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The Dynamic Billlard Austrian Open
The Ballazzo Austrian Women�s Open
Alpina Wellness & Sporthotel
Alpendorf 8 - 5600
Sankt Johann im Pongau
Austria
www.sporthotel-alpina.com
www.epbf.com
www.epconline.eu
www.kozoom.com

14-16 April 2016

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Gray and Ouschan took Euro-Tour titles

With solid performances, Mark Gray (GBR) won the Dynamic Billard Austrian Open and Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) won the Ballazzo Austrian Women�s Open in Alpina Sports and Wellness Hotel in St. Johann i.Pg., Austria.

The men�s final was played between highly favored Mark Gray and underdog Ronald Regli (SUI). The way to the final match today lead Regli over Petri Makkonen (FIN) 9:7, Ivo Aarts (NED) 9:6 and Marco Teutscher (NED) 9:5 in the semi-finals. Gray defeated Imran Majid (GBR) 9:3, Sebastian Staab (GER) 9:6 and Joshua Filler (GER) 9:6 for his seat in the final match. Gray, being the favored player here took the stage and opened his account first. After Gray took a 2:0 lead, Regli was able to pull two racks back and tie the match at 2:2. The match went along quite evenly with both players taking racks but Gray always had that small advantage over Regli at all times. At 5:5, Gray went ahead and took the next three racks in order to get on the hill with 8:5. In rack 14, Regli was a bit unlucky. He went for a jumpsuit on the 3-ball but he left it hanging over the pocket for Gray. That brought the Brit back to the table who showed no mercy and ran the final rack to win the match and the tournament with 9:5.

That victory puts Gray on top of the European rankings.

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Top Eight Finishers Dynamic Billard Austrian Open
1. Mark Gray (GBR)
2. Ronald Regli (SUI)
3. Marco Teutscher (NED)
3. Joshua Filler (GER)
5. Wojciech Szewczyk (POL)
5. Ivo Aarts (NED)
5. Wiktor Zielinski (POL)
5. Sebastian Staab (GER)

The women�s final was played between Jasmin Ouschan and Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL). Both players know each other quite well. Khodjaeva won her semi-final with Vania Franco (POR) 7:2 while Ouschan took down Amalia Matas (ESP) 7:4.

The encounter started with Ouschan drawing first blood in the match. Of course, she was the favorite player in the match. But Khodjaeva gave her a good challenge and after three racks, Khodjaeva was up 2:1. The next racks were determined by safety play. Ouschan forced Khodjaeva quite often to come up with jump shots since she played excellent safety position. Subsequently, Ouschan pulled a few racks from Khodjaeva and took a 4:2 lead. This tactical change seemed to work for Ouschan. Khodjaeva took a time-out at that point in time, probably to reshape and think about a solution against Ouschan�s new tactics. It looked as if the time-out did its job. Khodjaeva won the next rack and shortened the distance to Ouschan to 3:4. The next break was Ouschan�s to come up. After a few safety shots, Khodjaeva actually left a good safe for Ouschan. Jasmin had to go rail first on the 2-ball when she did not only hit the 2-ball but flukes it in together with the 3-ball, having an open rack in front of her. The balls were definitely rolling in her favor at that point in time of the match. She ran the rack and went up 5:3. But Khodjaeva never gave in. She pulled the next two racks back and kept the match a tight affair. 5:5 was the score after 50 minutes of playing time. Now it was a race to two! To the shock of the audience, Khodjaeva took the next racks and went on the hill first, leading 6:5 over Ouschan now. And as if it could not have gotten any worse for Ouschan, she broke in rack 12 and scratched with 3 balls down. That was the perfect opportunity for �The Dark Angel� Kamila Khodjaeva to win the tournament. But she missed a makable 5-ball. The pressure was on for both players. Ouschan used all her experience and joined Khodjaeva on the hill. Now the score was 6:6 with one more rack to go. Khodjaeva was breaking the rack. She had balls down but no shot on the 1-ball. She played a push-out and Ouschan came up with a good safety position for her. Khodjaeva hit the 1-ball rail first but left a shot for Ouschan. Ouschan went for the rack and pocketed the needed 9-ball with a combo over the 5-ball. That brought her the victory in the tournament.

