'uri' ); ?> The Dynamic Billlard North Cyprus Open

The Dynamic Billlard North Cyprus Open

A Pro9 - Europe's No.1 Pool Player Resource Article

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Date: Friday, June 03 2016 @ 11:11:00 UTC
Topic: EuroTour



The Dynamic Billlard North Cyprus Open
Acapulco Holiday Resort
Catalkoy
Kyrenia
North Cyprus
www.acapulco-cyprus.com
www.northcypruscup.com
www.epbf.com
www.eurotouronline.com
www.kozoom.com

Thursday-Saturday 2-4 June 2016


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He takes his first Euro-Tour title

Mario He (AUT) just defeated Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) in the final of the Dynamic Billard North Cyprus Open with 9:5 and took his first Euro-Tour title ever.

The final match saw both players under completely different conditions. Ekonomopoulos especially needed the points from the victory to make it to the Mosconi Cup Team Europe again. He was under a lot of pressure. On the other hand, Mario He had once entered a Euro-Tour final in 2009 which he lost. Last year, he achieved a few third places but really had not so much to lose. He is on fire at the time, winning the German Bundesliga with his team and a Grand Prix event in Austria in the last weeks. Both of the contestants started out quite self-confident. Rack 3 saw the first missed shots of the match. After five racks, He was leading by a small margin 3:2. He then took the next two racks and increased this advantage to 5:2. That was a huge lead in a race to 9. At that point in time, Ekonomopoulos had just committed some mistakes and needed a time-out which he took in order to get his senses together again. But he could not stop He from winning his racks. The Austrian was too strong today for Ekonomopoulos and he consequently took the points he needed to win the event 9:5.

„I really played well here“, stated He after the final, „I am feeling well and I can put this in my game and on the table when I play“. „This is my first Euro-Tour victory and I feel really self-confident about my game at the moment“, added He.



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Top Eight Finishers...

1. Mario He AUT
2. Nikos Ekonomopoulos GRE
3. Jayson Shaw SCO
3. Mika Immonen FIN
4. David Alcaide ESP
4. Sebastian Ludwig GER
4. Karol Skowerski POL
4. Ralf Souquet GER

The Women North Cyprus Open will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 local time with matches from the loser’s qualification round. The final match is scheduled for 15:30 local time.
On Monday morning, the North Cyprus Challenge Cup will begin here in Kyrenia, North Cyprus.

The tournaments are all played on up to 20 tables which will all be in a livestream throughout the events. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be purchased at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.


SATURDAY 4 JUNE 2016 - AM REPORT


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Dynamic Billard North Cyprus Open down to semi-finals

The semi-finals of the Dynamic Billard North Cyprus Open have been determined. Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) will play Mika Immonen (FIN) at 14:30 and Jayson Shaw (SCO) will face Mario He (AUT) at 16:00 today.

Today brought high class single elimination action to the tournament. Ekonomopoulos ousted Daryl Peach (GBR) 9:5 and then took down David Alcaide (ESP) 9:3 for his seat in the semi-final match. In the last 12 months, Ekonomopoulos only made it to the semi-finals in Treviso in February this year. Apart from that, he always lost in earlier rounds. It will be interesting to see whether he can continue this good from and maybe make it to the final match today. His opponent Immonen who had to go the longest way through the loser’s side after having lost his opening match eliminated Tomasz Kaplan (POL) 9:2 and Sebastian Ludwig (GER) 9:6 today to get to the semi-final match. Both players showed constant and steady pool action and it can be predicted that the semi-final between these two will be a close affair.

Jayson Shaw today was the better man against Oliver Ortmann (GER) 9:7 and Karol Skowerski (POL) also 9:7. The close results show that he really needed to do some work to earn his spot in the semi-final. Shaw’s main reason for playing the Euro-Tour is to make it on the Mosconi Cup Team this year. With results like this, he is definitely a candidate for it. His opponent He took care of nr.2 ranked player Niels Feijen (NED) 9:6 and then got the better of Ralf Souquet (GER) 9:5. That match between the two will be as exciting as the other semi-final but the two participants will probably show a more offensive game than in the other match.

