Harald Stolka’s marvellous week continued in winning style as the 47-year-old German took 10-ball gold at the 2022 Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships Seniors to add to the straight pool title he claimed on Sunday. This time he defeated Jorge Tinoco (Portugal) by 7-4 to give him a 100% record at the annual gathering of Europe’s over-45 players.
Stolka travelled to Slovenia on his first ever visit to the European Seniors and it was likely beyond his widest dreams that he would win the opening two events. Today he was up against a player who collected two golds himself at this same event last year but the German’s determination and all-round play saw him through.
“I’m pretty happy today because this is my 20th match right now and I felt the pressure today. I didn’t play real free earlier but played good enough to give my opponents a strong fight and when I came to the semis I started to play well so that was great and thank you very much, billiard god!
Stolka won the lag to get the final underway but could not drop a ball off the break. Tinoco missed a difficult long 2-ball, leaving it on for Stolka, The German ran out of position going from 4 to 5 and missed the cut into the centre pocket. Tinoco stepped up to steal the rack for 1.0. Tinoco delivered another dry break and Stolka looked set for the run out but again missed a cut on the 8 ball into the centre pocket to gift the rack to Tinoco.
A superb snooker from Stolka saw a great escape attempt from Tinoco miss the 1 ball by a hair’s breadth to give ball-in-hand, from where Stolka made no mistakes to get onto the scoreboard. A missed 1 ball from Tinoco allowed his opponent to level things up at 2-2 and then Stolka ran out from the break to take the lead for the first time at 3-2.
A good safety in the next allowed Stolka to increase his lead to two-racks and the seventh game was the longest of the match as both players went back-and-forth on the 2-ball before Tinoco nailed it but with a 7/9 cluster down-table it was no formality. However, some excellent positional play enabled the Portuguese to run out for 4-3.
A failed kick on the 1-ball from Tinoco in the next gave ball-in-hand to Stolka but he missed a tough 2-ball. It was Tinoco’s turn to miss next, this time on the 4-ball and Stolka took his chances to restore his two-rack lead. Stolka came with some championship winning form in the next as he ran out from the break to put himself on the hill as he moved the score to 6-3.
Tinoco won the next as Stolka missed the 4-ball, trying to squeeze it past the 9. It was a lifeline for Tinoco who dished up to reduce the deficit. In what would be the final rack of the match, a safety from Stolka left the 1-ball on for Tinoco. With no room for error, Tinoco played safe on the 5-ball and it was a good effort. There were multiple visits and safeties but the Portuguese always had the advantage until a loose one allowed Stolka a good look at the 5. He made it and gained position on the 6-ball and from there, he ran out for the gold medal.
Stolka added, “I’m staying here for two more disciplines but I won’t feel the pressure as every discipline is a new tournament and there are so many strong players. I can’t believe that I’ve won twice right now but I won’t be giving up for the next ones.”
Bronze medals went to Markus Kamuf of Germany and Norway’s Jorgen Nilsen.
In the ladies’ 10-ball it was the Netherlands’ Melissa Rademakers who claimed her first ever European Championship gold medal as she defeated Tuuliina Paluna (Finland) by 5-2. It was a welcome change of fortunes for the Dutch girl as she had earlier been beaten by the same opponent in the Winners’ Qualification stage.
Rademakers had the ideal match, racing out of the traps for a 4-0 lead in the race-to-five final. Paluna pulled two back but a missed 10-ball from the Finn gave her opponent a long look at the championship ball and she firmly planted it in the corner pocket for the gold.
Commented Rademakers, “She came back at me but I didn’t do anything wrong at that point and I knew I was waiting for a chance and I got it! 8- ball is my game but it’s hard to say how that will go but 10-ball was not a priority but 8-ball, I love to play so I hope I can go far in that one.”
Rademakers also looked shaky in her semi-final match, trailing 3-0 to Karin Michl (Germany) but managed to turn it around.
“It was tough but I was playing well and trusted in that. The 3-0 was probably not the way the match went but I felt good and that I could come back at any time. It’s only a race to five and anything could happen. “
Bronze medals went to Alexandra Cunha (Great Britain) and Birgit Heidorn of Germany.
The 2022 Dynamic Billards European Championship Seniors and Ladies comprises nine separate events across four disciplines – 8, 9 and 10 ball as well as straight pool for men and teams.
Play continues later today with action in both the mens’ and ladies’ 8-ball divisions.
All matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com as well as selected matches on the EPBF’s Facebook page.
