Alexander Kazakis (GRE) has had a good day „at the office“ today. After having won the 10-ball Kremlin Cup earlier this month, Kazakis came here to Treviso with a lot of wind underneath his wings to play the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open, the final event of the Euro-Tour in 2016. He seems to be on a streak. In his first winner’s round match, Kazakis wasted no time with Guilherme Sousa (POR) and defeated him 9:4. In the next round, the opponent was punished even harder. Ryan Pisany (MLT) fell to the sharp blade of Kazakis and received the maximum penalty. 9:0 was the final result that put Kazakis in the winner’s qualification round where he will be up against Arjan Matrizi (ALB).
Former World 9-ball Champion Daryl Peach (GBR) did not catch that good of a day as Kazakis. He won his first match 9:4 over Adam Mscisz (POL) but then met Sascha Trautmann (GER). The German prove to be too strong for Peach today and showed no mercy for him. 9:3 was the final result that put Peach on the loser’s side of the draw.
Joining the list of the fallen heroes from today is Albin Ouschan (AUT), current 9-ball World Champion. He started with an easy prey in winner’s round one with a comfortable 9:4 victory over Mariusz Skoneczny (POL). In the next round, Ouschan stood against Andrey Seroshtan (RUS). That match went completely against the World Champion. Seroshtan dominated the table and in the end handed Ouschan a tough and painful 9:4 debacle. Seroshtan, who earlier today overpowered Andreas Madsen (DEN) 9:5 now will go against Jose Alberto Delgado (ESP) in the winner’s qualification round.
Another interesting encounter took place in winner’s round one between Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) and newbie Aleksa Pecelj (SRB). The 16-year-old kid from Serbia came here to Treviso for his first Euro-Tour experience and he came up with some impressive performances. In round one, he defeated Jorge Garcia-Fonseca (ESP) with 9:0. Then he met Stepanov who is constantly ranked in the top 32 in Europe since years. However, Pecelj did not show too much respect and tried to live for the moment. He used his chances whenever he got them and Stepanov committed some unnecessary mistakes. This combination lead to a score of 8:8 with Pecelj having the final break shot. He could not make a ball off the break but left no shot for Stepanov. The cue ball was hiding partly behind the 8-ball and he could not see the whole of the 1-ball. He played a push-out and left a tough position for Pecelj. The young Serbian decided to go for a combination shot that was very hard to make. Playing that shot in that situation would have probably not been the choice of many players. But Pecelj went for it and made it. He then used his chance and ran the rack to win with 9:8 over a disappointed Stepanov. In his next match in winner’s round two, Pecelj lost to Olivier Mortier (BEL) 7:9.
This year’s Mosconi Cup Captain for Team EUROPE, Marcus Chamat (SWE). received a painful whipping today from Hubert Lopotko (POL). In winner’s round one, Lopotko destroyed Chamat on table 1 and handed him a clear 9:5 defeat. Thereafter, Chamat went to the loser’s side and ousted Tom Bjerke (NOR) 9:6. Having received a walk-over in the next round, Chamat will be up next against Thomas Poeschl (GER) on Friday morning at 10:30 local time. On the other hand, Lopotko has made his way through to the winner’s qualification round by taking down Kristjan Kuusik (EST) 9:5 after the destruction of Chamat. At 13:30tomorrow, he will face Stephan Cohen (FRA) for a spot in the single elimination of the event.
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.
Black Heart Premium Billiard Tips is very proud and honoured to announce a new and world's first Signature Series of billiard tips, featuring 3 of our most senior, decorated and dedicated Black Heart player ambassadors. Guilherme Sousa (Portugal, WCOP), Barbara Bolfelli (x2 European Champion) and Javier Gomez (World Champion) will all have their own signature billiard tip, manufactured with same high end Boar leather core including our I-HDS Technology.
Set for an early 2015 release, the tips will be made available in time for the Super Billiards Expo, PA and the prestigious Porto Open held at the Aeroporto do Porto. Upon which we will welcome billiard players to test the products for themselves and also handing out free samples.
"Each billiard tip will be unique to the playing attributes of each player. They are all proven winners on the international stage and we all felt that this was an important step forward for the future relationship between manufacture and the player.
For sure, it would have been all too easy for us to recruit a stalwart household billiard name for this project. Instead, we have shown strong loyalty and responsibility to not only our 'signature' ambassador players but the whole stable of players who currently use and endorse our products. Genuine accountability to one's duty is what we seek here at Black Heart." Explained Charles, general Customer Service Manager.
