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Wack Demolishes Woonings

Ralf Wack (GER) Foto: EPBF/DK

Tough encounter between two great players

Sunday, 05 August 2012: In a high quality straight pool match, Ralf Wack (GER)
demolished Martijn Woonings (NED) 75:35.

The round is the single elimination round of the last 16 players in straight pool. On paper, the match between Ralf Wack and Martijn Woonings was not spectacular at all. But their achievements during this competition so far attracted the attention of the audience. So their encounter promised to be exciting; and that promise was kept. Wack opened the match after a few safeties in the beginning and took a 21:5 lead over Woonings. But the Dutchman fought back and gave the right answer to Wack, pocketing 25 balls in a row and gaining the lead again. That must have somehow upset Wack, since he went to the table and made 51 balls in his next inning to take a 72:30 lead over Woonings. What a performance! Woonings had one foot in the grave for the match – and he knew it. He played 5 more balls but then missed a tough shot. His self-confidence seemed to be destroyed by Wack. Then Wack made the remaining balls and secured his spot in the quarterfinals which will be played tomorrow night.

Other notable results include Jan Lundell (SWE) thrashing Klaus Zobrekis (GER) 75:10. Further promising contenders for the title are Reiner Wirsbitzki (GER; won 75:37 over Giorgio Margola (ITA)), Gijs van Helmond (NED; won 75:16 over Heiko Mueller (GER)) and Jesse Thehu (NED; creamed Paolo Costa (POR) 75:2).

Tomorrow, the Dynamic Billiards European Championships for Seniors and Ladies will
continue at 09:00 CET with the 10-ball competition in both divisions, seniors and ladies.

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.

Kjoersvik and van den Berg take Euro 14.1 Crowns

Champions Line Kjoersvik and Nick van den Berg Foto: EPBF/DK

Line Kjoersvik from Norway and Nick van den Berg from the Netherlands are the newly crowned European Champions 2012 in straight pool.

In an all Dutch clash, Nick van den Berg managed to roll over Niels Feijen with 125:18. Van den Berg was better in all aspects. “It was a long day. I pocketed 750 plus today plus the ones that I’ve missed, so probably around 800 balls”, said van den Berg, “I feel like I have a heavy jetlag”. That came right after the final from the new straight pool champion.  The match was unexpectedly one-sided. Nick ran away with 72:11 and even 100:11 and Niels never seemed to get his game in gear. “I think he struggled a bit with the conditions”, said van den Berg when asked about his opponent’s performance. In fact, Feijen played his worst match of the day. In all earlier matches, he seemed to perform like a train running down a track – focussed,strong and self-secure. In the final, that was all gone. “To be honest, I think that Niels has played abetter tournament than I have”, admitted van den Berg, “but in the final match, he simply couldn’t get going which I used for my benefit. If you give me the chances as he did, you can’t win”. “For ten years I used to have problems playing Niels. I choked every time”, said van den Berg, “but since two or three years  I’m feeling more confident against him. We’re both World class pool players, and today was my day”!

In the women’s division, Line Kjoersvik from Norway defeated Anna Majirina from Russia with 75:42. Majirina had just defeated Jasmin Ouschan in the semi-finals and the match was open from the start. Kjoersvik got momentum first and achieved a 40:8 lead over the Russian. She never let that advantage out of her hands anymore. Whatever Majirina tried, Kjoersvik had the answer for. In the end, Kjoersvik turned out to be a deserved winner with a proud Majirina receiving the silver medal

Top 8 Men

1. Nick van den Berg NED
2. Niels Feijen NED
3. Denis Grabe EST
Mario He AUT
5. Tony Drago MLT
Klaus Zobrekis GER
Konrad Piekarski POL
Zoran Svilar SRB

Top 8 Women

1. Line Kjoersvik NOR
2. Anna Majirina RUS
3. Jasmin Ouschan AUT
Christine Wiechert GER
5. Petra Stadlbauer AUT
Katerina Polovinchuk UKR
Louise Furberg SWE
Nataliya Seroshtan RUS

