Hotel CastelBrando
Via B. Brandolini, 29
31030 Cison di Valmarino
Province of Treviso
ITALIA
www.hotelcastelbrando.com
www.epbf.com
www.eurotouronline.eu
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7 - 9 November 2013
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Ralf Souquet (GER)
Clear victory for German Hall of Famer in Cison di Valmarino
Ralf Souquet (GER) took the title at the Dynamic Billard Castel Brando Open in Cison di Valmarino, Italy, with a clear 9:1 victory in the final match over Daniele Corrieri (ITA).
The suspense level of the previous rounds could not be kept in the final match. The person who was mostly responsible for that was Ralf Souquet. His performance in the final match was simply too strong. He overpowered Daniele Corrieri and made it look as if these two players were coming from different worlds. With the precision of a surgeon, „The Kaiser“ performed unbelievably strong after having been absent at the recent two Euro-Tour events. He is a well deserved Champion at this Euro-Tour event.
Through his 3rd place, Albin Ouschan (AUT) will take the lead of the Euro-Tour rankings after the event.
| 1. Ralf Souquet (GER) 550 €3,400 2. Daniele Corrieri (ITA) 480 €2,200 3. Albin Ouschan (AUT) 420 €1,400 3. Imran Majid (GBR) 420 €1,400 5. Daryl Peach (GBR) 370 €1,000 5. Mario He (AUT) 370 €1,000 5. Phil Burford (GBR) 370 €1,000 5. Karol Skowerski (POL) 370 €1,000 - - | 1. Albin Ouschan (AUT) 2390 2. Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) 2350 3. Niels Feijen (NED) 2205 4. Nick van den Berg (NED) 2085 5. Daryl Peach (GBR) 2080 6. Radoslaw Babica (POL) 2050 7. Alexander Kazakis (GRE) 2045 8. Fabio Petroni (ITA) 1985 9. Mark Gray (GBR) 1960 10. Petri Makkonen (FIN) 1955 |
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David Alcaide (ESP) v Babken Melkonyan (ROM) 9:6 Fabio Petroni (ITA) v Imran Majid (GBR) 6:9 Mark Gray (GBR) v Jonni Fulcher (GBR) 9:7 Radoslaw Babica (POL) v Daryl Peach (GBR) 4:9 Dimitri Jungo (SUI) v Evangelos Vettas (GRE) 9:5 Tomasz Kaplan (POL) v Artem Koshovyi (UKR) 7:9 Ralf Souquet (GER) v Chris Melling (GBR) 9:5 Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) v Antonio Benvenuto (ITA) 9:7 Mario He (AUT) v Raul Hebles (ESP) 9:5 Roman Hybler (CZE) v Albin Ouschan (AUT) 4:9 Nick van den Berg (NED) v Francisco Diaz-Pizarro (ESP) 9:8 Alexander Kazakis (GRE) v Niels Feijen (NED) 7:9 Huidji See v Daniele Corrieri (ITA) 6:9 Andreas Gerwen (SWE) v Stefan Sprangers (NED) 9:5 Phil Burford (GBR) v Oliver Ortmann (GER) 9:7 |
Imran Majid (GBR) v Mark Gray (GBR) 9:8 Daryl Peach (GBR) v Dimitri Jungo (SUI) 9:7 Artem Koshovyi (UKR) v Ralf Souquet (GER) 8:9 Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) v Mario He (AUT) 8:9 Albin Ouschan (AUT) v Nick van den Berg (NED) 9:7 Niels Feijen (NED) v Daniele Corrieri (ITA) 8:9 Andreas Gerwen (SWE) v Phil Burford (GBR) 8:9 |
Daryl Peach (GBR) v Ralf Souquet (GER) 6:9 Mario He (AUT) v Albin Ouschan (AUT) 6:9 Daniele Corrieri (ITA) v Phil Burford (GBR) 9:5 |
Albin Ouschan (AUT) v Daniele Corrieri (ITA) 7:9 |
More than a routine achievement for Corrieri
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Daniele Corrieri (ITA)
Souquet right on track
Daniele Corrieri (ITA) defeated Albin Ouschan (AUT) in the semi-final of the Dynamic Billard Castel Brando Open with 9:7.
The match contained two 180 degree turnovers. At first, Corrieri was the only player who performed on an adequate level. Ouschan had no break shot and missed balls. It looked like the beginning of a catastrophe for Ouschan. Trailing 0:2 after two racks, Corrieri scratched in rack three. Ouschan got ball in hand, pocketed one ball and straight ran out of position to miss the next ball. In the next rack, Ouschan got to the table after Corrieri missed a ball and cleared the table but dogged the 9-ball in the corner pocket. Ouschan obviously struggled with something. He seemed not to get into the match at all. Corrieri, who made it to the final match in the last Euro-Tour in North Cyprus, took advantage of it and scored point for point. After nine racks, Ouschan was down 1:8 - and rightfully so.
