Kelly Fisher has enjoyed the addition of the Predator Pro Billiard Series to the international calendar; the Brit has won both previous Women’s events on the series.
On Tuesday, she began her efforts to win a third as the Women’s division of the Predator Germany Open began at ATLANTIC Hotel Galopprennbahn, Bremen. Staged alongside the Open event, the Women’s division has equal added money of €45,400 and an international field including Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan and Alfa Las Vegas Open runner-up Brittany Bryant of Canada.
Fisher’s first match was against Sukmawaty Facquet of Indonesia, on the winners’ side of the backets after a bye through the first round. The Alfa Las Vegas Women’s Open champion was shooting sharp and gave Facquet very few chances at the table in the opening set, save for some difficult shots on the 1 which weren’t taken after push outs by Fisher. An attempted bank of the 9 ball went wrong for Facquet in the first game of the second set and just 20 minutes later Fisher had completed a 4-0, 4-0 shutout.
Ouschan, also beginning on the winners’ side, suffered a surprise Sudden Death shootout defeat by Katrina Wan of Hong Kong. Taking the first set 4-1, Ouschan was held to a 3-3 tie after six games of the second set and it was Wan who was first to escape a series of safeties around the 8 ball to take it to shootout. Both players made three of their initial four shots but it was Wan who prevailed in Sudden Death when Ouschan missed in her seventh innings.
In the Open division, Tuesday’s play was reserved for the losers’ side of the bracket. After an opening round defeat to friend and fellow Spanish player Jose Alberto Delgado, Jonas Souto was sent home after a shootout defeat by Hong Kong’s Ip Tung Pong. Souto won the first set 4-0 but the second set finished 4-1 to Tung Pong, who won the shootout 5-4 at Sudden Death.
Poland’s Konrad Juszczyszyn is also heading home after defeat by a player from Hong Kong. Yip Kin Ling lost in the first round to Vincent Gomez but a 2-0 win against Juszczyszyn, a former EuroTour winner and 2018 European 9-Ball Champion, means the Asian player progresses to face Jani Siekkinen next.
Oliver Ortmann’s tournament continues after he defeated Richard Halliday of South Africa, and Finnish junior player Riku Romppanen claimed victory against Thorben Brunnen. Play resumes at 11am local time on Wednesday as the winners’ side taking stage in the Open event. The Women’s division will see matches from both sides of the bracket.
Germany’s Ralf Souquet and Alfa Las Vegas Open champion Wiktor Zielinski both enjoyed straight-sets progression on the opening day of the Predator Germany Open, the first 2022 European leg of the Pro Billiard Series, being staged at ATLANTIC Hotel Galopprenbahn, Bremen.
Poland’s Zielinski is in red-hot form right now with two EuroTour titles and March’s US Pro Billiard Series victory in just the last nine months.
Zielinski’s final day in Vegas was a rollercoaster as back-to-back shootout wins took him to the final, where he defeated Aloysius Yapp with a bit of fortune in the first set. None of that was required on the opening day in Bremen.
The EuroTour No.2 ranked player had a bye to the winners’ side of the brackets and moved forward in the tournament with a 4-0, 4-1 win over Germany’s Fitim Haradinaj, whose inexperience on the TV table showed with a shot-clock foul in the first set.
“I was playing quite confidently, I played almost a perfect match,” said Zielinski. “In the beginning, Fitim Haradinaj forgot to call the extension and the referee called foul. He lost his confidence and made a couple of mistakes, I took advantage of it.
“Winning in Las Vegas boosted my confidence quite a lot but I am trying not to think about it and just focus on my current matches.”
Straight sets also took Souquet into the second round on the winners’ side. The BCA Hall of Fame member, playing in his home country, had a bye through the opening round and then defeated Andre Wansner to bank a day off on Tuesday.
Like Souquet, Oliver Ortmann is a bona-fide pool legend. With three WPA World titles and a multitude of German national titles to his name, the BCA Hall of Famer has been a major player in pool since the 1990s.
On Monday evening he was facing Mario He of Austria. He knows what it takes to win these events; the 28-year-old took home the title at the FargoRate Ohio Open last fall. The Austrian showed he was unfazed by the resume and home-country advantage of his opponent with a 4-2, 4-1 win.
Earlier in the day, Jose Alberto Delgado of Spain sent his friend and former student Jonas Souto to the losers’ side. Souto had scored a surprise win over Shane van Boening on the first day of the Alfa Las Vegas Open but will now have to fight through the wrong side of the brackets after losing 4-3, 4-1 to Delgado.
