Sanjin Pehlivanovic, a former World Junior 9-Ball Champion, become European 10-Ball Champion earlier this year and has proved those credentials so far at the Predator Germany Open where he has reached the single elimination stage with two straight-sets victories.
After defeating Hajo Meier of Germany on the opening day Pehlivanovic, of Bosnia and Herzegovina, faced Swiss player Michael Schneider during Wednesday’s action. The 20-year-old European champion broke well, save for a scratch at 3-0 up, to take the first set 4-1. Schneider won the opening game of the second set but left his opponent straight on the 1 ball after a failed jump at the start of the second game. Another chance went in the third game when he missed position on the 9 and was unable to execute his jump under shot-clock pressure. That awarded Pehlivanovic a 2-1 lead and the European Champion took the next two games for a 4-1, 4-1 win to move to the last 32.
Austria’s Mario He, a US Pro Billiard Series winner at the FargoRate Ohio Open last fall, is also into the single elimination phase of the competition. He closed out day three on the TV table against South Africa’s Muhummad Daydat and scored a 4-1, 4-0 victory to progress from the winners’ side.
Ralf Souquet has also won through to the last 32 without defeat. The German defeated Turkey’s Melih Dagas 4-1, 4-1. “When you look at the score it seems like an easy one but with the short race and winner breaks, anything can happen. I missed an easy one at the beginning of the match but he didn’t capitalize, and in the second set when I was leading 3-0 I made an easy mistake on the 6 ball which could have changed the match. He had a great break right afterwards but luckily he couldn’t win the game,” said Souquet.
The Open division continues with three rounds on the losers’ side on Thursday, culminating in the qualification rounds for Friday’s single elimination stage of the tournament.
In the Women’s Division, Jasmin Ouschan had been sent to the losers’ side after a shootout defeat to Hong Kong’s Ka Kai Wan and on Wednesday faced another shootout to remain in the tournament. Facing Poland’s Monika Zabek, the Austrian lost the first set but fought back for victory.
Ouschan said: “You always want to win in two sets but I have played so many shootouts lately that I guess I practice it well. In this match I felt more calm than yesterday and after losing the first set, which I really shouldn’t have because I was up 3-0, I just tried whatever was possible, was calm and made all the balls.”
Canada’s Brittany Bryant, who finished second at the Alfa Las Vegas Women’s Open in April, stayed alive on the losers-side with consecutive wins. She defeated Portugal’s Vania Franco at the Sudden Death stage of a shootout and followed it with her second shootout win of the day, against Anna Riegler. She now faces potentially three matches on Thursday to make it through to single elimination stage. Kelly Fisher will face Melanie Sussenguth of Germany in the Women’s Qualification round as she continues her quest to make it three in three on the Pro Billiard Series.
Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) secured her first victory in 2020 by winning the final match 7:1 over Aleksandra Guleikova (RUS).
The whole tournament was a demonstration of Ouschan’s superiority. She defeated all opponents with very clear results. Her first victim was Hannan Memic (BIH) who got beat 7:2. Then, Vania Franco (POR) received a 7:2 lesson from Ouschan in the winner’s qualification round. Yini Gaspar (SUI) and Kristina Zlateva (BUL) were next on the list. they both managed to win 4 racks before Ouschan closed the book on them. In the semi-final. Ouschan met Franco for the second time. This time, the Portuguese only got one rack from Ouschan to leave the event with 7:1, coming in third place. Franco had played a good event so far, defeating high class players like Oliwia Zalewska (POL) and Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR). But Ouschan was in her own class. She went into the final match, having won all these matches with more than clear results. Her opponent, Aleksandra Guleikova, was not necessarily expected to be in the final match. But her decent performance throughout the tournament paid off and she has rightfully booked her seat in the final match against Ouschan. However, the final turned into a nightmare for Guleikova. The only player who was seen at the table was Ouschan. After 8 racks, the Austrian closed the book on the final match with an impressive 7:1 victory over Guleikova.