But suddenly the tide turned in the match. Ouschan somehow found his game and this time it was Corrieri who played bad safety shots and left out his opportunities to finish the match. Ouschan pulled back rack after rack from Corrieri and even got to 7:8. What an unbelievable comeback for the Austrian. However, in rack 16 Ouschan missed a ball in the beginning but left no shot for Corrieri. The Italian tried something but left an open table for Ouschan. Would that be the hill-hill situation of the match that nobody believed in anymore? Ouschan pocketed the 3-ball and got a bad position on the 4-ball. He had to try and cut it into the side-pocket but he missed it! That was the second turn in the match since it was absolutely unnecessary. Ouschan could have easily run out the rack to tie the match at 8:8. But instead he overran the position and missed the 4-ball. That brought Corrieri back into the match. He finished the table and took the victory with 9:7. Corrieri will now play the second consecutive Euro- Tour final. His opponent was determined in the second semi-final.
In the other semi-final match, Ralf Souquet (GER) defeated Imran Majid (GBR) 9:6. Souquet was dominating the match from start to finish. Majid committed too many mistakes and Souquet consequently punished him for that. Though Majid tried to keep a foot in the door, Souquet was too strong for him today. Souquet will join Corrieri in the final match.
Tension Extreme in Dynamic Billard Castel Brando Open
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The Last 16 Players Standing
Many close results display the high quality of the matches
This was probably one of the most dramatic rounds in the history of the Euro-Tour. Six out of eight matches went over the full distance and finished 9:8 with the other two matches being 9:7.
This is a clear indication that the level of the top players in Europe is very close at this point in time. „If you could pick any name in the top 16 players of this event to win it, I would not know who to pick“, stated Daryl Peach, former 9-ball World Champion, „the level is so equal here and you have so many good players that it is really hard to predict who is going to take the title“, added Peach. In fact, the recent history of the Dynamic Billard Euro-Tour has proven that it is not possible for any player to get on top and put all other rivals behind him for a long time. The pole position in the rankings changes quite often and the nr.1 player usually does not have too many points advantage over the persecutor field.
Among the last eight players standing, four nations are represented with Great Britain being the „top nation“ with three players still in the field. Imran Majid, Daryl Peach and Phil Burford will try to seize the title and take it to the British Island. Mario He, Albin Ouschan (both AUT), Ralf Souquet (GER), Karol Skowerski (POL) and newcomer Daniele Corrieri (ITA), who has played the final in the last Euro-Tour event in Kyrenia, North Cyprus, will do their utmost to prevent that from happening.
The lineup for the quarter-final round is as promising as it was for the previous round. High quality pool action is expected to happen here in Hotel Castel Brando in Cison di Valmarino, Italy.
Maharaja showed no mercy for Fabulous Fabio
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Imran Majid (GBR)
Single elimination round demands popular victims
The "Maharaja" Imran Majid (GBR) ousted local hero "Fabulous" Fabio Petroni (ITA) with 9:5 from the tournament.
Majid was the better player in the match and deserved the victory. He had balls down in 86% of his break shots with a 67% shot on then lowest numbered ball. Furthermore, he broke and ran 3 racks on Fabio. The Italian played a match of ups and downs. His break ratio was 100%, he always had a ball down on the break. But only in 29% he was able to play the lowest numbered ball.
In the early stage of the match it looked like Majid would not allow at to become a fight at all. He was leading 4:0 after four racks, not leaving a chance for Petroni so far. A mistake which Majid committed in rack five opened the door for Petroni to get the first point in his account. Majid snookered himself and gave an open table away to Petroni. As the match went on, it was obvious that Majid was the player in better shape today. He played more constant and his safety shots were more efficient than Petroni’s. Also, the break shot efficiency from Majid outscored Petroni by a mile. In the 14th rack, Majid broke the balls and had a possible layout in front of him. All of a sudden, Petroni gave up, shook hands and unscrewed his cue sticks. That was a bit strange since he was only trailing three racks at the time. However, Majid deserved the victory and will now proceed to the round of the final 16 players which will be played tomorrow morning at 10:00 local time.
Big comeback for Ortmann
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Oliver Ortmann (GER)
Castel Brando Open down to single elimination
Oliver Ortmann (GER) eliminated Ivica Putnik (CRO) from the Dynamic Billard Castel Brando Open Euro-Tour event, handing him a 9:7 defeat in the loser’s qualification round.
