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Konstantin Stepanov celebrating his victory.
Foto: EPBF/AMM
First Euro-Tour victory for the Russian
In an intense match, Russian Konstantin Stepanov defeated Dimitri Jungo (SUI) with 9:7 and obtained the crown of the 2013 Dynamic Billard Italian Open.
In the early stage of the match, everything was all square. It was Jungo who managed to get an advantage over Stepanov first. After trailing 3:4, Jungo won 3 straight racks and took a 6:4 lead over Stepanov. That phase of the match was determined by several unforced errors from both players. However, Stepanov recovered and came back with a 7:6 lead over Jungo. It was obvious that both players were struggling with their game.
Jungo managed to tie the match at 7:7, but then Stepanov benefited from a mistake of the Swiss and got on the hill with 8:7. In the 16th rack, the pressure was too much for Jungo. He played a weak safety and Stepanov cleared the table to achieve his first Euro-Tour victory of his career.
"I am so happy", stated Stepanov after the final. "I've been playing the Euro-Tour for many years now and I have never been able to win one. Today is my day!" says Stepanov with a smile on his face. "My goal for this year is to get a spot in the Top Ten of the Euro-Tour rankings and to go to the World
Championships this year."
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| 1. Konst'tin Stepanov RUS 550 €3.400 2. Dimitri Jungo SUI 480 €2.200 3. Albin Ouschan AUT 420 €1.400 3. Ralf Souquet GER 420 €1.400 5. Roman Hybler CZE 370 €1.000 5. Ruslan Chinakhov RUS 370 €1.000 5. Serge Das BEL 370 €1.000 5. Tomasz Kaplan POL 370 €1.000 - - | 1. Albin Ouschan AUT 2480 2. Nick van den Berg NED 2295 3. Dimitri Jungo SUI 2210 4. David Alcaide ESP 2170 5. Dominic Jentsch GER 2150 6. Nikos Ekonomopoulos GRE 2140 7. Daryl Peach GBR 2115 8. Oliver Ortmann GER 2080 9. Konstantin Stepanov RUS 2060 10. Niels Feijen NED 2055 |
Italian Euro Tour 2013 - Stepanov smashes Souquet
Konstantin Stepanov on the break
Foto: EPBF/AMM
Jungo wins over Ouschan
In a very one-sided semi-final match, Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) smashed Ralf Souquet (GER) and defeated him 9:1.
Probably no-one would have expected the match to have that clear outcome. Souquet never seemed to find his game. Whatever he tried, it simply did not work for him. On the other side, Stepanov had a 9-ball break and the balls went in his favor. That does not mean that he did not deserve the victory. To the contrary, he played rock solid and made some spectacular shots that Souquet had nothing to oppose to. In the end, the high victory for Stepanov was deserved.
In the second semi-final match, Dimi t r i Jungo (SUI) defeated Albin Ouschan (AUT) with 9:4. That match will probably be remembered for a long time by Ouschan. The Austrian got the better start and quickly got a nice and comfortable 4:1 lead over Jungo. But then the tide turned in the match. The quality in the match was not as high as it was in previous matches. Both players committed several mistakes. After having trailed 1:4, Jungo snatched rack after rack from Ouschan. After nine racks, Jungo was leading 5:4, when Ouschan went for his time-out. Coming back freshly motivated, Ouschan broke the balls and cleared the table until he got to the 6-ball. He was in perfect position with three more easy balls on the table. But he miscued and the cue ball left the table, giving Jungo ball in hand. That tough luck continued for Ouschan and he could do nothing but witness Jungo taking rack after rack. In the end, Jungo won with 9:4 and will now play the final match while Ouschan will have to settle for 3rd at this year's Dynamic Billard Italian Open.
