-3. Those results clearly show her superiority over the rest of the field in this tournament. Suessenguth made her way to the final match with victories over Diana Khodjaeva (BEL) 7-2, Kristina Tkach (RUS) 7-6, Ine Helvik (NOR) 7-3, Christine Steinlage (GER) 7-4, Nataliya Seroshtan (RUS) 7-4 and in her semi-final, Veronika Hubrtova (CZE) 7-5. While most fans expected a clear victory for Ouschan in the final match, Suessenguth was a tough opponent and demanded everything from Ouschan. Tied at 4-4 after eight racks, Ouschan shifted into overdrive and took the match and the title, winning 7-4 over Suessenguth.
That concludes the coverage of the Predator Veldhoven Open 2019. Starting upcoming Tuesday, we will have the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Seniors and Women.
The Predator Veldhoven Open were played in the NH Conference Centre Koningshof in Veldhoven, The Netherlands, on up to 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 obtained 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 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.womeneurotouronline.com or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Left to right: K. Polovinchuk, V. Trushevskaia and J. Ouschan
In the Predator Veldhoven Open 2019, Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR) defeated Valeriia Trushevskaia (RUS) in the winner’s qualification round 7-1.
Based upon Trushevskaia’s recent performance, the match was actually expected to be a close affair between the two players. Polovinchuk is a very experienced player with a long history on the women’s tour whereas Trushevskaia is just starting her career, having won the 10-ball title in last week’s Youth European Championships. So the match was experience vs hunger. But Trushevskaia could not live up to her performance in that match. She missed too many shots whereas Polovinchuk played as rock solid as she usually does. Towards the end of the match, Trushevskaia was obviously frustrated with her game and even missed an easy 9-ball at 6-1 down. Polovinchuk ended the match and has booked her seat in the single elimination round of the last 16 players.
The Predator Veldhoven Open 2019 will continue tomorrow at 09:30 CET with matches from the loser’s qualification round.
Every day, up to two matches will be streamed LIVE over the EPBF Facebook page. Check for updates and announcements.
The Predator Veldhoven Open are played in the NH Conference Centre Koningshof in Veldhoven, The Netherlands, on up to 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 obtained 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.womeneurotouronline.com or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Today the European Championship 8-ball competition was in full swing. Men, Women, Under 23 and Wheelchair athletes demonstrated their shotmaking and tactical skills on the battlefield of slate.
In the men’s division, defending Champion Bahram Lotfy (DEN) unexpectedly lost his opening match to Sebastian Staab (GER) 7:8. That brought him to the loser’s side straight away where he needed to win in order to get his ticket for the single elimination of the last 64 players. Lotfy encountered Marios Artemiou (CYP) and it did not take much off him to win this match with 8:1. Then in the single elimination, Lotfy was drawn against Konstantin Stepanov (RUS). That match started out quite even but Lotfy capitalised from his break shot while Stepanov was struggling to make a ball when it was his turn to open the rack. In the end, Lotfy remained victorious with 8:3 and will now face Karol Skowerski (POL) tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET in the next round. Other exciting matches in that round will be the clash between Eklent Kaci (ALB) and Thorsten Hohmann (GER) and the match with Mieszko Fortunski (POL) and Fedor Gorst (RUS), just to name a few.
In the women’s 8-ball, Vania Franco (POR) showed some attractive performance in order to make it to the single elimination stage. After having lost her first match 2:6 to Ewa Bak (POL), Franco went over to the loser’s side where she met Louise Furberg (SWE). The experienced player from Sweden had no chance against Franco who prevailed with 6:2. Then, Franco advanced and took down Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR) in a thrilling combat with 6:5. Right after that match, the Portuguese had to deal with yesterday’s surprise winner, Christine Feldmann (SUI). That match really took an unexpected turn since it was Franco to dominated the match from start to finish. Feldmann did not have the slightest chance and Franco demolished her with 6:1 in the end. In the single elimination stage of the last 16 players, Vania Franco will encounter Eylul Kibaroglu (TUR).
In the under 23 division, defending Champion Casper Matikainen (FIN) is straight on track. After having won a silver medal in the men’s 10-ball last night against Mieszko Fortunski (POL), Matikainen had his first matches in the Under 23’s division. He wasted no time and defeated Josef Nechvile (CZE) 8:1 and Daniel Lang (SVK) 8:4 to book his seat in the quarter-finals already. He will be joined there by Vitaliy Patsura (UKR), Pijus Labutis (LTU) and Jan Van Lierop (NED) who are also through to the single elimination over the winner’s side. The quarter-finals in 8-ball will be played tomorrow afternoon at 16:00 CET.