“It was the first time I played on the TV table in the Pro Billiard Series. It was a bit weird because I have known Jonas since he was 12 years old, I was kind of his coach at the beginning. Outside of the table we are friends but at the table I have to do my best.”
The €45,400 added Women’s Division of the Predator Germany Open begins on Tuesday with Brit Kelly Fisher, Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan and Alfa Las Vegas Open runner-up Brittany Bryant of Canada in the draw. Matches from the Women’s Division will be included on the Table 1 streaming schedule each day.
The Predator Pro Billiard Series returns to Europe this week with the Predator Germany Open at ATLANTIC Hotel Galopprenbahn, Bremen, featuring a 128-player Open event and a 64-player Women’s Division.
Carrying added money of €45,400 the Open division counts two PBS champions and German multi-event champions Oliver Ortmann and Ralf Souquet in its field.
Staged June 13-18, the Predator Germany Open will be streamed live for free on Billiard TV and the World Billiard TV YouTube channel. Every table is streamed free live on Kozoom.com.
Wiktor Zielinski of Poland is enjoying a fruitful period, with two EuroTour titles and March’s US Pro Billiard Series, Alfa Las Vegas Open among his successes in the last nine months. Another previous Pro Billiard Series champion competing in Germany is Mario He of Austria, who won October’s FargoRate Ohio Open.
The €45,400 added Women’s Division has a strong field with Brit Kelly Fisher, Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan and Alfa Las Vegas Open runner-up Brittany Bryant of Canada in the draw. Play commences on June 14 and matches from the Women’s Division will be included on the Table 1 streaming schedule each day.
The Predator Germany Open is streamed for free on Billiard TV and the World Billiard TV YouTube channel. Every table is streamed free live on Kozoom.com.
Following a lengthy day’s play at the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open at the BHR Treviso Hotel in the northern Italian town, some of the field has been whittled down after upwards of 15 hours of intense play. Of a starting line-up of 204 players, 70 were eliminated from the competition, leaving 134 left to battle on day two, Sunday.
Wojciech Szewczyk, hot off a crowning victory at the recent World 10 Ball Championship, was one of the few big names to succumb in their opening match. He lost out 9-1 to a fired-up Elliot Sanderson, one of the five British players in the field. The Polish star recovered though, beating Sweden’s Kai Kraft by a similar scoreline to keep his hopes alive.
Germany’s Ralf Souquet, a recent European Championship gold medallist, fell to Jonas Souto, the young Spaniard and former WPA World Junior Champion. 9-7 was the scoreline. Like Szewczyk, Souquet followed it up with a 9-2 victory over Antonio Colucci (Italy).
Another German veteran, Oliver Ortmann, made a welcome return to the Euro Tour. A previous winner on 14 occasions, Ortmann went down in a hill-hill opening match at the hands of Admir Muho (Albania). However, he bounced back with a confident 9-1 win over Italian Valerio Castellano to take his place in Sunday’s line-up.
Elsewhere, the youngest competitor in the event, 12-year-old Maks Benko (Slovenia) survived a a great day to stay alive in the event. After losing his first match, he enjoyed a fine 9-2 win over France’s Stephane Herman to set up a game against highly experienced Finn, Petri Makkonen, on Sunday. Despite his age, the youngster looks a marvellous prospect for the future as he exuded confidence and exhibited some quality shot-making.
The tournament continues at 9.00 on Sunday morning with the remainder of the Losers Round 2 matches as well as Losers Round 3 and Winners’ Round 2 games. The tournament concludes on Monday evening with the televised final stages.
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.
All the matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com
Results, live scoring and draw are available at www.epbf.com
The second day of the Dynamic Billiards St. Johann im Pongau Open Euro Tour was once again full of action-packed matches.
Michael Schneider (SUI) faced Oliver Szolnoki (HUN) in the second winners round. After he already won 9:7 against David Larsson (SWE) yesterday evening, he wanted to continue his good performance from last night today. His opponent, Szolnoki, has been known as a dark horse since his youth. He often plays unspectacularly, but is also capable of top performances. You never know what you get when you face him. Today, however, Schneider was out of his league for Szolnoki. The Swiss kept the upper hand during the match and in the end drove the match home clearly with 9:6. Schneider is now in the winners’ qualifying round and will have to face Roman Hybler (CZE) tomorrow. The winner of the match books a spot among the best 32 players of the tournament.
Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) and former World Champion Oliver Ortmann (GER) also delivered a thriller. Both opponents did not give each other anything and the match was open for a long time. Sniegocki always had his nose a bit in front, but Ortmann managed to keep his foot in the door. After Ortmann had bravely fought his way back to 8:8, the last decisive game had to determine the winner. After a few safety shots, Ortmann left a long shot on the 2-ball for Sniegocki.The Pole took the measure and kicked the 2-ball on the 9-ball, which fell into the corner pocket. What a dramatic end to a passionately contested match.
The Dynamic Billard St. Johann i.P. Open 2021 will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET with matches from the loser’s round.
Probably the biggest news of today is that 14-year-old Yannick Pongers (NED) ousted "The Terminator" Niels Feijen (NED) from the Dynamic Billard Veldhoven Open 2019 with 9:8.
Earlier today, Feijen had to take a defeat against Marco Dorenburg (GER) with 6:9 already. He then went on to the loser’s side where the Dutch junior player. Pongers was already on the loser’s side and just barely made his way through to the match against Feijen with a 9:8 victory over Jonas Souto (ESP). Before the match, probably everybody including Pongers thought that Feijen would definitely be the player to make it through. He has all these prestigious titles and wins under his belt. But the way the match went prove everybody’s expectations wrong. Young Pongers hung in there and lever allowed Feijen to get a big advantage over him. To the contrary, he used his chances and took the points whenever possible. After 14 racks, the score was 7:7. Feijen executed the break shot and he had a ball down but no shot on the lowest numbered ball. A safety battle evolved where Pongers prove to be the smarter player. He forced Feijen to make a mistake and consequently ran the rack to get on the fill first, taking an 8:7 lead over Feijen. Then in rack 16, Pongers had the break shot. He broke dry with no ball down and even had an illegal break. Since the lowest numbered ball was not available, Feijen handed the table back to Pongers. This time, Feijen had the better end in his favour and was able to win the rack, making the match a hill-hill affair at 8:8 with his own break shot coming up. This time, Feijen broke dry with all balls spread nicely on the table. Pongers decided to go for a safety and this time he lost the safety exchange to Feijen. "The Terminator" had an open table in front of him without any real problem visible. To his horror, he missed an easy 2-ball and left the layout for Pongers. The youngster cleared the table and won the rack and the match with 9:8 over Feijen. In his next match, Yannick Pongers met Damianos Giallourakis (GRE). In that match, the young Dutch was not able to keep up his brilliant performance and lost 6:9 tot he Greek. However, this 49th rank finish can be regarded as a really high achievement of the 14-year-old Pongers.
Other remarkable results include Tim De Ruyter (NED) ousting David Alcaide (ESP) with 9:7. On the winner’s side, Oliver Ortmann (GER) was able to defeat his fellow countryman Ralf Souquet (GER) with 9:6. Then, Ortmann lost a nail biter to Chinakhov with 8:9 and had to go up against German youngster Jacques Wollschlaeger. Here, the youngster was dominant and ended Ortmann’s run in the Dynamic Billard Veldhoven Open 2019, handing him a clear 9:4 defeat. Former World 9-Ball Champion Thorsten "The Hitman" Hohmann (GER) lost his loser’s qualifying round match against Oliver Szolnoki (HUN) with 3:9.
Every day, up to two matches will be streamed LIVE over the EPBF Facebook page. Check for updates and announcements.
The Dynamic Billard Veldhoven Open 2019 will continue tomorrow morning at 10:00 CET with matches from the round of the last 16 players. The final match is scheduled for 18:00 CET.
The Dynamic Billard Veldhoven Open are played in the NH Conference Centre Koningshof in Veldhoven, The Netherlands, on up to 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.eurotouronline.com or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
"The Terminator" Niels Feijen (NED) thrashed "The Hitman" Thorsten Hohmann (GER) with 9:3 in a very single sided match of the Dynamic Billard St. Johann im Pongau Open 2019.