"I used this tournament as a preparation for my next events", Ouschan stated after the final match. "I was in the middle of preparations and this success shows me that I’m on a good way. My upcoming events are men’s tournaments. I will play Matchroom’s World Pool Masters and then I’ll go to Las Vegas for more tournaments", Ouschan added.
This victory puts Ouschan on top of the Women’ Euro-Tour rankings.
That concludes the coverage of the Predator Treviso Open 2020.
The Predator Treviso Open 2020 were played in the Best Western Premier BHR Treviso Hotel in Treviso, Italy, on up to 21 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 was 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 or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
The Team competition of the Dynamic Billard European Championships 2019 have been decided. The Spanish Men’s Team and the Portuguese Women’s Team took the titles in their respective division.
The Spanish team took a straight way into the final match against the Austrians. After defeating Cyprus with 2:0, they dethroned the defending Champion team Poland with 2:1. Then they booked their seat in the quarter-final with a victory of team Russia. After eliminating team Czech Republic, the Spaniards again met team Poland. Once more, they won 2:1. In the final match, Francisco Diaz-Pizarro was the first one ready when he pocketed the final 10-ball against Albin Ouschan to win his individual with 8:3. The 8-ball match was still on and also pretty close. Alcaide was leading 7:6 over Maximilian Lechner when Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz won pretty clearly with 9:5 in his 9-ball match over Mario He. That brought the second point to team Spain which already was the title for them.
Top 8 Men’s Teams
1. Spain
2. Austria
3. Poland
Russia
5. Czech Republic
Germany
Portugal
Sweden
In the women’s team competition, the current titleholders were able to defend their crown. Team Portugal with Sara Rocha and Vania Franco went undefeated all the way into the final match. They overcame Team Spain 2:0, then Team Italy 2:0. In the semi-final, the had a thriller against Team Russia and managed to win that in the shoot-out with 8:7. In the final match, the Portuguese met team Germany. Sara Rocha was dominating the 9-ball match with Veronica Ivanovskaia and clearly rode the winning wave with 7:2. The 8-ball match between Franco and Tina Vogelmann was a bit closer, but in the end Franco took the match and the title winning 6:3 over the German.
Top 8 Women’s Team
1. Portugal
2. Germany
3. Poland
Russia
5. Italy
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
The situation in the medal table has not changed too much, but the distances are pretty close between the different nations. Poland is still leading the table with 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 3 Bronze Medals. The Russian team is up their neck, only having one Bronze Medal less than the Polish. Third ranked nation is Finland with one medal of each colour.
Earlier today, matches of the 9-ball individuals were played. Defending Champion Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) took down Marc Turpel (LUX) and eliminated him with 9:1 from the field. Denis Grabe (EST) paved his way into the round of the last 32 players in 9-ball by outplaying Jani Uski (FIN) 9:8. In the all-Russian class between Fedor Gorst and Konstantin Stepanov, Gorst remained on top in the end and won the match with 9:6. „The Kaiser“ Ralf Souquet (GER) had to deal with „The Terminator“ Niels Feijen (NED). While Souquet has already taken a silver medal in the 8-ball earlier this week, Feijen was still looking for his medal to come. But Souquet destroyed that dream of Feijen by winning 9:5. With Feijen out of the 9-ball, he will not be able to win a medal in the individuals in this year’s European Championships. Another national clash happened between the two Dutch players Jan Rempe and Marc Bijsterbosch. Young Rempe sneaked past Bijsterbosch by taking the match with 9:8. Joshua Filler (GER) wasted no time with Sergey Lutsker (RUS), winning 9:2 in 25 minutes. French up and rising player Alex Montpellier sealed the destiny for Eklent Kaci (ALB) in the 9-ball individuals by making it with 9:8 over the Albanian. Sam Wetzel (LUX) surprisingly took out newly crowned 10-ball European Champion Mieszko Fortunski (POL) 9:8. That surprise was as close and as unexpected as the match between Mats Schjetne (NOR) and Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP). 9:8 was the final result in favour of Schjetne.
