Mosconi Cup Captains Jayson Shaw and Skyler Woodward secured opening wins in dominant fashion at the BetVictor 2024 UK Open live on broadcasters worldwide, including DAZN, Viaplay, and Sky Sports in the UK
Shaw’s 9-1 triumph and Woodward’s 9-2 victory set the pace for top World Nineball Tour players like Albin Ouschan, David Alcaide, Aloysius Yapp, and Mortiz Neuhausen, who breezed through their opening matches to secure spots in the winners’ qualification bracket.
James ‘Dodong Diamond’ Aranas showcased his skill with back-to-back 9-2 victories, securing his spot amongst winners. Meanwhile, 2017 World Pool Championship winner Carlo Biado bounced back after dropping the first rack, rallying with a remarkable 9-rack win streak in the opening round. Biado continued his winning streak with a 9-6 victory over the Italian Daniele Corrieri to enter the winners’ qualification.
Six-time World Pool Masters champion Ralf Souquet started strong with a decisive 9-2 win but faced a tough challenge in his second match against Vietnam’s Bui Trong An from Vietnam, narrowly losing in a hill-hill battle. Misfortune continued for the highly rated Bosnian Sanjin Pehlivanovic, who despite sweeping the first match 9-0, stumbled in the second, suffering a 9-1 loss to Szymon Kural from Poland.
Snooker Scottish Open and Welsh Open champion Gary Wilson notched consecutive victories in his first day, clinching a hard-fought 9-7 win against Mubarak Al-Wahaibi. Wilson then engaged in a thrilling battle with British World Cup of Pool contender Elliott Sanderson, securing his second win after Sanderson missed the 9-ball at the hill.
Meanwhile, World Snooker Tour star Stuart Bingham faced a tough opening round against snooker ace Frazer Patrick, who capitalised on Bingham’s errors, controlling the table to secure a comfortable 9-0 victory. Although Bingham redeemed himself in his second match, he faced disappointment in his third and final match, narrowly losing 7-8 and being knocked out of the tournament.
Live rack-by-rack scoring will be available throughout the event at www.wntlivescores.com.
Wherever you are in the world, you will be able to catch the action with broadcasters globally and live on the Matchroom Pool and Multi Sport YouTube channels in selected territories and on Matchroom.Live. UK-based fans can see the final two days on Sky Sports with the opening four on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom YouTube. Fans in the USA and Brazil will be able to watch all six days live on DAZN whilst those in Scandinavia, the Baltics, Poland, Netherlands, and Iceland can watch live on Viaplay.
Spectators will be able to catch the action live from the Telford International Centre throughout the week, with day tickets available from £22 and weekend passes for fans to take in the final two days for just £50.
Secure your ticket here
AFTER THREE DAYS of play, we’re down to the last eight at the Dynamic Billard Italian Open, taking place at the Best Western Premium BHR Treviso Hotel. Starting out at 9.00 on Sunday morning, there have been seven rounds of matches today, the majority on the one-loss side of the draw, concluding with two rounds of single elimination.
The lowest ranked player into the last eight is Iker Echeverria at No.56 and his terrific efforts this week have kept the Spanish flag flying in the absence of Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and David Alcaide. All the other quarter-finalists are either previous Euro Tour winners or have gone deep in previous events.
Poland’s Wiktor Zielinski, currently ranked No.2 on the tour, stayed on track to steal the top spot from Sanchez Ruiz as he eased his way into the last eight with a 9-4 victory over Michael Schneider (Switzerland). The in-form Pole has yet to be extended this week in Treviso and can look forward to Iker Echeverria tomorrow.
Commented Wiktor, “I’ve been playing quite good and I think with the jet lag and being tired, I’m playing quite well. I can make some stupid mistakes but overall, I’m breaking really well and so far, I haven’t had a really tough match – the worst I’ve lost by is 9-4 with Tomasz Kaplan and then Michael just now so hopefully I will continue like this tomorrow.
“I’m sleeping well but not deep sleep so I think I need two or three more days to adjust to the European time zone. All my results have been good so I’m confident and hopefully I can continue like this tomorrow,” he added.
Alex Kazakis
Another big gun who will be fighting it out in the quarter-finals is Alex Kazakis who enjoyed wins this evening over Marco Cordova (Italy) and Switzerland’s Dimitri Jungo, 9-2 and 9-7, respectively. He now faces Pole Mieszko Fortunski who won a thrilling hill-hill match over Roam Hybler that saw multiple attempts on the 9-ball in the deciding rack.
