Joshua Filler passed the test of Mosconi Cup teammate Eklent Kaçi and the USA’s Oscar Dominguez to reach the Last 16 of the inaugural European Open Pool Championship at Hotel Esperanto, Fulda, Germany live on the Matchroom Pool Facebook/YouTube and Matchroom.Live.
Filler had a good day of it coming from behind to defeat Kaçi 9-8 when his goose had looked cooked when Kaçi had a 5-9 combo to seal victory at 8-7 only for the Albanian to offer the gift that the Killer needed to get back into it. Kaçi didn’t get a look in from then on as Filler broke in the final rack but it was far from easy with the 7, 8 and 9 all glued together and the rack penned underneath it. Filler kept his cool in the moment though despite the glaring problem to complete victory and set up a Last 32 tie with Oscar Dominguez of the USA.
Dominguez had came from 4-1 down against Tyler Styer to peg him back at 5-5 and 6-6 before pulling through to meet his old Mosconi Cup rival to reach the Last 16.
Filler came into the contest on the back of two hill-hill showings in his last three matches in the tournament and he was in no mood for a similar scenario. Filler hit the front early on but Dominguez was playing freely and causing the German a whole heap of problems. The home crowd were out for their star man and he delivered a 10-7 victory to book his spot in the Last 16 in what proved to be a successful day that also saw him become the first player on Team Europe for the 2022 Mosconi Cup off the Live Nineball World Rankings.
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz was the only player who could beat Filler to the first Mosconi Cup spot with $14,000 separating the pair heading into the tournament but his hopes were ended in the Last 32 at the hands of Albania’s Besar Spahiu who mounted an impressive comeback to steal it 10-8 and confirm Filler’s spot on Team Europe for the 2022 Mosconi Cup at Bally’s Las Vegas from November 30 to December 3.
Jayson Shaw (Taka Wu – Matchroom Multi Sport)
Jayson Shaw is next up for Filler after the two-time Mosconi Cup MVP saw off Petri Makkonen earlier on in the day before a grueling battle with Italy’s Daniele Corrieri to book his place in the Last 16. Corrieri took the game to Shaw and had the better of the opening exchanges with a 1-9 combo the pick of the bunch as he found his rhythm early doors with Shaw not doing too much wrong.
Eagle Eye found his mojo at the midway stage and he didn’t do too much wrong from then on as he led for the first time in the match at 7-6. Shaw from there was imperious as he set up a mouthwatering clash on Table 1 with Filler next.
Team USA‘s charge for glory on home soil will be led by Nineball World No.1 Shane Van Boening who came through his own tests against Germany’s Sebastian Staab in the Last 64 before Wojciech Szewczyk stood in his way of a weekend appearance. Szewczyk took the early initiative to lead 2-0 before Van Boening pulled back to 2-2. The pair were entertaining the crowd with some of the best safety play witnessed all week as Van Boening came back to lead only for Szewczyk to soon lead 5-4 and be at the halfway point. Van Boening was dominant to lead 9-5 only to break dry in the next and Szewczyk to bite back. The Pole was struggling for position on the 1 ball. and had to play safe and from there Van Boening played a kick and stick that would rival any in history to leave Szewczyk in knots. A short safety battled ensued for Van Boening to come on top and meet Sanjin Pehlivanovic in the Last 16 tomorrow.
Alexander Kazakis defeated David Alcaide 9-2 to reach the Last 32 and meet John Morra. The Greek had a battle on his hands against Morra who lead at various points and most importantly was 8-6 up in the Race to 10. The Canadian looked to have control but Kazakis has demonstrated in recent times his steely nature with some clutch pots to pull it back and looked to be in to level at 9-9. Kazakis lost position on the penultimate ball to leave it over the pocket and give Morra the easiest route into the Last 16 to meet Konrad Juszczyszyn next.
Tomorrow and Sunday, Table 1 action is available on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland as well as on Viaplay in Scandinavia and the Baltics and various other broadcasters worldwide including Matchroom.Live in relevant countries. Table 2 will be on the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel. See the full where to watch list here.
