PLAY GOT UNDERWAY at the Dynamic Billard Estonian Open as the opening day unfolded for the 200 or so competitors at the Kalev Sports Hall in Tallinn. Almost four rounds of play were completed and absentees Joshua Filler and Wiktor Zielinski were joined by No.4 ranked player Eklent Kaci who failed to materialise for his first-round match, having failed to travel to Estonia.
That gave extra impetus to some of the big names competing, as 2022’s player of the year, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz won his opening game, beating Panagiotis Ksipoliteas (Greece) by 9-6. The Spaniard plays again tomorrow morning when he faces countryman Salvador Garcia Fernandez.
Estonian No.1 Dennis Grabe enjoyed a 9-7 win over Portugal’s Joao Grilo to safely negotiate day one, while countryman, reigning WPA World U17 champ Karl Gnadeberg, scored a fantastic win over No.10 ranked player Miesko Fortunski by 9-5. Both players had table time in the Longoni 9 Ball League on Friday evening but Gnadeberg certainly sent out a message with the win.
Another highly-decorated junior, 15 year-old Felix Vogel (Germany) made it two wins from two in Tallinn. Vogel was a gold medallist at the European Junior Championships last year and even at a tender age, is a dangerous opponent for anyone.
He beat Eero Romppanen 9-0 and then Azhdar Nasirov 9-3 to set up a Winners Round 2 match against top Hungarian Oliver Szolnoki, which will be a real test for the precocious young talent.
Mario He, the winner in Treviso last time out in November, suffered a body blow as he lost his opening match 9-6 to Adam Stankiewicz. The 21 year-old Pole is currently ranked No.76 on the Euro Tour and that was certainly one of his finer moments.
Juho Teittinen
He though, bounced back on the one loss side as he defeated 16 year-old Finnish junior Juho Teittinen 9-6 to keep his hopes alive and he can look forward to facing another Finn, Leevi Auresto at midday tomorrow.
There are plenty more matches in store on Sunday as the field plays down to the last 16. Action continues in the morning at 9.00am local time, with Losers Round 2 as well as Winners Round 2 matches.
As well as the prize money, there are Tour ranking points on offer. All Euro Tour tournaments are 9-ball and players compete in a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 32 competitors, and then single elimination until the finish. All matches are races to 9 racks with alternate break.
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.
Eklent Kaci, Jouni Tahti, Kristina Tkach and Pijus Labutis
The 8-ball competition at this year’s Dynamic Billard European Championships have been decided. The matches in the different divisions contained everything from expectations to drama and highly thrilling matches.
The final match in the men’s division was played between Eklent Kaci (ALB) and Ralf Souquet (GER). This match was not only the encounter of two high profile athletes but also a clash of two generations. While „The Kaiser“ Ralf Souquet has already won an unbelievable number of 22 Gold Medals at European Championships, Kaci was still waiting on his first one. Souquet has achieved almost everything that a pool billiard player can achieve while Kaci is still on the start of his career. On the other hand, Kaci has won some prestigious events throughout last year and can considered to be „on fire“ currently while Souquet is on his regular level. This constellation was the interesting starting position of the match. Tonight, Kaci had the better day and after seven racks, he was already leading 6:1 over Souquet. Needing only two more points, it would be hard for just anyone to stop Kaci. But Souquet still tried and managed to get some excitement back into a match which seemed to be long time decided. He fought back and pulled some racks back from Kaci to get to 4:6 and 6:7. When Kaci was on the hill at 7:6, he made no more mistakes and pocketed the final 8-ball which made him a European 8-Ball Champion for the first time in his life.