Kazakis, like many players in the Italian Open, has just returned from the World 8-Ball in the Caribbean and is grappling with the effects of jetlag.
“I’m pretty happy when you consider that most of the players came her from Puerto Rico and we have jet lag, me included. Today I slept only three hours but I was playing good. I made some easy mistakes but overall, I’m happy and I’ll keep fighting and this is what matters,” said Kazakis.
“I hope I can sleep five or six hours tonight and then I’m going to be happy. It’s only three more wins but there are a lot of good players and you can lose in any round but it can go the same with me; I can win any round and I can win the tournament so it would be nice to win here in Treviso.”
Mario He
Mario He also advanced to the final day, courtesy of a brace of 9-8 wins in the single elimination stage. Firstly, he overcame impressive World Junior Champion Szymon Kural of Poland in the last 32 and then Sanjin Pehlivanovic in the next round. The Bosnian looked set for victory but missed a 7-ball to clear a path for a He victory.
Commented Mario, “When you win 9-8, it’s always a good feeling and when you lose 9-8, it’s a bad feeling. I was down 8-6 in both matches and I don’t know how I turned them around, especially against Sanjin because he had me. It was a very tricky situation and I didn’t think that he’d miss the 7-ball so I guess I got lucky to get through but I feel I’m playing really good.
“I’m not really thinking about winning the tournament and right now I have some time off so I’ll try -to refocus tomorrow on my next match. I hope I can sleep tonight but I’ll just try to grind tomorrow but it’s been going well up till now,” he added.
Play continues tomorrow (Monday) with the four quarter-finals taking place at 10am and then the semi-finals at 16.00 and 17.30. The final breaks off at 19.00.
As well as the prize money, there are Tour ranking points on offer as well as world ranking points, so there is everything to play for. 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 as well as selected matches on Facebook Live on the EPBF page. In addition, the semi-finals and final will be live or highlights on the following television stations across Europe;
SportKlub HD – Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia,
Bosnia Herzegovina, Greece
Eyecons – Netherlands)
SportKlub – Poland
ORF – Austria
B1B Box – Bulgaria
Results, live scoring and draw are available at www.epbf.com
DAY TWO OF the Dynamic Billard Italian Open played out today (Saturday) at the Best Western Premium BHR Treviso Hotel. With 230 players and 20 tables, there are plenty of matches to get through and as a consequence the Italian Open is extended to four days, concluding on Monday evening with the live televised semi-finals and final.
There are 32 players remaining on the winner’s side of the bracket including Poland’s Szymon Kural who earlier this week triumphed in the WPA Predator World U19 Championship. The 18-year-old from Krakow went undefeated through that tournament, and after a brief pit stop in home town Krakow, hit the road bound for Treviso.
So far, he has three wins from three matches and defeated French No.1 Alex Montpelier 9-6 in the main arena to book his spot in the winners’ qualification round where he will face Alex Kazakis (Greece) at midday on Sunday.
Commented Kural; “It feels fine, nice, because again, I played very well. I beat a very good player and Alex also played very well. His break though, didn’t work so good and my break was a bit better so overall I’m happy and looking forward to playing Alex Kazakis tomorrow.
“I’m tired but I’ll fight till the end and we’ll see how that works. I will do my best as always and I will try to play my best pool. I’m feeling quite confident because four days ago I won the best title of my life – the World Junior Championship – so I’m confident and I’ll have a lot of fun,” he added.
Another Pole, Wiktor Zielinski, is still on course to usurp the No.1 spot from Francisco Sanchez Ruiz as he too finds himself in the winners’ qualification draw where he will face Tomasz Kaplan. Other big guns still undefeated include Mario He, Eklent Kaci, Niels Feijen, Ronni Regli, Dennis Grabe and veteran Ralf Souquet.
Jonas Souto
On the losers’ side of the draw, the final featured match was a cracker between another former WPA World Junior Champion in Spain’s Jonas Souto and experienced Romanian Babken Melkonyan. The Bucharest man played at a high level as he led throughout but struggled as the finishing line approached.
Souto’s break wasn’t working to any great effect and it was Melkonyan who reached the hill first at 8-6, having led 4-1 in the early stages. A snooker from Souto saw Melkonyan escape but scratch in the process. With ball-in-hand, the Spaniard made hard work of it but soon found himself level at 8-8. Breaking for the match, Souto found something and delivered his best of the match and from there he ran out for a tight victory.
