Archive Page

Ralf did it again

Ralf Souquet (GER), taking his 23rd victory at Euro-Tour events

The Dynamic Billard Klagenfurt Open are over and have a deserved winner. Ralf Souquet (GER) defeated Sebastian Ludwig (GER) in an exciting final with 9:6 and came up with an amazing comeback.
 
The final match did not start well for Souquet. The German BCA Hall of Famer had two balls down each in his first two break shots but no other ball touched the head string so he had to give the open table to Ludwig who cleared it and like that achieved a nice 3:0 lead over Souquet.  In the next rack, Ludwig broke dry but Souquet missed the 1-ball. With this chance given, Ludwig increased the lead to 4:0. It took 5 racks to be played before Souquet got the chance to open his account and win his first rack to get to 4:1. As the match went along, Souquet got a bit better into the match and after 9 racks, the score was 5:4 in favour of Ludwig still. With his own break shot coming up, Ludwig decided to go for a timeout and get his things together again in order to maintain his lead over „The Kaiser“ and make it over the finish line first. But the tide has turned and fortune was reversed in the match. This time, Ludwig had two balls down on the break but the shot was illegal since no other ball broke the head string. Souquet used the chance and cleared the rack to get to 5:5. He even managed to win 3 more consecutive racks to get on the hill with 8:5. This after having trailed 1:5 in the match. What an amazing turnover from Souquet. He allowed one more point fro Ludwig who could not find any remedy against Souquet in the match anymore. In rack 15, Souquet used his chance and took the match with 9:6 to win his 23rd Euro-Tour tournament in his career! His experience and his perfection in his game made the difference today and brought him to this stellar success. This victory catapults Souquet into 2nd place of the new Euro-Tour rankings, trailing David Alcide (ESP) by 15 points only.
 
Top Eight Finishers
1. Ralf Souquet (GER)
2. Sebastian Ludwig (GER)
3. Denis Grabe (EST)
Mateusz Sniegocki (POL)
5. Maximilian Lechner (AUT)
Albin Ouschan (AUT)
Fedor Gorst (RUS)
Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH)
 
Top Ten Euro-Tour Rankings
1. David Alcaide (ESP)
2. Ralf Souquet (GER)
3. Niels Feijen (NED)
4. Albin Ouschan (AUT)
5. Nick Van Den Berg (NED)
6. Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS)
7. Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP)
8. Joshua Filler (GER)
9. Mario He (AUT)
10. Sebastian Ludwig (GER)
 
In the Klagenfurt Women Open, three players can be considered as highly favoured to win the event. One of course is Jasmin Ouschan (AUT). The Austrian superstar is always favoured in any women’s event. Here, she additionally performs on her home turf with the crowd backing her up big time. She might be thankful for that support since she had an injury to overcome from a bicycle accident a few weeks ago. Jasmin on her first match very convincingly with 7:3 over Ann-Sofie Lofgren (SWE). In her next match in the winner’s qualification round she made short work of Ewa Bak (POL), handing her a 7:1 defeat.
 
The next favourite is Kristina Tkach (RUS). The young Russian is a permanent component in European women’s pool and  is the current #1 ranked player in the women’s ranking. Today, she had a tough job and hard work with Ana Gradisnik (SLO) who gave her a fierce fight in her first match. After 13 racks, Tkach was able to come out as a 7:6 victor over Gradisnik. After that she finished Ine Helvik (NOR) with 7:3 after having trailed 0:3 in the match.
 
A special appearance here in Klagenfurt has China’s World Games Gold Medallist Chen Siming (CHN). The superstar from Asia already stirred up some smoke in the open event by defeating several male players. Today, she started in the women’s event with a 7:2 victory over local Lisa Stadler (AUT). Then, she took down experienced Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) with 7:1 even. In her third match for the day, Siming took down Eylul Kibaroglu (TUR) 7:4.
 
Tomorrow, the Klagenfurt Women’s Open will continue at 09:30 local time with matches from the last 16 players single elimination. The final match is scheduled for 14:30 CET.
 
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 Klagenfurt Open.
 
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.

