8-Ball, 9-Ball, 10-Ball and 14.1 for Men, Women and Wheelchair
Grand Hotel Metropol
Obala 77
Portoroz
Slovenia
www.metropol-resort.com
www.epbf.com
www.epconline.eu
www.kozoom.com - PPV LiveStream (23 tables/23 streams)
10-20 April 2013
"The Maharaja" Imran Majid (GBR). Foto: EPBF/DK
Many surprises in Portoroz at the Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships
In an intense battle, "The Maharaja" Imran Majid (GBR) defeated 10-ball World Champion Huidji See (NED) by a hair's breadth 8:7.
It looked like it would be Majid's match from the very beginning. He was leading 6:3 after nine racks and See seemed to be fighting with himself and his performance. But See never gave up. He started a great comeback, tied the match at 6:6 and even went on the hill with 7:6. The smell of defeat came to Majid and he would not want to lose this match. Instead, he fought his way back and tied the match at 7:7. After almost two hours of hard fighting, Majid had the better end in his favor and finished the match with a lucky 8:7 for him.
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Other notable results include "Danish Dynamite" Kasper Kristoffersen (DEN) hammering Daryl Peach (GBR) 8:4. Milos Verkic (SRB) conquered Albin Ouschan (AUT) with 8:6. Niels Feijen (NED) won his match with Dominic Jentsch (GER) with the same result. BCA Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet (GER) entered the round of the final 16 players with a clear 8:3 victory over Konstantin Stepanov (RUS).
In the women's division, Melissa Rademakers (NED) surprisingly defeated newly crowned European 10-ball Champion Oliwia Czuprynska (POL) with 6:3.
Matches will start at 21:00 CET.
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 contact our press office.
Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS). Foto: EPBF/DK
One sided match for the young Russian
In a very one sided match, Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) defeated Tomasz Kaplan (POL) clearly with 8:2.
Both players had a great start and ran their racks to get to 1:1. On paper, one would have expected the match to stay very close since the two contestants play on the same level. In the third rack however, problems started for Kaplan. He scratched and Chinakhov punished him straight away with the 2:1. Then an amazing rack occurred. Chinakhov missed an easy first shot after a successful break and allowed Kaplan to the table. The Polish came in and completely unnecessarily ran out of position in his 4th shot. He tried to fix it but could not win this rack anymore. Chinakhov went ahead 3:1. Kaplan's performance got worse and worse. Even if Chinakhov allowed him in the match, he did not use his chances but committed a foul instead. Before the 6th rack, Kaplan took a time-out and obviously tried to get his focus back. It seemed to work. he came back, broke and ran the rack to make the score 2:4. Then two runs from Chinakhov followed who did not seem to be impressed at all by Kaplan. At 6:2, Kaplan again ran out of position and allowed Chinakhov to take his spot on the hill, 7:2. Kaplan would not get any more chance in the 8-ball competition this year. Chinakhov broke and ran the balls for the 5th time in the match and eliminated Kaplan rightfully 8:2. "This was the first match when I felt good. All my previous matches, I could not get my Agame on the table", stated Chinakhov. "It is normal for me in European Championships to start a bit weak but then usually I improve and get going." "I ran out 5 racks and only missed two shots in the whole match. Who knows, maybe I can get very far this year". Chinakhov will join the other final 31 players in the 8-ball competition and get his next challenge tonight at 19:00 CET.
Other notable results include Aki Heiskanen (FIN) whitewashing Fabio Petroni (ITA) with 8:0. Probably one of the bigger surprises happened in the match between Nick van den Berg (NED) and Ivica Putnik (CRO). At 7:7, van den Berg missed a super easy ball and Putnik could run the table. That was a very uncharacteristic shot for the Straight Pool Champion from the Netherlands.
In the women's division, Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) and Ine Helvik (NOR) both won their matches to go to the round of the final 16 players. Ouschan took care of Severine Titaux (nothing) with 6:3 while Helvik exited Louise Furberg (SWE) with the same result.
Sara Rocha (POR). Foto: EPBF/DK
Many surprises in the men's division so far today
In a match with several severe mistakes, Sara Rocha (POR) carried the day with 6:4 over Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR).
Statistics of the match indicate that it was a close encounter with slight advantages for Rocha. Both players missed 6 shots during the match and ranout two racks. But whenever safety play was asked for, Rocha seemed to come up with the better shots than Polovinchuk. Rack four provided the first dramatic situation. Rocha broke the rack, had balls down and cleared the table but left the 8-ball on the table. What a gift for Polovinchuk. At that time Polovinchuk was leading 2:1. But instead of getting a small advantage over Rocha, Polovinchuk also cleared her group of balls and left the 8-ball on the table. Rocha could not believe her luck and made the 8-ball to tie the match at 2:2. In the next rack, Polovinchuk played better but scratched while pocketing the 8- ball. That was probably the beginning of the end for the young Ukrainian competitor. Rocha made another rack before Polovinchuk went for her time-out. Would she get back on track again? Rocha made it hard for her since she ran the balls in the seventh rack in order to get on the hill with 5:2. Suddenly, while everyone believed that this was the end for Polovinchuk, she tried hard to turn the tide and put some pressure on Rocha. That had an immediate effect on her. Polovinchuk ran out in the eighth rack and Rocha dogged the 8-ball in the ninth. That turned the scoreboard to 5:4 for Rocha with the tenth rack coming up, Rocha to break. After missing the 8-ball in the rack before she probably had enough anger inside her to get all her nerves together and ran another rack to win with 6:4. Since it was the loser's qualification round in 8-ball in the women's division, Polovinchuk will have to settle for 33rd while Rocha will advance to the single elimination stage.
Other notable results include Martin Martinovic (SRB) surprisingly eliminating Andreas Roschkowsky (GER) from the 8-ball competition with 8:5. lso a surprise was Jakub Koniar (SVK) ousting Nick Malai (ALB) with 8:5.
In the loser's qualification round of the women's division, Ina Kaplan (GER) prevailed in an all-German clash with 6:3 over Christine Wiechert (GER).
In the wheelchair division, Fred Dinsmore (IRL) left no chance to Emil Schranz (AUT) and handed him a 5:2 defeat. In a rematch of Saturday's 10-ball final, Roy Kimberley (GBR) took revenge on Kurt Deklerck (BEL) and snatched the victory with 5:4 off the Belgian.
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 contact our press office.