He said afterwards, “I don’t know how I won that! It was strange in the beginning as I didn’t make a miss and I was 4-1 down as he didn’t miss a ball. He was playing perfect and I managed to comeback under pressure and he missed a little bit more but he played unbelievable. I tried my best all the time and I won 9-8 but it was a difficult, tough match. I think I was breaking well but just didn’t get the rolls but in the last rack I had the luck and made the run out.
“At this Euro Tour, if you lose in the first or second rounds, you need a lot of energy for all those matches because there’s five or six of them to get through but I’ll give it my best and if I do, I do. And if not then it’s onto the next one,” he added.
Play continues tomorrow (Sunday) with the remainder of Losers’ Round Three, followed by two more Losers’ Side rounds, then the last 32 qualification matches on both sides of the bracket. Play commences at 9.00am.
As well as the prize money, there are Tour ranking points on offer as well as world ranking points, so there is everything to play for. 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 as well as selected matches on Facebook Live on the EPBF page. In addition, the semi-finals and final, played out on Monday night, will be live or highlights on the following television stations across Europe;
SportKlub HD – Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia,
Bosnia Herzegovina, Greece
Eyecons – Netherlands)
SportKlub – Poland
ORF – Austria
B1B Box – Bulgaria
Results, live scoring and draw are available at www.epbf.com
Szymon Kural, Karl Gnadeberg and Xin Yu Hong are celebrating being crowned World Champions after claiming gold in their respective divisions of the Predator World Juniors 9-Ball Championships at the Puerto Rico Convention Center, San Juan on Monday.
Poland’s Kural defeated Yuma Dorner of Germany 11-6 in the Under-19s final. That was after Gnadeberg of Estonia had won the Under-17s division, beating Lang Yi Li of Hong Kong, China 9-5 in their championship match.
Chinese Taipei’s Xin Yu Hong had the support of reigning World Women’s 10-Ball Champion Chou Chieh-Yu as she beat South Korea’s Kim Hyerim 9-4 to lift the Girls title. It was Kim’s second consecutive final defeat after she also took silver last year, when she lost to Austria’s Lina Primus, a bronze medalist this year.
Kural scored an 11-9 victory over Germany’s Dennis Laszkowski to reach the final, while Dorner was an emphatic 11-1 victor over Chinese Taipei’s Yi Hsuan Sun in his semi-final. At the age of 18, this was Kural’s last chance to win a World Junior title and he was delighted to take home the gold.
“I don’t have any words,” said Kural. “I am very excited and especially happy because last year I lost in the final but now to win in 2022 is super exciting, and I am very happy.
“My family will be really happy and I am looking forward to going back home and celebrating with my friends and family. I want to get better and better and play tournaments around the world.”
Gnadeberg took the Under-17 title with perhaps his best shot reserved for the very end of the final when he jumped the 8 to make the 6 and draw the cue back down for inch-perfect position on the 7.
“Kick wasn’t available, so I decided to bring the jump cue,” said the Estonian. “The only way I could make it was to bring a draw and I never actually did it before, but it came out perfectly and I was amazed.”
Finland’s Juri Narvola and Serbia’s Lazar Kostic took bronze in the Under-17s division, while those medals went to USA’s Bethany Tate and Austria’s 2021 World Girls Champion Lina Primus. The final was won by Hong, who defeated Kim 9-4 having earlier beaten Tate 9-2.
“I am very happy,” said Hong. “It was a warm feeling to have the whole team from Chinese Taipei supporting me. My next goal is to defend the title next year!’
In the Predator World 8-Ball Championship, Shane van Boening crashed out in the last 32 at the hands of Frenchman Alex Montpellier. The World 9-ball Champion had reached single elimination undefeated but struggled against an inspired Montpellier, who won 10-7, only to be eliminated himself in the last 16, losing 10-2 to last week’s Medalla Light Puerto Rico Open finalist Daniel Maciol.
The quarter-final line-up comprises Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz, who has a chance to cap an incredible year with a world title. He’ll face Konrad Juszczyszyn in the last eight, which begins 10am on Tuesday morning. Maciol takes on Mario He, while an all-Polish quarter-final sees World 10-Ball Champion Wojciech Szewczyk up against Wiktor Zielinski.
Seven of the quarter-finalists are European, the exception being Canada’s Alex Pagulayan, who will face Jayson Shaw for a place in the semi-finals. Shaw beat Joshua Filler in a thrilling last 16 clash, having earlier beaten Jeffrey De Luna.
