Basso Hotels & Resorts Spa
S.R. 53 Via Postumia Castellana 2
31055 Quinto di Treviso
Italy
www.bwin.com
www.epbf.com
www.eurotouronline.eu
www.bhrtrevisohotel.com
1-3 December 2011
Mark Gray (GBR), the winner of the Dynamic Treviso Open
Dramatic finish in the final Euro-Tour tournament for 2011
Saturday, 03 December 2011: In a gripping final match, Mark Gray (GBR) defeated David Alcaide (ESP) by an eyelash with 9:8.
In the early stage of the match, both players did not perform very well. They seemed to not feel comfortable at the TV arena table. Especially Alcaide suffered then. After eight racks being played, Alcaide could have been leading 6:2, but since he missed a 9-ball and scratched on another 7-ball the score was tied at 4:4.
In the 9th rack, Gray runs all balls until he comes to the 7-ball. He leaves the 7-ball hanging over a pocket and Alcaide accepts the gift to take a 5:4 lead in the match. At that time, the lead for Alcaide was definitely justified.
As the match continued, both players enhanced their performance and the standard of the match got really high. No more errors were made and Alcaide managed to get on the hill first, taking an 8:6 lead over Gray. In the 15th rack, Alcaide breaks the rack and finds the cue ball behind a cluster of balls with no chance to hit the 1-ball. Since it was a dry break, Gray passed the inning back to Alcaide.
The Spaniard played a push out which Gray also passed back. A safety battle evolved where Gray had the better end on his side, making the score 8:7. At that time, Mark Gray took a time out. The venue was packed with people and the tension was almost physical.
Share this article on FaceBook
"Read More..." for the details.
In the 16th rack, Gray had to play a push out after his break shot and Alcaide passed it back to him. He played a really thin cut shot into another ball and made the 1-ball, running the rack and making the match a hill-hill battle. What a drama! In the final rack, Alcaide breaks and makes a ball but ends up with a dry break. A very good safety shot from Gray followed that put a lot of pressure on Alcaide. After several more tactical safety shots, Gray way able to break through and pocket the final 9-ball, winning the match with 9:8.
“The first half of the match was not the best standard”, said Gray after the awards ceremony, “I don’t know why but the rails started acting a bit differently and we both suffered from it. The second half of the match was a lot better standard.” “I think when I was 6:8 down I played my best pool”, stated Gray, “I made my clearances when I needed them whereas David missed a few easy shots in the earlier stage of the match.” When asked about what he thought when he was 6:8 down, he replied: “I knew I’d get my chances. I played some solid pool here this week and I’ve beaten some real good players, including Chris Melling, Nick van den Berg and Imran Majid. I knew my game is in a real good shape. That’s why I never gave in”.
This concludes the coverage of the Dynamic Treviso Open 2011, the final tournament of this year’s Euro-Tour series.
Mark Gray - Great Britain
Final match of the Dynamic Treviso Open will be played between Alcaide and Gray
Gray is in the final.
Saturday, 03 December 2011: Mark Gray (GBR) has just eliminated Nick van den Berg (NED) from the final Euro-Tour of this year, winning the match with 9:6.
The balls did not like van den Berg today. He got unlucky in many situations and most of all, he struggled with his break shot. Gray also did not have the perfect break shot but he was much more successful in pocketing balls on the break than his opponent. “Nick couldn’t really get his break working”, said Gray after the semi-final, “I sort of picked up his dry breaks and capitalized from that”.
In the 10th rack, Gray had the chance to get on the hill, making the score 8:2 in his favour but he failed. Instead, van den Berg seemed to get a second life and won several racks in a row. After the 11th rack the score was 7:4 in favour of Gray. Van den Berg had landed behind another object ball with the cue ball and was not able to see the 2-ball which was on. He pulled out his jump cue and pocketed the 2-ball in the side pocket. He found himself with another very tough shot, a thin cut on the 4-ball. He also pocketed that ball and it looked like he could really tighten up the score.
Van den Berg wanted to thin cut the 5-ball in but missed it completely. Gray got ball in hand and ran the rack to make the score 8:4. “That was the key thing for me to win the match”, stated a happy Mark Gray. After that incident, van den Berg was able to win one more rack since Gray scratched on his next break shot. But that was it for the Dutchman. Van den Berg broke in the 14th rack and got no ball down. Gray ran all balls and won the match with 9:5. “Nick probably missed a couple of more balls than me”, said Gray, “that’s what made the difference in that match”.
In the other semi-final match, David Alcaide (ESP) creamed Darren Appleton (GBR) with 9:6 and secured his spot in the final match. Both players played at almost equal strength but Alcaide turned out to be a bit more lucky in the end.
The upcoming final match between David Alcaide and Mark Gray will begin at 18:00 local time.
Darren Appleton - Great Britain
Appleton makes it to Semi-Finals
Mario He loses to Appleton in an epic thriller match
Saturday, 03 December 2011: Darren Appleton (GBR) won over Mario He (AUT) in an incredible thriller with 9:8.