In the wheelchair division, the biggest of all upsets possible did happen. Unheralded David Himpe (BEL) handed a whitewash to defending Champion Jouni Tahti (FIN), defeating the Finish with 5:0. In the next round, Himpe had to give in 4:5 to another underdog, Leszek Blumczynski (POL) with 4:5. Tahti needs to overcome Kurt Deklerck (BEL) for his spot in the quarter-finals tomorrow.
The Dynamic Billard European Championships 2019 for men, women, U23 and wheelchair athletes will commence tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET with matches in the 8-ball individuals competition Men and Women.
The Championships are 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 obtained 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.epconline.eu or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Fedor Gorst (RUS) has just won the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open 2018 with a thrilling 9:7 victory over Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) in the final match.
It was Gorst’s first appearance in a final match of a Euro-Tour ever today. He made his way over elite players like Petri Makkonen (FIN), Mieszko Fortunski (POL), Ivo Aarts (NED) and Maximilian Lechner (AUT) into the final match. His opponent Mateusz Sniegocki had just played a really tough semi-final against his teammate Tomasz Kaplan (POL) and just sneaked over the finish-line with 9:8. So the clash in the final match was experience versus youth. Sniegocki has already three Euro-Tour titles under his belt and today was his fifth appearance in a final match. Gorst was the newbie. „I had nothing to lose really,“ stated Gorst after the match. „The odds were all in favour of Sniegocki so I could play my game and enjoy the final match“. It seemed as if Gorst was as calm as one could be. „I was nervous“, admitted Gorst, „but I managed to keep my focus on the match and not think about winning my first Euro-Tour title.“ The match was really tight with both players changing in leading the scoreboard. At 7:7, SNiegocki missed an important shot. That brought Gorst to the table who showed no mercy to the experienced Polish and ran two racks, winning the final match with 9:7. „Tomorrow I will probably be happy about my 2nd place today,“ mentioned Sniegocki after the final when asked. „But today I’m suffering because I had my chances to win the match“.
The new Euro-Tour rankings are pretty much dominated by Austrian players. Mario He (#2), Albin Ouschan (#3) and Maximilian Lechner (#8) have all conquered or defended a top ten position. Leader of the rankings is still Eklent Kaci (ALB).
Earlier today, the women started their tournament as well. The EPBF Treviso Open began with a big upset. Current #1 ranked player Marharyta Fefilava (BLR) lost her opening match against Monika Zabek (POL) with 5:7. Zabek was already up 3:1 and 5:3 when Fefilava took her time-out. When she came back, she played better and more focussed and managed to put some pressure on her Polish opponent. But Zabek kept her nerves together and put the match into her account when it was on the razor’s edge at 6:5. After that match, Zabek lost a heartbreaker with 6:7 to Ine Helvik (NOR). She then went to the loser’s side to play Elise Qiu (NED). In that match Zabek played up to her limits. After 12 racks, the score was 6:6. It was Qiu’s break shot coming up. The match was open but Qiu was not able to close the book. She missed the 8-ball and left a long shot for Zabek. The Polish pocketed both 8-ball and 9-ball and proceeded to the single elimination stage. Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) wasted no time with her first opponent, Annika Nilsson (SWE). 7:2 was the clear result in favour of Ouschan at the end of the match. Then she went on and handed the same defeat to her next opponent, Ewa Bak (POL). That victory put Ouschan through to the single elimination stage. She is joined there by current #2 of the Euro-Tour rankings, Kristina Tkach (RUS). In former times, Tkach had less problems to go into the single elimination stage. Today, she found two worthy opponents in Tamara Peeters (NED) and Vania Franco (POR). Tkach was still a bit better than these two and won both matches 7:4 and 7:5 to go to the single elimination stage.
Friday through Sunday, EPBF will show two feature matches LIVE on the EPBF Facebook page. The complete tournament is shown on kozoom.com for premium pass holders.
That concludes the coverage of the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open 2018. Tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET, the EPBF Treviso Open, will continue with matches of the last 16 players single elimination.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organised by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website eurotouronline under the Eurotour tab. You can also visit us on our Facebook page or check out the EPBF YouTube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Kristina Tkach (RUS) (Photo courtesy of Alison Chang)
Kristina Tkach (RUS) won the Braga Open 2018 with a 7:0 whitewash in the final over Marharyta Fefilava (BLR). The Braga Open Women’s Euro-Tour was organised for the 6th and final time by Sara Rocha (POR) who is a regular on women’s events and European Championships for many years now. Over the last 6 years, the European women have enjoyed the tournament and its surroundings very much and appreciate the event a lot.