Semi-final results:
Dimitri Jungo SUI v Albin Ouschan AUT 9 : 4
Konstantin Stepanov RUS v Ralf Souquet GER 9 : 1
Quarter-final results:
Ruslan Chinakhov RUS v Dimitri Jungo SUI 8 : 9
Albin Ouschan AUT v Tomasz Kaplan POL 9 : 5
Konstantin Stepanov RUS v Roman Hybler CZE 9 : 4
Serge Das BEL v Ralf Souquet GER 5 : 9
Italian Euro Tour 2013 - Souquet eliminates Melling in a thriller
Ralf Souquet thinking about his next shot
Foto: EPBF/AMM
Close decision in favor of Souquet
With a close call by tournament director David Morris, Ralf Souquet (GER) ended all hopes of Chris Melling (GBR) with 9:7. Since both contestants know each other for quite some time now, they knew that this match would not be a walk in the park for any of them. Melling and Souquet have both proven in the past to be brilliant cue artists. They have totally different styles. Whereas Souquet tends to play a bit slower, Melling is known to play aggressively. So no wonder that the outcome of the match was determined by a margin.
The first missed shot was played by Souquet when he missed a 3-ball in rack six. Until then, he had played perfect pool. While Melling had committed a foul already, Souquet's record was shiny white. However, the match was a high class clash and not much errors occurred anyways. One of the highlights of the match happened in rack 12. The score was 6.5 in favor of Souquet. "The Kaiser" broke the balls but none went in. Melling played a push-out by laying the cue ball close to another object ball, leaving a tough shot all over the table on the 1-ball with the 2-ball on the other side of the table. Souquet obviously passed that shot back to Melling. The Brit then jacked up his cue and fired the 1-ball in, drawing the cue ball back into perfect position for the 2-ball. The audience went wild and even Souquet had to appapplaud for that shot. Melling then ran the rack and tied the match at 6:6.
As the match went on, the score was tied at 7:7. Melling had a good break shot and got an open table for him to get to the hill first. But he missed an easy combination shot on the 7 and left the table for Souquet. The Hall of Famer accepted the gift and cleared the playing field, getting on the hill first with 8:7.
Then happened a drama as normally only Hollywood director's would be able to come up with. Souquet broke the rack, had a ball down but no shot on the 1-ball. He played a weak safety shot. Melling gave a better safety back to Souquet who could hit the ball but left a shot for Melling. Chris Melling then pocketed the 1-ball but did not really get a good lay on the 2-ball. He played another good safety shot. Souquet examined the table and called a referee to judge the next shot since he knew it would be a close one. The tournament director David Morris took position behind Souquet in order to watch the shot. That was very preventive by Souquet. He played into the rail and hit the 2-ball and the 9-ball simultaneously. The shot was called correct by Morris and the 9-ball fell into the side pocket. After the match, the shot was reviewed on camera and it turned out that Morris had taken the right decision. "This match was very close", stated Souquet afterwards, "and it could have easily gone the other ways around". "Chris was played as good as I was and I did not mean to pocket the 9-ball with that last shot" admitted Souquet, being the sportsman that we all know he is.
His judgement of the match was right. They had both made the same amount of mistakes with Souquet having a better percentage on his break shots.
Souquet will now in the quarter-finals have to deal with Serge Das (BEL) who defeated Niels Feijen (NED) with 9:7. Melling has to settle for 9th in this tournament. The quarter finals will commence at 12:00 PM CET.
All results from the round of the last 16 players:
Huidji See NED v Ruslan Chinakhov RUS 6 : 9
Konrad Piekarski POL v Dimitri Jungo SUI 3 : 9
Albin Ouschan AUT v Radoslaw Babica POL 9 : 2
Tomasz Kaplan POL v Tony Drago MLT 9 : 4
Konstantin Stepanov RUS v Fabio Petroni ITA 9 : 4
Roman Hybler CZE v Daryl Peach GBR 9 : 6
Serge Das BEL v Niels Feijen NED 9 : 7
Chris Melling GBR v Ralf Souquet GER 7 : 9
Italian Euro Tour 2013 - Das sends Ortmann home
Serge Das at the table
Foto: EPBF/AMM
Single elimination starts with some surprises
Treviso, Italy, In a match that was mainly determined by safety play, Serge Das (BEL) eliminated Oliver Ortmann (GER) with 9:7.
The match was full of many safety encounters between the two opponents. Ortmann seemed to have a problem with his break shot. He only had 50% good breaks while Das was able to benefit from 75% of his break shots. That was definitely part of Das' key to success in this match. Another big part was his safety play. Normally, Ortmann would have been the favorite for the match. But because of his break and his safety play, Das managed to keep a foot in the door at all times and did not let Ortmann get too much of an advantage over him.