The women’s final quickly turned into a nightmare for Kristina Tkach (RUS) in the beginning. She was up against Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) and could not get a foot on the floor. She actually had the better break but could not turn that into points. Tkach even committed a foul using too much time for her shot since the match was on shot-clock and she simply exceeded the time permitted for her shot. On the other hand, Ouschan started out as focussed and composed as usual. Even though the break did not work for Ouschan, she managed to snatch the points from Tkach one by one. It took until rack five was played before Tkach got on the board, reducing the gap to 1:4. When opening rack six, Tkach scratched and again gave ball in hand to Ouschan. This time, Ouschan could not clear the table and allowed Tkach back into the table, missing the 6-ball. Tkach pocketed all balls of her group and made the 8-ball to get to 2:4 with Ouschan’s break shot coming up. Jasmin had two balls down on the break shot but again was not able to finish the rack, leaving another point on the table for Tkach to pick it up. However, both players committed several mistakes during this rack which is a clear indication for the pressure that was on both of them. Tkach managed to win the rack, getting to 3:4. In the next rack, Tkach had the chance to level the match but she miscued and once more gave ball in hand to Jasmin Ouschan with a wide open table. Ouschan played up to her abilities and finished the rack, getting on the hill with 5:3. In the next rack, Ouschan had her first good break shot of the match with balls down and a nice and comfortable layout in front of her. That was a huge chance for Ouschan to finish the match win the title. But to her and the audiences surprise she missed her first shot. What an unusual performance by Ouschan in this final. Tkach now used her chance and ran the table, getting to 4:5 in this match. The next rack, Tkach broke and ran out to make the match a 5:5 hill-hill thriller with Jasmin Ouschan’s break shot coming up. One more time Ouschan did not make a ball on the break and handed an open table to Tkach. The unbelievable happened in that rack. After having trailed 1:4, Kristina Tkach won another rack and took the match and the title 6:5 over Jasmin Ouschan.
In the wheelchair division, the match between Jouni Tahti (FIN) and Roy Kimberley (GBR) went according to the expectations. Tahti dominated Southern from start to the end and lead 3:0 and 4:1. The exceptional player from Finland never gave a chance to Southern who simply could not find any way to prevent Tahti from winning racks. When Tahti pocketed the final 8-ball, the scoreboard displayed a 5:2 final score in his favour. Tonight Jouni Tahti won his 25th Gold Medal on European level.
In the Under 23 division, Pijus Labutis (LTU) met Vitaliy Patsura (UKR). Patsura had already taken a Gold Medal in Men’s 8-ball, Junior’s 10-ball and last year in Under 23 9-ball. He was definitely favoured in this match. Labutis on the other hand has won two silver and one bronze medal but no title yet. That was one fact that the young Lithuanian wanted to change tonight. He quickly got to a 3:1 lead and he always kept Patsura at a 2-rack distance away from him. When leading 5:3, Labutis won a key rack in the match and got to 7:3. The pressure with Labutis being on the hill was too much for Patsura. He won another rack but then Labutis sealed the deal for tonight, winning the match and his first title ever with 8:4.
The medal table after 3 of 5 events displays Poland still on top with 2 Gold, one Silver and one Bronze Medal with Russia right up their neck, only one Bronze Medal short. Finland is currently ranked third with one medal of each colour.
Rank
Nation
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
1.
POL
2
1
1
4
2.
RUS
2
1
3
3.
FIN
1
1
1
3
4.
SUI
1
1
2
SWE
1
1
2
6.
ALB
1
1
LTU
1
1
8.
AUT
1
2
3
GBR
1
2
3
GER
1
2
3
11.
NED
1
1
2
12.
LAT
1
1
UKR
1
1
14.
BLR
2
2
15.
BIH
1
1
BUL
1
1
FRA
1
1
IRL
1
1
POR
1
1
Earlier today, the first team matches have been played. The women’s team matches did not come up with big surprises. The two closest matches were Sweden defeated The Netherlands 2:1 while Russia remained the upper hand over Belarus 2:1. In the men’s team competition, some close and exciting matches already happened in this early stage of the tournament. Team Russia overcame defending Champion Team Poland in a heartbreaker with 2:1 (Gorst v Fortunski 6:8, Stepanov v Skowerski 8:7, Lutsker v Juszczyszyn 9:8) while Team Germany had a tough time in taking down Team Albania with 2:1 (Hohmann v Kaci 5:8, Souquet v Zaja 8:7, Filler v Spahiu 9:5). Probably the biggest surprise was Team Denmark winning over Team the Netherlands with 2:1 (Krause v Saris 8:3, Lotfy v van den Berg 6:7, Lentz v Bijsterbosch 9:5).