Medals table

1. Netherlands 1 Gold 1 Silver
2. Norway 1 Gold
3. Russia 1 Silver 
4. Austria 2 Bronze
5. Estonia 1 Bronze
Germany 1 Bronze

Tomorrow, the Dynamic European Championships continue with the 10-ball competition for men, women and wheelchair players. Matches will start at 09:00 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.epconline.eu , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office

Gray spoils Souquet bid to successfully defend his title at the 2011 10-Ball Sarajevo Coloseum Open

Mark Gray (Photo courtesy of Markus Hofstaetter)

One week after Germany’s Ralf Souquet was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame, and shortly thereafter, eliminated from the 36th Annual US Open 9-Ball Championships with a record of 3-2, he traveled to Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina to defend his title in the 4th Annual 2011 Sarajevo Coloseum 10-Ball Open. On the weekend of October 28-30, Souquet went undefeated through four Round Robin matches, and four rounds of single elimination play among the event’s 256 entrants, before, in the event finals, running into the UK’s Mark Gray, who went undefeated, and spoiled Souquet’s bid for a second straight title in the event.

The two were joined among the event’s final four by fellow US Open participant Raj Hundal, who’d faced Souquet in the 2010 finals of the event, as well as Greece’s Nick Ekonomopoulos. 

Gray gave up only a single rack in the four matches of Round Robin play that began on Friday, October 28, and moved him among the event’s final 32 players. He shut out three straight opponents – Italy’s Federico Antonello, Slovenia’s Daniel Urbanija, and Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Ismet Radjo – before giving up that single rack to Croatia’s Ivica Putnic. Souquet, in the meantime, defeated Croatia’s Zuonco Tetec 7-2, and then shut out Serbia’s Nesat Tairoski. He followed up with a 7-2 victory over Serbia’s Marko Cuetojevic 7-2, and then defeated fellow countryman Klaus Zobrekis 7-4.  

Hundal moved through his initial three rounds of play with relative ease (an aggregate score of 21-11), but just did get by Albania’s Nick Malai, in a double hill win that moved him among the final 32. Eknomopolous advanced among the final 32 by handing Rodney Morris his first loss of the tournament; a 7-5 win that sent Morris to a single loser’s round, which he won to join the final 32. Also among the final 32 were two-time US Open champion Darren Appleton, and fellow UK players, Daryl Peach, Majid Imran, Chris Melling and Karl Boyes.

In the single elimination rounds that followed, Gray got by Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Sasa Trivic 8-2 and fellow countryman Chris Melling 8-4 to enter the event’s quarterfinals. Souquet defeated Croatia’s Robert Sudic 8-3, and Serbia’s Zoran Svilar 8-1 to join him. Hundal defeated Germany’s Klaus Zobrekis (defeated in earlier rounds by Souquet) 8-3 and Hungary’s Rico Diks 8-2. Ekonomopolous joined them after defeating Hungary’s Gabor Antal 8-3 and Austria’s Mario He 8-4. Appleton and Peach advanced as well.

The quarterfinal matchups saw Gray square off against Italy’s Bruno Muratore, Souquet against Peach, Ekonomopolous against Appleton, and Hundal versus Scotland’s Jayson Shaw. Gray downed Muratore 8-2, while Hundal was busy eliminating Shaw 8-1. Souquet defeated Peach 8-5, as Ekonomopolous squeaked by Appleton in a double hill match. 

The semifinal matchups pitted Gray against Hundal, while Souquet met Ekonomopolous. Souquet advanced to his second straight final matchup at this event with a double hill win over Ekonomopolous, while Gray kept Hundal out of his second straight finals appearance with a 10-8 win. 

Gray concluded his undefeated weekend with a 10-5 victory over Souquet

1st Mark Gray $5,600.40 (€4,000)
2nd Ralf Souquet $2,800.20 (€2,000)
3rd Nick Ekonomopolous $1,400.10 (€1,000)
Raj Hundal
5th Daryl Peach $700.05 (€500)
Darren Appleton
Bruno Muratore
Jayson Shaw