“It feels good to be in the quarter-finals,” said Shaw. “I was down 6-3 against De Luna but came back and played pretty well at the end. I knew against Filler that a couple of mistakes and you can lose real quick. I came with some good shots, some nice breaks and I am delighted to win.
“I’ll get a good sleep, come in tomorrow and if I can break well, 8-ball was my game growing up. I’ll have a good night’s rest and come tomorrow as prepared as I can be.”
The Predator World 8-Ball Championship concludes on Tuesday with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all a race to 10.
Matches from the Predator World 8-Ball Championship are streamed from Table 1 on Billiard TV, the World Billiard TV YouTube channel and at Kozoom.com. Table 2 has full coverage and commentary on the Predator Pro Billiard Series Facebook Page. All tables, including matches from the Predator World Juniors 9-Ball Championships, can be watch live for FREE at Kozoom.com
World No.1 Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz and current World Champions Shane Van Boening and Wojciech Szewczyk are all one win away from the last 32 single-elimination stage of the Predator World 8-Ball Championship at Puerto Rico Convention Center, San Juan.
Chang Jung-Lin, who is defending the title he won ten years ago, also remains on the winners’ side of the draw. The $250,000 event will award $60,000 to the new World Champion at the end of the event, which is part of the first annual Caribbean CueSports International Expo.
The World Juniors 9-Ball Championships will crown new World Champions in its Girls, Under-17s and Under-19s divisions on Monday, with all three finals to be broadcast live on the World Billiard TV YouTube Channel, Billiard TV, Zhibo.tv in China and on Liberty TV in Puerto Rico on Monday.
In the World 8-Ball Championship, Fedor Gorst will take on John Morra for a place in the last 32, with winners’ qualification matches set for 12 noon local time on Monday.
Gorst won 8-4 over Aloysius Yapp to move within one win of a place in the last 32. The pair split the first six racks before a break and run took Yapp ahead for the first time in the match at 4-3. However, he was forced to play safe in the next rack and Gorst was able to take out a 12/11 combo which opened the rack for the former World 9-Ball Champion.
A break and run saw Gorst restore his lead, and that advantage was extended to 6-4 with another runout. The hill was reached when Yapp, with few other options, scratched while attempting to masse on the 3. That meant Gorst was breaking for the match. The 12 went down on the break and he took care of the problem 9-ball early in his clearance, but he missed the 10 long. Yapp, though, then missed the 7 and the match belonged to Gorst.
Elsewhere, World 9-Ball Champion Van Boening earned progression to the winners’ qualification with an 8-3 win over Costa Rica’s Johnny Salas and will now face Wu Kun Lin for a place in the last 32. World 10-Ball Champion Wojciech Szewczyk defeated Hayato Hijikata 8-2 and faces Carlo Biado next, while WPA World No.1 Francisco-Sanchez Ruiz remained unbeaten with an 8-2 success over Max Lechner. Radoslaw Babica awaits the Spaniard on the winners’ side of the draw.
Puerto Rico’s Alan Rolon saw his World 8-Ball run come to an end at the hands of Wiktor Zielinski, despite having a vocal home crowd behind him. Alejandro Rodriguez is the last Puerto Rican standing and faces New Zealander Sullivan Clark tomorrow after banking the 8 for a hill-hill win over Florijan Maric which brought an eruption of joy from the large crowd which had gathered around his table late on Sunday evening.
All three divisions of the Predator World Juniors 9-Ball Championships are down to the semi-finals. In the girls division, Bethany Tate was delighted with her dramatic 9-8 win over Poland’s Dominica Pawelczyk.
“I feel on top of the world right now, especially with that out,” said Tate. “I went wrong on the 7-ball but I came back, it was crazy. I feel so jittery, it is hard to keep the emotions down. There is a lot of pressure when my family is watching me but knowing that they are there pushes me to do better.”
Tate will face Xin Yu Hong of Chinese Taipei for a place in the final, while Lina Primus will take on South Korea’s Kim Hyerim.
“I can’t wait to play the semi-finals,” said Primus, who won last year’s Girls title on home soil in Austria. “I am trying to give my best and of course I want to win it. I am relieved because there is a bit of pressure when you have to defend the title but tomorrow I will do what I do for every match and what I know is good for me and I hope that will work out. I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
In the Under-17s division, Jori Narvola defeated fellow Finnish junior Riku Rompannen 9-6 to set up a semi-final against Lang Yi Li of Hong Kong. Karl Gnadeberg of Estonia will face Serbia’s Lazar Kostic.