The match started quite leveled with both contestants taking turns in scoring point for point. After eight racks, the match was all square at 4:4. It was Putnik who gained some momentum then and also had some lucky shots regarding his positional play. He won three racks in a row and got a 7:4 advantage over the former World Champion Ortmann. But Putnik is also known to be the eternal bridesmaid when it comes to close encounters. Somehow he always seems to lose his focus when the match gets tight. That’s what happened in this match as well. In rack twelve Putnik looked like getting on the hill but he could not run the rack though he had another lucky safety shot in the rack. He gave it away to Ortmann. Putnik then broke the next rack and things looked promising. He played a good safety shot and was on top of the situation. But after he achieved everything he needed to score a point, he made an avoidable mistake and missed a ball. That brought Ortmann to 7:6, being down with only one point. Rack 14 was played rock solid by Ortmann. He had a good break shot and not an easy layout. With a perfectly executed safety shot he forced Putnik to play a foul shot. With ball in hand, Ortmann tied the match at 7:7. The same was repeated in the next rack and unexpectedly, Ortmann went on the hill first. It was Ortmann’s safety play and a lucky position that brought him the victory in rack 16. He won the match with 9:7 and will now enter the round of the final 32 players which will be played at 20:00 and 21:00 local time.
In the past week, the EPBF has launched its brand-new website. You can check all information around European pool at www.epbf.com Enjoy!
Thin air in the winner’s qualification
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Ralf Souquet (GER)
Souquet remains victorious over Peach
In the clash of two of Europe’s best, both equipped with World Champion titles, Ralf Souquet (GER) defeated Daryl Peach (GBR) with 9:5.
The winner’s qualification round is the third round on the winner’s side of a Euro-Tour event. It is normal that good players meet there. But the clash between Souquet and Peach could even in this round be considered as a thrilling encounter of two European top stars of pool billiard. Souquet, after being absent for the last two Euro-Tour events, started furiously in the match. He showed pool to its perfection. Especially his safety shots in the first few racks of the match were second to none. Peach had a hard time in finding into the match at all and after six racks had been played, Souquet was already 5:1 in the lead. It looked like Peach would be smashed by the German. But Peach should never be underestimated. The following two racks saw Peach as the winner, turning the scoreboard to 5:3. Peach tried to turn the tide in the match but Souquet showed all of his professionalism and coolness. He ran out rack nine and won rack ten after a high quality safety battle. At 7:3 for Souquet, Peach still looked for his chances and again managed to pull two racks back from Souquet. The 13th rack brought a preliminary decision to the match. Peach was in good mood, shooting straight and cruising smoothly. He won a safety exchange in the rack and had an open layout in front of him. Dramatically, he snookered himself on the 3-ball by positioning the cue ball too close to the 4-ball. Unbelievable mistake by Peach! He hit the 3-ball but left an open table for Souquet who accepted the invitation and went on the hill with 8:5. What a bad situation for Peach that was. Instead of closing in 6:7 he was now down with 5:8 with his own break shot coming up. Rack 14 turned out to become the final rack of the encounter. Peach had some balls down but the 3-ball was on the wrong side of the side pocket. He could not do anything with the cue ball in order to pocket the 3-ball somewhere. His safety attempt failed and Souquet consequently ran the table for a convincing 9:5 victory. While Souquet triumphantly marches into the single elimination round of the final 32 players which will be played tonight at 20:00 local time, Peach needs to take the detour over the loser’s side with one more victory to achieve.
Other remarkable results from this morning include Karol Skowerski (POL) defeating the recently crowned World Pool Masters Champion Niels Feijen (NED) with 9:7, sending him also to the loser’s side. Spanish David Alcaide overpowered Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) also with 9:7. Radoslaw Babica (POL) made short work of Chris Melling (GBR), handing him a clear 9:4 defeat. Konstantin Stepanov (RUS), the Dynamic Billard North Cyprus Open winner this year, lost his winner’s qualification round match to Phil Burford (GBR) with 7:9. Though Burford is currently walking on crutches he seems to be in a good shape.
Melkonyan ends all hopes for Jentsch
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Babken Melkonyan (ROM)
Ottermann also on his way home
With 9:5, Babken Melkonyan (ROM) ousted Dominic Jentsch (GER) from the Dynamic Billard Castel Brando Open.
What a bad day for Jentsch. He just seemed to be unable to find his game. He missed many shots and seemed to be completely off the role today. His opponent in the second loser’s round obviously knew that and capitalized from it. Melkonyan played rock solid and performed very focussed. He had the better break shot and got a quick 7:4 advantage over Jentsch. In the 12th rack, Melkonyan also managed to turn the rack to his favor and went on the hill with 8:4. He then took a time out. When he came back it was actually Jentsch who seemed to have recovered a bit. His shots were better and more accurate and he took the rack to make the gap one point less, turning the score to 8:5. The 14th rack marked the end of Jentsch in this tournament. Melkonyan created some unnecessary tension for himself by ending up very close to the 9-ball. But he managed to pocket the 9-ball and stay alive in the tournament. While Jentsch is now on his way home, Melkonyan booked his seat in the next loser’s round where he will play Maksim Dudanets (RUS).