Revolutionary by design, this is the state of the art Billiard Cue Tip. The Indoor Humidity Defensive System (I-HDS Technology) protects the Cue Tip against the environment, eradicating the effect of the surrounding playing conditions making the BLACKHEART(tm) Tip a brilliant advancement towards perfection.
Now Pool Billiard fans in Italy, Portugal and Mexico and honour their 'Pool Idols' by using their signature products.
To find out more on our signature series you can email Charles at: customerservice@bhtip.com
Signature series is a world first and will launch early 2015, again proving that Black Heart Premium Billiard Tips supports its players like no other billiard tip manufacture in the world market today.
WITH THE ANNUAL World Cup of Pool set to get underway on the 23rd September, the full line-up of players can now be confirmed and it is arguably the strongest set of players ever assembled in the nine year history of the event.
There are 12 World Champions competing as well as six US Open Champions and countless European and Asian Champions. In addition the field also contains seven former World Cup winners and nine World Pool Masters champions, making it a must-see tournament for UK pool fans.
Taking place at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth from Tuesday 23rd to Sunday 28th September, there are 16 first round matches over the first three days.
Now in its ninth year, the World Cup of Pool features 32 two-player teams from around the world battling it out for a $250,000 prize fund. The defending champions are the Philippines who will be among the favourites to claim a record-breaking fourth World Cup.
The event starts on Tuesday 23rd September and there are two sessions daily at 12 noon and 6.00pm during weekdays and then 1.00pm and 6.00pm at the weekend. Team USA get their campaign underway on Wednesday 24th September.
All tickets are priced at £5 (afternoons) and £10 evenings and are available from the venue or www.seetickets.com
Diamond Billiards are the Official Table of the 2014 World Cup of Pool; the Official Cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis and the Official Balls are Super Aramith. Predator is the Official Cue of the event.
THERE were wins for three of the fancied teams at the 888.com World Cup of Pool as England B, Holland and the Philippines all made their way into the second round as play continued at the York Hall in London.
The Philippines pair of Dennis Orcollo and Lee Vann Corteza closed out the evening beating Croatia – Karlo Dalmatin and Ivica Putnik – 7-4. The Croatians were in with a chance as they stayed with their opponents in the early stages, but a succession of errors saw the team spirit drain away.
With a strong Filipino contingent in the crowd, including the Ambassador, the duo from Manila completed the win.
In the second match, England B – Chris Melling and Daryl Peach – were big favourites against a Portuguese team making their 888.com World Cup of Pool debut and they justified the bookmaker’s faith with a scrappy 7-4 win to book a second round game against Germany.
It wasn’t their greatest showing but if getting into the second round was their goal, they achieved it. They took the early 3-0 lead, but then Melling failed to get out of a snooker and with ball in hand, Portugal reduced the deficit. The Portuguese pair of Manual Gama and Guilherme Sousa started to shed their early nerves and after a poor miss on the brown 7 by Melling they got the score back to 3-4.
They shared the next two racks and at 5-4 down, Portugal had every chance of springing an upset. However, they couldn’t capitalise on it and the English pair held their nerve to get over the line
“Most players only play a table as quick as this in Matchroom events. It is a quality table and I don’t think you can find a table as quick as that,” said Melling.
“Most people at home don’t understand the pressure you are under. At the end of the day as long as you win that is main thing. We will both go back and assess our game because we both made some mistakes but we both made some great shots as well and that is the beauty of pool.”
Peach added, “It is a little bit nerve wracking but it’s nice to get the first match and the first win under your belt.”
Earlier, Holland, with the dependable duo of Niels Feijen and Nick Van Den Berg, took out Scotland 7-2 to advance to the last 16. With a wealth of scotch doubles experience, both in the Mosconi Cup and this event, they always had a little too much for the Scottish team comprised of American-based up and comer Jayson Shaw and seasoned vet Jonni Fulcher.
Feijen was delighted to get through what could potentially have been a banana skin; “It was the first match of the tournament and we had to get used to the table as it slides a lot and also the lights and the crowd.
“We grew in confidence though after both teams made a couple of mistakes. We’re a good doubles pair and have got a lot of experience and at this venue where we both helped take down the Mosconi Cup last December. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
The 2013 888.com World Cup of Pool runs from Tuesday September 17 to Sunday, September 22 at the famous York Hall in Bethnal Green, East London. The field features 32 teams from 31 countries in a single elimination format. The total prize fund is US$250,000 with $60,000 going to the eventual champions.