In the Under-19s division, Joey Tate was eliminated by Germany’s Yuma Dorner, who will face Yi Hsuan Sun of Chinese Taipei in the last four after the Asian junior defeated Dutchman Yannick Pongers 11-10.
The other semi-final will be contested between Germany’s Dennis Laszkowski and Szymon Kural. Laszkowski defeated Filipino Keane Derek Rota 11-3, while Kural was an 11-4 winner over Saudi Arabian Khalid Alghamdi.
Matches from the Predator World 8-Ball Championship are streamed from Table 1 on Billiard TV, the World Billiard TV YouTube channel and at Kozoom.com. Table 2 has full coverage and commentary on the Predator Pro Billiard Series Facebook Page. All tables, including matches from the Predator World Juniors 9-Ball Championships, can be watch live for FREE at Kozoom.com
Defending champion Chang Jung-Lin made it through the first round of the Predator World 8-Ball Championship with an 8-6 success over Dutchman Tim de Ruyter on the opening day of play at the Puerto Rico Convention Center, San Juan.
There were wins for Americans Shane van Boening and Tyler Styer, Germany’s Joshua Filler and Great Britain’s Jayson Shaw on the TV tables, with the former defeating Puerto Rico’s Alan Rolon.
The eventual winner will collect $60,000 of the $250,000 total prize fund from the event, which is part of the first annual Caribbean CueSports International Expo.
Rolon’s home crowd came out in force to support their local favorite, putting Van Boening in the rare spot of being the player less favored by those spectating. The Puerto Rican, who reached the knockout stages of the Medallla Light Puerto Rico Open during the week, took down the first rack and despite conceding the second, moved ahead again at 2-1 to a loud roar inside the arena.
But Van Boening’s quality ultimately showed. Rolon fouled by moving the 5 ball as he bridged over it and the American was able to level. A great break opened up the fifth rack for Van Boening, and before Rolon knew it he was 6-2 down in the race to eight.
A dry break afforded Rolon an opportunity to claw back the deficit. He found trouble with four balls left but made the 12 with position on the 15 to bring the match to 6-3. However, his next break shot was his final visit as he came up dry, turning the table to Van Boening.
The five-time US Open champion had a straight shot on the 14 which set him up for the rack. Breaking at 7-3 ahead, Van Boening had the 12 down but opted to shoot the 2 owing to the layout of the table. A runout followed for the South Dakota Kid, who returns on Sunday to face Johnny Salas.
While Van Boening was winning on Table 1, on Table 2 a battle was heating up between two member’s of USA’s World Teams Championship roster from September.
Joey Tate and Tyler Styer are close friends off the table and with neither player able to build a substantial lead throughout the match it was Styer who arrived first on the hill before just a second dry break of the match by Styer allowed Tate to the table. The 17-year-old, who is also competing in Under-19 division of the Predator World Juniors 9-Ball Championships this week, played the 15 brilliantly to bring the 10 away from the side rail and from there had no problems in reaching the hill.
A dry break came at the worst possible time for Tate but when Styer missed a 4 he’d usually expect to make, the younger of the two Americans was back at the table. However, he missed the 9 to the middle pocket with three balls and the 8 remaining.
Styer showed he was feeling the pressure when the cue clipped the 10 as he looked for position on the 4. He played the shot well but again the cue kicked another ball, this time the 11, as it came through for position on the 7. The former Kremlin Cup winner held his nerve, though, and made a testy shot up table to come back and make the match-winning 8.
“I’d rather play Shane or Jayson, anybody else but Joey,” said Styer. “I have helped him out a lot and taken him under my wing, so to draw him in the first round sucked. I believe in him but I have to forget about that when I play him because he is like a little brother to me.”
Later in the day, Tate advanced to the quarter-finals of the Predator World Juniors 9-Ball Championship. Playing in the Under-19 division, he defeated Germany’s Dennis Laszkowski 9-5 to progress from the winners’ side. His sister Bethany is through to the last eight of the Girls division, along with Savannah Easton, Lena Primus and Alara Ghaffari. The other Under-19 quarter-finalists are Keane Derek Rota, Szymon Kural and Yannick Pongers.
