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Thursday-Sunday 19-21 April 2012
Darren Appleton (GBR) Foto: EPBF/AMM
Souquet, Melling and Peach also on their way home
Friday, 20 April 2012: In a high class entertaining match, Darren Appleton (GBR) defeated Mario He (AUT) with 8:6.
Both players are considered to be “heavyweights” in the European pool scene. Mario He just won the European crown in 8-ball, while Darren Appleton has won the US Open in Chesapeake in October last year. The contestants performed on a high level. No wonder, after twelve racks the score was 6:6. As a summary so far it could be seen that Appleton seemed to win his break game more easy than He. The Austrian had to struggle quite some time and also benefitted from some minor mistakes that Appleton had played. In the 13th rack, Appleton played a “monster break shot”, three balls went down, and everything was in the open with the cue ball lying in a good position for the 1-ball.
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Of course, Appleton took that chance and went on the hill first. Then it was He’s turn to break. The pressure on him was on. He knew that he had to perform a good break shot, otherwise he would be history in the tournament. He pocketed two balls and had position on his first ball. But instead of going for the rack, he decided to enter in a safety exchange with Appleton. That was a brave attempt. He almost won it, but he positioned the cue ball too straight on the 5-ball. He had to play a push shot and missed it, giving Appleton the chance to run the rack which Darren Appleton did. He won the match after a fierce fight with 8:6 and advances to the final 16 players who are left in the field.
Final 16 Players
David Alcaide ESP v Manuel Gama POR
Stephan Cohen nothing v Jayson Shaw SCO
Radoslaw Babica POL v Balasz Miko HUN
Mark Gray GBR v Nick v.d. Berg NED
Nicolas Ottermann GER v Oliver Ortmann GER
Albin Ouschan AUT v Dominic Jentsch GER
Philipp Stojanovic CRO v Darren Appleton GBR
Konrad Piekarski POL v Phil Burford GBR
The matches of the last 16 players start tomorrow morning at 10:00 CET.
Jayson Shaw (SCO) Foto: EPBF/AMM
The break decided the match
Friday, 20 April 2012: After a great comeback, Jayson Shaw (SCO) creamed David Alcaide (ESP) with 8:6.
The early stage of the match was determined by one player only. Alcaide had the better start and took a quick and comfortable 4:0 lead over Shaw. In the 5th rack, Alcaide committed a foul while trying to play a resafe to Shaw. Jayson Shaw got ball in hand and ran the rack in order to open his account. Then the “Jayson-Shaw-Show” started. Shaw broke the balls much better and had better layouts after the break. He even overtook Alcaide and took a 5:4 lead while the Spaniard didn’t really realize what happened to him. In the 10th rack, Alcaide again did not have a good layout after the break. But he managed to force Shaw to play a foul and tied the match at 5:5. But still Shaw had the better – and maybe luckier – break shots. He took a 7:5 lead and Alcaide struggled with his own break shot. David Alcaide was able to win one more rack before Jayson Shaw finished the match, winning 8:6 after having trailed 0:4. What a strong comeback! Shaw is now in the round of the last 32 players while Alcaide gets another chance in the loser’s qualification round at 18:00 CET.
Other notable results from the winner’s qualification round include Stephan Cohen (FRANCE) beating Marcus Chamat (SWE) 8:4. Tomasz Kaplan (POL) defeated last year’s Euro-Tour Treviso winner Mark Gray (GBR) with 8:7. Dynamic Sarajevo Open winner Albin Ouschan (AUT) won his match over Christian Reimering (GER) clearly with 8:3. Dominic Jentsch (GER) even handed a doughnut to Marco Teutscher (NED), winning 8:0.
Niels Feijen (NED) Foto: EPBF/AMM
Feijen terminates Chinakhov
Friday, 20 April 2012: In a tough match on the loser’s side, “The Terminator” Niels Feijen (NED) finished Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) with 8:5.
The encounter of the two top players was pretty equal until
the beginning of the 6th rack. The score was 3:2 in favour of Feijen and none of the two had committed any serious mistake as of yet.
When Chinakhov broke the balls in the 6th rack, he scratched. That gave Feijen the chance to get a two-point advantage over Chinakhov.
Just when it looked like Feijen got momentum, he tried to play a safety shot after his own break and surprisingly the cue ball scratched. That in turn brought Chinakhov back to the table and the Russian needed no second invitation. He ran the rack and won the next one with his own break to tie the match at 4:4. In the 9th rack, Chinakhov played a weak safety shot and admitted Feijen to run the rack which again gave some momentum to the Dutchman.