The final day of the Dynamic Billard European Championships 2019 for men, women, U23 and wheelchair athletes will commence tomorrow morning at 10:00 CET with matches in the 9-ball individuals competition in the Men’s and Under 23 division.
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.
Eklent Kaci, Jouni Tahti, Kristina Tkach and Pijus Labutis
The 8-ball competition at this year’s Dynamic Billard European Championships have been decided. The matches in the different divisions contained everything from expectations to drama and highly thrilling matches.
The final match in the men’s division was played between Eklent Kaci (ALB) and Ralf Souquet (GER). This match was not only the encounter of two high profile athletes but also a clash of two generations. While „The Kaiser“ Ralf Souquet has already won an unbelievable number of 22 Gold Medals at European Championships, Kaci was still waiting on his first one. Souquet has achieved almost everything that a pool billiard player can achieve while Kaci is still on the start of his career. On the other hand, Kaci has won some prestigious events throughout last year and can considered to be „on fire“ currently while Souquet is on his regular level. This constellation was the interesting starting position of the match. Tonight, Kaci had the better day and after seven racks, he was already leading 6:1 over Souquet. Needing only two more points, it would be hard for just anyone to stop Kaci. But Souquet still tried and managed to get some excitement back into a match which seemed to be long time decided. He fought back and pulled some racks back from Kaci to get to 4:6 and 6:7. When Kaci was on the hill at 7:6, he made no more mistakes and pocketed the final 8-ball which made him a European 8-Ball Champion for the first time in his life.
The women’s final quickly turned into a nightmare for Kristina Tkach (RUS) in the beginning. She was up against Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) and could not get a foot on the floor. She actually had the better break but could not turn that into points. Tkach even committed a foul using too much time for her shot since the match was on shot-clock and she simply exceeded the time permitted for her shot. On the other hand, Ouschan started out as focussed and composed as usual. Even though the break did not work for Ouschan, she managed to snatch the points from Tkach one by one. It took until rack five was played before Tkach got on the board, reducing the gap to 1:4. When opening rack six, Tkach scratched and again gave ball in hand to Ouschan. This time, Ouschan could not clear the table and allowed Tkach back into the table, missing the 6-ball. Tkach pocketed all balls of her group and made the 8-ball to get to 2:4 with Ouschan’s break shot coming up. Jasmin had two balls down on the break shot but again was not able to finish the rack, leaving another point on the table for Tkach to pick it up. However, both players committed several mistakes during this rack which is a clear indication for the pressure that was on both of them. Tkach managed to win the rack, getting to 3:4. In the next rack, Tkach had the chance to level the match but she miscued and once more gave ball in hand to Jasmin Ouschan with a wide open table. Ouschan played up to her abilities and finished the rack, getting on the hill with 5:3. In the next rack, Ouschan had her first good break shot of the match with balls down and a nice and comfortable layout in front of her. That was a huge chance for Ouschan to finish the match win the title. But to her and the audiences surprise she missed her first shot. What an unusual performance by Ouschan in this final. Tkach now used her chance and ran the table, getting to 4:5 in this match. The next rack, Tkach broke and ran out to make the match a 5:5 hill-hill thriller with Jasmin Ouschan’s break shot coming up. One more time Ouschan did not make a ball on the break and handed an open table to Tkach. The unbelievable happened in that rack. After having trailed 1:4, Kristina Tkach won another rack and took the match and the title 6:5 over Jasmin Ouschan.
In the wheelchair division, the match between Jouni Tahti (FIN) and Roy Kimberley (GBR) went according to the expectations. Tahti dominated Southern from start to the end and lead 3:0 and 4:1. The exceptional player from Finland never gave a chance to Southern who simply could not find any way to prevent Tahti from winning racks. When Tahti pocketed the final 8-ball, the scoreboard displayed a 5:2 final score in his favour. Tonight Jouni Tahti won his 25th Gold Medal on European level.