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 9-ball individuals competition Women and Under 23s.
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.
Feldmann, Larsson and Fortunski won the 10-ball titles
The 10-ball discipline at the Dynamic Billard European Championships 2019 is over and the medals have been awarded.
In the men’s division, Mieszko Fortunski (POL) won the title after a fierce fight with Casper Matikainen (FIN) in the final match. Matikainen had the better start and stormed off with a 3:0 lead over Fortunski. The Finish played pretty confident and displayed no weakness until that stage in the match. Then suddenly he started committing mistakes. Fortunski capitalized from them and gained strength from his opponent’s errors. Then, Matikainen was also very unlucky with his break. While it worked pretty well in the beginning, it did let him down during the match. He scratched three times in a row on his own break shot and it could be witnessed how his confidence left him and he had no trust in himself anymore. Fortunski got stronger and stronger and in the end succeeded in sealing the deal with a comfortable 8:4 victory over Matikainen.
In the women’s division, Christine Feldmann (SUI) surprisingly took the title against highly favoured Kristina Tkach (SUI) with 6:3. Feldmann had performed outstandingly throughout the discipline so far and rightfully booked her seat in the final match, winning 6:3 over Tamara Peeters-Rademakers (NED) in the semi-final. Tkach ousted Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) 6:5 in the same round in a monster clash. Tkach was highly favoured for the title but Feldmann simply played better and kept her nerves together. The final match was not even close with Feldmann dominating it throughout the whole course of the match. In the end, Feldmann won her third European title after winning 1993 in the girl’s 9-ball division and 2005 in the women’s 8-ball.
In the wheelchair division, there was one new face in the final match. Kaspars Turks (LAT) had to play against multiple Champion Henrik Larsson (SWE). Being in the final was already a huge achievement for Turks. He ousted favoured Fred Dinsmore (IRL) in the semi-final match and wass ready for more against Larsson. But the Swede is very experienced with many titles underneath his belt already. After having defeated his biggest rival, defending Champion Jouni Tahti (FIN) in the quarter-final already, Larsson did not want to allow anyone to take that medal away from him anymore. So the match turned pretty much into a one-man-show from Henrik Larsson. The Swede pulled rack after rack from Turks and managed to win the title with a clear 6:1 result over Turks.
The medal table displays a clear lead for Poland, having won both Gold Medals in the men’s division so far.
RANK
Nation
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
1.
POL
2
1
1
4
2
RUS
1
1
2
3
SUI
1
1
2
4
SWE
1
1
5
NED
1
1
2
6
FIN
1
1
LAT
1
1
8
AUT
2
2
9
BLR
1
1
GBR
1
1
GER
1
1
IRL
1
1
POR
1
1
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 Under 23.
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.
In the quarter-final round of the men’s 10-ball individuals at the Dynamic Billard European Championships 2019 in Treviso, Italy, Casper Matikainen (FIN) eliminated Tomasz Kaplan (POL) with 8:7.
It was the third tough match for Matikainen today already. In the 15:30 round, he defeated Eklent Kaci (ALB) with 8:6. Then, in the next round he went ahead and ousted Daniele Corrieri (ITA) 8:7. These close results prove that Matikainen has to be a good fighter. He was already trailing 4:7 against Kaplan and things did not look at all promising for him. When Kaplan had the chance to finish the match, he snookered himself and ran out of position with the cue ball, hiding it behind the 9-ball when the 8-ball was still on the table. That situation gave second life to Matikainen who hung in there and kept his nerves under control. He made shot after shot and forced Kaplan into a hill-hill match at 7:7. With Kaplan’s break shot coming up, the Polish again had the better odds. He pocketed a ball on his break shot but could not really use the position he found for the 1-ball. He attempted to play a push-out but the result was very poor. Matikainen accepted the table, ran it and advance into the semi-finals tomorrow where he will face Joao Grilo (POR) who won 8:5 over Mariusz Skoneczny (POL).
One round earlier, Thorsten Hohmann (GER) eliminated the defending Champion Joshua „Killer“ Filler (GER) from the field, winning with 8:7 over the newly crowned US Open Champion.