Then the 10th rack delivered the deciding situation for the match. Chinakhov broke the balls and none went in. However, he left a very bad position for Feijen. Niels Feijen played a push out and Chinakhov passed it back to him. Then Feijen fired a jump shot over the whole table and pocketed the 1-ball in the called pocket. What a shot! Feijen ran the rack and when he pocketed the 10-ball to get a 6:4 lead over Chinakhov, even his opponent applauded. Then Feijen took a time out. The next rack was again Chinakhov’s and the score went to 6:5, still in favour of Feijen. In the 12th rack, Chinakhov decided to go for a bank shot after the break but he missed it. That was the chance the Feijen needed. He showed no mercy and pocketed all balls and went on the hill, leading 7:5.
The final rack was again decided by a situation where Chinakhov went for a shot where he might have played a safety. He tried to jump the 1-ball in the side pocket after Feijen played a push-out but he hit the nose of the pocket. Feijen got position and ran another rack, winning the match with 8:5. “I’m really happy that I’m still in”, said a modest Niels Feijen in an interview right after the match. “I have a very tough draw and I need to perform very good in order to stay alive in the tournament”. “I gave away my last match and I had to get back mentally; that’s what I did and I’m happy with that”. “The quality of the field of the Euro-Tour is so wide these days.
Players from all over Europe have improved so much that winning a match here is never easy,” stated Feijen. “I got momentum in the match first and I gave it away with that weird scratch that I played in the 7th rack,” Feijen analysed, “but I played very good from 4:4 and I’m looking forward to
my next matches now”.
Other notable results from this morning include Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) being ousted by I var Saris (NED) with 7:8. Also Tony Drago (MLT) is on his way home early. He lost his match against Roman Hybler (CZE) with 7:8. Huidji See (NED) ended Richard Jones’ (GBR) dreams of another Euro-Tour title for the time being. He defeating the British clearly with 8:3.
Nick van den Berg (NED) Foto: EPBF/AMM
Van den Berg sends Drago to one-loss side
Thursday, 19 April 2012: With the closest result possible, Nick van den Berg (NED) wins over Tony Drago (MLT) 8:7.
Drago’s performance was, as usually, determined by aggressive and fast play. He went for all shots and did not take too much time, even if the situation was awkward. When playing with all shields down, of course sometimes one leaves a good position for the opponent. That is exactly what happened to Drago. After 10 racks, van den Berg was leading with 6:4. It looked like it would be a clear victory for van den Berg. But Drago is known to be a great shotmaker. Whenever van den Berg left him a shot, Drago ran the rack and closed the gap. Though van den Berg was even leading 7:5, he could not close the book on Drago. The “Tornado” from Malta even managed to tie the match at hill-hill. Then van den Berg broke the balls, pocketed one ball and almost had the cue ball scratching in the corner pocket. It was just lying outside the jaws of the pocket. Van den Berg played a push out and rolled the cue ball a bit forward, not giving any shot of value to Drago. But Tony Drago tried the impossible and failed, leaving an open table to van den Berg. The only problem left was the 7-ball which was uncomfortably close to the 10-ball. But van den Berg showed no nerves, played all balls down to the 7-ball and then announced the 10-ball in the side pocket. He played the 7-ball very thin and made the 10-ball in the called pocket. That gave him the rack and the match with a heartbreak result of 8:7.
Other notable results from tonight include Artem Koshovyi (UKR) steamrolling another local hero, Fabio Petroni (ITA) with 8:3. Oliver Ortmann (GER) won over Roger Rasmussen (NOR) with 8:7. The winner of the last Dynamic Euro-Tour in Sarajevo, Albin Ouschan (AUT), remained victorious over Babken Melkonyan (ARM). European 8-ball Champion Dominic Jentsch (GER) won his match over Tomas Larsson (SWE) with 8:6.
Bruno Muratore (ITA) Foto: EPBF/AMM
Italian hope defeated “Maharaja” Majid by a whisker
Thursday, 19 April 2012: In a thrilling match, Bruno Muratore (ITA) remained the upper hand over Imran Majid (GBR) with 8:7.
The match was equal – on paper and on the slate. Both players are part of the European elite for many years now. So it was no wonder that the fight between the two was close and on a high level. Majid had the better start and got s small advantage over Muratore, taking a 5:3 lead. Muratore struggled with his position play but he never showed any sign of surrender to Majid. He hung in there and even managed to tie the match at 6:6. Then Majid was able to take the next rack and get on the hill first. The pressure was on for Muratore. The Italian hope tied the match again and made it 7:7 – hill-hill! What a drama. Then Muratore broke the final rack. He allowed Majid back to the table and the layout of the pool balls looked very promising to Majid. No problems, just making a few more shots to win the match. But Majid missed an easy 4-ball in the side pocket. That was more than Muratore needed. He ran the rack and tore the match away from Majid, winning 8:7. Muratore will stay in the winner’s round while Majid needs to make his way through the loser’s bracket now.
