In the 9-ball individuals of the Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships 2018 at the NH Conference Centre Koningshof, Veldhoven, The Netherlands, many close results determined today’s matches.

 

In the round of the last 64 men single elimination, defending Champion Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) was ousted all of a sudden by unheralded Ferdi Ozdemir (TUR). The Turkish the went on and had a fierce fight with Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) where he was defeated with 7:9. Other remarkable results from today’s 9-ball matches include Marc Bijsterbosch (NED) smashing Alexander Kazakis (GRE) with 9:2. The same result was good for Joshua Filler (GER) when he wiped the floor with Niels Feijen (NED). While Bijsterbosch had a nice and easy 9:5 victory over Dimitri Jungo (SUI) in the next round, Filler needed to sweat against Marek Hajdovsky (CZE). After 15 racks, Filler was up 8:7 and it was Hajdovsky’s break shot coming up. He successfully executed a good break but had no clear shot on the 1-ball. He needed to come up with a good push-out. He did and Filler gave the shot back to him. Hajdovky played a very good safety and put Filler under pressure with that. Filler managed to hit the 1-ball but left an open table for Hajdovsky. The Czech kept his nerves together and cleared the table, turning the match into a hill-hill affair with Filler having the break shot in the final rack. Filler had a ball down and a tough shot on the 1-ball in front of him. There were no clusters or anything on the table but in order to pocket the 1-ball, Filler needed to bridge over the 4-ball and elevate his bridge hand very much. Filler decided to play a safety in that situation which probably was the better choice. A safety battle occurred with both athletes playing brilliant safety shots. Eventually, Filler came up with a shot that forced Hajdivsky to commit a foul shot. With ball in hand, Filler ran the rack and won the match by a whisker with 9:8 over a worthy opponent.

 

The women’s division was also played down to the final 16 players. Defending Champion Kelly Fisher (GBR) could not be stopped so far. She wasted no time with Helena Benjamin (SWE) and eliminated her with 7:3 from the 9-ball individuals. She will face Melanie Suessenguth (GER) tomorrow had stood tall against her teammate Tina Vogelmann (GER) and won 7:3 today. Ana Gradisnik (SLO) took down Ina Kaplan (GER) and advanced to the round of the last 16 players with a 7:4 victory. Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) waltzed past Yini Gaspar (SUI) and handed her a doughnut with 7:0. Nataliya Seroshtan (RUS) had a tough fight against Micha Beuriot (NED) and just made it over the finish line with 7:6.

 

Henrique Correia (POR), defending Champion in the senior’s division, is still alive in the 9-ball individuals. Though he had to take the detour over the loser’s side, he has ousted Piotr Kleinschmidt (POL) 7:0 and the Dirk Stenten (GER) in the single elimination round. Also Rustem Aygunlu (TUR) was no obstacle for Correia. The Portuguese won the match 8:2 and advanced into the round of the final 16 players.

 

Christoffer Lentz (DEN) and Ivan Galic (CRO) are probably the most promising athletes in the Under 17’s division. They are among the last 16 players of the field. Lentz took down Oskar Jamorski (POL) 7:3 while Galic made it with 7:2 over Sasu Hietamis (FIN). If they both win their next matches, they will have a showdown against one another in the quarter-finals.

 

In the Under 19’s, defending Champion Jan Van Lierop (NED) still stands tall and holds his position against all challengers so far. Today, his victim was German team Champion Alen Salic (GER) who lost with 5:8 to van Lierop. Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) made a clear statement when he overran Ragnar Gronsten (SWE) with 8:1. Wiktor Zielinski (POL) had some more work to do but in the end also joined the athletes in the next round by beating Dmitrii Shkudov (RUS) with 8:6. Jonas Souto (ESP) came out strong in the heartbreaker against Egor Trifonov (RUS) which he managed to decide with 8:7 for himself.

 

The „newest“ division of the EPBF, the Under 23’s, was already played down to the last 12 players today. The biggest upset was the elimination of last year’s runner-up and #1 seeded player Pijus Labutis (LTU). He fell to the sharp blade of Matis Saetre (NOR) with 8:9. Already in the quarter-finals are Samuel Santos (POR), Mark Magi (EST), Spasian Spasov (BUL) and Casper Matikainen (FIN). Their opponents will be determined tomorrow morning in the first round at 09:30 CET.

 

In the girls’ division, the favourites are still in the race for the Gold Medal. Probably the best chances has Valeriia Trushevskaia (RUS). She has already booked her seat in the quarter-final match. Together with Viktoriia Gurova (RUS) she has a pretty good starting position. However, 10-ball Champion Nina Torvund (NOR) and 8-ball Champion Darya Siranchuk (UKR) are also fighting for a spot among the last eight athletes.