After 12 racks, Ortmann was leading 7:5. In the 13th rack he committed an avoidable foul and Das ran out. In the next rack, Ortmann missed the 7-ball and allowed Das to tie the match. Then Lady Luck hit Ortmann hard. He broke and scratched and left the 9-ball right in front of the side pocket. Das played the combination shot and got on the hill with 8:7. In the 16th rack, they had another safety encounter with Das again having the better end on his side. Ortmann seemed to be frustrated. Das made use of the moment and cleared the table, winning the match with 9:7. That puts him in the round of the final 16 players which will be played tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM CET. Ortmann settles for 17th place in the tournament.
All results from the round of the last 32 players:
Huidji See NED v Mieszko Fortunski POL 9 : 2
Ruslan Chinakhov RUS v Manuel Gama POR 9 : 8
Konrad Piekarski POL v Andreas Gerwen SWE 9 : 8
Denis Grabe EST v Dimitri Jungo SUI 7 : 9
Mark Gray GBR v Albin Ouschan AUT 8 : 9
Phil Burford GBR v Radoslaw Babica POL 3 : 9
Marek Kudlik POL v Tomasz Kaplan POL 6 : 9
Tony Drago MLT v Nikos Ekonomopoulos GRE 9 : 6
Piotr Kudlik POL v Konstantin Stepanov RUS 3 : 9
Christopher Koba SWE v Fabio Petroni ITA 8 : 9
Matey Ullah NOR v Roman Hybler CZE 1 : 9
Petri Makkonen FIN v Daryl Peach GBR 6 : 9
Oliver Ortmann GER v Serge Das BEL 7 : 9
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz ESP v Niels Feijen NED 3 : 9
Mario He AUT v Chris Melling GBR 6 : 9
Ralf Souquet GER v David Alcaide ESP 9 : 4
Italian Euro Tour 2013 - Big win for Fabulous Fabio
Fabio Petroni (ITA)
Foto: EPBF/AMM
Petroni defeated Souquet by a margin
Treviso, Italy, local hero "Fabulous" Fabio Petroni (ITA) defeated Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet (GER) in a tight encounter with 9:7.
It was a line-up that had already existed several time in the history of European Pool-Billiard. Both players, Souquet and Petroni are well-know, have earned their merits and can be regarded as top stars of the international pool scene. In the direct comparison, Souquet would probably be the favored player. But the statistics of this match turned that statement upside down. Petroni had the better break quota. He had seven good break shots out of eight while Souquet had five out of three. Souquet made an unbelievable amount of seven missed balls in that match. Sometimes, Souquet does not miss that many balls in a whole tournament. Though Petroni was by far better in the statistics, he could not get an advantage over Souquet during most of the match. Souquet was constantly leading with one or two racks over Petroni. That changed after the 14th rack. The score was 7:7. Souquet played the break shot and had a nice layout. It was possible to run the rack. But he missed the 2-ball in the side pocket. Petroni then pocketed the 2-ball but got no position for the 3-ball. He tried to ban it into the side but missed it. Souquet pocketed the 3-ball over one rail in the corner pocket but the cue ball came to rest frozen to the 9-ball. "The Kaiser" played a safety shot which was not good enough for Petroni. He cleared the table after that and took the lead for the first time, being on the hill with 8:7. Then it was Petroni's break coming up. He had the 1-ball and the 2-ball down and a feasible layout of the balls. Petroni ran them out and took the match with 9:7. He is now through to the single elimination stage of the last 32 players while Souquet has to win another match on the loser's side in order to get a chance for the title.
Other notable results from the winner's qualification round include Huidji See (NED) defeating Tony Drago (MLT) 9:8. Mattey Ullah (NOR) joins See by winning 9:5 over Senharip Azar (SWE). Daryl Peach (GBR) enters the single elimination stage with a 9:7 victory over Denis Greabe (EST).
Italian Euro Tour 2013 - Alcaide throws Filler to loser's side
David Alcaide playing with Joshua Filler sitting in the background
Foto: EPBF/AMM
Experience was the main factor in the match
In the second round on the winner's side, David Alcaide (ESP) creamed Joshua Filler (GER) with 9:4 and put him to the loser's side.