Gray Takes the Cake Four Times Running

Mark Gray, Kateryna Polovinchuk

Mark Gray (GBR) has already taken four victims down in the Dynamic Billard Portuguese Open in Salgados Palace Hotel in Albufeira, Portugal. Today in the round of the last 32 men single elimination, Gray wiped the floor with Daniel Tangudd (SWE) and handed him a doughnut, winning the match 9:0. Before that match, Gray’s route to the single elimination stage of the event led over Athanasios Vrakas (GRE) 9:3, Sergey Lutsker (RUS) 9:3 and Marcus Chamat (SWE) 9:1 even. Altogether, Gray allowed his opponents to win seven (7!) racks against him in four matches! What an impressive performance from the Brit so far.

 

Other remarkable results from today’s rounds include Ronald Regli (SUI) conquering Mieszko Fortunski (POL) 9:8 in winner’s round 2. Regli then went on and also defeated Roman Hybler (CZE) 9:8 before he fell to the sharp blade of young Wiktor Zielinski (POL) 4:9 in the single elimination round which puts in in 17th place. Mats Schjetne (NOR) upset current World 9-ball Champion Albin Ouschan (AUT) and overran him with 9:5. Then he was overrun himself, losing 4:9 to Sebastian Ludwig (GER). In the loser’s qualification round, Schjetne went up against Fortunski. The Norwegian managed to win that encounter 9:7 and advanced to the single elimination stage. There, he won 9:7 over Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) and will meet Joshua Filler (GER) tomorrow at 10:00 GMT for a spot in the quarter-finals.

 

 

In the women’s division, Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR) is playing a nice tournament so far. Last night, she defeated Vivien Schade (GER) by a margin of 7:6 and advanced to the winner’s qualification round where she met Melissa Rademakers (NED) today. Polovinchuk proved stronger than Rademakers and handed her a 7:5 defeat to secure her spot in the single elimination round of the last 16 players. There she will receive an opponent who still needs to qualify and will be drawn in the match against her at 12:00 GMT. Also well on track is Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) who took down Veronika Ivanovskaia (GER) by 7:6 only. The same result was good for Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) who made it over Ine Helvik (NOR) in the round of the last 16 remaining women.

 

Another interesting incident occurred during today’s matches. For quite some years now, EPBF conducts anti-doping tests on a random basis at the events. These tests are requested by IOC and WADA these days and all sports federations must follow this procedure. Today, one test was arranged and four matches were determined from which the losing players had to go to the testing. However, one player denied being tested although he was drawn for it. After being informed that denying a doping test would result in the same penalty as having a positive finding in the sample, the respective player still did not want to take the test. This behaviour was immediately reported to the higher authorities and the outcome will very likely be that the player in question will receive a long ban from international as well as national billiard events, according to the WADA code which is binding for all sports federations worldwide. Conduct like this can and will not be tolerated and is regulated for all sports by the WADA codes and regulations.

 

The Dynamic Billard Portuguese Open in Salgados Palace Hotel in Albufeira, Portugal will continue tomorrow at 10:00 GMT with matches from last the 16 single elimination in the open event and at 09:30 GMT with matches from the loser’s qualification round in the women’s event.

 

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 24 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 Italian Open starting Thursday 30thMarch at 09:00h

 

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.epbf.com, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.

Ouschan, Tahti and Uski New 8-ball Champions

Ouschan, Tahti, Uski

The 8-ball tiles at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes in the Salgados Palace Hotel in Albufeira, Portugal, have been awarded. Jouni Tahti (FIN), Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) and Jani Uski (FIN) have snatched the coveted titles in the 8-ball individuals.

 

In the men’s division, Jani Uski started out as an underdog in the discipline. His victims on the way into the final match include Denis Grabe (EST) 8:5, Francisco Diaz-Pizarro (ESP) 10:6 and Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) 10:8. These victories took him into the final match against Marc Bijsterbosch (NED) who had already taken the 10-ball title earlier this week. Bijsterbosch made his way into the final match over Jakub Koniar (SVK) 8:7, Ruslan Chinakhov 10:8 and Mario He (AUT) 10:7. The final match itself was determined by careful play from both actors. Uski however was always a margin up over Bijsterbosch and carried that advantage all through the match. In the end, Uski won his first title in defeating Bijsterbosch 10:7 in the final match.