Mark Gray (GBR) defeated Sebastian Staab (GER) in an epic thriller with 9:8 at the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open Euro-Tour in Treviso, Italy.
Gray was the clearly favoured to win this match. The early stage of the match seemed to confirm that assumption. It was Staab who committed some easy mistakes and Gray punishing him for that. The British quickly took a two rack lead at 3:1 and 4:2 over Staab. Then suddenly the German seemed to get some momentum going in his game and won rack after rack, mainly because Gray’s break let him down big time. Staab not only levelled the match at 4:4, he even went ahead and all of a sudden took a 6:4 lead over Gray. That kind of shocked Gray and Staab remained focussed and cool, using his chances to get on the hill first with 8:6. The was an ultimate pressure moment for Gray. But the experienced 6-time winner of Euro-Tour events remained as solid as a rock and took two racks in a row, making the match a hill-hill thriller at 8:8. Staat was breaking in the deciding rack. He failed in having balls pocketed and allowed Gray to an open table. The Brit took that chance and cleared the rack, winning the match with the closest of all results 9:8 over a disappointed Sebastian Staab. Gray will play tomorrow at 10:00 CET in the single elimination round of the final 16 players while Staab has to settle for 17th place in the tournament. Commented Mark Gray on this facebook page after the match: „Granite still fighting!!!! Don’t know how I won that !!! But somehow beat Germany’s Sebastian Staab 9-8 from 6-8 down!!! Table was playing very funky which effected both of us!!! Obviously change of weather here effects conditions from day to day…. Anyway through to final 16 , play continues 10am tomoz local time and I play Poland’s Mateusz Sniegocki….“
Other remarkable results in the same round include Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) taking down Mario He (AUT) with 9:8. David Alcaide (ESP) won 9:7 over Gray’s teammate Imran Majid (GBR) after having trailed 1:4 in the match already.
The Dynamic Billard Treviso Open will commence tomorrow morning at 10:00 CET with matches from the last 16 players single elimination..
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.
Today the European Championship 8-ball competition was in full swing. Men, Women, Under 23 and Wheelchair athletes demonstrated their shotmaking and tactical skills on the battlefield of slate.
In the men’s division, defending Champion Bahram Lotfy (DEN) unexpectedly lost his opening match to Sebastian Staab (GER) 7:8. That brought him to the loser’s side straight away where he needed to win in order to get his ticket for the single elimination of the last 64 players. Lotfy encountered Marios Artemiou (CYP) and it did not take much off him to win this match with 8:1. Then in the single elimination, Lotfy was drawn against Konstantin Stepanov (RUS). That match started out quite even but Lotfy capitalised from his break shot while Stepanov was struggling to make a ball when it was his turn to open the rack. In the end, Lotfy remained victorious with 8:3 and will now face Karol Skowerski (POL) tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET in the next round. Other exciting matches in that round will be the clash between Eklent Kaci (ALB) and Thorsten Hohmann (GER) and the match with Mieszko Fortunski (POL) and Fedor Gorst (RUS), just to name a few.
In the women’s 8-ball, Vania Franco (POR) showed some attractive performance in order to make it to the single elimination stage. After having lost her first match 2:6 to Ewa Bak (POL), Franco went over to the loser’s side where she met Louise Furberg (SWE). The experienced player from Sweden had no chance against Franco who prevailed with 6:2. Then, Franco advanced and took down Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR) in a thrilling combat with 6:5. Right after that match, the Portuguese had to deal with yesterday’s surprise winner, Christine Feldmann (SUI). That match really took an unexpected turn since it was Franco to dominated the match from start to finish. Feldmann did not have the slightest chance and Franco demolished her with 6:1 in the end. In the single elimination stage of the last 16 players, Vania Franco will encounter Eylul Kibaroglu (TUR).
In the under 23 division, defending Champion Casper Matikainen (FIN) is straight on track. After having won a silver medal in the men’s 10-ball last night against Mieszko Fortunski (POL), Matikainen had his first matches in the Under 23’s division. He wasted no time and defeated Josef Nechvile (CZE) 8:1 and Daniel Lang (SVK) 8:4 to book his seat in the quarter-finals already. He will be joined there by Vitaliy Patsura (UKR), Pijus Labutis (LTU) and Jan Van Lierop (NED) who are also through to the single elimination over the winner’s side. The quarter-finals in 8-ball will be played tomorrow afternoon at 16:00 CET.
