In an all-German clash of two World Champions at the Dynamic Billard Antalya Open 2019, Joshua Filler (GER) ousted his fellow countryman Thorsten Hohmann (GER) with 9:3.
When the draw was done and the match between Filler and Hohmann was on the board, the expectations grew pretty high from the audience. Both players are former or current World Champions and have both dominated the youth in their respective generation. Today, more experienced Hohmann entered the ring against young Filler who is on fire for quite some time now. Experience against youth, precision against audacity. Who would remain the upper hand in this classy match?! To the liking of Filler, the match completely went for him. His break shot came good, he had decent layouts and ran the table when needed. Hohmann did not play bad but Filler was just better today. Therefore, the end result of 9:3 in favour of Filler is a true display of the course of this match. While Hohmann now has to settle for 17th, Filler will play against Mark Gray (GBR) tomorrow morning at 10:00 local time. Gray ousted Tomasz Kaplan (POL) with an impressive 9:2 tonight. Other remarkable results from that round include Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) ended the road for Albin Ouschan (AUT) with 9:2. Sanchez-Ruiz will now meet Wiktor Zielinski (POL) who stood tall against Tim de Ruyter (NED) tonight with 9:5.
Earlier today, one of the biggest oddities in a Euro-Tour event ever happened in Antalya. Darren Appleton (GBR) who defeated Mark Gray yesterday, did not show up for his winner’s qualification round match. After Gray, he also defeated Mohammadhossein Noori (IRI) 9:5 this morning in the 09:00 round. Then he did not show up for this winner’s qualification match against Albin Ouschan (AUT) and forfeited the match. On top of that, he also did not show up for his next match, the loser’s qualification match against Mark Gray again. The worried organisers tried to look for him and in the end it turned out that Appleton simply overslept! „Decided to take a nap around 11-12pm after my match this morning as I’ve slept terrible since I arrived and even worse last night,Set my alarm for 2pm but fell back asleep ! I was due to play at 4.30pm didn’t make that match and 6pm losers Q but didn’t wake up until 6.30pm so got forfeited both matches!! Shit happens!!“ stated Appleton on his facebook page. „Thanks for everyone’s concern that was worried about me and good luck to everyone left in the tournament!“
In the loser’s qualification round, Thorsten Hohmann (GER) went up against Mario He (AUT). Both players are known to be „heavyweights“ in European pool and it was impossible to predict the outcome of that match. So the match went along, confirming that assumption. The tide turned several times in the match. Hohmann was up 6:3 at some stage but Mario He went on the hill first with 8:7. Hohmann struck back and made the match a hill-hill thriller at 8:8. In rack #17, Mario He had the break shot. He pocketed three balls but had a tough shot on the 2-ball. Mario He decided to play a safety on the 2-ball, leaving nothing for Hohmann to capitalise from. The German came up with an even better safety shot, creating a huge problem for He. He put the cue ball in the jaws of a pocket, leaving the 2-ball in the middle of the opposite short rail with several object balls blocking the path. Mario He played a jump shot and hit the 2-ball but left an open shot with a clear layout for Hohmann. Thorsten Hohmann used that chance and ran the rack, winning the match with 9:8 over an unlucky Mario He.
The Dynamic Billard Antalya Open 2019 will continue tomorrow morning at 10:00 local time with matches from the last 16 players single elimination.
Every day, up to two matches will be streamed LIVE over the EPBF Facebook page and on the EPBF YouTube channel. Check for updates and announcements.
The Dynamic Billard Antalya Open are played in the Limak Atlantis Resort in Belek, Turkey, on up to 20 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.eurotouronline.com or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.