What sounds like a clear affair for Alcaide has in reality been a tough struggle for him. Two different player mentalities have come to the final arena. On one side Filler, being the young gun who is looking for glory, ready to take big risks in order to get a chance for victory. Alcaide on the other side, a complete player who has already earned his merits but still wants to increase his wins.
The match started out pretty even. Amazingly, Filler had the better break than Alcaide who seemed to struggle with his opening shot. The reason why Filler kept Alcaide in the match is simply because he made too many mistakes. After eight racks, the score was tied at 4:4. Filler has had the chance to get an advantage over Alcaide but since he made mistakes like leaving the 9-ball over the pocket,
Alcaide could still keep a foot in the door. It was not that Alcaide was the weaker player; he just had no luck after his break shot. If his break was ok, he usually ran the table and cleared all balls.
After the 9th rack, Alcaide was leading 5:4 and took a time-out. Filler had just committed two serious mistakes that could have given him a comfortable lead. When Alcaide returned from his time-out, Filler broke the next rack, had a ball down but no shot on the 1-ball. He decided to play a push-out which was passed back by Alcaide. Filler then played a safe that appeared to be very bad.
He was either nervous or he played it really negligent. However, Alcaide ran the rack and got a two-point lead over Filler for the first time in the match. That was the turning point. Alcaide seemed to get momentum while Filler struggled more and more with his game. He ran his next rack and took a 7:4 lead. Then Filler got a dry break for the first time in the match. As mentioned in the beginning, Filler actually had the better break shot. he got balls down at five out of six break shots while Alcaide had 3 good breaks with 4 bad breaks.
Whenever safety battles were exchanged, Alcaide turned out on top of Filler. It seemed as if Filler had lost his game. Alcaide took his chance and did not allow Filler to take another rack into his account. 9:4 was the clear final result for Alcaide who will now proceed to the winner's qualification round while Filler has to try and find his game back on the loser's side. "I think that I won this match because of my experience", stated Alcaide after the match. "My break was not good and I struggled in the beginning but once I was able to put pressure on him, he got nervous. When I saw that, I knew he had no chance against me today. He is a good player but I played stronger".
Other notable results from the second winner's round include Tomasz Kaplan (POL) defeating Phil Burford (GBR) with 9:4. Ralf Souquet (GER) handed a 9:0 doughnut to Kostas Paspatis (GRE). Local hero Fabio Petroni (ITA) overcame Michal Turkowski (POL) by a whisker with 9:8. The same result was good for Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) in his victory over Jasmin Ouschan (AUT). In the Dutch-French encounter between Niels Feijen and Stephane Cohen, Feijen remained victorious with 9:7.
Italian Euro Tour 2013 - "The Tornado" strikes
"The Tornado" Tony Drago from Malta
Foto: EPBF/AMM
Drago clearly overmasters Belka
In a speedy match, "The Tornado" Tony Drago (MLT) send Jakob Belka (GER) to the loser's side with 9:4. Drago was the player to draw first blood in the match.
Performing as his fans love him, he hurried around the table in a speed that is second to none. Additionally to his great pocketing skills, in this match Drago also performed a good break shot.
Whenever Drago had a good layout, he ran the table. Belka's only chance to get his points was to win his own break shots. But he made too many mistakes. While Drago only missed one straight shot, Belka made several errors and consequently, Drago punished him for it. Belka never got a foot in the door. He was not able to show the same performance as he did when he defeated Nick van den Berg 9:8. Maybe, Drago did not allow him to get going at all...
Other notable results include youngster Tobias Bongers (GER) winning with 9:6 over Nick Malai (ALB). On the loser's side, Karlo Dalmatin (CRO) terminated all hopes of Jim Chawki (SWE) with 9:6.
Italian Euro Tour 2013 - Ullah on his way
Mattey Ullah (NOR) in the zone
Foto: EPBF/AMM
Too much pressure for Dalmatin
Mattey Ullah (NOR) defeated Karlo Dalmatin (CRO) with a clear 9:5 result.