 

Top 8 Men:
1. Jani Uski (FIN)
2. Marc Bijsterbosch (NED)
3. Mario He (AUT)
Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz
5. Mieszko Fortunski (POL)
Francisco Diaz-Pizarro (ESP)
Maksim Dudanets (RUS)
Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS)

 

In the women’s division, Jasmin Ouschan received her 25th Gold Medal on European level and her 50th medal from the EPBF by winning the 8-ball title today. She had a hard time in the semi-final when she just made it over Tamara Peeters-Rademakers (NED) with 7:6. Her opponent in the final match was Melanie Suessenguth (GER). The German had defeated Amalia Matas (ESP) the round before and met Ouschan in the final. However, in the final Suessenguth had no more energy to oppose to Ouschan. 7:0 was the very clear result in favour of the Austrian superstar.

 

Top 8 Women:
1. Jasmin Ouschan (AUT)
2. Melanie Suessenguth (GER)
3. Tamara Peeters-Rademakers (NED)
Amalia Matas (ESP)
5. Vivien Schade (GER)
Marharyta Fefilava (BLR)
Sara Rocha (POR)
Kristina Schagan (GER)

 

In the wheelchair division, Jouni Tahti was definitely one of the favourite players from the start. Having had a bad start in 10-ball, Tahti was hungry for another title. He met Kurt Deklerck in the final match. Deklerck already won the 10-ball event earlier this week and still had some wind underneath his wings. The final match was packed with action and drama fro both players with Tahti having the better end on his side, winning the match and the title with 5:3 over Deklerck.

 

Top 8 Wheelchair:
1. Jouni Tahti (FIN)
2. Kurt Deklerck (BEL)
3. Roy Kimberley (GBR)
Tony Southern (GBR)
5. Emil Malanowski (POL)
Fred Dinsmore (IRL)
7. Matt Duffy (GBR)
David Humpe (BEL)

 

Medal table after 3 of 5 events:

 

Earlier today, two rounds of team competition  were played at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes in the Salgados Palace Hotel in Albufeira, Portugal. In the men’s division, Team Croatia came up with the biggest surprise of the day. The clearly defeated the defending Champion Team Germany with 2:0. Ivica Putnik slammed Ralf Souquet 9:5 in 9-ball while Roberto Bartol just made it over Sebastian Ludwig with 8:7 in 10-ball. The third match between Tomislav Susic and Sebastian Staab in 8-ball was held up at 7:6 for Staab since the Croatians had already won the match being 2:0 up. Another huge surprise was brought to the tournament by Team Finland. They managed to triumph over Team Spain, consisting of Jose Alberto Delgado Hernandez, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and David Alcaide, with 2:1. In 8-ball, Jani Uski wiped the floor with Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 8:1 while Kim Laaksonen stood tall over David Alcaide in 9-ball with 9:7. At that time, Petri Makkonen was also leading 7:5 over Delgado in 10-ball, race to 8. The team clash between Austria and The Netherlands was won by Team Austria today. Though Niels Feijen defeated Albin Ouschan 8:3 in 10-ball, the Austrians left the venue as the winner today. Mario He overpowered Ivar Saris in 8-ball 8:6 while Maximilian Lechner clearly remained the upper hand over Nick Van Den Berg in 9-ball with 9:5.

 

In the women’s team competition, Team The Netherlands won 2:0 over Team Finland and Team Spain defeated Team Portugal with the same result.

 

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.

