6th February 2025
The open division at the LONGONI Italian Open got underway at the Best Western BHR Treviso Hotel with a long day’s play which saw the winners’ side progress to the Winner’s Qualification round, whilst the one-loss side move into Round 3. There were 176 players in, arguably, the strongest starting line-up in some time.
Making a welcome return to the Predator Euro Tour after a three-and-a-half-year absence was Austria’s Albin Ouschan. A two-time winner on tour in 2012 and 2015, Ouschan is also a multiple WPA World 9-Ball Champion, and he got off to a terrific start with three wins from three to put himself into Friday’s Winner’s Qualification round.
His opening match, an 8-4 win over useful French player, Benjamin Belhassen was initially a struggle but he found his feet and got the win.
He said, “It feels good to be back. I’ve got to say, I was a little bit nervous in the beginning and I’ve never played on this table as well but it was a good match, a good fight until 4-4, an even match, high quality. Then he made two errors and I took advantage of it.
“We both broke good but he maybe controlled the cue ball a little bit better and I think in the first three racks he made runouts. I struggled with it and had to play good safeties to stay in the match, but in the end, I took advantage of his mistakes.
“I’ve been long gone from the Euro Tour and I’ve got to get a feeling. I didn’t play tournaments for two months now and I’m missing a bit of this match feeling now. Probably when I have a hill-hill match, I’ll feel the tension rising. I’m feeling good so far and the table is playing quite easy, I would say, but I’m ready. I don’t really have a goal this Euro Tour. I’ll probably use it more as a practice and see where my level is at, and I can’t wait to find out,” he added.
A newcomer to the Euro Tour was rising American junior Payne McBride. The 18-year-old from Indiana was visiting Europe for coaching and took the opportunity to sharpen his competitive tools in Treviso. He enjoyed an opening win, 8-4 over Spain’s Daniel Gonzalez, before being pushed to the one-loss side by Jere Virtaranta (Finland). He lived to fight another day, though, following a hard-fought victory over Matous Vlk (CZE).
McBride said, “I’ve come over to train and improve and I got together with Johan (Ruijsink) for a boot camp. It’s my second bootcamp with him. We spent four days together and now we’re at the Euro Tour. I’m not 100% but I feel good but very nervous, and I’m loving the tournament.
“It’s a little different, different players, of course, but it’s still pool. It’s like a lot of the other tournaments I’ve been to but the quality is nicer. I like the new Predator tables, clean balls after every match, which is great. The level of play is definitely higher than where I’ve played. I just want to play my best and the goal for this whole trip has been to get better.”
Another player through to the Winner’s Qualification round is the Netherland’s Marc Bijsterbosch, who recorded wins over Michalis Spyropoulos (Greece) and then Germany’s Kadir Cavus to advance.
He said, “We played on new tables so it’s a little bit different of course, but I’ve won two matches so far which is pretty OK but the tables play good so far. I didn’t play for the last couple of months; not even practice. There were no tournaments so no reason to practice. Maybe a little ‘maintenance’ practice but that’s it. The season starts and I feel confident enough, I’m used to Treviso and it’s a familiar place.”
Play continues on Friday at 9.00 with more Winners’ Round 2 matches followed by successive rounds on the one-loss side.
This year sees a new streaming platform for all Euro Tour and European Championships events.
Table 1 will be streamed throughout on YouTube, via the Pro Billiard TV channel - https://www.youtube.com/@ProBilliardTV
For all results, live scoring and draw, visit https://www.epbf.com/tournaments/eurotour/information/
EPBF Sponsors
▸ Predator Group
▸ Iwan Simonis Billiard Cloth
▸ Aramith Billiard Balls
▸ Longoni Cues
▸ Kamui Brand
- ENDS -