Ullah was never trailing all the way through the match. He took a quick 2:0 lead but Dalmatin managed to tie the match at 2:2. Then, Ullah continued with his strong and solid performance and put a lot of pressure on Dalmatin. Whether it was Dalmatin not being able to handle the pressure or simply bad luck for the Croatian can only be guessed. Fact is that Dalmatin had many unforced errors and several unlucky incidents that probably cost him the match.
In the 10th rack, Ullah was leading 5:4. Dalmatin had just returned from his time-out and fired a good break shot, leaving only 7 balls on the table. The layout was perfect for him. He tried to bank the 3-ball and lost control over the cue ball which scratched in a corner pocket. Instead of tying the match at 5:5 he was now trailing 4:6. Ullah took advantage of his opponent's errors and improved his play during the match. Two incidents in rack 11 and 13 probably broke Dalmatin's neck: In rack 11 he missed the 8-ball in the corner pocket and in rack 13 he pocketed the 8-ball but the cue ball scratched in the side pocket from an unbelievable angle. Tough luck for Dalmatin. Who knows how he would have played that shot if he had not been trailing all the way through the match... Ullah had no mercy and accepted the gifts he was given, demonstrating rock solid pool. 9:5 was the result in the end in favor of Ullah. He will continue on the winner's side while Dalmatin has to make his way through the loser's bracket now.
Other notable results include Mark Gray (GBR) winning with 9:6 over Tomas Larsson (SWE). Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) remained the upper hand in a great match with 9:5 over young Wojciech Szewczyk (POL). Albin Ouschan (AUT) made his way to the next winner's round with a nice 9:6 victory over Vegar Kristiansen (NOR). Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet (GER) had an unexpectedly tough fight with Miguel Silva (POR). In the end, the German won with 9:7. Local hero Fabio Petroni (ITA) destroyed Ralf Seeliger (GER) with 9:2.
Italian Euro Tour 2013 - Sanchez-Ruiz just crossed the finish line
Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) over the table with Chris Melling (GBR) watching
Foto: EPBF/AMM
Close encounter with Melling
In a tight encounter with England's Mosconi player Chris Melling, Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) just made it to the goal with 9:7.
Things started good for the young Spaniard. He was leading in the early stage of the match and managed to maintain that lead over a long period. Probably the biggest reason for his lead was his break. The regulations for this year have been changed by the EPBF. The break box was removed for 9-ball.
David Morris, President of IBPF: "We have had some request from players regarding that matter so we did a lot of research during last season. We found that the break box in 9-ball together with our other breaking requirements (3-point-rule) made it too hard for the players to get momentum and convert their break shot into points for their account. Therefore, we thought it would be better to waive the break box in 9-ball. We still keep it for 10-ball though".
While Sanchez was able to control his break, Melling seemed to struggle with it. No wonder that Sanchez took a clear led over Melling with 6:3. Though he always tried to keep one foot in the match, Melling was always thrown back in his chair. He either had no ball on the break or he had dry break shots with not enough balls crossing the kitchen line. He seemed to be desperate. When Sanchez saw his opponent's struggle, it made him even stronger. At 6:4, Melling broke the balls and had a ball down but no real shot on the 1-ball. He played push-out, leaving a tough situation for Sanchez on the table. But Sanchez could not be worried less. He fired the balls in, cleared all problems on the table and snatched another rack off Melling, leading 7:4. He even took an 8:5 lead and everyone thought that the book will soon be closed on Melling. But Melling was still alive. He performed strong and forced some errors upon Sanchez in that phase of the Match. Sanchez obviously got more and more nervous and was now desperately looking for the finish line. At 8:6, Melling needed a good break. He got it but missed the 1-ball straight after. He leaves a tough shot for Sanchez which the Spaniard misses. Melling now proves his class and runs out a tough rack, closing the gap between the two to 8:7.
At this point, errors were lethal. Both players knew it. Sanchez approached the table for his break shot and hammered the cue ball into the pack. Two balls went down and everything was open. Sanchez took his chance and won the rack, taking a 9:7 victory over Melling. "I was really nervous in the end", states Sanchez afterwards, "and I'm happy we did not play to 10 racks or further. Who knows what would have happened then".
Other notable results from this morning include Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) defeating Tim Goergens (GER) with 9:3. An upset in winner's round 1 was definitely the loss of Nick van den Berg (NED) to Jakob Belka (GER) with 8:9.
The event will be 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.