In the women’s division, one semi-final will be the clash between the two most dominating athletes in European women’s pool, Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) versus Kristina Tkach (RUS). Both of them won their quarter-final matches but Tkach took the straight way into the semi-final while Ouschan had lost one match and needed to come back over the loser’s side. The other semi-final will take place between Christine Feldmann (SUI) and Tamara Peeters-Rademakers (NED) who already took a silver medal in straight pool on Sunday.
In the wheelchair division, Henrik Larsson managed to overcome his long-time rival, defending Champion Jouni Tahti (FIN) with 6:5 to proceed into the semi-final of the wheelchair division. The other semi-final will be played between unheralded Kaspars Turks (LAT) and favoured Fred Dinsmore (IRL).
The semi-final matches in all disciplines will be played at 18:00 CET with the final matches to follow at 20:00 CET.
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 women and Under 23.
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.
The 6th annual JOY World Chinese 8-Ball Masters is set to be the biggest yet with a record breaking $151,000 going to the eventual champion – the largest first prize in the history of the discipline.
Chinese 8-Ball continues to grow globally. Besides the obviously strong home contingent, 6 continents and a host and countries will be represented in Qinhuangdao. If you are not familiar with the rules and set-up, please visit the Home Leisure Direct Chinese 8-Ball Blog here to find out.
QUALIFICATION & THE FORMAT
The main draw will feature 64 players. This consists of 24 players from China and the remaining 40 made up of international talent.
Getting a place in the 64 is tough – nearly half of that starting entry will have only secured their place during the last week. The China Regional Finals have just been completed in the venue whilst there are 8 places up for grabs in the ongoing International Qualifier that is taking place between 4th-6th January.
The rest of the line-up has been decided by other avenues such as national and international qualifying events and selection. The full list of players now confirmed is at the bottom of this article.
In the main draw, a Double Elimination format will be used all the way to the final, which will then be a one-off Championship Match.
Matches will increase in distance as the tournament progresses, but so too will the time limit for each match. Should the time expire before a target is achieved, whoever is leading at that point will win the tie.
If the scores are level, the players will contest a dramatic Black Ball Shoot-Out to determine a winner.
THE PRE-TOURNAMENT FAVOURITES
Gareth Potts is the reigning and defending World Masters Champion. In 2017 the Englishman claimed this title for a third time after a thrilling Shoot-Out victory against Chinese youngster Zhang Kunpeng.
Potts, who bagged the first two editions in 2013 and 2014 and is a four-time English 8-Ball Pool World Champion, trailed throughout almost all of that final. After an early defeat in the event he was forced to take the losers side of the draw too – in total he ran a gauntlet of 10 wins to lift the trophy.
At the JOY International Open in October, Potts almost secured a unique double, but was denied by home player Liu Yang in the final. As an example of how tough the qualification process for this year's event is, Liu did not make it through here.
Zhang will be looking to go one better and put behind any bitter memories of his final defeat; earlier in this season he tasted success at a tour event in Xining.
Elsewhere during the campaign, Zheng Yubo won back-to-back legs in Linyi and Lianyungang, whilst the effervescent Yang Fan claimed the top prize in Hangzhou.
Yang is arguably Potts' biggest rival in the sport. He is the only other winner of the JOY World Masters following his consecutive victories in 2015 and 2016. Yang also comes here as the current World Chinese Pool Champion having won the title in 2017.
There appears to be a real rivalry and power struggle between Potts and Yang; hopefully they will cross cues at some point within the coming days.
?The list of big Chinese hopes doesn't end there, though. 2016 World Chinese Pool Champion Shi Hanqing, Two-Time World Cup of 9-Ball Pool Champion Li Hewen and former professional snooker player – and Crucible qualifier, Liu Chuang are other big name contenders.
As too is Wu Zhenyu, who finished top of the 2017 JOY Cup Rankings. Because of this Wu was the only Chinese player to automatically make the main draw and was not required to take part in the recent China Qualifying.
INTERNATIONAL STARS
One of the most exciting aspects of this tournament is that we see stars from other Cuesports backgrounds take part.