In the wheelchair division, the biggest of all upsets possible did happen. Unheralded David Himpe (BEL) handed a whitewash to defending Champion Jouni Tahti (FIN), defeating the Finish with 5:0. In the next round, Himpe had to give in 4:5 to another underdog, Leszek Blumczynski (POL) with 4:5. Tahti needs to overcome Kurt Deklerck (BEL) for his spot in the quarter-finals tomorrow.
The Dynamic Billard European Championships 2019 for men, women, U23 and wheelchair athletes will commence tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET with matches in the 8-ball individuals competition Men and Women.
The Championships are played on 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.epconline.eu or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Left to right: A. Alammar, A. Ouschan & D. Corrieri
A totally unheralded player, Abdulrahman Alammar (KSA) squeaked past #17 ranked player Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) with 9:8 after a tremendous comeback.
It was not the first opponent from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia today for Sniegocki. In his first match he already met Hassan Alqahtani who also made the long trip from the middle eastern country to come to Italy and challenge the European pool elite. In that match, Sniegocki was already warned since he had a 5:2 lead over Alqahtani and just made it over the finish line, taking the match by a whisker with 9:8. Then he met Alammar, Alqahtani’s teammate. One more time, Sniegocki looked like the sure winner, leading 6:2 after eight racks. But Alammar demonstrated high class pool and really surprised the audience on site and at the computer screens since the match was streamed live on facebook as well. Alammar pulled back rack after rack from Sniegocki and made the match exciting again. He even managed to get on the hill first, taking an 8:7 lead over the Polish. Then, Sniegocki levelled that at 8:8 with a combination shot 5-9 into the corner pocket. Now the pressure was on for both opponents with Alammar’s break shot coming up. He broke the rack and had two balls down but no shot on the 2-ball which was the ball on. A safety exchange followed with Alammar committing a foul shot giving ball in hand to Sniegocki. The layout on the table was everything else but easy with the 3-ball behind hidden behind the 4-ball. Sniegocki tried to play a weird position for the 3-ball and failed. All he could do then was leaving a tough shot for Alammar. The player from Saudi Arabia executed a brilliant safety shot on the 3-ball, opening the problem and hiding the cue ball frozen behind the 8-ball on the other end of the table. Sniegocki attempted a bank shot on the 3-ball but completely missed it. With ball in hand, Alammar went on and ran the rack, winning the match 9:8 after a furious comeback. He will now face Tim De Ruyter (NED) who defeated Sebastian Staab (GER) 9:3, in the winner’s qualification round while Sniegocki needs to take the detour over the loser’s side.
Other remarkable results from today include local hero Daniele Corrieri (ITA) taking the cake 9:8 against former World 9-Ball Champion Daryl Peach (GBR) in the same round. Also in winner’s round 2, Stefan Huber (AUT) totally unexpected smashed Alexander Kazakis (GRE) 9:0! What a bitter doughnut for Kazakis that was! Huber’s fellow countryman Albin Ouschan (AUT) brought his match home in winner’s round, winning 9:8 over Cyriel Ledoux (NED). The Dutch was really unlucky here since he had the break in rack 17. However, he came up dry with no balls down, leaving a shot on the 1-ball for Ouschan. With all his coolness and experience, the Austrian powerhouse cleared the table and took the match even under the highest pressure possible.
Tomorrow, the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open will continue at 09:00 CET with matches from loser’s round 2. The last 32 players single elimination matches will begin at 21:00 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 16 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.
At the Dynamic Billard Portuguese Open in Salgados Palace Hotel in Albufeira, Portugal, total underdog Thomas Lindloff (GER) upset Fedor Gorst (RUS) in winner’s round one with 9:8.