The match was expected to have two ingredients: high class pool and close combat action. Both players are known to be able to perform on the highest level and have plenty of titles under their belt. In the early stage of the match, that promise was broken by a mile and spectators were disappointed a bit since the two contestants committed many mistakes and took wrong decisions. This unforeseen course of the match lead to a 3:1 lead for Feijen. However, during the match it was "The Terminator" who composed himself and got to his normal performance while Hohmann struggled. Hohmann kept on missing shots and playing bad positions and safeties while Feijen got to "normal mode". The logical consequence was Feijen running away on the scoreboard, taking a 7:2 lead after nine racks played. Then, a curious situation occurred. Feijen broke the 9-ball and went on the hill with 8:2. The rack was made for Hohmann who went in there and also broke the 9-ball! Two 9-ball breaks in a row, that does not happen so often. However, after that the match was over. Feijen cleared the table once more to achieve his deserved 9:3 victory over Hohmann.
Another remarkable match was the encounter between #5 ranked player Mark Gray (GBR) and Fabio Petroni (ITA) in the first winner’s round. Gray as the favoured player was seeded and had a walk-over in the first round while Petroni needed to overcome his first obstacle in the person of Denver Amoyo (AUT). Petroni wasted no time with his Austrian opponent and won the match quite comfortably with 9:4. Then, the experienced Italian met Gray. That match stayed open until the first six racks have been played. The scoreboard displayed a 3:3 score when Petroni shifted into overdrive and took the next five consecutive racks from Gray. He was simply outplaying the Brit who only achieved one more point before Petroni sealed the deal and hammered Gray with 9:4 to the loser’s side. "Long slog time starts now here in Austria!!!! Lost 9-4 to Italy’s Fabio Petroni he played decent and I didn’t!!!! Back on in a couple hours time…." was Gray’s comment on his public facebook page. Gray faced unheralded Sascha Ratz (GER) in his next match. There, he wiped the floor with the German and won 9:1 to get to the next round.
In an "iberian battle" in winner’s round 1, Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) outfought Henrique Correia (POR) with 9:5. An unexpectedly clear defeat was handed to young Pijus Labutis (LTU). He was trounced 2:9 by Mats Schjetne (NOR). Imran Majid (GBR) steamrolled former World Champion Oliver Ortmann (GER) with 9:2.
Every day, up to two matches will be streamed LIVE over the EPBF Facebook page. Check for updates and announcements.
The Dynamic Billard St. Johann im Pongau Open will commence tomorrow, June 14th, at 09:00 CET with matches from winner’s round 2.
The Dynamic Billard St. Johann im Pongau Open are played in the Sporthotel Alpina Alpendorf in St. Johann im Pongau, Austria, on up to 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.eurotouronline.com or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
US trick shot legend Mike Massey (USA) had his premiere appearance in the Euro-Tour in Italy when he played today in the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open.
There are only a few names in the World of pool billiards that almost everybody knows and appreciates. Mike Massey in definitely one of them. Known as the „Tennessee Tarzan“, Massey is famous for his trick shots and entertainment shows on the Pool table. Known not only as a World-Trickshot Champion but also as a great player, Massey made his way to Europe and entertained the spectators in between the semi-finals and the finals of the recently held Dynamic Billard European Championships. Today, he competed in the Euro-Tour for the first time. The 72-year old was not afraid to go into competition against Europe’s best. However today, he could not claim a victory, losing 7:9 to Bruno Ernst (GER) and 4:9 to Juan Antonio Pina-Hidalgo (ESP). Though he could not win a match today, all opponents as well as spectators showed him the utmost respect. Massey will continue his trip through Europe with some appointments in Slovenia.
Another great name from past days is former World 9-ball Champion and BCA Hall of Famer Oliver Ortmann (GER). He easily won his first match today over Mariusz Skoneczny (POL) with 9:5. Then, in his second match he fell to the sharp blade of Ivo Aarts (NED) with 7:9. Late in the evening, Ortmann needed to play his third match of the say against Andrea Milioli (ITA). The Italian was no obstacle for Ortmann who eliminated Milioli with 9:3
Also on the loser’s side already is Albin Ouschan (AUT). The Austrian lost his first match to young star Casper Matikainen (FIN) with 4:9. He then engaged Christian Brehme (GER) and won that match with 9:3
The Dynamic Billard Treviso Open will commence tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET with matches from loser’s round 2.
The Dynamic Billard Treviso Open are played in the Best Western BHR Hotel in Treviso, Italy, on up to 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.eurotouronline.com or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Maximilian Lechner, Ruslan Chinakhov and Damianos Giallourakis
The Dynamic Billard Leende Open 2019 is down to the final 16 players single elimination stage.