In the Under 23 division, Pijus Labutis (LTU) met Vitaliy Patsura (UKR). Patsura had already taken a Gold Medal in Men’s 8-ball, Junior’s 10-ball and last year in Under 23 9-ball. He was definitely favoured in this match. Labutis on the other hand has won two silver and one bronze medal but no title yet. That was one fact that the young Lithuanian wanted to change tonight. He quickly got to a 3:1 lead and he always kept Patsura at a 2-rack distance away from him. When leading 5:3, Labutis won a key rack in the match and got to 7:3. The pressure with Labutis being on the hill was too much for Patsura. He won another rack but then Labutis sealed the deal for tonight, winning the match and his first title ever with 8:4.
The medal table after 3 of 5 events displays Poland still on top with 2 Gold, one Silver and one Bronze Medal with Russia right up their neck, only one Bronze Medal short. Finland is currently ranked third with one medal of each colour.
Rank
Nation
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
1.
POL
2
1
1
4
2.
RUS
2
1
3
3.
FIN
1
1
1
3
4.
SUI
1
1
2
SWE
1
1
2
6.
ALB
1
1
LTU
1
1
8.
AUT
1
2
3
GBR
1
2
3
GER
1
2
3
11.
NED
1
1
2
12.
LAT
1
1
UKR
1
1
14.
BLR
2
2
15.
BIH
1
1
BUL
1
1
FRA
1
1
IRL
1
1
POR
1
1
Earlier today, the first team matches have been played. The women’s team matches did not come up with big surprises. The two closest matches were Sweden defeated The Netherlands 2:1 while Russia remained the upper hand over Belarus 2:1. In the men’s team competition, some close and exciting matches already happened in this early stage of the tournament. Team Russia overcame defending Champion Team Poland in a heartbreaker with 2:1 (Gorst v Fortunski 6:8, Stepanov v Skowerski 8:7, Lutsker v Juszczyszyn 9:8) while Team Germany had a tough time in taking down Team Albania with 2:1 (Hohmann v Kaci 5:8, Souquet v Zaja 8:7, Filler v Spahiu 9:5). Probably the biggest surprise was Team Denmark winning over Team the Netherlands with 2:1 (Krause v Saris 8:3, Lotfy v van den Berg 6:7, Lentz v Bijsterbosch 9:5).
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 9-ball individuals competition Women and Under 23s.
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.
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.
Fedor Gorst (RUS) has just won the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open 2018 with a thrilling 9:7 victory over Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) in the final match.
It was Gorst’s first appearance in a final match of a Euro-Tour ever today. He made his way over elite players like Petri Makkonen (FIN), Mieszko Fortunski (POL), Ivo Aarts (NED) and Maximilian Lechner (AUT) into the final match. His opponent Mateusz Sniegocki had just played a really tough semi-final against his teammate Tomasz Kaplan (POL) and just sneaked over the finish-line with 9:8. So the clash in the final match was experience versus youth. Sniegocki has already three Euro-Tour titles under his belt and today was his fifth appearance in a final match. Gorst was the newbie. „I had nothing to lose really,“ stated Gorst after the match. „The odds were all in favour of Sniegocki so I could play my game and enjoy the final match“. It seemed as if Gorst was as calm as one could be. „I was nervous“, admitted Gorst, „but I managed to keep my focus on the match and not think about winning my first Euro-Tour title.“ The match was really tight with both players changing in leading the scoreboard. At 7:7, SNiegocki missed an important shot. That brought Gorst to the table who showed no mercy to the experienced Polish and ran two racks, winning the final match with 9:7. „Tomorrow I will probably be happy about my 2nd place today,“ mentioned Sniegocki after the final when asked. „But today I’m suffering because I had my chances to win the match“.
The new Euro-Tour rankings are pretty much dominated by Austrian players. Mario He (#2), Albin Ouschan (#3) and Maximilian Lechner (#8) have all conquered or defended a top ten position. Leader of the rankings is still Eklent Kaci (ALB).