The Women North Cyprus Open have also started today. 30 women from all over Europe are competing in this event. Nr.1 seed Nataliya Seroshtan (RUS) had a walk-over in the first round and then defeated Monika Zabek (POL) 7:3 after having trailed 1:3 in the match. The other player with a walk-over was Christine Wiechert (GER) who is currently ranked 3rd on the Euro-Tour rankings. She did not get started at all in her match and received a whitewash, losing 0:7 to Marharyta Fefilava (BLR). Ine Helvik (NOR) succeeded in winning her match 7:3 over Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR) which was also a bit of a surprise.

The semi-finals are played at the moment. The final match of the Dynamic Billard North Cyprus Open is scheduled for 18:00 local time today.


FRIDAY 3 JUNE 2016 - PM REPORT


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Alcaide ousted Gray

With an amazing performance, David Alcaide (ESP) eliminated nr.1 ranked player Mark Gray (GBR) 9:5 from the Dynamic Billard North Cyprus Open in the round of the last 32 players.

Alcaide played very solid and self-confident. The current 10-ball European Champion was leading 7:5 when he looked himself behind the 8-ball and 9-ball and had no shot at the 7-ball. He went for the jump shot and pocketed the 7-ball. Then, he had no full view of the 8-ball so he banked it in and got to the hill with 8:5. At that score, it was Gray’s break. He had a ball down but unfortunately for him, he scratched on the 2-ball. Alcaide did not need any further chance than this. He cleared the table and won the match 9:5 in order to advance to the last 16 players in the field. In his Facebook account, Gray stated after the match: „Lose 9-5 to an inspired David Alcaide Bermudez so finish 17th... I lost count of his break and runs and he made at least 6 great jump shots!!! But can't keep hitting big hitters in last 32 and expect to win at this game all the time“. Alcaide will play Dutch Tim de Ruyter who remained victorious over fellow countryman Marco Teutscher (NED) 9:6.

Other interesting results from the round of the last 32 players include Daryl Peach (GBR) having a heartbreaker with Marc Bijsterbosch (NED). The match was a thriller and went to hill-hill. At 8:8, Peach played a bad safety and left a shot for Bijsterbosch. The young Dutch had to fire the 2-ball into the side-pocket and draw the cue ball back in order to get a decent position on the 3-ball. That shot was pretty risky and it probably would have been a better alternative to come up with a good safety shot. But Bijsterbosch who is known for his aggressive way of playing went for the shot… and missed it. Peach got to the table and had a shot at the 2-ball. To clear the table was more of a routine for Peach now. He won the match with 9:8 over courageous Bijsterbosch.

After having a bad start into the tournament losing his first match, Mika Immonen (FIN) is still among the remaining names for glory here in Kyrenia. He defeated current 9-ball European Champion Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) 9:5 after he fought his long way through the loser’s side today. Tomorrow, Immonen will play Tomasz Kaplan (POL) who convincingly ousted Nick van den Berg (NED) 9:3 tonight.

Another interesting match will be played tomorrow morning between Oliver Ortmann (GER) and Jayson Shaw (SCO). Ortmann defeated Maksim Dudanets (RUS) 9:4 while Shaw got the better of Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) 9:7. Also the all-German clash between Ralf Souquet and Kevin Becker will be an interesting encounter to witness. Souquet ended Wiktor Zielinski’s (POL) hopes 9:6 while Becker sent Eklent Kaci (ALB) home 9:2. Finally, the two experienced players Mario He (AUT) and Niels Feijen (NED) will have a rendezvous in the round of the last 16 players.

The Dynamic Billard North Cyprus Open will continue tomorrow morning at 10:00 local time with matches from the last 16 players single elimination. At 09:00 local time, the women will enter the stage in their tournament.


FRIDAY 3 JUNE 2016 - AM REPORT


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Most „usual suspects“ through to single elimination

At the Dynamic Billard North Cyprus Open Euro-Tour in Kyrenia, North Cyprus, most of the seeded and expected players have made their way through to the last 32 single elimination stage which will be played tonight at 21:00 local time.