As always in the later stages of the Euro-Tour, today saw many great players exiting the field. One of the earliest outs was Thorsten Hohmann (GER) who fell to the sharp blade of Philipp Stojanovic (CRO) with 4:9 in loser’s round 4. Another high profile victim in the same round was David Alcaide (ESP) who got eliminated by Alexander Kazakis (GRE) with 6:9. The same fate was shared by Chis Melling (GBR) who lost 8:9 against unheralded Dimitris Loukatos (GRE) with 8:9 in a heartbreaker.
One of the most prominent casualty of today happened one round later when #1 ranked player Eklent Kaci (ALB) had to give in to Vitaliy Patsura (UKR) with the closest of all results, 8:9.
Apart from those mentioned guns, most of the seeded players reached the single elimination stage as expected. In the round of the last 32 players, the established faces all made their way through to the next round. Only Oliver Ortmann (GER) found no cure against Damianos Giallourakis (GRE) and left the tournament with a 7:9 defeat against the Greek who originates from Rhodes Island and lives in Scandinavia currently. „The Terminator“ Niels Feijen (NED) came up with a super convincing performance against young Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) leaving no chance for the young gun from Bosnia and Hercegovina, winning as clearly as 9:1 over him. Albin Ouschan (AUT) needed some more effort to overpower Kim Laaksonen (FIN) with 9:6 in a fiercely fought over match. Joshua Filler (GER), the player who seems to be on fire at the moment, ended the hopes of Konstantinos Koukiadakis (GRE) with an impressive 9:3 victory. Grandmaster Ralf Souquet (GER), „The Kaiser“ outplayed Georgi Georgiev (BUL) with 9:6 and also still has a saying in who will win the title here in Leende.
Friday through Sunday, EPBF will show up to two feature matches LIVE on the EPBF Facebook page. The entire tournament from the first round to the final match is shown on 11 tables LIVE on kozoom.com for premium pass holders.
The Dynamic Billard Leende Open 2019 will continue tomorrow morning at 10:00 local time with matches from the last 16 players single elimination.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organised by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). Play starts Thursday at 09:00 local time, for further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epbf.com under the Eurotour tab. You can also visit us on our Facebook page or check out the EPBF YouTube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
With the last 16 entering day four of the Dynamic Billard Leende Open on Saturday morning, Friday was time to say goodbye to the other 143 players on who made their way to Leende Netherlands for the fourth stop on the tour calendar. Eklent Kaci, Albania’s biggest billiard talent is the new number 1 on the European rankings, largely down to his own enormous talent, and a little helping hand from Shane VanBoening.
With the single elimination starting, the draw brought the current number 1’s from their respective continents together, Europe’s Mario He and USA’s Shane VanBoening entered the centre stage. Shane started well and raced into an early 5-1 lead over Mario who was clearly struggling with the pressure and expectations of a continent. With the match slipping away, Mario took a technical time-out with his coach and suddenly, found the rhythm that was missing earlier pulling the match back level 5-5 to the delight of the Europeans in the audience, Shane was now suddenly on the ropes. A mistake by Mario in the 11th rack and a few positional errors thereafter cost him dearly and a match that was Mario’s for the taking, slowley slipped away with Shane shooting some amazing shots to close the match out 9-6 and move to the last 16 while Mario must reflect on a missed opportunity.
Oliver Ortmann rolled back the years and sits pretty in the last 16 after beating a promising Saudi player in Saad-Ali Aldrees, who can surely be happy with a top 32 spot at his first Eurotour. Oliver however, has his sights on a bigger fish to fry and will take on Albania’s Eklent Kaci in the last 16 at 10am Saturday. Both these players had beaten the top Dutchman, Niels Feijen on their way to this point and will be hoping for more glory when play starts tomorrow.
It was not all doom and gloom for the Austrian contingent as Maximillian Lechner and Albin Ouschan survived a slight scare in their own matches but now have a good chance to be in the mix when the medals are given on Sunday.
The other Americans who are mingling with the best Europe has to offer are Skyler Woodward, Corey Deuel and Billy Thorpe, the later having the misfortune of playing Shane in the last 16 Saturday. If there is a consolation of a meeting like this, it has to be that one of the USA team will make it to the last 8 players.
Friday through Sunday, EPBF will show two feature matches LIVE on the EPBF Facebook page. The complete tournament is shown on kozoom.com for premium pass holders.
The Dynamic Billard Leende Open 2018 will continue tomorrow morning at 10:00 local time with matches from last 16 players single elimination.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organised by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to www.eurotouronline.com . You can also visit us on our Facebook page or check out the EPBF YouTube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