The writing for the match was on the wall. Lindloff, an amateur player from Germany who participates in his second Euro-Tour versus Gorst, a young, hungry and talented two-time European Champion in the Under 17 division. Nobody really expected the match to become thrilling or even exciting at least. All odds were in favour of Gorst. But, as often, life has surprises. One of them happened today. Lindloff managed to win the first two racks and drew first blood against the Russian who took his time-out already when the scoreboard displayed 2:1 in favour of Lindloff. When he came back, he won the next rack and levelled the match at 2:2. But again Lindloff managed to escape with a two-point-lead, making it 4:2. It took ten racks before Gorst was all square with Lindloff and tied the match at 5:5. Now again the odds were all in favour of Gorst. But to the astonishment of the audience Lindloff continued his strong performance and even got to the hill with an 8:6 lead after 14 racks. Rack number 15 was opened by Thomas Lindloff. He executed a nice break-shot, had two balls down and everything speed out nicely in front of him to clear the table for is possible victory. He played a good safety shot on the 4-ball and forced Gorst to commit a foul. With ball in hand, Lindloff approached the table and had all the chances in the World to finish the match. But his nerves left him and he scratched while pocketing the 5-ball which now brought Gorst to the table. The Russian used his chance and pulled the rack back from Lindloff. 8:7 was the small lead which was left for Lindloff. Then Gorst showed nerves of steel and ran the next rack with his own break shot to tie the match at 8:8. What a dramatic finish. Again, the odds were in favour of the Russian since the pressure on Lindloff went through the roof. The German again had two balls down and a nice layout in front of him. Would his nerves let him down again or would he be able to stand the heat? This time, Lindloff took the chance and ran the rack, clearing the table for an amazing 9:8 victory over favoured Fedor Gorst. „It was a tactical victory for me“ stated Linloff after the match, „and Lady Luck was more on my side than his.“ „Gorst was probably not shooting at his best level“, Lindloff added, „so I think routine defeated class today“. This victory was his second today already since he defeated Avelino Madeira (POR) in the first round with 9:8. Lindloff will be up in winner’s round two tomorrow at 09:00 GMT against Vitaliy Patsura (UKR), last year’s European Champion 8-ball men’s division.
Today, the featured match on the EPBF Facebook page was the clash between Quang Trung Le (VIE) and Sebastian Staab (GER). Both players played on an equal level with Staab being a bit more on the lucky side in the end, winning the match with 9:7 over Le.
Other remarkable results from today include Nr. 1 seeded player David Alcaide (ESP) winning his opening match by a whisker over unheralded Kenneth Rognstad (NOR) with 9:8 only. Former World 9-Ball Champion Daryl Peach (GBR) had the same problems and sneaked through past Andrey Seroshtan (RUS) with 9:8, having trailed 1:5 and 5:8 in the match already. Eklent Kaci (ALB) once again took down Oliver Ortmann (GER) 9:6 in winner’s round one. Ralf Souquet (GER), winner of the recent Euro-Tour in Treviso, Italy, wasted no time with Polish top player Tomasz Kaplan (POL) smashing him 9:1.
In the women’s event, Monika Zabek (POL) outplayed Sara Rocha (POR) 7:5 and proceeded to the next winner’s round while Rocha needs to seek her fortune on the loser’s side. Marta Tavares (POR) overmastered Kristina Grim (GER) 7:6 and handed her an unexpected defeat in winner’s round one. European flagship of women’s pool, Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) won both her matches today without bigger efforts. She took down Tamara Peeters-Rademakers (NED) 7:2 and then Yini Gaspar (SUI) even 7:1.
The Dynamic Billard Portuguese Open in Salgados Palace Hotel in Albufeira, Portugal will continue tomorrow at 09:00 GMT with matches from winner’s round 2 in the open event and matches from loser’s round 1 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.
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.
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.
In the winner’s qualification round of the Dynamic Billard Italian Open, Ivo Aarts (NED) defeated his fellow countryman „The Terminator“ Niels Feijen (NED) in a heartbreaker by a whisker with 9:8.
