Fedor Gorst, 15-year-old player from Moscow, Russia, just came up with a magnificent comeback against Nick Van Den Berg (NED), winning the match with 9:8.
In the beginning everything looked like business as usual. Nick van den Berg, multiple European Champion and winner of 3 Euro-Tour stops, Mosconi Cup team player, was definitely favored over young talent Fedor Gorst. He took a quick 8:3 lead and went on the hill without any hiccups. It looked like the match would be over after a short time with an expected victor. But after rack eleven, the tide has turned in the match. Van den Berg’s break did not come anymore and Gorst hung in there, not accepting the threat of losing. To the contrary, it looked like Gorst grew stronger and stronger with every chance he could get. The match was really very entertaining to watch and after 16 racks played, the scoreboard suddenly displayed a tie at 8:8. The match had turned into a one-rack-decider. What a drama! In rack 17, van den Berg was definitely the better player. He played a good safety shot and left nothing for Gorst who could only hit the colored ball but left a shot for van den Berg. The Dutch however ran out of position for the 6-ball and had to play another safety shot which he did with all of his experience. The cue ball was hiding behind the 9-ball and the 6-ball was some 30 centimeters away, completely blocked. But Gorst went for it and flukes it in over two rails first, sinking the 6-ball in the side pocket. He then ran the remaining balls on the table to win the match with 9:8 and send Nick van den Berg to the loser’s side.
Other interesting results from today include Kasper Kristoffersen (DEN) winning 9:8 over Jim Chawki (SWE) in a match that was characterized by many errors from both players. IN an all-Polish clash, young Wiktor Zielinski defeated grandmaster Mateusz Sniegocki with 9:8. Alexander Kazakis (GRE) showed no mercy with Juan Carlos Exposito (ESP), creaming him with 9:1. Imran Majid (GBR) took down Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (ESP) with 9:7. After a long time of absence, Artem Koshovyi (UKR) is entering the European pool stage again. Today, his victim was Ralph Eckert (GER) with 9:4. „The Tornado“ Tony Drago (MLT) was already trailing 2:5 to Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) when he seemed to shift into overdrive and started playing unbelievably strong. He allowed one more rack for Ekonomopoulos to take, winning the match with 9:6.
Joshua Filler (GER) turned 18 years old today and made himself a nice gift, winning with 9:2 over Wojciech Szewczyk (POL). Unheralded Roy Stolk (NED) powered past Andrey Seroshtan (RUS) with 9:3 and also proceeds to the winner’s qualification round. Mark Gray (GBR) defeated Steve Leisen (LUX) with a clear and unchallenged victory of 9:3.
Matches will continue tomorrow at 09:00 with the third loser’s round.
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.
"The Tornado" from Malta, Tony Drago, won 9:6 over current World 9-Ball Champion Niels "The Terminator" Feijen (NED) at the Dynamic Billard Dutch Open.
The match started out quite even. Feijen seemed to struggle with his break a bit while Drago missed a few easy shots in the early stage of the match. However, after eight racks the score was wide at 4:4 between the two contestants. Then Drago managed to get a slight advantage over Feijen, sneaking away with a two point lead at 6:4. Then Feijen took a time-out. When he returned, things did not get better for him. Drago even took two more racks to get on the hill with 8:4. It looked like everything was said and done already when Feijen got a second life because of careless play by Drago. The Maltese played some bad safety attempts and suddenly Feijen was up his neck again with 6:8, having his own break coming up. But again his break did not work for him. He had no ball down and an open table for Drago which "The Tornado" used to clear the table and win the match with 9:6. Feijen has another chance on the loser’s side while Drago advances to the second winner’s round.
Another remarkable match was the encounter between Tomasz Kaplan (POL) and Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE). The Greek was leading 7:5 when he played two bad mistakes in the next two consecutive racks. That brought Kaplan back with 7:7. The next two racks were run outs which made the match a hill-hill affair at 8:8. There, Ekonomopoulos had the better nerves and closed the book on Kaplan with 9:8 to achieve a lucky victory over the Polish.
In his first Euro-Tour appearance, former World 9-Ball Champion Alex Pagulayan (CAN) defeated Sebastian Beuel (LUX) clearly with 9:4 after a 0:2 deficit in the beginning of the match.
Most favored players have made their way through the first winner’s round today.
The tournament will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET.
Three out of 11 tables can be watched LIVE throughout the event on www.kozoom.com. The event will be hosted by the European Pocket Billiard Federation EPBF and organized by International Billiard Promotion, IBP. For further information, please check the event website at www.eurotouronline.com or contact the EPBF press office at press@epbf.com
“The Kaiser” Ralf Souquet (GER) is back on track. He terminated Blerim Skara (ALB) with an impressive performance 8:3.