Rough Exit For Zielinski

Wiktor Zielinski

One of the most tragic stories of the event was the exit of young Wiktor Zielinski from Poland. The 15-year-old boy from Poznan met Nick Van Den Berg (NED) in the winner’s qualification round. Van den Berg who belongs to Europe’s elite for many years now, had a really hard time with Zielinski. The match went all the way to 8:8. Zielinski had the valuable break in rack 17. He made two balls off the break shot and had an easy shot at the 3-ball with no problems left on the table. But he created a problem for himself, pocketing the 3-ball and hiding the cue ball for the 4-ball. He played a bad safety shot and van den Berg took the rack and won the match with the closest of all results, 9:8. Being sent to the loser’s side, Zielinski encountered no other player but current World 9-ball Champion Albin Ouschan (AUT). What an unlucky draw for Zielinski. As the match unfolded it also turned out to become a hill-hill thriller. Again, Zielinski had the break shot in rack 17. He broke and this time three balls went down. He could see the 2-ball but not play it in any pocket. However, the 9-ball way lined up for a possible but very risky combination shot. Zielinski knew he had to either make the 9-ball on that shot or he would probably lose the match since his opponent was Ouschan who is known to make use of any chance he gets. Zielinski could also have played a safety shot but he went for the risk. He missed the 9-ball and Ouschan ran the rack. Zielinski’s elimination in the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open was as close and as tough as it could get. The kid needs a bit of luck in the coming tournaments.

 

An early exit today was handed to „The Tornado“ Tony Drago from Malta. The Snooker legend lost yesterday evening by a hair’s breadth with 8:9 to Imran Majid (GBR). Today, Roman Hybler, the „Czech Attack“ made short work with him, taking Drago down 9:5. Drago will be joined on his way home by Daryl Peach (GBR). The former World 9-ball Champion got ousted by Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) 7:9.

 

Last 16 lineup

Mark Gray (GBR) v Marco Deutscher (NED)

Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) v Mieszko Fortunski (POL)

Marek Kudlik (POL) v Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL)

Nick van den Berg (NED) v David Alcaide (ESP)

Albin Ouschan (AUT) v Wojciech Sroczynski (POL)

Joshua Filler (GER) v Maksim Dudanets (RUS)

Sebastian Ludwig (GER) v Mario He (AUT)

Alexander Kazakis (GRE) v Niels Feijen (NED)

 

Tomorrow, the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open will continue with the round of the final 16 players at 10:00 local time. At 09:00, the Treviso Women Open with a field of 47 players will commence.

The Euro-Tour is played on 20 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.

Christmas Comes Early for Kazakis

Alexander Kazakis (GRE)

Judgement day has arrived at the Dynamic Billard Dutch Open in Leende, The Netherlands. The single elimination round of the last 32 players has been played tonight and probably the most remarkable and spectacular result was Alexander Kazakis’ (GRE) triumph over Mario He (AUT) with 9:8.

 

Actually, the match went very much as expected. Both contestants are able to perform on a very high level and so they both did in the beginning of the match. They knew that valuable points and prize money was at stake. Kazakis turned out to have a better roll of the balls and played quite confident. He was up 7:5 and 8:6 with a promising look at the finish line. But He struck back and got to 7:8. Then, Kazakis cleared the rack and lined up a straight 9-ball which was lying 20cm away from the pocket with the cue ball being 20cm away from the 9-ball. The shot was as easy as it can get. But what happened then can hardly be described. Kazakis was probably already celebrating the victory and his promotion into the last 16 players of the event when he executed the shot because… he missed it! It remained hanging over the pocket. Kazakis kind of collapsed on the table since he could not believe what he’d just done. Mario He also could not believe what he saw. He received an additional life in the match, completely unexpected for him! So He went for the break shot in rack 17 and made a ball with a shot on the 1-ball. The 6-ball was close to the 9-ball and lined up in the direction of the corner pocket but it needed to be hit from a certain angle. So Mario He went for the balls and lined up the winning shot but he placed the cue ball a little bit too high. So he had to fire the shot at a high speed in order to prevent the cue ball from obstructing the 9-ball on its way into the pocket. The Austrian fired the shot, the 9-ball went in and the cue ball kissed the 7-ball at high speed and scratched in the side pocket. What an exchange of emotions in that match. Kazakis was now in the seat, still struggling with his mistake from the rack before and got to the table with ball in hand and four balls left on the table. He ran them and won the match with 9:8. That could probably very well be seen as an early Christmas present for him. Kazakis will meet David Alcaide (ESP) tomorrow who eliminated Karol Skowerski (POL) 9:6.