The #1 and #2 player from the Women’s Euro-Tour ranking. Both of them had a remarkable way into the final match. Fefilava did not really experience too much resistance on her journey. She eliminated two local players 7:1 and 7:0 before she met Sara Rocha who also was local but is a regular on the women’s tour. Fefilava remained the upper hand in that match and won it 7:3. After that, Fefilava defeated Yvonne Ullmann-Hybler (GER) 7:1 and in the semi-final Pia Filler (GER) with 7:4. Her way into the final match was overall smooth sailing for Fefilava. On the other side of the draw, Kristina Tkach had some tough struggles to survive. She also had two victories over two local players before she encountered Ewa Bak (POL) in her third match. That match saw 12 racks with Tkach standing tall at 7:5 in the end. After that, Tkach even had to go over the full distance. She just managed to get her foot over the finish line earlier than opponent Tina Vogelmann (GER) and won the match with the closest of all results, 7:6. In the semi-final, Tkach ousted Ine Helvik (NOR) with 7:3. With these results under their belts, Fefilava and Tkach met in the final match. A fierce fight and close encounter was expected by all spectators. But to the shock of all spectators, Fefilava could not get a foot on the ground in the final match. Tkach dominated the set and showed no mercy to her opponent who could not find a valid way to break Tkach’s flow. In the end, the final match was a „one-girl-show“ with Kristina Tkach winning the match and the title with 7:0.
Another remarkable result was the 9th place for unheralded Elena Urquijo (ESP). She fought her way through the loser’s side and had to give in to Ine Helvik with 2:7 in the round of the last 16 players single elimination.
In the Women’s Euro-Tour Rankings, Fefilava still remains #1 player being 50 points ahead of #2 Tkach. #3 is Oliwia Czuprynska who is filled by #4, Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) who chose to not play the events in Portugal this year.
For further information and reference please go to the federation website https://womeneurotouronline.com or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Dennis Jansen, Kristina Tkach, Sara Rocha and Daryl Peach
The first day of the Dynamic Billard Veldhoven Open 2018 saw lots of surprises. Many high class players got defeated and were sent to the loser’s side of the draw.
Some remarkable results in the Dynamic Billard Veldhoven Open 2018 include Dimitri Jungo (SUI) steamrolling the #1 Euro-Tour player Mario He (AUT) with 9:1. Evangelos Vettas (GRE) creamed Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) with 9:5. In a fierce fight, Mieszko Fortunski (POL) remained the upper hand over Francisco Diaz-Pizarro (ESP) with 9:7. Daryl Peach (GBR), former World Champion in 9-ball, got pipped to the post by Christian Sparrenloev-FIscher (SWE) with 4:9. He went to the loser’s side and destroyed Emil-Andre Gangfløt (NOR) with 9:4. Eklent Kaci (ALB), superstar from Albania, was completely surprised when he got beat by unheralded Stephan Weihnacht (GER) with 5:9. Maksim Dudanets (RUS) wrestled down # 4 ranked player Wiktor Zielinski (POL) after a long and tough struggle.
In the EPBF Veldhoven Open, the women’s Euro-Tour event, one outstanding match was the encounter between Sara Rocha (POR) and Christina Jaeger (GER). Rocha found her way into the match much better and after nine racks found herself on the hill, leading 6:3 over Jaeger. But then the match started to turn in favour of the German. Jaeger pulled some racks back from Rocha and before she knew it, Rocha found herself in a hill-hill match with the score tied at 6:6. Rocha had the final break in that tense situation. She pocketed the 5-ball and had a long thin cut on the 1-ball. Rocha missed the shot but was lucky in leaving no shot for Jaeger. The German hit the 1-ball but could not pocket it. Rocha went for the 1-ball, 2-ball and 3-ball and lined the 4-ball up into the corner pocket. The 9-ball was lying very close to the 4-ball. Rocha sunk the 4-ball in the intended pocket and the 9-ball few in the other side’s corner pocket. With a bit of lady luck’s help, Rocha finished the match and advances on the winner’s side into her next match tomorrow against Marharyta Fefilava (BLR). Jaeger may continue her tournament on the loser’s side and will have to go up against Simona Milisauskaite (LTU) in her next match.
Other remarkable results in the EPBF Veldhoven Open 2018 include Ortenzia Haefliger (SUI) very surprisingly winning against Ina Kaplan (GER) with 7:4. Ewa Bak (POL) just reached the finish line when she overran Yana Shut (BLR) with 7:6. Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) once more proved her domination over an opponent and whitewashed Sabrina Cisternino (SUI) 7:0. Kristina Tkach (RUS) is also still in the count on the winner’s side. She took down Svenja Heide (GER) with 7:2 and will now be up against against Vania Franco (POR).