Riku Romppanen, Mika van Berkel, Felix Vogel and Lazar Kostic made it four Europeans in the last eight of the Under 17s. The losers’ qualification matches of all three divisions take place on Sunday, followed by the quarter-finals. All matches are broadcast live on Kozoom.com and all three Junior finals will be on World Billiard TV YouTube Channel and watchbilliard.tv on Monday.
Predator World 8-Ball Championship reigning champion Chang Jung-Lin has waited ten years to defend his title and was given a tough examination by Tim de Ruyter before eventually winning 8-6. There was a hill-hill win for Jayson Shaw against Dimitris Loukatos while former World 8-Ball Champion Ralf Souquet will face Konrad Juszczyszyn on Sunday after beating Juan Carlos Exposito of Spain in his opening match.
Table 2 has full coverage and commentary on the Predator Pro Billiard Series Facebook Page. All tables, including matches from the Predator World Juniors 9-Ball Championships, can be watch live for FREE at Kozoom.com
THE 2022 PREDATOR World Junior Youth Championships broke off today at the Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan, and the European squad competing in the three events – Boys Under 19s and Under 17s and Girls Under19s – enjoyed a relatively drama-free opening day. With 17 athletes representing Europe and the European Pocket Billiards Federation, there were only five defeats suffered in the 54 matches completed thus far.
In the 24-player Under-19 event, the four competing European players went undefeated over the first day. Poland’s Szymon Kural and Yannick Pongers (Netherlands) enjoyed two wins apiece, having started earlier in the competition than the German duo of Yuma Dorner and Dennis Laszkowski, who both negotiated their respective opening matches.
All four are now into the Winners’ Qualification round of the bracket, playing off for a spot in the single-elimination quarter-finals. All four have avoided dangerous Saudi player Khalid Alghamdi, as Pongers faces off against Dorner while Laszkowski looks forward to a clash against rated American Joey Tate, while Kural will take on Fu Huan of Hong Kong.
In the girl’s tournament there are 32 competitors including a European contingent of six top-level players. Three of them – Domenica Pawelczyk (Poland, with two wins), Alara Ghaffari (Turkish North Cyprus) and Austria’s Lina Primus (one win each) – are moving smoothly through the winners’ side. However, Jolien Schuurman (Netherlands), Shirin Volery (Switzerland) and Sweden’s Linnea Hjalmarstrom fell into the one-loss side and will have no margin for error when play recommences on Saturday.
Finally, in the boy’s Under 17 championship, Lazar Kostic (Serbia), Felix Vogel (Germany), Mika Van Berkel (Netherlands), Karl Gnadeberg (Estonia) and Riku Romppanen (Finland) all enjoyed two victories each to leave themselves one win away from a spot in the last eight single-elimination. Michael Wiech of Poland and Finland’s Jori Narvola both succumbed to a defeat and will need to be on their toes as they look to battle their way through the other half of the bracket.
Nonetheless, the Team Leader of the EPBF squad, Tommi Lamminaho, was delighted at the progress of the European players on the opening day of the Predator World Junior 9-Ball Championships; “All in all it was a very good day for our players. We suffered a few defeats but I’m confident that players can bounce back tomorrow from the one-loss side,” he said.
“Obviously as play continues, we will see more and more do-or-die matches involving European players against each other but that is the nature of the event. I really hope that all the European players can build on their experience from the opening day and bring their strongest games possible as they all play down to the closing stages on Sunday and Monday,” he added.
Play continues on Saturday at 10.00am local time (14,00 GMT) as each event plays down to the final 12 players. The WPA Predator World Junior Championships are part of a series of top-level tournaments being staged at the Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan through November, culminating in the Predator WPA World 8-Ball Championships.
Further event details including live scoring can be found at the tournament’s Official Site: https://probilliardseries.com/
Yannick Pongers is a double gold medal winner as he triumphed in the U19 9 ball division, beating Germany’s Yuma Dorner by 8-5 at the Petrich Arena in southern Bulgaria. The 17-year-old Dutchman from Veldhoven had earlier triumphed in the 8 ball final and his national squad is now five gold medals to the good at the Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships for Youth.
Pongers, who looks a threat to anyone he plays, was stunned by his own success in Petrich, “It feels just so awesome. When I came here, I just thought ‘get on the podium’ and I still can’t imagine how I did it – two golds is insane for me!
“When he came back at me, I thought how did that happen? I’ve practiced mentally a lot so I kept focused and stayed calm and it just worked. I don’t know how I did it – a few lucky rolls, I guess. I had a quick rack where it was over in ten seconds and after that I felt more in control.”