The whole match was determined by the different playing styles of the two contestants. Appleton was the experienced and calm player while He played aggressively, being the young gun in this match. It seemed like Appleton would be able to come out on top of He without any problems.
He was already on the hill with a very comfortable lead of 8:5 over He. But then the young Austrian player demonstrated coolness and refreshing aggressiveness in his performance. In the 14th rack, Appleton had the break shot and made some balls on the break. However, he had to start with a combination shot 1-ball on 6-ball and missed it. Mario He got to the table and played without showing any nerves.
That was really amazing, having in mind that He just got out of the junior’s division. He ran the balls and another rack, making the score 8:7 for Appleton. In the 16th rack, Appleton tried to pocket a ball over one cushion but failed. Mario He ran out and made it a hill-hill match; 8:8.
The 17th rack had to decide who makes it to the semi-final and who can go home. And it became a dramatic finish. Mario broke the rack and made the 1-ball but the 2-ball was hiding behind the 3-ball. Everybody expected He to play a safety shot or a push-out. But He pulled out his jump cue and fired the 2-ball in, getting perfect position for the 3-ball. The audience went wild and applauded and everyone thought the match was over now with Mario He being the winner. But all of a sudden he missed an easy 4-ball. He could not believe what he just did.
Appleton got to the table and pocketed the 4-ball and 5-ball but got no good position for the 6-ball. The screenplay for the final rack could not have been written any more thrilling. Appleton missed the 6-ball and left a tough position for He.
The Austrian decided to play a safety shot and rolled the 6-ball behind the 9-ball. Appleton took a very close look at the balls and played a kick-shot combination into the 6-ball, firing the 9-ball in the side pocket. Appleton won with 9:8 and will now face David Alcaide from Spain in the semi-final.
The 17th rack had to decide who makes it to the semi-final and who can go home. And it became a dramatic finish. Mario broke the rack and made the 1-ball but the 2-ball was hiding behind the 3-ball. Everybody expected He to play a safety shot or a push-out. But He pulled out his jump cue and fired the 2-ball in, getting perfect position for the 3-ball.
The audience went wild and applauded and everyone thought the match was over now with Mario He being the winner. But all of a sudden he missed an easy 4-ball. He could not believe what he just did. Appleton got to the table and pocketed the 4-ball and 5-ball but got no good position for the 6-ball. The screenplay for the final rack could not have been written any more thrilling.
Appleton missed the 6-ball and left a tough position for He. The Austrian decided to play a safety shot and rolled the 6-ball behind the 9-ball. Appleton took a very close look at the balls and played a kick-shot combination into the 6-ball, firing the 9-ball in the side pocket. Appleton won with 9:8 and will now face David Alcaide from Spain in the semi-final.
Radoslaw Babica - Poland
Melling wins by a margin over Gerwen
Babica through to Quarter-Finals
Saturday, 03 December 2011: After a tough match against Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE), Radoslaw Babica (POL) secured a seat for himself in the quarter-finals by winning the match with 9:6.
It was a wire to wire victory for Babica. He took control of the match from the very beginning and Ekonomopoulos was always trailing behind. It seemed that Babica found the better safety shots and tactics that made the difference in that match. After the 12th rack, Ekonomopoulos was able to tie the match at 6:6. Then Babica went for his time out and obviously gained new strength. When he came back, Ekonomopoulos broke the rack but no ball went down. Babica played as cold as ice and ran the rack, taking a 7:6 lead.
The next rack, Babica failed to pocket a ball on his break shot. Ekonomopoulos had a shot at the 1-ball and started pocketing but ran out of position for the 4-ball so he had to play a safety shot. Babica found the right answer for that and also won that rack, leading 8:6.
The 15th and final rack turned out to be a bit unlucky for the Greek. He broke the rack, a ball went down but he had no shot on the 1-ball. He played a safety shot which Babica answered by playing a great safety shot himself. After thinking a while about the upcoming situation, Ekonomopoulos played an excellent safety shot and it looked very promising for him in that rack. Babica tried to fire the 1-ball in into the side pocket, missed it but got lucky since he fluked it in the side pocket on the opposite side of the table. He ran the rack from there, taking the match with 9:6.
“It must be about two years ago that I have made it to this final stage of an event”, said Babica when asked after the tournament about his performance, “I practised hard before this event since I will have to play two more events within the next two weeks. I also took a week off and spent it with my family. Sometimes that helps you generate new energy.”
Other notable results include Chris Melling (GBR) just making it to the quarter-finals with 9:8 over Andreas Gerwen (SWE). Mario He (AUT) eliminated “Napoleon” Marcus Chamat (SWE) with 9:4.
