Mario He (AUT) just won the Dynamic Billard Klagenfurt Open 2018 at the Sportpark Klagenfurt with a 9:8 victory in the final match against Mark Gray (GBR).
The final match was packed with thrilling shots and exciting strategy. Both players are excellent shotmakers and the final match was a collection of superb performance and high class pool billiards. With a few ups and downs for both players, the match came to hill-hill with Mario He being on the break shot. He fired the opening shot of rack #17 and to his disliking, no ball was pocketed. Gray got to the table and pocketed the 1-ball with a long and precise shot. He got to the 5-ball which was frozen to the 9-ball and thus not playable for him. He attempted a safety shot but left a long pot for Mario He. However, since the 6-ball and the7-ball were lying close together, he was not too afraid. But Mario He not only pocketed the 5-ball but also opened up the 6-ball and the 7-ball with the cue ball. He then elevated his cue stick and pocketed the 6-ball with a masse shot. The remaining three balls were just business as usual for the Austrian, who won the match 9:8 and took the title of the Dynamic Billard Klagenfurt Open winner 2018.
„Mark Gray has never lost a final match in the Euro-Tour. He won 6 out of 6 until today. But that did not worry me too much since I knew that I could win if I can play up to me expectations“, mentioned a modest Mario He. On his facebook page, Mario He wrote: „I‘m over the moon and so happy to win the Euro-Tour here in Klagenfurt, my 4th Euro-Tour win and feels still same like the first one. Can‘t describe how the pressure, sadness, happiness in all matches and single moments were.“
After this tournament, Eklent Kaci (ALB) will still lead the Euro-Tour Rankings with 20 points over Mario He who is now in second place.
Top Eight Finishers
1. Mario He AUT
2. Mark Gray GBR
3. Marc Bijsterbosch NED
Oliver Szolnoki HUN
5. Joshua Filler GER
Niels Feijen NED
Jakub Koniar SVK
Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz ESP
Top Ten Euro-Tour Rankings
1. Eklent Kaci ALB
2. Mario He AUT
3. Albin Ouschan AUT
4. Wiktor Zielinski POL
5. Denis Grabe EST
6. Ralf Souquet GER
7. Alexander Kazakis GRE
8. Maximilian Lechner AUT
9. Marc Bijsterbosch NED
10. Mark Gray GBR
Earlier today, the women started their event, the EPBF Klagenfurt Open 2018. There were a lot of surprising results today. The biggest upset of the day in the women’s event was the 7:3 victory of Vania Franco (POR) against #1 ranked player Marharyta Fefilava (BLR). That result was as unexpected as the 7:6 victory of Ina Kaplan (GER) against #2 ranked player Kristina Tkach (RUS). Both top ranked players have fallen in the early stage of the tournament and had to take the bumpy detour route over the loser’s side. And if that was not enough drama, current #3 ranked player Oliwia Czuprynska (POL) also lost her opening match against Karin Michl (GER) with 5:7. Eventually, Czuprynska met Fefilava in the loser’s qualification match. Both players were actually expected to enter the single elimination stage of the event. However, today’s results led to this match with one of the two top-ranked players having to go home early. The match went not as close as expected. Fefilava dominated from the beginning and achieved a start to finish victory, smashing Czuprynska 7:1. The Polish did not at all live up to her standard and appeared to be defeated before the match was actually over.
Austrian superstar Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) had easy going today. She took down Ann-Sofie Lofgren (SWE) 7:2 and then Seychelyne Knapp (AUT) even with 7:0. Ouschan has secured her spot among the top 16 women of the tournament.
That concludes the coverage of the Dynamic Billard Klagenfurt Open 2018. Tomorrow, the EPBF Klagenfurt Open 2018 for Women will continue at 10:00 with matches from the last 16 players single elimination.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organised by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). Play starts Thursday at 09:30 local time, for further information and reference please go to the federation website eurotouronline under the Eurotour tab. You can also visit us on our Facebook page or check out the EPBF YouTube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.