The Philippines' Carlo Biado recently became the World 9 Ball Pool Champion in Qatar. Alongside former World 8 Ball Pool Champion, World Cup of Pool and multiple Mosconi Cup winner Karl Boyes (England), they have been selected via the World Pool Association.
Names in American Pool don't really come much bigger than the USA's Shane Van Boening – a 5-Time US Open 9-Ball Champion. He is back in Qinhuangdao after a disappointing result last year.
Corey Deuel is another famous Stateside figure returning. Deuel replaces original national qualifying event winner Darren Appleton, who had to withdraw due to personal reasons.
Former World Blackball Champions Ben Davies (Wales) and Westi Morake (South Africa), former World 9-Ball Youth Champion Aloysius Yapp (Singapore) and current World Under 17 9-Ball Champion Sanjin Pehlivanovic (Bosnia & Herzegovina) have also earned places.
There are other players you may be familiar with on the list such as Italy's Fabio Petroni and Chile's Enrique Rojas.
THE UK ANGLE
As mentioned earlier, Potts, Boyes and Davies are all in the main draw, as too is Shaun Storry, who won the first of two qualifying tournaments held in the UK (Davies won the second). You can read about their wins here.
However, representation from the UK may not end there, as a number of players have made the long trip to Asia to take part in the International Qualifier (which is happening at the time of writing this article).
THE FULL LIST OF PLAYERS IN THE MAIN DRAW
AFRICA
Jaouad Tabit (Morocco), Richard Halliday (South Africa), Westi Morake (South Africa), Gangnant Karyl (Reunion Islands), Ahmed Galal (Egypt), Cadet Christopher (Madagascar)
ASIA
Carlo Biado (Philippines), Ko Ar Ti (Myanmar), Hwang Yong (South Korea), Toh Lian Han (Singapore), Aloysius Yapp (Singapore), Tsuchiya Junko (Japan), Fukuda Takeshi (Japan), Matsumura Hiroshi (Japan), Hijikata Hayato (Japan)
CHINA
Wu Zhenyu, Shi Hanqing, Gong Haifeng, Zhang Kunpeng, Xi Hongyu, Xia Hongyan, Meng Fanyu, Zheng Yubo, Liu Chuang, An Hongyu, Yu Guangyu, Zhao Yunbiao, Lv Xin, Abulajiang, Shi Weida, Shen Chongyang, Wu Hao, Li Hewen, Wang Yang, Chen Shuangyou, Zhang Lei, Shan Hongyu, Yang Fan, Wang Dashuang,
EUROPE
Gareth Potts (UK), Karl Boyes (UK), Brian Ochoiski (France), Ricardo Freitas (France), Joao Grilo (Portugal), Nacho Schmit (Spain), Mark McGauley (Norway), Fabio Petroni (Italy), Shaun Storry (UK), Ben Davies (UK), Michalis Spyrou (Cyprus), Sanjin Pehlivanovic (Bosnia & Herzegovina)
NORTH AMERICA
Andrew Wroblewski (Canada), Corey Deuel (USA), Shane Van Boening (USA)
SOUTH AMERICA
Mauro Valdez (Argentina), Enrique Rojas (Chile)
*THERE ARE STILL 8 REMAINING SPOTS TO BE FILLED VIA THE INTERNATIONAL QUALIFIER (4th-6th January)*
On the first day of the Dynamic Billard Dutch Open at the Golden Tulip Jagershorst Hotel in Leende, The Netherlands, Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) succeeded over Maksim Dudanets (RUS) with 9:7 in a match that was determined by many errors.