Pongers got the final underway with a tidy runout before Dorner lost the table playing a 4/8 combination and his opponent cleared for a 2-0 lead. The Dutchman ran out from the break in the third as he got off to the best possible start and with the momentum of a runaway train, Pongers secured the next rack leaving Dorner reeling on the side-lines at 4-0 down.
Dorner, who won the straight pool title here as well as a bronze in the 8 ball division, finally got off the mark in the fifth game but had it all to do to get the match on an even keel. In the fifth game, the German player ran out of position with just the 8 and 9 remaining but a neat snooker forced Pongers into the jump. He contacted the 8 and it fell perfectly for Dorner, who got the score back to 4-2.
The momentum was swinging in Dorner’s direction as he closed out the next rack after a dry break from Pongers. Dorner took the next to level the match as his comeback continued but a combination on the 9 ball straight after the break, restored a one-rack lead for Pongers at 5-4.
That became 6-4 as Pongers’ fortuitous 2 /9 combo after a table length jump shot was a real blow to Dorner as the Dutchman moved into a 6-4 lead. Some more good play saw Pongers whizz through the next rack to put himself on the hill at 7-4. The German wasn’t quite finished as a lucky multi-ball carom on the 9 gave him the rack.
Looking to play safe, Pongers nearly undid his good work as he tucked the cue ball tight behind the 8 and sent the red 2 up table. The ball hung in the jaws and Dorner fouled with his escape attempt. With ball-in-hand, the title was Pongers for the taking and he duly obliged to bring home his second gold medal of the tournament.
Pongers, who spoke to his family after his 8 ball triumph said, “They were very proud of me, it was just awesome. They’ve always been there for me, driving me to every tournament, they’re just so great.
“I’m going to finish school and then give pool a go for one or two years and see what happens but I definitely want to go on with pool,” he added.
Bronze medals went to the two beaten semi-finalists; Szymon Kural (POL), his second of the championships and to Dennis Laszkowski (GER) who added to his 10 ball gold.
The 2022 Dynamic Billards European Championship Youth comprises 14 separate events across four disciplines – 8, 9 and 10 ball as well as straight pool – plus the male and female team competitions. In total there are three divisions; male U19, male U17 and female U19. In total, there are 111 competitors in attendance – 19 girls, 57 boys in the U17 division and 35 boys in the U19.
All matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com as well as selected matches on the EPBF’s Facebook page.
Yannick Pongers kick-started a glorious night for the Dutch squad as he put in a devastating performance to take U19 8 ball gold at the Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships Youth, defeating Germany’s Eric Mattern by 7-0. The tall Dutch player was a gold medallist in the U17 9 ball at this event last year and was delighted to add to his trophy cabinet.
‘This feels very good! It was tough, the first two disciplines so I was kind of under much more pressure. I actually hated 8 ball for about two years so I tried to focus and watch all my patterns and it kind of worked out,” commented Pongers.
“I don’t think I made a mistake – maybe a few dry breaks but that was it and no missed balls. It’s just me and the table and I’m focused and it was ball for ball, rack for rack and it worked,” he added.
Both finalists had some success earlier in the event; the Dutchman won a silver medal in the straight pool division, while Mattern took a bronze in the same discipline. Pongers took the opening rack, running out from the break, before Mattern hooked himself with just one stripe left and managed to clip the brown 7 trying to make a one rail escape. With ball-in-hand, Pongers didn’t waste any time in increasing his lead.
Hitting his stride, Pongers ran through the next rack to put himself three racks to the good, putting Mattern under the hammer. Pongers was running away with it as he confidently took the next rack for a 4-0 lead and followed that with some more clinical pool to increase his lead, leaving himself just two racks from glory.
There was more woe for Mattern in the sixth game as he had no ball on and was forced to break out his jump cue. He made contact with his intended stripe but saw the cue ball fly off the table to give ball-in-hand to his opponent. Pongers gratefully accepted it as he cleared to put himself on the hill.
The match was all over in a matter of 30 minutes as Pongers capped a brilliant display of 8 ball to win the seventh rack and with it become Dynamic Billiard European Junior 8 Ball Champion.
It was to be the first of a clean sweep of gold medals for the Netherlands, something that brought great pleasure the Dutch Team Leader, Rienus Gennissen.