Germany’s Harald Stolka won the first gold medal of the 2022 Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships Seniors as he defeated countryman Reiner Wirsbitzki 75-52 in an entertaining final to claim victory in the men’s Straight Pool division. Both players had plenty of visits but it was Stolka’s more dominant scoring that saw him through.
For Stolka, it was a wonderful moment, given that this was his first event at his first ever European Seniors, “That’s incredible. I’m really proud to beat my friend Reiner as I have a lot of respect for him because of his victories in the past. I’m really proud of what I’ve done and this is great!
“Last year I played the German Championships and lost to Reiner twice and I couldn’t win any title and that’s why I was mentally prepared for a tough tournament right here. Right now, I’m real happy. I will be trying now to play to win a medal in each division but if I travelled home right now that’s OK!” he added.
Stolka got proceedings underway in the race to 75 match but scratched on his second shot of the run. Wisbitzki could only add one point and Stolka returned to the table with an opportunity. The German veteran cleared the table, leaving the green 14 as his break ball for the next rack, leading 12-1.
He cleared the next rack to increase his lead to 26-1, leaving the 1-ball available as his break ball. With the 1-ball so close to the pack, the split wasn’t great but Stolka worked away trying to get some movement on the pack and picked any off the loose balls.
Stolka completed the rack with a handy 40-1 lead but his break ball in the next looked too straight to gain much impact on the rack. He did well to nudge a ball or two out to keep it going but he missed the 10-ball and allowed Wisbitzki back in, trailing 42-1.
Wirsbitzki needed a significant visit and he cleared to the table to reduce the deficit to 42-13, leaving the brown 7 out with a great angle to move the rack. He managed to split the pack, pocketing two balls in the process and negotiated his way around the table to complete it and move the score to 42-27.
Wirsbitzki though, missed his break ball, a relatively easy 9-ball to the corner pocket, and Stolka was back in. Stolka set about his task but with three balls left he missed a straight 8-ball leading 54-27. Wirsbitzki, completed the rack and left a straightish looking 2-ball, situated just outside of the rack.
Wirsbitzki got bogged down in the next, chasing position, but good work allowed him to mop up the table to get within 11 points of Stolka, trailing 54-43, and leaving the red 2-ball out at a nice angle. The break didn’t quite work out for Wisbitzki as the cue ball landed stuck on the bottom rail. A table length attempt on the 1-ball missed and Stolka returned to the table needing 21 points for victory.
There was still a bit of congestion as Stolka worked his way around the balls and he managed to loosen them up sufficiently to complete the rack and leave himself within 8 points of victory. With the cueball finishing within the confines of the triangle, Stolka started the rack from behind the headstring and did a terrific job in loosening the balls required for victory.
He was derailed by a bad scratch as the moving white just clipped the 5-ball, detouring it into the centre pocket. With the position of the balls, safety was the only option for both players as they looked for an opening. A great angled long pot on the pink 4, gave Wirsbitzki a chance to develop the table. However, with three balls left, he missed a bank on the 14-ball, giving Stolka the chance to close the match out.
He left He left the 14-ball on the rail with a good enough angle to release sufficient balls from the rack and he played it perfectly and downed the final two balls for victory.
Wirsbitzki said, “Firstly, I’m very happy about the silver medal. I didn’t start so well in the tournament and from match to match I played a little bit better. Harald played better across the tournament, better than me, and the best player of this tournament is the European Champion so congratulations to him.”
The 2022 Dynamic Billards European Championship Seniors and Ladies comprises nine separate events across four disciplines – 8, 9 and 10 ball as well as straight pool for men and teams.
Play continues later today with action in both the mens’ and ladies’ 10-ball divisions.
All matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com as well as selected matches on the EPBF’s Facebook page.
The Dynamic Billard Slovenian Open had a novelty today: For the first time, brother and sister met in the second winner’s round. We are talking about Jasmin and Albin Ouschan from Austria.
They both had a walk-over in the first round. Then, in the first winner’s round, Jasmin defeated Andrey Seroshtan (RUS) 9:5 while Albin overcame Michael Lichodziejewski (POL) 9:7. This brought the two together in winner’s round two. They started out quite equally. Then, Jasmin committed two mistakes which was enough for her brother to snatch the needed points off her, winning the match with 9:4. „When we saw we had to play each other, we had to laugh“, stated Albin after the match. „Jasmin and I have played each other in competition six or seven years ago for the last time“. When asked whether they would now have a tense time, Albin added: „No, I think all is good. After the match we talked about what we are going to eat for dinner tonight“. Albin Ouschan will continue in the winner’s qualification round tomorrow while Jasmin needs to seek her luck in the loser’s round.