Both players already had two victories under their belt today when they met on table 10 in the BHR Best Western Hotel in Treviso, Italy. Feijen, currently ranked nr.3 in the Euro-Tour after Gray and Alcaide, made short work with Sergio Lagunas Moreno (ESP) and Mustafa Alnar (TNC). He handed a doughnut to Moreno and only allowed three racks in the account of Alnar. His place in the winner’s qualification round was never in danger at all. Aarts however needed to struggle hard for his spot in that match. He took down Sebastian Staab (GER) 9:4 and then just made it with 9:8 in a fiercely fought over match against Sergey Lutsker (RUS). The odds for the match were pretty obvious: Feijen was the favourite player by a mile. But the course of the match did not follow the odds or the expectations of the audience. In the beginning, Feijen managed to take three consecutive racks against Aarts. But the young Dutch struck back and after eight racks the scoreboard showed 4:4, all square. After his timeout, Aarts seemed to be in the zone and pretty much focussed on his performance. He always allowed Feijen to go ahead with one rack but then pulled the next one back to even the score again. Feijen could try whatever he wanted, he never got an advantage over his teammate. After 12 racks at 6:6, Feijen took his timeout and probably hoped to somehow be able to turn the tide in the match. But the encounter continued as before. One for Feijen and one for Aarts. That led to the inevitable situation at 8:8 after 16 racks. The final rack had to decide the winner. It was Feijen’ break shot. He had two balls down and the break was good but he had no chance to pocket the 1-ball. To the contrary, the cue ball was hiding partly behind the 5-ball which made it almost impossible for Feijen to attack the table in that situation. Feijen tried a safety but left a possible shot for Aarts. However, it was not easy. The cue ball was at the head rail with the 1-ball close to the foot rail. A thin cut was needed for Aarts. Ivo Aarts pocketed the 1-ball and had position to continue. All balls were nicely spread open and Aarts kept his nerves under control and ran the rack, winning the thrilling match in the deciding rack with 9:8. He advanced to the single elimination round of the last 32 players while Feijen got one more chance on the loser’s side. He will have to deal with Sebastian Staab (GER) there.
Another interesting match from todays’s winner’s qualification round took place between „The Iceman“ Mika Immonen (FIN) and Marco Teutscher (NED). The young Dutch controlled the match from start to beginning and handed a painful defeat to Immonen with 9:6. Immonen went to the loser’s side and ousted local player Daniele Corrieri (ITA) 9:6 for his spot in the last 32. Teutscher avoided the detour and directly booked his seat in the same round.
Several „hot shots“ are still undefeated in the tournament and waiting for their opponents in the single elimination round. Among them are Joshua Filler (GER), Shane Van Boening (USA), Albin Ouschan (AUT), Denis Grabe (EST), Nick Van Den Berg (NED), Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (ESP) and Konstantin Stepanov (RUS), just to name a few. The single elimination round of the last 32 players will be played tonight at 21:00 CET.
Tomorrow, the Dynamic Billard Italian Open will continue at 10:00 CET with matches from the round of the last 16 player single elimination. At 09:00, the Dynamic Billard Italian Women Open will begin with first round matches.
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.
After three days of round robin group play, in which 25 teams from all over the globe dueled in a veritable cavalcade of 8-ball, 9-ball and 10-ball, the 2014 World Pool Team Championship has been whittled down to the Final 16.
All matches from here throughSaturdaywill be single elimination, and you can bet your last Chinese Yuan that the tension and drama levels inside the Tongzhou Lhue High School arena in Beijing will be thick and hot. For not only are the teams playing for $300,000 in prize money-with $80,000 going to the winning side— they are also competing for national pride. There’s something about wearing your country’s flag and having the backing and support of your fellow countrymen and teammates that takes this sport to a whole other dimension.
Leading the way in terms of support will be both China sides, both of whom completely waltzed through their group unscathed all week. But while the Chinese squads are certainly formidable on paper, they both have had absolutely no competition in their groups.
Each China side had what could be considered the easiest draws in the event. Now, however, that will all change. And while China 1—with Li He Wen, Wu Jiaqing, Chu Bing Chia, Han Yu, and Chen Siming– and China 2—with Liu Haitao, Dang Ching Hu, Wang Can, Fu Xiaofang, and Liu Shasha– will probably advance at least to the quarters and perhaps further, it all comes with a caveat that other teams won’t have to deal with. The pressure from the home fans placed on both China teams will be massive.