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.
| Rank | Points | Prize-money (Euros) |
| 1 | 550 | 4,500.00 |
| 2 | 480 | 2,800.00 |
| 3-4 | 420 | 1,800.00 |
| 5-8 | 370 | 1,380.00 |
| 9-16 | 330 | 900.00 |
| 17-32 | 300 | 750.00 |
| 33-48 | 275 | 400.00 |
| 49-64 | 230 | Fund 42,020 Euros |
| 65-96 | 200 | |
| 97-128 | 180 | |
| 129-192 | 160 | |
| 193-256 | 140 |
Dimitri Jungo SUI v Darren Appleton GBR 5:9 David Alcaide ESP v Thomas Engert GER 9:4 Christian Reimering GER v Noel Bruynooghe BEL 3:9 Nick van den Berg NED v Karl Boyes GBR 9:8 Radoslaw Babica POL v Nikos Ekonomopoulos GRE 9:6 Mark Gray GBR v Karol Skowerski POL 9:5 Andreas Gerwen SWE v Chris Melling GBR 8:9 |
David Alcaide ESP v Noel Bruynooghe BEL 9:6 Nick van den Berg NED v Radoslaw Babica POL 9:4 Mark Gray GBR v Chris Melling GBR 9:8 |
Nick van den Berg NED v Mark Gray GBR 5:9 |
THE DYNAMIC TREVISO OPEN - TOP 16 FINAL STANDINGS | ||||
Position | Name | Country | Flag | Prize |
1 2 3 3 5 5 5 5 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 | Mark Gray David Alcaide Darren Appleton Nick van den Berg Chris Melling Mario He Radoslaw Babica Noel Bruynooghe Dimitri Jungo Marcus Chamat Christian Reimering Karl Boyes Thomas Engert Karol Skowerski Andreas Gerwen Nikos Ekonomopoulos | GBR ESP GBR NED GBR AUT POL BEL SUI SWE GER GBR GER POL SWE GRE |           | 4500,- € 2800,- € 1800,- € 1800,- € 1380,- € 1380,- € 1380,- € 1380,- € 900,- € 900,- € 900,- € 900,- € 900,- € 900,- € 900,- € 900,- € |
THE EPBF EURO TOUR - FINAL TOP TEN RANKINGS | ||||
Position | Name | Country | Flag | Points |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 | Ralf Souquet Mark Gray Nick van den Berg Darren Appleton Chris Melling Jayson Shaw Dimitri Jungo Konstantin Stepanov Marcus Chamat Serge Das | GER GBR NED GBR GBR SCO SUI RUS SWE BEL |   | 2410 pts 2200 pts 2170 pts 2170 pts 2160 pts 2135 pts 2125 pts 2110 pts 2075 pts 1990 pts |
ET Italy 2011 - Niels Feijen vs Raffaele Canteduca L1 (1/3)
1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNB0feeGM8E
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkEWlRwCw_Y
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_kWgS3zOns
ET Italy 2011 - Albin Ouschan vs Christian Reimering W2 (1/7)
1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_o_CGBxNMY
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JqqIqws9KQ
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF9MNRVGt30
4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMiIONjLyMI
5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BctTMj-9VA
6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZH0wNRSRaw
7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbauxpv65iQ
ET Italy 2011 - Oliver Ortmann vs Andrey Seroshtan W2 (1/5)
1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8vXFyWmXi4
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI76x6RjwQA
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yvQtUsw4hc
4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcNlC3bkedc
5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71HxJa_uWzI
ET Italy 2011 - Daryl Peach vs Fabio Petroni WQ (1/5)
1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmlD6tSTOdM
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNP0kri4zAw
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o54xQH6CkZk
4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsASTgH5Tl8
5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp-Ir9f_RnQ
ET Italy 2011 - Shaun Storry vs Vincent Facquet W1 (1/6)
1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaX2AoSbHjY
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMzCZ8__IB8
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Oc7VUW0W5A
4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-tMyoV-OZY
5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QgGV0bPf6w
6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUlQcdLeBlk
ET Italy 2011 - David Alcaide vs Fabio Petroni SE32 (1/5)
1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFBFBwyQni0
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC1BzfQYaXY
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK3IPj3HEGw
4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idNpst5ymKU
5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWeT28NPFAI
ET Italy 2011 - Oliver Ortmann vs Christian Reimering SE32 (1/7)
1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUNz_UbtKzM
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzhDDO827jM
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfxK1wreAFc
4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnqMOPK-60E
5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEr3zn3i_CI
6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G72SdE5Cb4o
7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCzP61t2tbc
ET Italy 2011 - Mario He vs Darren Appleton QF (1/6)
1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efjiSbLXXtc
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPsVXj9yUw4
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mweayFiu_Zo
4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8YocGVeTM0
5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQuukuN78tU
7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbZecndzjeY
ET Italy 2011 - Darren Appleton vs David Alcaide SF1 (1/4)
1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i60WJoHx0c
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp5w6LuwzUg
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aekG8YeVt98
4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvAx6LeDj20
ET Italy 2011 - Nick van den Berg vs Mark Gray SF2 (1/7)
1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5du_HD1E4Q
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP8t6rgASus
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_AuRIziJQY
4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJPnHj4J1b8
5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH6uGT3DXFE
6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwkW1vBP64w
7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoSbQpSlaqo
ET Italy 2011 - David Alcaide vs Mark Gray FINAL (1/7)
1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyt9XVBfkpo
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4On9ikpxxI
3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4zcNZuWWF4
4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey9o9f69gmM
5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MLQtYhHHDM
6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS9E2dJSwcs
7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzkHmS9E09U