Earlier today, the women started their tournament as well. The EPBF Treviso Open began with a big upset. Current #1 ranked player Marharyta Fefilava (BLR) lost her opening match against Monika Zabek (POL) with 5:7. Zabek was already up 3:1 and 5:3 when Fefilava took her time-out. When she came back, she played better and more focussed and managed to put some pressure on her Polish opponent. But Zabek kept her nerves together and put the match into her account when it was on the razor’s edge at 6:5. After that match, Zabek lost a heartbreaker with 6:7 to Ine Helvik (NOR). She then went to the loser’s side to play Elise Qiu (NED). In that match Zabek played up to her limits. After 12 racks, the score was 6:6. It was Qiu’s break shot coming up. The match was open but Qiu was not able to close the book. She missed the 8-ball and left a long shot for Zabek. The Polish pocketed both 8-ball and 9-ball and proceeded to the single elimination stage. Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) wasted no time with her first opponent, Annika Nilsson (SWE). 7:2 was the clear result in favour of Ouschan at the end of the match. Then she went on and handed the same defeat to her next opponent, Ewa Bak (POL). That victory put Ouschan through to the single elimination stage. She is joined there by current #2 of the Euro-Tour rankings, Kristina Tkach (RUS). In former times, Tkach had less problems to go into the single elimination stage. Today, she found two worthy opponents in Tamara Peeters (NED) and Vania Franco (POR). Tkach was still a bit better than these two and won both matches 7:4 and 7:5 to go to the single elimination stage.
Friday through Sunday, EPBF will show two feature matches LIVE on the EPBF Facebook page. The complete tournament is shown on kozoom.com for premium pass holders.
That concludes the coverage of the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open 2018. Tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET, the EPBF Treviso Open, will continue with matches of the last 16 players single elimination.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organised by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website eurotouronline under the Eurotour tab. You can also visit us on our Facebook page or check out the EPBF YouTube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Jasmin Ouschan, winner of the EPBF Klagenfurt Open 2018
Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) just won her 16th Euro-Tour tournament title in her hometown, Klagenfurt in Austria. She defeated Ana Gradisnik (SLO) 7:4 in the final match of the EPBF Klagenfurt Open.
Once again, Jasmin Ouschan dominated the field at a women’s Euro-Tour tournament. It is always special for her to perform in her hometown in front of her home crowd. But nonetheless, she demonstrated pool in high class quality. She smashed all of her opponents on her way into the final with the exception of Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR) who took Ouschan to the limit. Polovinchuk demanded everything from Ouschan and got to hill-hill when Ouschan kept her nerves together and took the match against Polovinchuk. Ana Gradisnik on the other hand had some tough struggles to survive on her way into the final match. Like Ouschan, Gradisnik was undefeated but with Sandra Baumgartner (AUT) and Kristina Tkach (RUS) she had to deal with two extreme powerful opponents. However, today she took care of them and made it into the final match against favoured Ouschan.
The final match started as expected. Ouschan gained the upper hand in the early stage of the match and Gradisnik did not have too much to oppose to her stable and solid performance. After six racks, Ouschan had a comfortable 5:1 lead over Gradisnik. But then the Slovenian started a little comeback. Ouschan could not finish the match and Gradisnik made use of the opportunities that she was given. After ten racks, the scoreboard displayed 6:4 in favour of Ouschan and the heat was on for the local player. But Ouschan is so experienced that she knows how to handle heat and pressure. She played her style and took rack #11 to win her hometown tournament, the EPBF Klagenfurt Open 2018 with 7:4 over a tough opponent Ana Gradisnik.