The one team that won’t have to deal with that problem are the defending champions, Chinese-Taipei. The Taiwanese, featuring a powerhouse lineup of Chang Jun Lin, Ko Pin Yi, Hsu Kai Lun, Fu Che Wei, and female player Chou Cheih Yu, have been untouchable all week here in Beijing. They are playing in that quiet, smooth style that carried them to the title two years ago in this very same arena. Today in their last match of the group stage, the Taiwanese went up against Korea, which was fighting for survival. Although Taiwan was already guaranteed a spot in the Final 16, they showed no mercy on the Ga Young Kim-led Koreans, winning the six-match showdown easily, 5-1.
Another team that looks unbeatable right now is the Philippines. Dennis Orcollo, Lee Vann Corteza, Carlo Biado and Rubilen Amit have all the winning experience in the world to see themselves to the winner’s circleon Saturday. And they have been all business so far this week. Today the Philippines went up against a very formidable Poland side and basically toyed with the Poles, winning in a rout 6-0.
The Philippines could be looking at a potential quarterfinal matchup vs. Chinese-Taipei. Everyone and their brother expects the Philippines to get past Indonesiaon Thursday. Chinese-Taipei, though, will have to buckle down as they will be banging heads with a very strong Austrian team.
Great Britain, featuring Daryl Peach, Chris Melling, Karl Boyes and Allison Fisher, have the fully loaded talent and moxie to make a serious run. Against Germany today, the Brits looked their usual top class and won the match 4-2, although both sides were guaranteed a spot in the Final 16 no matter who won. The Brits will play Vietnam in the Final 16 and are heavily favored to advance to the quarter-finals. There they will probably meet up with China II which plays heavy underdog Sweden. Great Britain vs. China II promises some serious fireworks should it come to pass, as it most probably will.
One team that has flown under the radar but can definitely win this event is Japan. The Japanese are easily the loosest squad in this event, laughing and enjoying themselves on every shot. It has served them well in the past as they went all the way to the finals here two years ago before losing to Chinese-Taipei. Japan goes into their Final 16 match with the USA a big favorite. The Americans squeaked into the Final 16 and haven’t played up to standard yet this week.
The winner of Japan-USA will play the winner of Germany-Russia, which will be a very close matchup.
All matches in the Final 16 will take place on Thursday, July 31 beginning at1PM(GMT +8). The quarterfinals will be played at6:30PM.
*The WPA is on hand in Beijing to bring fans around the world full updated coverage of the 2014 World Pool Team Championship.
*The World Pool and Billiard Association(WPA) is the governing body of the sport of pocket billiards.
The Liado U Valley World Pool Team Championship is sanctioned by the WPA, The Multi-Ball Games Administrative Center of General Administration of Sport, Chinese Billiard and Snooker Federation, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sport, Beijing Sports Federation.
FINAL 16 July 31, 1PM(GMT +8)
China 1 vs. Singapore
Poland vs. Croatia
Philippines vs. Indonesia
Chinese-Taipei vs. Austria
China II vs. Sweden
Great Britain vs. Vietnam
Germany vs. Russia
Japan vs. USA
Quarterfinals Begin at6:30PM July 30(GMT +8)
Semi-finals will be playedon Friday, 1PM and 6:30PM
Finals will be playedon Saturday at 2PM
FORMAT:In each match between two countries, the two teams play each other in a set of six matches, all alternate break; two races in 8 ball, two in 9-ball and two in 10-ball. One 8-ball match is men’s scotch doubles, race to 6. The other 8-ball match is a men’s singles, race to 6. In 9-ball, the teams compete in a women’s singles, race to 8, and a men’s singles race to 8. In 10-ball, the teams play one mixed doubles match(scotch doubles), race to 7, and one men’s singles match race to 7. The female player must play in the 10-ball mixed doubles match, and a 9-ball match. No player is permitted to play more than two matches per session.