The lineup was promising. Ekonomopoulos belongs to Europe’s pool elite for many years already. His opponent today, Maksim Dudanets, belongs to the young Russian players which have earned many merits during European Championships and previous Euro-Tours. Both players have a high profile record and the match was expected to be of high quality. In the beginning of the match, that was valid and true for Dudanets. He played solid and performed quite well while Ekonomopoulos committed unexplainable errors. He missed easy pots and positions and he seemed to be completely off track. After 6 racks, Dudanets had robbed at least three racks off Ekonomopoulos and was 5:1 in the lead. It seemed as if the match would be a single sided affair in favour of Dudanets. But then the tide turned in the match. While Ekonomopoulos grew stronger, Dudanets started missing shots and playing poor positions. A player with the experience of Ekonomopoulos of course benefitted from the situation and snatched some racks from Dudanets in that phase of the match. After 14 racks, the score was all square at 7:7. The tension rose and now it was Dudanets’ turn to commit mistakes. He did so and Ekonomopoulos capitalised from it, went on the hill with 8:7. In rack 16, Ekonomopoulos broke and ran the table to win the match 9:7 over Dudanets. This victory was achieved with quite some luck. Dudanets was the far better player in the first half of the match while Ekonomopoulos dominated the second half. The victory therefore is in order yet still a bit lucky. Ekonomopoulos will face Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) in the next round on the winner’s side while Dudanets needs to seek his fortune on the loser’s side of the draw.
Other remarkable results include Wojciech Sroczynski (POL) defeating Evgenii Buslaev (RUS) by a whisker 9:8. Sweden’s Daniel Tangudd remained victorious today over Denis Grabe (EST). Former World Champion Oliver Ortmann (GER) took down up and rising star Joshua Filler (GER) 9:7 in an exciting and thrilling encounter. Tomi Ahonen (FIN) got the better of Imran Majid (GBR) 9:8. Not the best day for Britain’s pool elite. In the same round, Joao Grilo (POR) achieved a 9:4 victory over Daryl Peach (GBR). Mohammed Soufi (GER) won 9:5 over Mario He (AUT).
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 Dutch Open.
The Dynamic Billard Dutch Open at the Golden Tulip Jagershorst Hotel in Leende, The Netherlands will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET with matches from winner’s round 2.
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.
In a dramatic winner’s round 1 match at the Dynamic Billard Austrian Open in Alpina Wellness & Sports Hotel, St. Johann i.Pg., Austria, between the two grandmasters Ralf Souquet (GER) and Stephan Cohen (FRA), Cohen remained the upper hand and bested Souquet by a whisker with 9:8.
The first half of the match belonged to Souquet. The German dominated at the table and Cohen struggled to get going. After 13 racks, Souquet was on the hill leading 8:5 over Cohen. At that point in time, the odds for Cohen were close to zero. But Cohen came back. He took some racks an the pressure was on for Souquet. With Souquet being in the lead 8:6, both players went for a time-out. When they got back to the table, it seemed to have worked better for Cohen. The frenchman took the next two racks and turned the match into a hill-hill thriller at 8:8. Rack 17 was won by Cohen who had managed to turn the tide in the match and performed a marvellous comeback in the tournament. With this victory, Cohen marched on into the next winner’s round where he overpowered Kim Laaksonen (FIN) 9:4. Cohen has booked his seat in the winner’s qualification round while Souquet needs to find his fortune on the loser’s side of the event.
#1 ranked player on the Euro-Tour ranking is currently David Alcaide (ESP). The Spaniard needed to do some serious work today. In his first match, he just made it 9:8 over Miguel Silva (POR). The next round was not easier for the #1 player. He encountered Abdullah Al-Youssef (KUW) and needed another 9:8 victory over the full distance to get his foot in the door of the winner’s qualification round.
Silva’s teammate Joao Grilo (POR) was a bit luckier today. He faced local hero Mario He (AUT) in winner’s round 1 and took the Austrian down unexpectedly clear with 9:4.
Today seemed to be not a good or easy day for the top ranked Euro-Tour players. Alcaide won his two matches with 9:5. #2 ranked player Joshua Filler (GER) lost 8:9 to Sergey Lutsker (RUS). „I did not have a break shot at all“, commented Filler after the match, „my break simply wasn’t there. That was the main reason for my defeat“. Also long time ranking leader and current #3, Mark Gray (GBR) could not make it through the winner’s side today. After defeating Piergiovanni Davy (ITA) 9:1, he fell 8:9 to unheralded Mariusz Skoneczny (POL).