The Dynamic Billard Veldhoven Open 2018 and the EPBF Women’s Veldhoven Open 2018 both will continue tomorrow morning at 10:00 CET with matches from the loser’s round.
The tournaments are played on 60 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 obtained 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.eu or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Ralf Souquet (GER), taking his 23rd victory at Euro-Tour events
The Dynamic Billard Klagenfurt Open are over and have a deserved winner. Ralf Souquet (GER) defeated Sebastian Ludwig (GER) in an exciting final with 9:6 and came up with an amazing comeback.
The final match did not start well for Souquet. The German BCA Hall of Famer had two balls down each in his first two break shots but no other ball touched the head string so he had to give the open table to Ludwig who cleared it and like that achieved a nice 3:0 lead over Souquet. In the next rack, Ludwig broke dry but Souquet missed the 1-ball. With this chance given, Ludwig increased the lead to 4:0. It took 5 racks to be played before Souquet got the chance to open his account and win his first rack to get to 4:1. As the match went along, Souquet got a bit better into the match and after 9 racks, the score was 5:4 in favour of Ludwig still. With his own break shot coming up, Ludwig decided to go for a timeout and get his things together again in order to maintain his lead over „The Kaiser“ and make it over the finish line first. But the tide has turned and fortune was reversed in the match. This time, Ludwig had two balls down on the break but the shot was illegal since no other ball broke the head string. Souquet used the chance and cleared the rack to get to 5:5. He even managed to win 3 more consecutive racks to get on the hill with 8:5. This after having trailed 1:5 in the match. What an amazing turnover from Souquet. He allowed one more point fro Ludwig who could not find any remedy against Souquet in the match anymore. In rack 15, Souquet used his chance and took the match with 9:6 to win his 23rd Euro-Tour tournament in his career! His experience and his perfection in his game made the difference today and brought him to this stellar success. This victory catapults Souquet into 2nd place of the new Euro-Tour rankings, trailing David Alcide (ESP) by 15 points only.
In the Klagenfurt Women Open, three players can be considered as highly favoured to win the event. One of course is Jasmin Ouschan (AUT). The Austrian superstar is always favoured in any women’s event. Here, she additionally performs on her home turf with the crowd backing her up big time. She might be thankful for that support since she had an injury to overcome from a bicycle accident a few weeks ago. Jasmin on her first match very convincingly with 7:3 over Ann-Sofie Lofgren (SWE). In her next match in the winner’s qualification round she made short work of Ewa Bak (POL), handing her a 7:1 defeat.
The next favourite is Kristina Tkach (RUS). The young Russian is a permanent component in European women’s pool and is the current #1 ranked player in the women’s ranking. Today, she had a tough job and hard work with Ana Gradisnik (SLO) who gave her a fierce fight in her first match. After 13 racks, Tkach was able to come out as a 7:6 victor over Gradisnik. After that she finished Ine Helvik (NOR) with 7:3 after having trailed 0:3 in the match.
A special appearance here in Klagenfurt has China’s World Games Gold Medallist Chen Siming (CHN). The superstar from Asia already stirred up some smoke in the open event by defeating several male players. Today, she started in the women’s event with a 7:2 victory over local Lisa Stadler (AUT). Then, she took down experienced Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) with 7:1 even. In her third match for the day, Siming took down Eylul Kibaroglu (TUR) 7:4.
Tomorrow, the Klagenfurt Women’s Open will continue at 09:30 local time with matches from the last 16 players single elimination. The final match is scheduled for 14:30 CET.
Every day, one match from the events 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 23 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 Klagenfurt 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.
All according the plan at Ballazzo Women Euro-Tour in Austria
St. Johann, Austria: The Ballazzo Women Euro-Tour is down to the semi- final matches. The favorite players have not let their fans down and all made their way through the field so far.
Ana Mazhirina (RUS) dealt with Ewa Bak (POL) 7:2 and then eliminated Louise Furberg (SWE) with 7:3 in the quarter-final match. She dominated the match and did not leave a chance to Furberg. Her opponent in the upcoming semi-final match will be Ina Kaplan (GER) who ousted Silvia Gaudino (ITA) 7:2 and Caroline Roos (SWE) with the same result.
The top favored player to win the event is once more Jasmin Ouschan (AUT). She whitewashed Katrine Jensen (DEN) 7:0 and then took care of Jennifer Vietz (GER) with 7:3. Ouschan will play Nataliya Seroshtan (RUS) in her semi-final match. Seroshtan reached the semi-final with victories over Barbara Bolfelli (ITA) 7:2 and Martine Christiansen 7:5.
The semi-finals will be played at 12:00 CET with the final scheduled for 14:00 CET.
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.eu or contact our press office.
