In the 9-ball individuals of the Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships 2018 at the NH Conference Centre Koningshof, Veldhoven, The Netherlands, many close results determined today’s matches.
In the round of the last 64 men single elimination, defending Champion Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) was ousted all of a sudden by unheralded Ferdi Ozdemir (TUR). The Turkish the went on and had a fierce fight with Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) where he was defeated with 7:9. Other remarkable results from today’s 9-ball matches include Marc Bijsterbosch (NED) smashing Alexander Kazakis (GRE) with 9:2. The same result was good for Joshua Filler (GER) when he wiped the floor with Niels Feijen (NED). While Bijsterbosch had a nice and easy 9:5 victory over Dimitri Jungo (SUI) in the next round, Filler needed to sweat against Marek Hajdovsky (CZE). After 15 racks, Filler was up 8:7 and it was Hajdovsky’s break shot coming up. He successfully executed a good break but had no clear shot on the 1-ball. He needed to come up with a good push-out. He did and Filler gave the shot back to him. Hajdovky played a very good safety and put Filler under pressure with that. Filler managed to hit the 1-ball but left an open table for Hajdovsky. The Czech kept his nerves together and cleared the table, turning the match into a hill-hill affair with Filler having the break shot in the final rack. Filler had a ball down and a tough shot on the 1-ball in front of him. There were no clusters or anything on the table but in order to pocket the 1-ball, Filler needed to bridge over the 4-ball and elevate his bridge hand very much. Filler decided to play a safety in that situation which probably was the better choice. A safety battle occurred with both athletes playing brilliant safety shots. Eventually, Filler came up with a shot that forced Hajdivsky to commit a foul shot. With ball in hand, Filler ran the rack and won the match by a whisker with 9:8 over a worthy opponent.
The women’s division was also played down to the final 16 players. Defending Champion Kelly Fisher (GBR) could not be stopped so far. She wasted no time with Helena Benjamin (SWE) and eliminated her with 7:3 from the 9-ball individuals. She will face Melanie Suessenguth (GER) tomorrow had stood tall against her teammate Tina Vogelmann (GER) and won 7:3 today. Ana Gradisnik (SLO) took down Ina Kaplan (GER) and advanced to the round of the last 16 players with a 7:4 victory. Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) waltzed past Yini Gaspar (SUI) and handed her a doughnut with 7:0. Nataliya Seroshtan (RUS) had a tough fight against Micha Beuriot (NED) and just made it over the finish line with 7:6.
Henrique Correia (POR), defending Champion in the senior’s division, is still alive in the 9-ball individuals. Though he had to take the detour over the loser’s side, he has ousted Piotr Kleinschmidt (POL) 7:0 and the Dirk Stenten (GER) in the single elimination round. Also Rustem Aygunlu (TUR) was no obstacle for Correia. The Portuguese won the match 8:2 and advanced into the round of the final 16 players.
Christoffer Lentz (DEN) and Ivan Galic (CRO) are probably the most promising athletes in the Under 17’s division. They are among the last 16 players of the field. Lentz took down Oskar Jamorski (POL) 7:3 while Galic made it with 7:2 over Sasu Hietamis (FIN). If they both win their next matches, they will have a showdown against one another in the quarter-finals.
In the Under 19’s, defending Champion Jan van Lierop (NED) still stands tall and holds his position against all challengers so far. Today, his victim was German team Champion Alen Salic (GER) who lost with 5:8 to van Lierop. Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) made a clear statement when he overran Ragnar Gronsten (SWE) with 8:1. Wiktor Zielinski (POL) had some more work to do but in the end also joined the athletes in the next round by beating Dmitrii Shkudov (RUS) with 8:6. Jonas Souto (ESP) came out strong in the heartbreaker against Egor Trifonov (RUS) which he managed to decide with 8:7 for himself.
The „newest“ division of the EPBF, the Under 23’s, was already played down to the last 12 players today. The biggest upset was the elimination of last year’s runner-up and #1 seeded player Pijus Labutis (LTU). He fell to the sharp blade of Matis Saetre (NOR) with 8:9. Already in the quarter-finals are Samuel Santos (POR), Mark Magi (EST), Spasian Spasov (BUL) and Casper Matikainen (FIN). Their opponents will be determined tomorrow morning in the first round at 09:30 CET.
In the girls’ division, the favourites are still in the race for the Gold Medal. Probably the best chances has Valeriia Trushevskaia (RUS). She has already booked her seat in the quarter-final match. Together with Viktoriia Gurova (RUS) she has a pretty good starting position. However, 10-ball Champion Nina Torvund (NOR) and 8-ball Champion Darya Siranchuk (UKR) are also fighting for a spot among the last eight athletes.
In the ladies’ division, 8-ball Champion Barbara Bolfelli (ITA) had to forfeit her match for professional reasons. Defending Champion Ine Helvik, who has already taken the crown in 10-ball this week and defended her title there, is in the quarter-final, waiting for her opponent to be decided tomorrow morning.
In the wheelchair division, defending Champion Jouni Tahti (FIN) is fighting his way through the loser’s side. He just made it over Emil Malanowski (POL) in the loser’s qualification round with 7:6.
The Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships 2018 will commence tomorrow morning at 09:30 CET with the matches from the 9-ball individuals competition. The finals are scheduled for 16:00 CET. From 14:00 CET, table 1 will be broadcasted LIVE through Ziggo Sports Channel, the biggest Dutch sports channel and will show one semi-final and the final match. A discipline for the Live TV will be chosen tomorrow.
The Jubilee Championships are played on 60 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be obtained 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 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 visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.