Probably the most surprising comeback of the day was performed by dark horse Thomas Fjaeran (NOR). The Norwegian was trailing 1:8 after 30 minutes to Mieszko Fortunski (POL), the winner of the Dynamic Billard Italian Open in February 2016. Things looked over for Fjaeran. But the Scandinavian hung in there and started his amazing comeback. Never looking back, Fjaeran took it step by step and managed to realise the impossible, winning the match with 9:8 over a devastated Mieszko Fortunski!
Today’s feature match which was broadcasted LIVE on the EPBF Facebook page was the clash in winer’s round 2 between Denis Grabe (EST) and Oliver Ortmann (GER). The match went up and down. In the beginning, Ortmann looked like the clear winner, taking a 4:1 lead after five racks. But grabe came back. Additionally, Ortmann’s break shot left him and no wonder Grabe managed to close the gap and even overtake Ortmann, leading 6:4 after the next five racks. However, Ortmann survived that critical phase and found his game back, taking the next racks and getting on the hill at 8:7. Grabe played a safety in rack 16 which was not good enough for Ortmann. The former World Champion from Germany went ahead and cleared the rack, winning the thrilling match with 9:7 over Denis Grabe.
Tomorrow, the Dynamic Billard Austrian Open in Alpina Wellness & Sports Hotel, St. Johann i.Pg., Austria, will continue at 09:00 CET with matches from loser’s round 2.
Every day, one match from the event 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 on up to 20 tables live via www.kozoom.com who stream the whole event 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 Austrian Open starting Thursday 18th May at 09:00h
The events 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.epbf.com, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
The 9-ball individuals have commenced at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes in the Salgados Palace Hotel in Albufeira, Portugal. In an exciting encounter in winner’s round 1, Marco Teutscher (NED) bested teammate Ivar Saris (NED) 9:8.
Teutscher had the far better start in the match. He took a comfortable 6:2 lead over Saris and the match did not look to become exciting or anything like it at all. It was expected to be a clear affair for Teutscher. But Saris has shown some impressive shooting during this week and did not want to give up without providing a heavy fight to Teutscher. After 10 racks, Teutscher was leading 7:3. All of a sudden the tide turned in the match and Saris got going. He won rack after rack and pulled incredible five racks in a row from Teutscher, being on the hill now with 8:7 over Teutscher. Now the heat was on in the match. Teutscher needed to come up with his best performance to even the match one last time at 8:8. Rack 17 had to be the decider. That rack turned out to be nerve wrecking for both players and the audience. Teutscher committed the first mistake and gave the table with all balls spread out nicely to Saris. Saris played until he got to the 5-ball. He got no position to pocket it so he played a decent safety shot, leaving the cue ball on the foot rail with the 5-ball on the head rail with the 8-ball interfering a direct shot. Teutscher countered that position with a jump shot, leaving an equal situation for Saris now. Several safety shots were executed on the 5-ball when finally Teutscher forced Saris to commit a foul. That gave bad in hand for Teutscher who took his chance and ran the table to win the match by a margin of 9:8 over Saris. In the same round, Ralf Souquet (GER) won 9:2 over local hero Joao Grilo (POR).
In the women’s division, the defending Champion Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL) was not in attendance this year. One remarkable match however was the encounter between Kelly Fisher (GBR) and Veronika Ivanovskaia (GER). Fisher, the WPA World 10-ball Champion 2011 and World 9-ball Champion 2012, was the favoured player in that match. Holding a British passport but residing in the United States for quite some years now, Fisher came to the EC solely for the purpose to become first or second in the 9-ball in order to be nominated for the World Games in Poland this year. She is on a mission here in Albufeira. However, her European opponents also would like to have the honour to represent Europe at that high profile event, one of them being Ivanovskaia. After 6 racks, Ivanovkaia was leading surprisingly clear with 5:1. In rack 7, she fell out of position for the 5-ball and gave the rack as a gift to Fisher instead of getting on the hill herself. That brought momentum back to Fisher’s game. She pulled rack after rack from Ivanovkaia and after 10 rack, the scoreboard only displayed a 6:4 lead for Ivanovskaia. Being on the hill, the German just could not close the book on the match. She committed a foul in a crucial situation at 6:4 and gave ball in hand to Fisher who ran the rack to close the gap to 5:6. The next rack started with a safety battle on the 1-ball. Attempting a safety shot on the 1-ball, Ivanovskaia scratched again and allowed Fisher to the table with ball in hand. The expirenced former World Champion showed nerves of steel and ran the rack to tie the match hill-hill at 6:6. That gave a second life to Fisher and the odds were going down for Ivanovskaia. The German then took her time-out and tried to get her things together and win the needed last frame. She broke the balls in rack 13 herself. To her horror, no ball went in, all balls were spread in a nice layout without any further problems and the cue ball was in a good position for pocketing the 1-ball. Now all chances were on Fisher’s side. But she got a bad position for the 3-ball so she decided to play a safety shot and leave Ivanovskaia an almost impossible position… almost! Ivanovskaia played a combination shot 3-ball to the 7-ball and ran the rack and finished Kelly Fisher’s hopes for an easy run to the title at the women’s 9-ball individuals with a 7:6 victory. Other remarkable results in the women’s division include Melanie Suessenguth (GER) defeating Tamara Peeters-Rademakers (NED) by a whisker 7:6. Peeters-Rademakers one round earlier defeated her niece Megan Rademakers (NED) with 7:2.