Top Eight Finishers Ballazzo Austrian Women�s Open
1. Jasmin Ouschan (AUT)
2. Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL)
3. Vania Franco (POR)
3. Amalia Matas (ESP)
5. Sara Rocha (POR)
5. Christine Wiechert (GER)
5. Kristina Tkach (RUS)
5. Veronika Ivanovskaia (GER)

That concludes the coverage from Sports- and Wellness Hotel Alpina, Alpendorf, St. Johann i.Pg., Austria. The next stop of the Euro-Tour will be from June 2nd-4th in Hotel Acapulco, Catalkoy, Kyrenia, North Cyprus.

REPORT 6

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Euro-Tours in St. Johann both down to semi-finals

The Dynamic Billlard Austrian Open as well as the Ballazzo Austrian Women�s Open are down to the semi-final matches.

Probably a huge surprise name in the semi-finals of the Open tournament is Ronald Regli (SUI). He managed to overcome Petri Makkonen (FIN) 9:7 and the Ivo Aarts (NED) 9:6 in the quarter-finals. Aarts had just ousted Albin Ouschan (AUT) 9:6 the round before. Regli�s opponent in the semi-final is Marco Teutscher (NED) who is part of the �young orange� team form The Netherlands. Teutscher defeated �The Terminator� Niels Feijen (NED) 9:8 and Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) 9:2 today. Teutscher is also not a regular in Euro-Tour semi-finals. The second semi-final will be played between Germany�s young gun Joshua Filler and Mark Gray (GBR), the only player who is kind of expected in this late stage of an event. Gray is currently ranked nr.2 on the Eurotour rankings and he will have a shot at conquering nr.1 spot since his direct rival Feijen dropped out in the quarters today.

In the women�s event, the first semi-final is played between Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL) and Vania Franco (POR). Khodjaeva ousted Anna Mazhirina (RUS) 7:1 and Sara Rocha (POR) 7:5 today. Her opponent Franco defeated Kristina Grim (GER) 7:5 and then Christine Wiechert (GER) 7:5 for her spot in the semifinal match.

The other semi-final will be played between Austrian superstar Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) and Amalia Matas (ESP). Ouschan overpowered Melanie Suessenguth (GER) 7:1 and then Veronika Ivanovskaia (GER) even 7:0 while Matas finished Marika Poikkijoki (FIN) 7:6 and Kristina Tkach (RUS) also 7:6.

The semi-finals start at 14:00 and 16:00 CET. The women�s final is scheduled for 18:00 and the men�s final for 20:00 CET.

REPORT 5

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Juva humiliated Ortmann at Dynamic Billard Austrian Open Euro-Tour

At the Dynamic Billard Austrian Open 2016 in St. Johann i.Pg., Austria, Markus Juva (FIN) trounced former World 9-ball Champion Oliver Ortmann (GER) 9:3 in the loser�s qualification round.

Ortmann, who had been sent to the loser�s side by a narrow 8:9 defeat against Eklent Kaci (ALB) earlier today, made his way through to the loser�s qualification round with victories over Milan Mrva (SLK) 9:7 and Marco Spitzky (GER) 9:7.

There he met Juva who just lost his last match with Sebastian Staab (GER) 7:9. On paper, Ortmann was the clearly favored player. But sometimes the paper does not tell the truth. Juva quickly got speed and after 2:2, he managed to win five racks in a row which put him up 7:2 over Ortmann. He then took a time-out and when he came back, Ortmann took the next rack. But that was it for the German. Java won two more racks in a row and defeated Ortmann 9:3. This booked Juva a seat in the round of the last 32 players single elimination.