SHOOTOUT: If a match ends up 3-3 in the knockout stage, the winner will be decided by a shootout. In a shootout the 8 ball is placed in the middle of the table down near the short rail, level with the first diamond, while the cue ball is placed way down at the head string. The three men and one woman on each team take turns trying to pot the 8-ball in either far corner. All players play in sequence and the team to score six hits first with a margin of two or more(6-4, 7-5, etc.) wins the match and advances to the next round.
TEAMS
China 1—Li He Wen, Wu Jiaqing, Chu Bign Chia, Han Yu, Chen Siming
Singapore—Chan Keng Kwang, Aloyisus Yapp, Koh Seng Ann Aaron, Charlene Chai Zeet Huey, Toh Lian Han, Hoe Shu Wah
Poland–Karol Skowerski, Tomasz Kaplan, Mateusz Sniegocki, Katazyna Weslowska
Croatia—Josip Susnjara, Ivica Putnik, Marko Lisnic, Antonijevic Zrinka
Philippines–Dennis Orcollo, Lee Vann Corteza, Carlo Biado, Rubilen Amit
Indonesia—Bewi Simanjuntak M. Bewi, Rudy Susanto, Muhammad Fadly, Silvana
Chinese-Tapei—Chang Jun Lin, Ko Pin Yi, Hsu Kai Lun, Fu Che Wei, Chou Cheih Yu
Austria—Albin Ouschan, Tong He Yi, Jurgen Jenisy, Thomas Knittel, Jasmin Ouschan, Sandra Baumgartner
China 2—Liu Haitao, Dang Ching Hu, Wang Can, Fu Xiaofang, Liu Shasha
Sweden—Anreas Gerven, Marcus Chamat, Tomas Larsson, Caroline Roos
Great Britain—Daryl Peach, Karl Boyes, Chris Melling, Allison Fisher
Vietnam—Trung Le Quang, Tuan Nguyen Anh, Quan Do Hoang, Le Doan Thi Ngoc
Germany—Thorsten Hohmann, Ralf Souquet, Sebastian Staab, Ina Kaplan
Russia—Konstantin Stepanov, Ruslan Chinakhov, Andrey Seroshtan, Ann Mazhirina
Korea 4 – 2 New Zealand
Indonesia 5 – 1 Malaysia
China 1, 6 – 0 Hong Kong
Croatia 4 – 2 Sweden
USA 5 – 1 Bulgaria
Austria 6 – 0 South Africa
Vietnam 4 – 2 Singapore
Philippines 6 – 0 Poland
Session 2
Russia 5 – 1 New Zealand
Malaysia 4 – 2 India
Great Britain 4 – 2 Germany
China 2, 6 – 0 Australia
Chinese-Taipei 5 – 1 Korea
Japan 6 – 0 Indonesia
China 1, 5 -1 Sweden
Croatia 3 – 3 Mongolia
The team competition always creates a special atmosphere at the European Championships each year. Players all gather together and support their own national team. That was the situation today at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes in Kyrenia, North Cyprus.
Several upsets can be reported from today’s lineups. In the women’s division, team Switzerland with Klaudia Kunz and Christine Feldmann defeated clearly favored team Poland with 2:1. Feldmann lost 4:7 in 9-ball to Katarzyna Wesolowska but her teammate Kunz defeated Oliwia Czuprynska in 8-ball 6:2. The shootout was won by the Swiss team which booked them a seat in the semi-finals already.
The other semi-finalist in the women’s division is team Norway, consisting of Line Kjoersvik and Martine Christiansen. They defeated team Germany 2:0, then team Bulgaria with the same result. In the winner’s qualification round, the Norwegians had to deal with team Russia which is composed of Ana Mazhirina and Darya Sirotina. Mazhirina lost 9-ball 4:7 to Christiansen while Sirotina defeated Kjoersvik with 6:5 in 8-ball. The shootout went in favor of the Scandinavian ladies. Norway as well as Switzerland are waiting in the semi-finals for their opponents to be determined tomorrow.