 

Results from the last 32 players

Tomasz Kaplan (POL) v Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) 5:9

Marco Spitzky (GER) v Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (ESP) 3:9

Joshua Filler (GER) v Christian Sparrenloev-Fischer (SWE) 7:9

Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) v Wojtek Trajdos (POL) 7:9

Fedor Gorst (RUS) v Daryl Peach (GBR) 9:7

Sebastian Ludwig (GER) v Mieszko Fortunski (POL) 5:9

Alexander Kazakis (GRE) v Mario He (AUT) 9:8

David Alcaide (ESP) v Karol Skowerski (POL) 9:6

Albin Ouschan (AUT) v Mark Gray (GBR) 5:9

Denis Grabe (EST) v Eklent Kaci (ALB) 9:7

Maximilian Lechner (AUT) v Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) 4:9

Jayson Shaw (GBR) v Imran Majid (GBR) 4:9

Roman Hybler (CZE) v Radoslaw Babica (POL) 9:6

Marco Teutscher (NED) v Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) 4:9

Petri Makkonen (FIN) v Wiktor Zielinski (POL) 9:8

Francisco Diaz-Pizarro (ESP) v Niels Feijen (NED) 6:9

Last 16 players line-up

Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) v Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (ESP)

Christian Sparrenloev-Fischer (SWE) v Wojtek Trajdos (POL)

Fedor Gorst (RUS) v Mieszko Fortunski (POL)

Alexander Kazakis (GRE) v David Alcaide (ESP)

Mark Gray (GBR) v Denis Grabe (EST)

Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) v Imran Majid (GBR)

Roman Hybler (CZE) v Mateusz Sniegocki (POL)

Petri Makkonen (FIN) v Niels Feijen (NED)

 

Tomorrow, the Dynamic Billard Dutch Open will continue at 10:00 CET with matches from the last 16 players single elimination. From that round the match between Mark Gray and Denis Grabe will be broadcasted LIVE and FREE on the EPBF Facebook page. The semi-finals are played at 14:00 and 15:30 with the final match scheduled for 17:30 local time.

 

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.

Albin Ouschan Conquers Dynamic Billard Dutch Open 2015 Title

Albin Ouschan

In a final that was mainly determined by one man, Albin Ouschan (AUT) defeated "The Maharaja" Imran Majid (GBR) clearly with 9:2.

 

The early stage of the final match was determined by equal shotmaking of both players. Consequently, the scoreboard displayed 2:2 after four racks. In rack six, the referee called a foul shot on Majid which he disagreed with. However, Ouschan got to the table and managed to get a two-point lead for the first time in the match. It turned out that this situation became the turning point in the final. Ouschan had some luck with his safety play but in the end did not allow Majid to win any more rack. He played consistently and paved his way to glory with solid pool and excellent shotmaking. 9:2 was the final result which brought Ouschan the victory at the Dynamic Billard Dutch Open.

 

"I was lucky at times with my safety play," admitted Ouschan after the match, "but all in all I think I have played some good pool here. I have won the China Open this year, been Nr. 1 on the WPA rankings, played the World Cup of Pool and the Challenge of Champions recently and now came here to win the Euro-Tour. I think I’m ready for a little break to enjoy life with my girl-friend and our newly born daughter."

 

In the semi-final, Majid got the better of Jonni Fulcher (GBR), winning clearly with 9:4. It was really a one man show by Majid who was leading 5:0 at some stage. The other semi-final between Ouschan and Sebastian Ludwig (GER) was a bit closer. After 12 racks, the match was tied at 6:6. Then Ouschan got the better roll of the balls and turned the match into a 9:6 victory for himself, defeating a strong Ludwig who has had two third-place finishes in a row.