It was Skara who had the better start. He seemed to be in the zone and used the fact that Souquet couldn’t make a ball on his first break. He ran this rack and his own, taking a quick 2:0 lead over the German. One could have been surprised how self-confident Skara performed. But Souquet is not a newbie to the game. He stayed extremely calm and tied the match at 2:2. Souquet even took a 3:2 lead over Skara. Then, in the 6th rack, Souquet ran out of position for his second last ball. He tried to masse the ball in but he did not succeed. Skara came to the table and though it looked a bit lost at times, Skara managed to tie the game again. 3:3. That was obviously not to the likings of Souquet. He remained as focussed as one could be and took rack after rack, only admitting one mistake in between which Skara was not able to benefit from. While Souquet got more and more focussed, Skara lost his concentration and seemed to play worse than in the beginning. With all the experience of “The Kaiser”, it was no big deal for Souquet anymore to take the remaining racks and win the match with 8:3.
Other notable results in the men’s division include Stephan Cohen (FRA) losing his second match today. This time he had to give in to Milan Klobucnik (SVK) with 7:8 and left the 8-ball competition. He is joined by Huseyin Borankan (TNC) who was gunned down by Luxemburg’s Steve Leisen with 8:1.
In the women’s division, Chantal Manske (GER) ended the 8-ball medal hopes for Ine Helvik (NOR) with 6:1
In the wheelchair competition, Tankred Volkmer (GER) whitewashed Fred Dinsmore (IRE) with 5:0 and made it to the semi-final.
The 8-ball competition will continue Monday morning at 09:00 CET.
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 , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office
Second day in Sarajevo starts with loser’s bracket matches
Friday, 02 March 2012: In a thrilling encounter, Sandor Tot (SRB) ousted Mario He (AUT) with 9:7.
The match was a close battle at any stage. Both players played at equal strength. They both committed some mistakes and did not really perform to their top level. No wonder that none of the two was able to gain a clear advantage over the other. In the 9th rack, at a score of 4:4, Tot pocketed the 9-ball and let the cue ball travel into the pocket, using to much backspin. “I would always play the shot that way”Tot said after the match, “I don’t like slow rolling the balls in. It’s just not my styleâ€. Instead of being up 5:4, Tot was now trailing with the same result. But that did not destroy his match. It looked like he continued being completely unimpressed by his fatal mistake. In the 11th rack, He lost the cue ball in a very unlucky way and somehow “gave”the rack back to Tot. The score then was 6:6. Tot broke but had a dry break shot with He getting to the table. He ran the table which was spread open nicely and took a 7:6 advantage over Tot. But then the Serbian played extremely strong. He ran two racks in a row, making the score 8:7 in his favour. In the 16th rack, He broke, had three balls down and a good shot at the 2-ball. But he missed it. That was the end for him in that match. Tot ran out and won the match with 9:7.
Other notable results include Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) losing 8:9 to Carlo Dalmatin (CRO). Steve Leisen (LUX) terminated the hopes of his teammate from Trier, Marko Vogel (GER) with 9:7. Daryl Peach (GBR) ousted Ivica Putnik (CRO) just with 9:8. 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.eu , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office.
Germany’s Andreas Roschkowsky, who went undefeated to capture the Paris Open on the weekend of January 21-22, never did end up facing the event’s reigning champion, Nick Van Den Berg. That task fell to the UK’s Karl Boyes in the event semifinals. Boyes eliminated Van Den Berg and went on to challenge Roschkowsky in the finals. The event drew its maximum 64 entrants to qualifying rounds on Saturday at the Leader Club Billiard 94 in Sucy-en-Brie, a Parisian suburb, and moved to the Cercle Clichy Montmartre in Paris on Sunday for its final, single elimination rounds.
The two finalists – Roschkowsky and Boyes – opened strong in Saturday’s double elimination qualifiers, giving up only four racks between them as they chalked up identical 8-1 scores against their first two opponents; Severine Titaux and Jean Klug for Roschkowsky, Kem Sen and Stephane Vanel for Boyes. Reigning champion Van Den Berg gave up 10 racks in his first two matches against Alex Eve (4) and Olivier Mortier (6). Nikalaos Malaj gave up nine against Steve Leisen (4) and Joao Roque (5) and was the last of the four semifinalists.
Cristina De La Garza, who has recently emigrated to Europe, was among the early casualties in the qualifying rounds. She was shut out in the opening round by Quentin Clerc-Pithon, and though she battled to double hill in the first loss-side round, she was eliminated by Yves Bonnet.
The field whittled down to 16 players, and turned into a single elimination contest. Roschkowsky defeated Ivaylo Markof 9-6, survived a double hill battle against Stephan Cohan and downed Serge Das 9-3 to move among the final four. Boyes, in the meantime, after getting by Tilman Rumland 8-2, and Nicolas Kalb 9-5, defeated Nick Ekonomopoulos 9-3 to join his eventual finals opponent among those final four. Roschkowsky then eliminated Malaj 9-3, as Boyes was busy defeating Van Den Berg 9-6. Roschkowsky dominated the final match, allowing Boyes only two racks on his way to the Paris Open title.