Other remarkable results include Ralf Souquet (GER) losing to Karl Boyes (GBR) with 3:9 in the first winner’s round. This match was exactly the final match of this year’s Dynamic Billard North Cyprus Open in April. Then, Souquet had the better end and won the tournament with a victory over Boyes. Today, the Brit prove to be the stronger player and advanced to the next winner’s round where he made short work of Adam Mscisz (POL) with 9:1.
Reigning World 9-Ball Champion Niels „The Terminator“ Feijen (NED) lost three racks today in total! He defeated Antonio Neves (POR) with 9:2, then Anthony Brabin (CYP) with 9:1. Strong performance as usual from the Dutch superstar.
His fellow countryman Nick Van Den Berg (NED) was not so lucky today. He lost his first match to Carlos Cabello Ariza (ESP) 8:9 and now has to make his way all through the loser’s side. This happened to van den Berg before, and he actually won the tournament so maybe this first round defeat was kind of a wake-up-call for the Dutch.
It can be viewed here that many players from the younger generation give the experienced players a hard time. Joshua Filler (GER) defeated Serge Das (BEL) with 9:6. Daniel Tangudd (SWE) remained victorious over former World Champion Oliver Ortmann (GER) by a hair’s breadth with 9:8.
Another player who should be taken a close look at is Marcus Chamat (SWE). After a break of one year for personal reasons, he shows his face back on the tour and seems to be as dangerous as always. He defeated Ivo Aarts (NED) with 9:4 and then Harald Stolka (GER) also with 9:4.
More information about participants, schedules, achievements, rankings, etc can be found on the event website www.eurotouronline.com
The event is hosted by the European Pocket Billiard Federation EPBF and organized by International Billiard Promotion Foundation IBPF.
Dominic Jentsch, Event Organizer Marcel Frattini and Ronald Regli before the finals
Although better known for it's tennis tournaments, the town of Gstaad in Switzerland was all about pool for three days this week when some of the top European pool players came to fight for over 25,000 Euros in prize money.
At event's end, it was eighteen year old German Dominic Jentsch who earned the first prize. Surprisingly, Jentsch did not have to contend with either of the early event favorites, Ralf Souqet and Niels Feijen, as both were eliminated in the round of sixteen.
Jentsch's opponent in the finals, was the final Swiss hopeful Ronald Regli, who had a great tournament but was no match for Jentsch in the finals. Jentsch dominated the match with a 9-3 win.
Although the final match lacked any real tension, the crowd was treated to two very close semifinal matches. Marco Tschudi (Switzerland) led his fellow countryman Regli 7-3 before Regli made a great comeback to win the match 9-7. The other semifinal match between Jentsch and World Team Champ Imran Majid (United Kingdom) went to hill-hill before a costly mistake by Majid opened the door for Jentsch to score the victory.
Complete results from the event are available at www.gstaadswissopen.ch
Last 16:
Ronald Regli (Switzerland) – Niels Feijen 9:3
Marco Tschudi (Switzerland) – Ralf Souquet 9:6
On day one of the Swiss 10-Ball Open in Gstaad, all of the favorites made their way to the final round. Four groups of about 20 players each competed with the the top four finishers qualifying for the single elimination stage on Saturday.
In Group one, it was Michal Gavenciak from the Czech Republic who had no problems winning two easy matches. His fellow countryman Roman Hybler, who actually lives in Munich/Germany, followed him only minutes later. On the one-loss side it was the third well-known player in this group, Vincent Facquet from France, who earned his place in the single elimination stage by eliminating Harry Perathoner.
Whilst Englands Imran Majid unfortunately did not appear in Switzerland, it was young-gun Mario He (Austria) who was in the driver’s seat in Group two. Two very fast 9-0 and 9-3 wins let him go through to the final 32.
In Group three it was time for the Swiss players like Dimitri Jungo and Marco Tschudi. Both had no problems in winning their matches to make it to the final round.
Group four was dominated by German World Games Champion Ralf Souquet. He only lost three games in two matches, so it was a very short appearance by “The Kaiser” in route to his place in the final 32.
Harald Stolka, the former EuroTour Champion from Germany, had a few more problems but finally had the better end of a very close match against Rolf Hollenstein.