More famous casualties involve among others Tony Drago (MLT). The �Tornado� lost 4:9 to Alexander Kazakis (GRE). Andreas Madsen (DEN) ended Abdullah Al-Youssef�s (KUW) hopes for a seat among the top 32 players. He subdued him 9:5. Jayson Shaw (SCO) is still alive in the event. He ousted Nick van den Berg (NED) with 9:5. Russian youngster Maksim Dudanets (RUS) joins Madsen with a 9:6 victory over local hero Mario He (AUT).

In the women�s division, the action is also down to the loser�s qualification round. Qualified for the single elimination round of the last 16 women are Nataliya Seroshtan, Anna Mazhirina, Kristina Tkach (all RUS), Christine Wiechert, Veronika Ivanovskaia (both GER), Vania Franco (POR), Marika Poikkijoki (FIN) and Jasmin Ouschan (AUT). In the loser�s qualification round, among others Ina Kaplan (GER) and Amalia Matas (ESP) duel for a spot in the single elimination stage.

Action continues here tomorrow morning at 10:00 CET in the Open event with matches of the last 16 players single elimination.

REPORT 4

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Al-Youssef clears up the house in St. Johann

With very impressive victories over Michael Cromen (GER) 9:3, European 8-ball Champion Vitaliy Patsura (UKR) 9:2 and European 9-Ball Champion Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) 9:5, Abdullah Al-Youssef (KUW) set an exclamation mark in the tournament. He is one of the players from the middle east that regularly come to the Euro-Tour and gain experience and improve their game. Today, Al-Youssef has proven that he is on the top level already. Among others, defeating two of these �heavyweights� of European pool-billiards is definitely not an easy task. In the winner�s qualification round yet, Al-Youssef the met Daryl Peach (GBR), former 9-ball World Champion from England. The Brit seemed to be a toughie for Al-Youssef. Peach commanded the match and went ahead with a nice and comfortable 7:1 lead. The gap of six racks was too big for Al-Youssef to succeed in coming back. In the end, he got defeated 3:9 by Peach but is still alive in the tournament�s loser�s qualification round where he will play the winner of Jan van Lierop (NED) vs Andreas Madsen (DEN).

Other interesting results from today include Niels Feijen (NED) routing Stephan Cohen (nothing) 9:8 in the second winner�s round. In the same round, Daryl Peach won the all-British affair over Jayson Shaw (SCO) with 9:7. That puts him through to the winner�s qualification round but �Eagle-eye� Shaw is still on the board. He needs to fight his way through the loser�s side though. Hometown hero Albin Ouschan (AUT) managed to pip Juan Carlos Exposito (ESP) with 9:8. Roman Hybler (CZE) bowled over �The Kaiser� Ralf Souquet (GER) with 9:6. Maksim Dudanets (RUS) drubbed Tomasz Kaplan (POL) 9:5. �The Tornado� Tony Drago (MLT) fell to the sharp blade of Mariusz Skoneczny (POL) 3:9. Eklent Kaci (ALB) got the better of �The Machine� Oliver Ortmann (GER) and defeated him by a hair�s breadth 9:8. Newly crowned EPBF Player of the Year Francisco Diaz-Pizarro (ESP) lost unexpectedly clear 2:9 to Sebastian Staab (GER). All loser�s from winner�s round 2 will get another chance on the loser�s side of the tournament.

On the loser�s side, no more chances were given to Kevin Becker (GER) and Konstantin Stepanov (RUS). Becker lost 7:9 to �The Siberian Express� Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) 7:9 while Stepanov folded his cards against Jani Uski (FIN) 6:9.