Mark Gray (GBR) was successful today in his role as the favorite in the tournament. In the winner’s qualification round he defeated Karol Skowerski (POL) 9:3 without further problems. Also his toughest challenger on 2nd place, Niels Feijen (NED) is straight on track. 9:2 was the clear final result of Feijen over Roman Hybler (CZE). Former World Champion and BCA Hall of Famer Oliver Ortmann (GER) had an appointment with long-time rival Ivica Putnik (CRO). The encounter went according to Ortmann’s liking, since he was the 9:6 winner in the end. A bit more of a surprise was the performance of young Daniel Tangudd (SWE) who managed to remain the upper hand over Poland’s Mateusz Sniegocki 9:7. The match between Sniegocki’s teammate Tomasz Kaplan (POL) and Germany’s Ralf Souquet, also former World Champion and BCA Hall of Famer, turned out to be a heartbreaker. Leading 8:7, Kaplan played a poor safety shot and left a possible combination shot on the 9-ball for Souquet. The German pocketed the 9-ball and the match was hill-hill. Then, Souquet had the break shot and all he found after it was the possibility of another combination shot 1-ball to the 9-ball. Souquet went for it and missed the 9-ball but left the cue ball intentionally hidden behind the 2-ball. Kaplan got to the table and pocketed the 1-ball with a jump shot and ran the rack and the match from there. This took Kaplan to the single elimination with 9:8 while Souquet gets another shot on the loser’s side. In the all-Spanish clash between Francisco Diaz-Pizarro and David Alcaide, Diaz Pizarro turned out to be the 9:7 winner in the end.

An exception to the rule today were Nick van den Berg (NED) and Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL). They were the seeded players in group G and both of them could not make it through the winner’s round. Van den Berg lost to outstanding youngster Wiktor Zielinski (POL) with 7:9 while Juszczyszyn fell to the sharp blade of Eklent Kaci (ALB) 5:9. Zielinski and Kaci are both from the very young generation and it will be interesting to see how far they can go in this and future events. However, the event is not yet over for van den Berg and Juszczyszyn. They will also get another shot to qualify for the single elimination.

Andreas Madsen (DEN) took down „The Maharaja“ Imran Majid (GBR) 9:6 in the same round. „Eagle-Eye“ Jayson Shaw (SCO), who lives in the United States for quite some years now, has also made his way to the last 32 players. He defeated Marek Kudlik (POL) clearly 9:2.

The round of the last 32 players single elimination starts tonight at 21:00 local time. Currently, the matches of the loser’s qualification round are about to get started. For further information, check out our websites.


THURSDAY 2 JUNE 2016 - PM REPORT


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„Maharaja“ Imran Majid lives up to his expectations

Imran Majid (GBR) has played a solid tournament so far here in Acapulco Hotel & Resort, Kyrenia, North Cyprus at the Dynamic Billard North Cyprus Open.

The „Maharaja“ has defeated Maximilian Lechner (AUT) 9:5 in his first match today. Then Majid, who is currently ranked nr. 15 on the Euro-Tour rankings, proceeded to the next round and took down Piotr Kudlik (POL) very clearly with 9:2. Kudlik had just won over Filler (GER) in his first match and seemed to be on fire. But obviously, he was not „hot enough“ for Majid who made short work of the Polish. Tomorrow at 12:00 local time, Majid will play against Andreas Madsen (DEN) for a seat in the single elimination stage of the last 32 players of the event.

Also straight on track is the current leader of the Euro-Tour rankings, Mark Gray (GBR). Being seeded nr. 1 in the tournament, his task was not so hard today. Two clear victories over Saki Kanatlar (TUR) and Markus Altenrath (GER) brought him to the same level as Majid, aiming at his next opponent Karol Skowerski (POL) in the winner’s qualification round.

Another very interesting encounter in that round tomorrow will be the match between former World Champion Daryl Peach (GBR) and Kevin Becker (GER). Peach defeated Ahmed Al-Hosani (UAE) 9:3 and Onur Yildirim (TUR) 9:6 and he had to struggle a little bit with his cue stick since the weight was making some noise in the butt of the cue which was distracting Peach at times. However, it was not distracting him enough to not win the first two matches. Becker however defeated his fellow countryman Michael Cromen (GER) 9:5 and then current 9-ball European Champion Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) by a whisker with 9:8. Becker seems to be in a good stroke here and he might be the first real challenge for Peach in this event.