In the men’s division, the defending Champions Netherlands had a thriller going on against long-time rival Germany. Nick Van Den Berg made a quick 1:0 lead for the Netherlands, winning the 8-ball with 8:4 over Andreas Roschkowsky. Ralf Souquet had a heartbreaker in 9-ball against Niels Feijen which he won with 9:8. At that time, Sebastian Staab was down 2:6 to World 10-ball Champion Huidji See in 10-ball. But Staab was able to turn the tide in the match. he took 6 racks in a row and won his match with 8:6. Germany takes a spot in the quarter-finals while The Netherlands need to win another match on the loser’s side over the winner Poland v Great Britain.
Team Austria is the second quarter-finalist of the day. With victories over Norway 2:1, Croatia 2:0 and Russia 2:1, the Austrians with Albin Ouschan, Mario He and Jürgen Jenisy are looking forward to get their opponent drawn from the loser’s side tomorrow. Team Spain with David Alcaide, Francesco Diaz and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz are also in the quarter-final round. The defeated Switzerland 3:0, Poland 2:0 and their neighbors Portugal 3:0. Strong performance by team Spain for today. The final quarterfinalist is team Finland. The boys from the far north around Petri Makkonen, Aki Heiskanen, Jussi Iivonen and Abbas Al-Marayati have earned their spot through victories over Belgium and Sweden. In the first round, team Finland had a walk-over.
Play will commence tomorrow morning 09:00 local time with the team competition. All results and more info can be found on www.epconline.eu. LIVEStream can be viewed at www.kozoom.com.
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 contact our press officepress@epbf.com.
The 10-Ball competition at the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes in Acapulco Hotel and Resort, Kyrenia, North Cyprus, has provided the spectators with some unexpected results today.
A total of 98 men, 46 women and 17 wheelchair players have lined up today to see who will eventually snatch the title from the current Champions.
Ruslan Chinakhov came up with the first upset of the day. He defeated David Alcaide (ESP) in a tight thriller with 8:7. In the next round, Chinakhov went ahead and also sent Serge Das (BEL) to the loser’s side.
Defending Champion Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) was another famous victim of today’s play. He lost his opening match to Daryl Peach (GBR) with 7:8. Peach proceeded into the single elimination round of the final 64 players while Sniegocki takes the long way.
Dutch „El Nino“ Nick Van Den Berg (NED) won his first two appearances over Sebastian Staab (GER) 8:6 and David Zalman (CZE) 8:1 and had smooth sailing so far into the final stage which will be played tomorrow.
Francesco Diaz (ESP) sprung for another upset in defeating Chris Melling (GBR) with 8:7. Melling then went to the loser’s side where he completely unexpected lost to underdog Roger Rasmussen (NOR) again with 7:8.
Germany’s Ralf Souquet (GER) fulfilled the hopes of the German Federation so far and won his two openers with 8:5 over Imran Majid (GBR) and Aki Heiskanen (FIN) with 8:4. Last year, the German team finished the EC in Portoroz, Slovenia, without having won a single medal. That was something that they probably do not want to repeat this year. However, in straight pool the medals were grabbed by other nations so far.
Marko Lisnic (CRO) double dipped Fabio Petroni (ITA) with 8:6. Just like Melling, Petroni lost his next match on the loser’s side completely surprising with 6:8 to Denmark’s Bahram Lotfy (DEN).
In the women’s division, defending Champion Oliwia Czuprynska (POL) is in the zone. She won her first two matches over Viktoria Nagorna (UKR) and Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR) and is waiting in the single elimination stage of the final 16 women for her opponent.
Newly crowned straight pool European Champion Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) made short work of her opponents today and handed both of them a doughnut, winning 6:0 over Sara Rocha (POR) and Claudia Kunz (SUI).
Today, the wheelchair athletes have joined the event. Defending Champion Kurt Deklerck (BEL) is right on track. He won his opener over Per Brovold (NOR) with 6:0.
Play will commence tomorrow morning 09:00 local time with the 10-ball competition. All results and more info can be found on www.epconline.eu. LIVEStream can be viewed at www.kozoom.com.
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 contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Another team that looks unbeatable right now is the Philippines. Dennis Orcollo, Lee Vann Corteza, Carlo Biado and Rubilen Amit have all the winning experience in the world to see themselves to the winner’s circle