The tournament for these gentlemen is over just as it is for Nick Malai (GRE) who got eliminated 8:9 by Kim Laaksonen (FIN). The journey in the Dynamic Billard Austrian Open 2016 has also come to an end for Vitaliy Patsura. He got knocked off 8:9 by Jan van Lierop. Cliff Castelein (BEL) subdued Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz with 9:5 and sent him home. Sanchez-Ruiz can travel together with fellow countryman Juan Carlos Exposito (ESP) who was ousted 5:9 by Tobias Bongers (GER). Tony Drago ended all hopes for Karl Boyes (GBR), handing him a 9:4 defeat in loser�s round 4.

In the Ballazzo Austrian Women�s Open, Austrian top star Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) won her winner�s round 1 match over Martine Christiansen (NOR) 7:3 without a huge effort. Claudia Kunz (SUI) however creamed Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL) 7:5 in the same round and sent her to the left side of the draw where she will be up tonight against Martine Christiansen and fight for the survival in the event. Miha Beuriot (NED) managed to keep a foot in the door of the event and eliminated Louise Furberg (SWE) 7:5. Kristina Grim (GER) won the all-German clash with Kristina Schagan (GER) 7:4.

REPORT 3

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Diaz is EPBF Player of the Year 2015

The election for the 2015 EPBF Player of the Year is over and Francisco Diaz-Pizarro (ESP) is the winner.

The nominees this year were Jouni Tahti (FIN), Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL), Niels Feijen (NED), Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) and Francisco Diaz-Pizarro (ESP). The election was held in three different categories: public votes, federation votes and officials votes.

In public votes, everyone could vote for his/her favorite on the website and every vote was counted. Diaz won that category by a mile with 539 votes for him. The second player had 199 votes.

The category �federations� consisted of each federation getting one vote for their favorite. Here, Niels Feijen won and Diaz only got this place.

In the category �Officials�, the EPBF handed voting cards to Board members, Sponsors, Staff team members, etc. That category was taken by Diaz again with one point over Jasmin Ouschan. IN the end, the points added up to Diaz winning the vote and receiving the trophy from the hands of the President of the EPBF, Gre Leenders.

�This award really makes me very proud�, said Diaz during the player�s party where the trophy was awarded. �I want to dedicate this trophy to my son Frankie William Diaz Rodriguez.� Diaz� main achievements in 2015 were the title of the European 9-ball Champion, the silver medal in 10-ball at the EC and the bronze medal in straight pool. This outstanding performance together with his sportsmanship and overall appearance definitely made the difference and got him this award.

REPORT 2

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Filler takes down Stepanov

Joshua Filler (GER) has defeated Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) in an exciting match with 9:4.

It was a tough draw for both in the first winner�s round. Filler made short work of Kristjan Kuusik (EST) and won 9:4 in the first round match. Stepanov had a walk-over in that round. Then these two high-standard players met. They have both taken a silver medal last week, Stepanov in straight pool and Filler in 9-ball. The heat seemed to be on in the match. After eight racks, the scoreboard displayed a tie at 4:4. None of the two could get away from the opponent. �Both our breaks did not work in the beginning�, stated Filler in an interview. �Finally, at 4:4 my break started to be good. Fortunately for me, Stepanov still had to struggle.� That was the difference that one of them needed. Filler consequently made use of Stepanov�s break and put also his own racks in his account. In the end, Filler defeated Stepanov with 9:4 and advanced to the next winner�s round where he will play Alen Muratovic (BIH) tomorrow morning at 10:30 CET.

Other interesting results from today include Daniele Corrieri (ITA) winning with 9:8 only over Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS). Nick Ekonomopoulos (GRE) defeated Karl Boyes (GBR) also with the same result in the same round. Sebastian Ludwig (GER) remained the upper hand over Mieszko Fortunski (POL) 9:5.

In the women�s event, Tamara Peeters-Rademakers (NED) managed to defeat Kristina Grim (GER) 7:4. Melanie Suessenguth (GER) overpowered her teammate Ina Kaplan (GER) 7:2.

Action continues here tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET in the Open event with matches of the second round, winners and losers. In the women�s event, matches of the first winner�s and loser�s round will be played.

