There were new developments at the start of the European 9-ball tour as thousands of pool fans tuned in to watch Thursday’s matches on Kozoom and the EPBF facebook page. With the free promotion in full swing and a packed house here in Italy it was a great start to the 2018 season.
The last time we were in Italy in November 2017, the young Polish star Wiktor Zielinski claimed his first ever Eurotour title and he has made light work of the first two matches here today. First up was the unknown British player Mark Foster who started well but surely felt the pressure as he caved in 9-4. Up next for Wiktor was Slovenia’s Matjaz Erculj who is no slouch himself but after Wiktor raced into a 3-0 lead it looked plain sailing from there. Matjaz had other ideas though and hung on in there picking off the frames and as he got closer, the nerves set in for Wiktor. Matjaz pulled it back and trailed 7-6 but a little mistake let Wiktor take the spoils 9-6 and progress to the next round where another victory tomorrow at 15:00h will see him safely into the last 32.
Other notable results saw Austria’s Mario He also through and needing one more to book his place in the single elimination while the local heroes, Italy’s Fabio Petroni & Daniele Corrieri having to do it the hard way on the loser’s side. The talented Portuguese player Henrique Correia who is well known in the senior division with multiple titles was up against former world champion Oliver Ortmann. After a bright start, Henrique lost ground as Oliver put rack after rack on the board and eventually won 9-4 which sends Henrique to the last chance saloon tomorrow where he awaits the winner from Daniele Corrieri or Spain’s Javier Del Santo-Sanz.
Every day, two matches from the event 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 20 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 Treviso Open.
The event 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.eurotouronline.com visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Sarajevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina: After trailing 0:4, Stephan Cohen (FRA) managed to turn the tide in the match with Euro-Tour Nr. 1 ranked player, Niels Feijen (NED), and defeated him with 8:5.
The match could be used in the history books of pool-billiard. The lesson learned could be "never give up"! Cohen was playing in the first winner's round against Feijen. The Dutch has just taken the last Euro-Tour in St. Johann/Pg., Austria and is currently the Nr. 1 ranked player in Europe. That draw alone was tough for Cohen. "I did not really have the time to prepare for that tournament here", stated Cohen, "I have been on a nice vacation with my family". Maybe that was the best preparation for him. He came up with an unbelievably strong performance. But before that, it was Feijen's show at the table. "The Terminator" started out as usual – strong, focussed and tough to beat. After four racks, he was leading 4:0 and it was smooth sailing for the Dutch Champion so far. In the 5th rack Feijen suddenly missed a make-able 6-ball and opened the door for Cohen to open his account. Cohen accepted the invitation and took the rack. From then on, the match changed completely. Feijen had obviously lost his break shot. Whatever he tried, he could not pocket a ball on the break anymore. On the other hand, Cohen grew stronger and stronger. He ran two racks from a very difficult position and claimed point after point. In the end, Cohen accomplished the "mission impossible" and snatched seven racks in a row off Feijen, getting on the hill with 7:4. Feijen managed to pull one rack back from Cohen but the French gave the answer right after that, winning the match with 8:5.
"I think the match turned when he missed the 6-ball. That brought me into the match", said Cohen after his amazing victory. "I grew stronger and suddenly, also my break shot was good. I had balls down and position every time I broke". Feijen will have to analyze what happened tonight in his match. He will get another chance on the one-loss side of the tournament. Cohen proceeds to the winner's qualification round where he will meet Filip Bermanec (CRO) who surprisingly wrestled Juan Carlos Exposito (ESP) down with 8:7.
Other notable results from the second winner's round include Dominik Jentsch (GER) getting the better of Matjaz Erculj (SLO) with 8:3. Ivo Aarts, the rising star from the Netherlands, clearly defeated his teammate Marc Bijsterbosch with 8:2. World 10-Ball Champion Huidji See (NED) did his homework and crushed Babken Melkonyan (ROM) 8:4.
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 http://www.eurotouronline.eu or contact our press office.