„I did not have the best start into the match“, stated Ouschan after the match, „but I stayed calm and got back into the match by finding my rhythm and staying cool“. „There was a stage in the match when I kind of lost my focus,“ Ouschan admitted, „since I had a long day and I am very happy that I was able to overcome that stage and get back into gear to be able to take this title and keep it here in Klagenfurt.“
That concludes the coverage of the Dynamic Billard Klagenfurt Open 2018. Tomorrow, the EPBF Klagenfurt Open 2018 for Women will continue at 10:00 with matches from the last 16 players single elimination.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organised by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). Play starts Thursday at 09:30 local time, for further information and reference please go to the federation website eurotouronline under the Eurotour tab. You can also visit us on our Facebook page or check out the EPBF YouTube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Mario He, winner of the Dynamic Billard Klagenfurt Open 2018
Mario He (AUT) just won the Dynamic Billard Klagenfurt Open 2018 at the Sportpark Klagenfurt with a 9:8 victory in the final match against Mark Gray (GBR).
The final match was packed with thrilling shots and exciting strategy. Both players are excellent shotmakers and the final match was a collection of superb performance and high class pool billiards. With a few ups and downs for both players, the match came to hill-hill with Mario He being on the break shot. He fired the opening shot of rack #17 and to his disliking, no ball was pocketed. Gray got to the table and pocketed the 1-ball with a long and precise shot. He got to the 5-ball which was frozen to the 9-ball and thus not playable for him. He attempted a safety shot but left a long pot for Mario He. However, since the 6-ball and the7-ball were lying close together, he was not too afraid. But Mario He not only pocketed the 5-ball but also opened up the 6-ball and the 7-ball with the cue ball. He then elevated his cue stick and pocketed the 6-ball with a masse shot. The remaining three balls were just business as usual for the Austrian, who won the match 9:8 and took the title of the Dynamic Billard Klagenfurt Open winner 2018.
„Mark Gray has never lost a final match in the Euro-Tour. He won 6 out of 6 until today. But that did not worry me too much since I knew that I could win if I can play up to me expectations“, mentioned a modest Mario He. On his facebook page, Mario He wrote: „I‘m over the moon and so happy to win the Euro-Tour here in Klagenfurt, my 4th Euro-Tour win and feels still same like the first one. Can‘t describe how the pressure, sadness, happiness in all matches and single moments were.“
After this tournament, Eklent Kaci (ALB) will still lead the Euro-Tour Rankings with 20 points over Mario He who is now in second place.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organised by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). Play starts Thursday at 09:30 local time, for further information and reference please go to the federation website eurotouronline under the Eurotour tab. You can also visit us on our Facebook page or check out the EPBF YouTube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Dennis Jansen, Kristina Tkach, Sara Rocha and Daryl Peach
The first day of the Dynamic Billard Veldhoven Open 2018 saw lots of surprises. Many high class players got defeated and were sent to the loser’s side of the draw.
Some remarkable results in the Dynamic Billard Veldhoven Open 2018 include Dimitri Jungo (SUI) steamrolling the #1 Euro-Tour player Mario He (AUT) with 9:1. Evangelos Vettas (GRE) creamed Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) with 9:5. In a fierce fight, Mieszko Fortunski (POL) remained the upper hand over Francisco Diaz-Pizarro (ESP) with 9:7. Daryl Peach (GBR), former World Champion in 9-ball, got pipped to the post by Christian Sparrenloev-FIscher (SWE) with 4:9. He went to the loser’s side and destroyed Emil-Andre Gangfløt (NOR) with 9:4. Eklent Kaci (ALB), superstar from Albania, was completely surprised when he got beat by unheralded Stephan Weihnacht (GER) with 5:9. Maksim Dudanets (RUS) wrestled down # 4 ranked player Wiktor Zielinski (POL) after a long and tough struggle.