Play continues tomorrow with three more first round matches:
The 2013 World Cup of Pool runs from 17 – 22 September and takes place at the York Hall, London. For those wanting to watch the action in person, all tickets are available from www.seetickets.com (Search ‘World Cup of Pool’)
Manuel Gama & Guilherme Sousa, Denis Grabe & Erki Erm
Sarajevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina: In the qualifying event for Matchroom's World Cup of Pool, teams Portugal and Estonia have qualified for the main event.
The World Cup of Pool will be held this year from September 17th to 22nd, in York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, Great Britain. This prestigious event features 32 teams from all over the World. The last 2 spots were played for today in Sarajevo, organized by IBPF. Ten teams started into the competition (Albania, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Estonia, Ireland, Lithuania, Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia).
Teams Portugal and Estonia went into the deciding matches undefeated. Through the loser's round, teams Bosnia & Hercegovina and Albania qualified for the play-offs. The Bosnian's had to deal with Estonia while Albania took on Portugal. Dino Cerimagic and Alen Muratovic waved the flag for Bosnia & Hercegovina, but in the end the two Estonians Denis Grabe and Erki Erm were too strong for them, defeating them with 8:4. Team Portugal, consisting of Manuel Gama and Guilherme Sousa, had a tougher fight with the two Albanian players Nick Malai and Edmond Zaja. That match went to 7:7 with the Portuguese being the luckier team in the end, winning with 8:7.
Single elimination of last 32 players underway in St. Johann
Friday, 01 June 2012: In a very single-sided match, US-Open winner Darren Appleton (GBR) smashed Guilherme Sousa (POR) with 9:0.
The story of the match is quickly told. Sousa made many mistakes and missed some shots while Appleton did not. A huge difference between the two opponents was clearly visible. Sousa seemed to have no chance during the whole match. Appleton played more focussed, stronger and convinced the audience that there would be no other winner but him in that matchup.
The other matches of the single elimination round of the last 32 players were closer and provided tighter results. Please check our results section on the website for detailed results.
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 , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office.
Friday, 01 June 2012: In a match that was determined by many errors, “The Kaiser” Ralf Souquet (GER) ousted Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) with 9:5.
The match began with a bad omen for Chinakhov. He miscued on his first shot. He seemed to be not as focussed as he should have been when playing a Hall of Famer. Souquet benefitted from Chinakhov’s mistakes and took a comfortable 3:0 lead. In the 4th rack, Souquet was almost sure to take the point but when he played position for the 9-ball he scratched. Was that the turn of the tide for Chinakhov? AT least the Russian was able to tie the match at 3:3 and then took a time-out. The next two racks were full of mistakes. At 3:3, Chinakhov missed an easy 2-ball and gave Souquet the possibility to take a 4:3 lead. “The Kaiser” did not want to come across unappreciative and also misses an easy ball, the 7-ball in the next rack. That tied the match again at 4:4. From then on, Souquet seemed to gain a bit more momentum than Chinakhov. Though both players did not play their A-game, Chinakhov made more errors than Souquet. In the 13th rack, the score was 7:5 in favour of Souquet, Chinakhov had an easy layout in front of him. But instead of closing the gap he missed an easy and avoidable 6-ball and let Souquet get on the hill with 8:5. Then again, in the 14th rack it was Chinakhov to be at the table with a makeable layout. He had his final chance but he blew it again. He missed another easy 8-ball and left the table to congratulate Souquet for his win.
Chinakhov was frustrated from his poor performance. Souquet will be drawn in the round of the final 32 players which will be played at 20:30 CET tonight. Other notable results include Manuel Gama (POR) sending Chris Melling (GBR) home with a surprisingly clear result of 9:3. Denis Grabe (EST) ended all hopes of last event’s winner Dominic Jentsch (GER) by defeating him with 9:5. Guilherme Sousa (POR) came up with a little upset as he unexpectedly ousted former 9-ball World Champion Daryl Peach (GBR) from the event with 9:4. Norway’s Kristoffer Mindreboe terminated Mark Gray (GBR) with 9:7. Another Brit got sent home from the event. Oliver Ortmann (GER) creamed Richard Jones (GBR) with 9:8.
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 , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office.