“It’s really unbelievable. We had a boot camp and did two special days on 8 ball and see now, three gold medals. In the end, they (the players) are doing it. We only give tools that they can build on and they decide what they use and what they don’t use, so all credit for them.
“Yannick was flying and it’s so nice to work with someone who can pot every single shot and make it look very easy. Mika (Van Berkel) is the thinker of the three and then Jolien (Schuurman), it was unbelievable how she played. I’m really proud of them,” added Gennissen.
The silver medal went to Eric Mattern (GER) while the bronze medals were won by Szymon Kural (POL) and Yuma Dorner (GER).
The 2022 Dynamic Billards European Championship Youth comprises 14 separate events across four disciplines – 8, 9 and 10 ball as well as straight pool – plus the male and female team competitions. In total there are three divisions; male U19, male U17 and female U19. In total, there are 111 competitors in attendance – 19 girls, 57 boys in the U17 division and 35 boys in the U19.
Play continues on Tuesday 2nd August with the 9 ball competitions.
All matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com as well as selected matches on the EPBF’s Facebook page.
The opening two events concluded on Thursday afternoon at the 41st annual Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships for Youth and it was Germany and Serbia who claimed the first two gold medals. Taking place in the southern Bulgarian town of Petrich, the initial two days of play saw the destination of the Under 17s and Under 19s straight pool medals.
The 2022 Dynamic Billards European Championship Youth comprises 14 separate events across four disciplines – 8, 9 and 10 ball as well as straight pool – plus the male and female team competitions. In total there are three divisions; male U19, male U17 and female U19. In total, there are 111 competitors in attendance – 19 girls, 57 boys in the U17 division and 35 boys in the U19.
In the Under 17 competition, there were 44 competitors representing 19 countries and it was Serbia’s Lazar Kostic who claimed gold as he defeated Michal Wiech (Poland) 75-20 in the championship match. Lazar played a full set of disciplines in the 2021 Europeans, finishing no better than the round of 16, but a year down the line he was absolutely ready for the challenge.
A win over Norway’s Didrik Voga Berg put him into the Winners’ Qualification round but a defeat there against Sweden’s Walter Laikre (75-50) scuppered Kostic’s hopes of a smooth run. He bounced back well, though, beating Norway’s Robin Hauge Pettersen to reach the single elimination last 16 stages.
Wins over Jokubas Silantjevas (LIT) and Finland’s highly-rated Riku Romppanen guaranteed at least a bronze medal but a semi-final win over Mykola Moroz (Ukraine) set up the title-winning match against Michal Wiech. It was a highly commendable run of performances from the Polish boy though, playing in his first ever European Championships at the age of 14, and his silver medal winning effort surely must indicate that there is gold in his future. Bronze medals went to the aforementioned Moroz as well as Davide Sini of Italy.
Yuma Dorner (Germany)
Germany’s Yuma Dorner was triumphant in the Under 19 event as he edged out Netherland’s Yannick Pongers for the gold medal. Both players entered the final with plenty of European Championship form on their respective resumés. In 2021, 18-year-old Dorner took a silver in the 8 ball bracket whilst Pongers (17) took gold and silver in 9 ball and 10 ball respectively, that time in the U17 division.
Dorner ran undefeated as far as the Winners’ Qualification round before unravelling against Poland’s Wiktor Fortunski by 73-100. A comfortable win against Luca Montanari (Italy) eased him into the knock-out stages and a victory over Poland’s Szymon Kural guaranteed a podium finish. The young German saved his best win for the semi-final as he got the better of compatriot Eric Mattern by 100-28 to set up the gold medal match against Pongers.
Despite being the junior of the two, Pongers carried plenty of experience into the final, having played in all four divisions at the Men’s European Championship earlier in the year as well as several Euro Tour events including a superb 5th place finish at the Antalya Open in 2021.
Pongers enjoyed a dominating run to the final. Undefeated he won his four matches to 84, 6, 37 and 24 before beating Slovakia’s Kristian Mrva 100-18 in the semi-final. On that form he looked to be a solid favourite to take the title but Dorner had something to say about that as he came through by 100-75 for a wonderful victory.
Bronze medals went to Eric Mattern (GER) and Kristian Mrva (SLO).
Play continues today (Thursday) in the 10 ball events with all three categories playing to a finish on Saturday evening.
All matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com as well as selected matches on the EPBF’s Facebook page.
Results, live scoring and draws are available at
www.epbf.com/tournaments/european-championships/