In the EPBF Veldhoven Open, the women’s Euro-Tour event, one outstanding match was the encounter between Sara Rocha (POR) and Christina Jaeger (GER). Rocha found her way into the match much better and after nine racks found herself on the hill, leading 6:3 over Jaeger. But then the match started to turn in favour of the German. Jaeger pulled some racks back from Rocha and before she knew it, Rocha found herself in a hill-hill match with the score tied at 6:6. Rocha had the final break in that tense situation. She pocketed the 5-ball and had a long thin cut on the 1-ball. Rocha missed the shot but was lucky in leaving no shot for Jaeger. The German hit the 1-ball but could not pocket it. Rocha went for the 1-ball, 2-ball and 3-ball and lined the 4-ball up into the corner pocket. The 9-ball was lying very close to the 4-ball. Rocha sunk the 4-ball in the intended pocket and the 9-ball few in the other side’s corner pocket. With a bit of lady luck’s help, Rocha finished the match and advances on the winner’s side into her next match tomorrow against Marharyta Fefilava (BLR). Jaeger may continue her tournament on the loser’s side and will have to go up against Simona Milisauskaite (LTU) in her next match.
Other remarkable results in the EPBF Veldhoven Open 2018 include Ortenzia Haefliger (SUI) very surprisingly winning against Ina Kaplan (GER) with 7:4. Ewa Bak (POL) just reached the finish line when she overran Yana Shut (BLR) with 7:6. Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) once more proved her domination over an opponent and whitewashed Sabrina Cisternino (SUI) 7:0. Kristina Tkach (RUS) is also still in the count on the winner’s side. She took down Svenja Heide (GER) with 7:2 and will now be up against against Vania Franco (POR).
The Dynamic Billard Veldhoven Open 2018 and the EPBF Women’s Veldhoven Open 2018 both will continue tomorrow morning at 10:00 CET with matches from the loser’s round.
The tournaments are played on 60 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.eu or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
The team competition at the Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships 2018 have been decided. Team Germany once again dominated the day and took 4 out of 7 Gold Medals.
Probably the most prestigious division was won by team Poland today. The Polish team was up in the final match against the „hometown heroes“, the Dutch team. The match was action-packed and filled with excitement and pressure. The first point went into the account of The Dutch team when Ivar Saris took the 8-ball match with 8:4 against Konrad Juszczyszyn. Some time later, Tomasz Kaplan was able to tie the match for the Polish team, winning the 10-ball match with 8:6 over Marc Bijsterbosch. The tension rose and the atmosphere was great. Karol Skowerski had to deal with „The Terminator“ Niels Feijen in 9-ball. That match was almost over when Feijen missed a shot, trailing 7:8 to Skowerski. But the Polish also showed some nerves and missed one of the four remaining balls, letting Feijen back to the table. „The Terminator“ went for it and cleared the table, levelling the match at hill-hill 8:8. The crowd went crazy and supported Feijen big time. One could hear a pin drop when Skowerski broke the rack in the deciding 17th rack. The 1-ball went in the side pocket but the 3-point-rule was violated so Feijen came to the table. He did not have a shot at the 2-ball so he passed the table back to Skowerski. The 2-ball was lying in the area of the corner pocket with the 6-ball blocking its way in. Skowerski played a push-out so that the 2-ball way playable but it did not have a pocket to go in. Feijen passed the shot back and Skowerski’s moment of glory was there. He took careful aim and fired the 2-ball into the 6-ball which was pocketed. From then on, the table had no more problems and Skowerski cleared it in order to win the 9-ball over Feijen with 9:8 and take the title with a 2:1 team result over team The Netherlands. „We are all playing at an equal level“, stated Skowerski after the final match, „we win together and lose together. We eliminated some really strong opponents and are now back on top with the team after 2015.“ „Hopefully, this victory will give a big boost for the game in our country“, Konrad Juszczyszyn added.
Top 4 Men
1. Poland
2. The Netherlands
3. Croatia
Estonia
In the women’ team competition, the final match between Portugal and the Ukraine was pretty surprising since the „usual suspects“ got eliminated in earlier rounds. Team Russia who played the final match in the previous four years and won it twice got ousted by the Ukraine in the semi-finals this year. However, the final match went to the liking of team Portugal. Sara Rocha quite quickly took the 9-ball with 7:4 over Kateryna Polovinchuk. Also Vania Franco did not have many problems with Viktoria Nagorna, winning the 8-ball clearly with 6:2.