In the wheelchair division, all-time favourite Jouni Tahti (FIN) was taught a lesson in the first round by opponent Matt Duffy (GBR). 7:2 was the more than clear result in favour of Duffy in the first round of the 9-ball individuals in the wheelchair division. Defending Champion Henrik Larsson (SWE) won his opening match 7:3 over David Himpe (BEL).
Tonight, two more rounds of team competition will be played.
Tomorrow, the tournament will continue at 09:00 GMT with matches from the 9-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.europeanpoolchampionships.com so why not come and check out all the LIVE action of the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes.
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.epbf.com, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Rui Edgar Franco (POR) just defeated Nick Van Den Berg (NED) 9:4 in the second winner’s round of the Dynamic Billard Dutch Open in Leende, The Netherlands.
His home turf does not seem to be a promising ground for van den Berg. So far, the successful Dutch top player never achieved a top finish at a Euro-Tour event in his own country. It looks like this might be continuing this year. Van den Berg was up in winner’s round two against Franco from Portugal. Rui Edgar Franco is not necessarily a blank sheet in the European pool world. He has played a few Euro-Tours and European Championships but never finished in the top ranks. Probably one of his biggest achievements was to win the qualifier in Albania this year with his friend Joao Grilo as team Portugal for the upcoming World Cup of Pool. Compared to that, van den Berg entered the match as the mile high favorite player. Though Franco managed to win the first rack, van den Berg snatched the next four in a row and after five racks the scoreboard expected the more or less expected result of 4:1 in favor of van den Berg. Then Franco went for a time-out. After that, van den Berg continued as before but when he played the 7-ball he kicked into the 9-ball and the cue ball scratched. At that point in time nobody believed that this might be a turning point in the match; especially not such a massive one. But whatever van den Berg did – he could not win another rack. Franco leveled the match after the next two racks and the score was 4:4. He broke the balls and continued play. When he went for the 5-ball he legally pocketed it and the 9-ball was also pocketed. So Franco could take the lead for the first time in the match. Rack ten was fiercely fought over with many safety shots exchanged by both contestants. Again it was Franco who got started first and went for the open balls after van den Berg left a shot for him. The Portuguese took his chance and also put that rack into his account. The next break shot was executed by Franco but he came up dry with no balls down. Even this opportunity van den Berg was not able to turn into a point for his score. He already missed the second shot and Franco once more ran out. To cut a long story short, the match continued exactly along those lines and van den Berg did not get one more rack. After his time-out, Franco took eight consecutive racks off van den Berg and won the match 9:4. Franco will meet German young gun Joshua Filler in his next match on the winner’s side tomorrow while van den Berg encounters the winner of Chinglong Lai (HKG) and Ralf Mrnka (GER).
Today’s feature match which will be live on Facebook will be the match at 17:45 CET between Andreas Gerwen (SWE) and Petri Makkonen (FIN). It's the battle of Scandinavia. See these two go for the Scandinavian bragging rights.
The Euro-Tour is played on 11 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.