Being currently ranked nr. 7 on the Euro-Tour rankings, Nick van den Berg (NED) seems to be in a good condition as well. With a lesson taught to Gerrie Kuik (NED) 9:2 and a tough fight against Evgenji Buslaev (RUS) which he won with 9:7, van den Berg made his way through the winner’s side of the Dynamic Billard North Cyprus Open. He will face young Wiktor Zielinski (POL) who conquered Osman Sanlisoy (TNC) 9:3 and Maksim Dudanets (RUS) 9:5.

The Dynamic Billard North Cyprus Open will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 local time with matches from loser’s round 3.


THURSDAY 2 JUNE 2016 - AM REPORT


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Dynamic Billard North Cyprus Open started with surprises

The Dynamic Billard North Cyprus Open have started today with several unexpected results already in the early rounds.

One of the bigger upsets was the clear 9:4 victory of Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) over Mika Immonen (FIN) on the TV table arena. Immonen, who made it here all the way from the United States where he resides since many years now, got no foot on the floor against the young gun from Poland. Consequently, the result displays a clear affair in favor of Szewczyk. Szewczyk will face Andrey Seroshtan (RUS) in the next winner’s round. Seroshtan advanced to the second round without having to play since his Lebanese opponent Ramzi Assaf did not show up. Immonen needs to make his way through the loser’s side now.

BCA Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet (GER) had to struggle very hard against his first opponent Jani Kela (FIN). Kela who is here completely unheralded, provided a tough fight for the grandmaster. After 16 racks, the scoreboard displayed a tie at 8:8 between the two competitors. Then, Souquet displayed all his class and ran the last and deciding rack in order to take the match 9:8 and send Kela to the loser’s side of the draw.

Nr. 1 ranked player on the Euro-Tour rankings, Mark Gray (GBR) made short work of Saki Kanatlar (TUR) and handed him a 9:5 defeat. Sebastian Staab (GER) was able to overpower French legend Stephane Cohen with 9:6. Cohen committed several mistakes in the match and even left the final 9-ball hanging over the pocket for Staab. Cohen was an easy prey for Staab today and he will have to improve his performance on the loser’s side if he does not want an early exit from the event.

Ali Karanfiloglou (TNC) won over Nick Malai (GRE) 9:8. The match was a thriller just like its end itself. Karanfiloglou now holds many hopes from the local supporters.

The tournament is continued today with the last round starting at 20:30 local time.


PREVIEW


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The sun is awaiting Europe’s pool elite on the Island of Aphrodite

The Dynamic Billard Euro-Tour is having its next stop starting tomorrow. Around 140 players in the Open and 32 players in the Women’s event will come to Kyrenia, North Cyprus, to joust for prize money and valuable ranking points.

Thursday, June 2nd the Dynamic Billard North Cyprus Open Euro-Tour will begin with the first round matches to start at 09:00 local time and the final scheduled for Saturday, June 4th, 18:00. As in every Euro-Tour event, 34.000,- € prize money are at stake with 3.500,-€ going to the winner alone. A special feature in the setup here is the beautiful location of the venue, the Acapulco Hotel, Spa & Casino holiday resort. Located on the northern coast of sunny Cyprus, the weather is very much enjoyable during most time of the year. Players are currently pouring in from all over Europe and get ready for action but also enjoy the sunny beaches and pools of the Acapulco resort. Special attention in the field could be paid to players like Mika Immonen (FIN) and Jayson Shaw (SCO) who actually reside in the United States but are looking for ranking points in order to get a shot at Europe’s Mosconi Cup team.

On Saturday, June 4th at 09:00 local time the Women North Cyprus Open will commence. Female players only are allowed into this event and most of Europe’s top players have announced for it. Unfortunately, Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan had to cancel last minute but the remaining field holds the strongest names of European women’s pool. Especially the Eastern and Scandinavian countries are represented with a huge contingency. The final match of the women’s event is scheduled for 15:00 on Sunday afternoon.

On Sunday evening at 18:00, June 5th, the North Cyprus Challenge Cup will begin. Many local players will encounter several European top players for a tournament which holds the B-status of the EPBF. The tournament is divided into a men’s, women’s and youth section and holds a total prize fund of over 35.000,-€. The North Cyprus Challenge Cup will last until Wednesday, June 8th at 20:00 local time where the final will be played. More information can be found here www.northcypruscup.com

The tournaments are all played on 20 tables which will all be in a livestream throughout the events. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be purchased at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.

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 eurotouronline.com, womeneurotouronline.com , visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.


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