Top 4 Women
1. Portugal
2. Ukraine
3. Russia
The Netherlands
The senior’s division was taken by team Germany, defeating the team from Portugal 2:1. Like in the men’s division, the first point went quite promptly into the account of the losing team. Henrique Correia who is known to play as fast as a whirlwind took the 10-ball over Germany’s #1 senior player Reiner Wirsbitzki with 7:3 after 1 1/2 hours. Around that time, Mario Maerz was 5:5 with Sergio Silva in 8-ball and Dirk Stenten was 6:6 with Manuel Pereira in 9-ball. The match was totally open with all odds in favour of the Portuguese team. But Germany managed to turn the tide in that match. Almost at the same time, Stenten and Maerz finished their respective matches, having not given away any more racks to their opponents from the moment mentioned. Maerz won in 8-ball 7:5 while Stenten took the 9-ball 8:6.
Top 4 Seniors
1. Germany
2. Portugal
3. The Netherlands
Finland
The next Gold Medal of the day was collected for the German team by the Under 19’s team in their match against Russia. Christian Foehlich and Alen Salic took their matches pretty clearly. Foehlich won the 10-ball over Egor Trifonov 7:1 while Salic defeated Ilia Nekleenov in 9-ball 8:5. Only Luca Menn was outplayed by Dmitrii Shkodov in 8-ball with 5:7.
Top 4 U19
1. Germany
2. Russia
3. Denmark
Sweden
Also in the Under 17’s division, Germany was victorious today. Having lost the winner’s qualification round to team Norway with 0:2, the Germans won the loser’s qualification round with 2:0 over Bulgaria and then ended the Finish hopes for the title with 2:1 in the semi-final. In the final match, Germany met team Poland. For many years, Poland has strong athletes in the youth. Just like this year. But Germany also seemed to have invested in their youngsters. Jacques Wollschlaeger won his 8-ball with 6:2 over Dominik Jastrzab while Dennis Laszkowski won the 9-ball 7:5 over Szymon Kural. That turned the scoreboard already to 2:0 for Germany. At that time, the 10-ball was aborted with Oskar Jamorski leading 5:3 over Moritz Neuhausen in a race to 6.
Top 4 U17
1. Germany
2. Poland
3. Finland
Norway
In the girls’ division, the final match was played between team Russia and The Netherlands. Valeriia Trushewskaia won the 9-ball very fast with 6:1 over Megan Rademakers. Lynn Pijpers was trailing 2:3 to Viktoriia Gurova at that time. But Pijpers wanted that title. She hung in there and pulled track after rack from Gurova, eventually winning the 8-ball with 5:3. The match had to be decided by a shoot-out. Both teams showed that the pressure was on. Only one athlete stood out: Valeriia Trushewskaia. She pocketed all of her attempts in the shoot-out and brought the victory and the title in the girl’s division to Russia.
Top 4 Girls
1. Russia
2. The Netherlands
3. Belarus
Norway
In the ladies’ division, once again Germany was the winner defeating Sweden in the final match. Annika Nilsson overcame Karin Michl surprisingly clear with 6:2 in 9-ball. Nilsson’s teammate Ann-Sofie Loefgren was all square with Susanne Wessel in 8-ball at 2:2. Then, Wessel took the steering wheel in the match and managed to outplay her opponent with 5:3 in the end. The final match had to be decided in the shoot-out. Here, the Germans were better and won with 3:1, taking the title in the ladies’ division.
Top 4 Ladies
1. Germany
2. Sweden
3. Italy
Switzerland
Medal table after 4 of 5 events
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Having won 4 Gold Medals today only, team Germany is probably already the winner of the medal table of this 40th anniversary European Championships of the EPBF.
The Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships 2018 will commence tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET with loser’s round matches in the 9-ball individuals.
The Jubilee Championships are played on 60 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.