Jentsch’s fate is shared by his fellow countryman Nicolas Ottermann. Ottermann received a 9:3 defeat from Spain’s Francisco Diaz-Pizarro.
The tournament will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 local time with more interesting matches to come up.
Two worlds collide
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Konstantin Stepanov (RUS)
Magnificent performance by Stepanov
Cison di Valmarino, Italy: In the first winner’s round of the Dynamic Billard Castelbrando Open, the winner of the recent Euro-Tour, Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) wiped the floor with Giorgio Margola (ITA), clearly winning with 9:2.
It was a one man show; and what a classical one. Stepanov played brilliant pool and left no chance for his pitiful opponent. He took his performance from North Cyprus up and performed amazingly strong. Out of his nine racks he ran seven with balls down on 100% of his break shots. Margola could only come up with 40% break efficiency - not enough to endanger Stepanov at all.
One of the few mistakes Stepanov committed occurred in rack four. He ran out of position for the 8-ball and had to try and bank it into the side pocket. He missed and allowed Margola to open his account, still being in front 3:1. In the next rack, Stepanov even scratched on the 2-ball. But Margola was not able to benefit from Stepanov’s mistakes. He played poor positions and got himself in worse and worse situations which led to him making mistakes. Stepanov consequently used his chances and punished Margola for his mistakes in that stage of the match. After nine racks, Stepanov was leading 8:1. He got some momentum going and played like he was not from this planet. In the 10th rack, Margola finally got a ball down on his break. But he only got to the 4-ball which he missed. However, he left a tough shot for Stepanov and the Russian also missed. This time, Margola was able to make use of his chance and scored his second point. But that was his last appearance at the table. Stepanov broke and ran the next rack to take a more than deserved 9:2 victory over Margola.
Other notable results from the first winner’s round include Niels Feijen (NED) sneaking past Jonni Fulcher (GBR) with 9:8. Local hero Fabio Petroni (ITA) made short work of Balasz Miko (HUN), creaming him 9:2. Dutch prodigy Ivo Aarts collected his second 9:8 victory of the day. In round one he overcame Juan Carlos Exposito (ESP) while in round two Jani Siekkinen (FIN) was his chosen victim.
Austrian He defeated Cohen
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Mario He (AUT)
First matches played at Dynamic Billard Castelbrando Open
Cison di Valmarino, Italy: In a tough first round match, Mario He (AUT) defeated Stephan Cohen (nothing) with 9:5.
As expected, the two contestant both began their performance quite impressive. Cohen could not pocket a ball on his first break shot and He ran out two racks on him. Cohen ran rack number 3 and the score was 2:1 for He with no mistakes played yet. In the fourth rack, He was forced to commit a foul and Cohen used his chance to tie the match at 2:2. Then Cohen’s misery started. He could not capitalize from his break shot anymore and played a few poor safety shots which led to a 6:2 lead for He.
It looked like the odds had turned in favor of He. But Cohen did his best to stay in the match. He won two racks to turn the score to 6:4 for He. In rack 11, Cohen broke and got no ball pocketed. He ran the rack but dogged a relatively easy 9-ball. Luckily enough for him he left a tough shot for Cohen who missed as well. Being given a second life in the rack, He pocketed the 9-ball to take a 7:4 lead over his opponent. Cohen took the next rack. After that, luck became a factor in the match. In the 13th rack, He attempted to pocket the 1-ball but missed. However, he left an absolutely impossible shot for Cohen. Cohen obviously struggled with the situation. He tried all he could but the balls just did not roll in his favor. To the contrary, he even left an easy 2-9 combination shot for He to get on the hill with 8:5. He was on a roll now. He broke the 14th rack, being on the hill. He ended up having pocketed a ball but with no shot on the 1-ball. He executed a jump-shot, pocketed it and got position for the next object ball. While clearing the table, he almost scratched after pocketing the 5-ball. Things just seemed to go his way. In the end, He won with 9:5 over Cohen which was a bit too high.
The picturesque CastelBrando.
Other notable results form the first round include Senharip Azar (SWE) surprisingly defeating Dominic Jentsch (GER) with 9:7. BCA Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet (GER) added another safe victory to his record book, smashing Pierfrancesco Garzia (ITA) with 9:1. Evangelos Vettas (GRE) won his first round match over Artem Koshovyi (UKR) with 9:4.
All results and more can be seen at www.eurotouronline.eu.
All 12 tables will be streamed LIVE throughout the event. Join in on www.kozoom.com/en/pool-billiard/ and become a premium member in order to enjoy all features of the site.
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 or contact our press office.