 

In the ladies’ division, 8-ball Champion Barbara Bolfelli (ITA) had to forfeit her match for professional reasons. Defending Champion Ine Helvik, who has already taken the crown in 10-ball this week and defended her title there, is in the quarter-final, waiting for her opponent to be decided tomorrow morning.

 

In the wheelchair division, defending Champion Jouni Tahti (FIN) is fighting his way through the loser’s side. He just made it over Emil Malanowski (POL) in the loser’s qualification round with 7:6.

 

The Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships 2018 will commence tomorrow morning at 09:30 CET with the matches from the 9-ball individuals competition. The finals are scheduled for 16:00 CET. From 14:00 CET, table 1 will be broadcasted LIVE through Ziggo Sports Channel, the biggest Dutch sports channel and will show one semi-final and the final match. A discipline for the Live TV will be chosen tomorrow.

 

The Jubilee Championships are played on 60 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.

Mieszko Fortunski (POL) has just won the Dynamic Billard Italian Open with a 9:6 victory over Ralf Souquet (GER) in the final match. It is his first Euro-Tour victory ever.

 

The final match was determined by equal chances and play from both players. The decision came in the 14th rack. Fortunski was 7:6 up and players were taking racks in turns. With his breakshot coming up, Ralf Souquet got to the table but remained dry off the break. No ball was down and Fortunski had a shot at the 1-ball. He cleared the table and broke and ran another rack in order to win the tournament with a fantastic performance!

 

The semifinal matches were determined by close matches and high tension. The first semifinal between Fortunski and Jayson Shaw (SCO) turned out to become a hill-hill thriller. Both players played equally strong but Fortunski once again had the better ending. While luck was more or less a factor in that match, the other semifinal between Souquet and Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) was as tight and exciting as the first semifinal but the outcome was determined by a bit of negligence. The first half of the match belonged to Souquet. He took a 6:4 lead and played quite well. Then Ekonomopoulos attacked and even overtook Souquet. He managed to get on the hill first with an 8:6 lead over „The Kaiser“. Souquet hung in there and tied the match at 8:8. The 17th rack was pure drama. After several safety shots, Ekonomopoulos started pocketing balls and looked like the definite winner. But he missed an easy 9-ball! Nobody expected Souquet to get back to the table. He found himself with a one rail shot on the 9-ball which he fired in the center of the side pocket to win the semifinal and proceed into the final match against Fortunski. However, Ekonomopoulos will probably remember that shot for quite some time.

 

Semi-Final results:

 

Mieszko Fortunski 9 Jayson Shaw 8

 

Nikos Ekonomopoulos 8 Ralf Souquet 9

 

Quarter-Final results:

 

Niels Feijen NED 8 Mieszko Fortunski POL 9

 

Konstantin Stepanov RUS 4 Jayson Shaw SCO 9

 

Mark Gray GBR 7 Nikos Ekonomopoulos GRE 9

 

Nick Malai GRE 5 Ralf Souquet GER 9

 

In the Dynamic Billard Women Open, an upset occurred already in the first round. Austrian star player Jasmin Ouschan lost her opener 5:7 to Monika Zabek (POL) who played against Ouschan for the first time in her career. Ouschan committed too many mistakes and Zabek consequently made use of them. Unfortunately for Zabek, she lost the next two matches in a row (3:7 to Khodjaeva and 4:7 to Helvik) and is already out of the event even though she probably managed to solve the „hardest task“ possible. Ouschan is still in the tournament with victories on the loser’s side over Sukmawaty Facquet (INS), 7:4 and Ina Kaplan (GER) 7:5. Ouschan will play Micha Beuriot (NED) in the loser’s qualification match.

 

Nr. 1 player in the women’s ranking, Russia’s Nataliya Seroshtan lived up to her expectations. She took down Ortenzia Haefliger (SUI) 7:3 and Silvia Gaudino (ITA) 7:5 and with that has already booked her seat in the round of the last 16 players single elimination which will be played tomorrow morning at 10:00 CET. Among others, Seroshtan will be joined by her teammate Kristina Tkach who defeated Sukmawaty Facquet 7:1 and Melanie Suessenguth (GER) 7:3. Also Oliwia Czuprynska (POL) is in that very round. She won 7:2 over Christine Wiechert (GER), then 7:5 against Jennifer Vietz (GER), and 7:3 over Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR).

 

The Women’s tournament will continue tomorrow morning at 10:00 CET with matches of the last 16 players single elimination. The tournament is played on 20 tables of which up to 12 will be in a livestream. 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 eurotouronline.com, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office.