REPORT 1

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No upsets in round one action

The first matches of the Dynamic Billard Austrian Open and the Ballazzo Austria Women�s Open have been played and the first surprising results have come in. However, there has not yet been a huge upset so far.

One of the unexpected results in the event was Abdullah Al-Yousef�s (UAE) clear 9:2 victory over newly crowned 8-ball European Champion Vitaliy Patsura (UKR). Patsura was on fire throughout the EC but the Euro-Tour starts with a defeat for him. He now needs to make his way over the loser�s side in order to make it to the final 64 single elimination stage. Daniele Corrieri (ITA) won 9:8 by a whisker over Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS). That match was an exciting encounter with the luckier end for Corrieri.

In the women�s tournament, a small upset would be the 7:4 victory of Ine Helvik (NOR) over Oliwia Czuprynska (POL). Czuprynska who had won the Gold Medal in women�s team at the European Championships earlier this week seemed to be off the roll. Czuprynska�s teammate Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) had some hard work to do today. She was playing against Simone Kuenzl (GER) in her first round match. Being 6:5 up, Wesolowska missed an easy 8-ball and left it hanging over the pocket for Kuenzl. The German used the chance and tied the match at 6:6.

The next rack was dominated by nervous play from both players. With three balls left on the table, Kuenzl played a safety shot and left nothing for Wesolowska. Wesolowska hit it and luckily left nothing for Kuenzl in return. Then Kuenzl came up with a decent safety and forces Wesolowska to play a foul shot. With ball in hand, Kuenzl missed the second last ball and could not finish the rack. Wesolowska could and won very luckily with 7:6.

PREVIEW

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Largest number of attendance at Euro-Tour ever

The upcoming Dynamic Billard Austrian Open and Ballazzo Austrian Women Open which will both start tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET in Alpina Sports & Wellness Hotel in Alpendorf, St. Johann i.Pg., Austria, carry the largest number of entrants ever in a Euro-Tour.

With one day of break in between, the Euro-Tour is on its dawn. Yesterday, the Dynamic Billard European Championships for men, women and wheelchair athletes have come to an end after 11 days of tough competition. We had anti-doping controls here yesterday and the day was determined by six (6!) hours of LIVE TV on the Austrian National TV station ORF Sports+. Today, more and more players are bussing in for the Euro-Tours while the ones that are already here for two weeks took the opportunity to relax a bit. Sitting in the beautiful mountain sun and having an ice-cream, playing volleyball on the field in front of the hotel or running around in the mountain paths were just a few options that were made use of today. The overall morale is still very good with all players. As the day grew older, more and more players pilgrimaged to the venue and started their practice in order to be in top shape by tomorrow morning.

215 participants in the Open event plus 52 women add up to 267 players total. That increases the former record, held from last year in Portugal, by two players. �We are constantly having good numbers of participants throughout the past two years�, stated the President of the EPBF, Gre Leenders, �and that is a good proof for us that our work and efforts are highly appreciated by the players.� �We have many players that travel very far from places like Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and other faraway places since they see that the quality that the Euro-Tour is providing is second to none. No other tournament series in the World can be compared to what we are doing�, added Leenders.

However, with so many participants the events have about reached the capacity of what is possible to run in three days on 24 tables. Looking at the names it can be seen that the complete cr�me de la cr�me of European pool-billiards is in attendance here. The tournament carries 34.000,-� prize money in the open and 3.000,-� prize money in the women�s event. Maybe even more interesting than the money part will be the ranking points that can be achieved here in St. Johann i.Pg. The rankings determine the selection for players to go to World Championships or international invitational events. Therefore, the Euro-Tour is the most important tournament to many European players.

Action starts here tomorrow morning at 09:00 CET in the Open event with matches of the first rounds. At 12:00 CET, the first matches of the women�s event will be played.

The tournaments will be played on 24 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 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, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office.

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