Other notable results of the winner’s round include Tomasz Kaplan (POL) defeating Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) with 8:6. Stephan Cohen (nothing) smashed Manuel Ederer (GER) with 8:2. Former World Champion Karl Boyes (GBR) lost 5:8 to Gabor Solymosi (HUN). “The Tornado” Tony Drago (MLT) just made it over Bozo Primic (CRO) with 8:7.
Ivica Putnik (CRO) Foto: EPBF/AMM
Putnik wins opener over Dudanets
Thursday, 19 April 2012: Ivica Putnik (CRO) held his head up high after the match against young Maksim Dudanets (RUS), winning with 8:6.
The match was determined by many errors from both players in the beginning. The 13-year-old Dudanets seemed to struggle with his own nervousness while 40-year-old Putnik played as always: fast and aggressive. No wonder that so many mistakes happened in the early phase of the match. After six racks, Putnik was able to achieve a 4:2 lead over Dudanets. Both players had already given away points. Their styles seemed to be completely opposing: Putnik playing fast and aggressive with a lot of experience while Dudanets played slow and well thought, but very nervous. In the 7th rack, Putnik cleared all balls and left the 10-ball hanging over the pocket for his opponent. Instead of taking a comfortable 5:2 lead, the match got closer now by Dudanets making the score 3:4. Then the strong phase for Putnik started. He grew stronger and stronger and benefitted also from Dudanets’ mistakes. After nine racks, Putnik was leading 6:3 over the young Russian. The 10th rack began very promising for Dudanets but then turned into a catastrophe for him. Putnik broke the balls and the cue ball jumped off the table. Dudanets took ball in hand and ran the table until he had a straight and easy shot on the 10-ball. He aimed at it and had it hanging over the pocket. Putnik came to the table and only had to pocket the 10-ball in order to get on the hill, leading 7:3. Everybody would have expected this to break the will of Dudanets. But young Maksim was far from giving in. He tried to stay in the match and achieved to put some more pressure on Putnik. He won three consecutive racks and came to 6:7. In the 14th rack, Putnik was able to run all balls but then suddenly ran out of position for the 8-ball since he played the shot before too hard. He took a close look at the situation and played a two-way shot, calling the 8-ball in the side pocket. If he would have missed, he would have left a safety position for Dudanets. But Putnik made the shot and had a straight shot on the 10-ball. He fired it in and won the match with 8:6.
Since the Croatian Federation has negotiated some air time with a national sports TV station, this match among others will be provided to Croatian national TV for broadcasting in Croatia. The project is funded by Croatian national Olympic Committee.
Other notable results include Nicolas Ottermann (GER) defeating Richard Jones (GBR) with 8:6. Petri Makkonen (FIN) overcame Denis Grabe (EST) with 8:5.
Entrance to the BHR Hotel Treviso, the venue for the Dynamic Italy Open Foto: EPBF/AMM
Dynamic Italy Open about to begin
Wednesday, 18 April 2012: The Dynamic Italy Open Euro-Tour 10-ball has started in BHR Hotel in Treviso, Italy, today. Around 165 players from all over Europe, including the crème de la crème of European Pool Billiard will compete for the title.
A total amount of 34.000,-€ are on the line for the top 48 finishers of the tournament. Also ranking points are awarded to all participants which might be even more important to the one and other player since the rankings after this tournament determine who will be seeded into the European Open tournament at the end of the year. Furthermore, the European participants for this year’s 9-ball World Championships in Qatar are determined by the rankings after the event. So there is a lot at stake for all players; especially for the top players who will need to show their best performance in order to make it to the World Championships and the European Open.
“We are very happy to be back to the BHR hotel in Treviso”, says EPBF President Gre Leenders. “This is our fourth event in three years here and we have only the best experiences with the conditions. The setup is professional and everything and everyone in the BHR hotel is ready for some high class pool action over the next three days.”
There are good news to everyone who cannot make it to Treviso in the next three days but still wants to be as close to the action as possible. The event will once again be broadcasted LIVE on the internet via Kozoom.com, a partner of the EPBF. Once registered on the Kozoom website, passes can be purchased to get free access to all LiveStream tables and the video archive with a huge and fast growing number of edited videos from the Euro-Tour and the European Championships.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office.