 

Top Eight Ranked Players of the Dynamic Billard Dutch Open

1. Albin Ouschan AUT

2. Imran Majid GBR

3. Jonni Fulcher GBR

Sebastian LudwigGER

5. Mark Gray GBR

Nick Van Den BergNED

Denis GrabeEST

Francisco SanchezESP

 

Top Ten Ranked Players of the EPBF Euro-Tour Ranking

1. Niels Feijen NED 2580

2. Mark Gray GBR 2250

3. Nick van den Berg NED 2210

4. Albin Ouschan AUT 2190

5. Mario He AUT 2165

6. Petri Makkonen FIN 2140

7. Marcus Chamat SWE 2085

Francisco SanchezESP2085

9. Francisco Diaz ESP 2050

10. Nick Ekonomopoulos GRE 2015

 

That concludes the coverage of the 2015 Dynamic Billard Dutch Open in the Golden Tulip Jagershorst Hotel in Leende, The Netherlands.

 

More information about participants, schedules, achievements, rankings, etc can be found on the event website www.eurotouronline.com

 

The event was hosted by the European Pocket Billiard Federation EPBF and organized by International Billiard Promotion Foundation IBPF.

 

Feijen and Van den Berg Lift the “Dutch Curse” in Leende

Niels Feijen

Nick Van Den Berg and Niels Feijen have both made it into the round of the last 16 players at the Dynamic Billard Dutch Open at the Golden Tulip Jagershorst Hotel in Leende, The Netherlands. It looks very promising that we will have Dutch representation in the final stage of the event.

 

The current Nr. 1 ranked player of the Euro-Tour, Niels Feijen, has won four consecutive matches for his seat in the round of the last 16 players. He defeated Evangelos Vettas (GRE) 9:3 on Thursday, Sebastian Ludwig (GER) 9:6 on Friday and Mieszko Fortunski (POL) 9:7 as well as Petri Makkonen (FIN) with the same result today to show his strength and permanent high level of play in the Euro-Tour. In defeating Makkonen, Feijen also secured himself a spot on this year’s Mosconi Cup Team. Feijen will play against Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) in the round of the last 16 players.

 

Nick van den Berg had to play more matches to get to this stage. He lost in the winner’s round to 15-year old Fedor Gorst from Moscow, Russia, yesterday. SO he needed three more victories to make it into the round of the last 32 players. But van den Berg is a fighter and a high profile player. He defeated Karol Skowerski (POL) 9:6, Christian Sparrenloev-Fischer (SWE) 9:3 and Mihai-Robert Braga (ROM) 9:5 in order to get drawn into the round of the last 32 players. And there he was meant to get his revenge since he was drawn against Fedor Gorst again. This time, van den Berg again took an 8:3 lead over Gorst and AGAIN committed a mistake at that score. It looked like  history could repeat itself. But at 4:8, Gorst missed an easy 2-ball and paved the way for van den Berg to win the match with 9:4 this time. Van den Berg will play Alexander Kazakis (GRE) in the next round.

 

Other remarkable matches from today include Can Salim-Giasar (GER) ousting German wonderkid

 

Joshua Filler with 9:7. Piotr Kudlik (POL) defeated Tony Drago (MLT) in the same round with 9:8. Jonni Fulcher (GBR) overpowered Ralf Souquet (GER) with 9:8. Another 9:8 victory was on Petri Makkonen’s side when he ousted Daryl Peach (GBR).

 

Last 16 players:

 

Niels Feijen (NED) v Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP)

Jonni Fulcher (GBR) v Viktor Zielinski (POL)

Nick van den Berg (NED) v Alexander Kazakis (GRE)

Imran Majid (GBR) v Konstantin Stepanov (RUS)

Sebastian Ludwig (GER) v Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL)

Mieszko Fortunski (POL) v Denis Grabe (EST)

Radoslaw Babica (POL) v Albin Ouschan (AUT)

Oliver Ortmann (GER) v Mark Gray (GBR)

 

Matches will continue tomorrow at 09:00 with the round of the last 16 players.

 

All matches can be viewed LIVE at www.kozoom.com. Up to 11 tables in HiRes quality are providing you with all the action of the event. You do not miss out one single match! Join today!

 

More information about participants, schedules, achievements, rankings, etc can be found on the event website www.eurotouronline.com

 

The event will be hosted by the European Pocket Billiard Federation EPBF and organized by International Billiard Promotion Foundation IBPF.