Ralf Souquet (GER), also known as „The Kaiser“, wins his 22nd Euro-Tour event Italy with an impressive 9:5 victory over „The Siberian Express“ Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) in the final match of the Dynamic Billard Italian Open in BHR Best Western Hotel in Treviso, Italy.
The single elimination started with a huge effort for Souquet. He met Ivar Sarin (NED) in the round of the last 32 players and barely made it with 9:8 over the young Dutch player. Then today, he marched on and eliminated Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) 9:7, surprise player Damianos Giallourakis (GRE) 9:6 and in the semi-final match he ousted Daryl Peach (GBR) with another 9:7 victory. Chinakhov’s way to the final match was not easier. He dealt with Wojciech Sroczynski (POL) 9:2, ousted his young teammate Sergey Lutsker (RUS) 9:4, ended Mario He’s (AUT) run 9:4 and finally took down Denis Grabe (EST) 9:3. The outcome of the final match could not have been predicted at all. Both players have made their way through one of the toughest fields of contestants that the pool World could imagine. They were the last two men standing. However, in the final match Chinakhov committed some mistakes. He miscued two times and allowed his opponent Souquet back to the table. Chinakhov really wanted this time since it would have been his first Euro-Tour win. But Souquet was too strong for him today and brutally punished each mistake that Chinakhov made without showing any mercy. The final score of 9:5 in favour of Souquet displays the supremacy that Souquet held in the whole match. A deserved winner after his last victory dates back to 2014 in Kyrenia, North Cyprus.
Final standings top eight players
1. Ralf Souquet (GER)
2. Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS)
3. Denis Grabe (EST)
Daryl Peach (GBR)
5. Mario He (AUT)
Albin Ouschan (AUT)
Nick van den Berg (NED)
Damianos Giallourakis (GRE)
Painful end for van Boening
Earlier today, US superstar player Shane van Boening suffered a defeat in the round of the last 16 players. Van Boening has entertained many people with his performance in Treviso. His last match against Mario He (AUT) however turned out to become a drama for him in the end. Leading 8:7, van Boening was at the table and had all balls in front of him for a nice run out. But he played a bad position for the 5-ball and consequently got a tough position for the 6-ball. He missed the 6-ball and left a thin cut for He. The Austrian got to the table and also missed the 6-ball but he got lucky in the end. He fluked it in into the corner pocket on the other side of the table and then fired the 7-ball over one rail into the side pocket to run out the rack and tie the match at 8:8. Rack 17 coming up with Mario He to break. Three balls flew in the pockets and He saw himself in front of an open table with an easy opening shot. He cleared the table and took the match with 9:8, sending an unlucky van Boening home after a great event from the American.
The Dynamic Billard Italian Women Open has also commenced today.
39 players have found their way to Treviso to try and conquer some prize money and important ranking points. Sara Rocha (POR) came up with the biggest surprise of the event so far, defeating European star player Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) 7:6 in the winner’s qualification round. Russia’s Kristina Tkach is also straight on track in the event. She won both her first matches against Vania Franco (POR) 7:5 and Monika Zabel (POL) 7:1 and advanced to the single elimination round of the last 16 players. Germany’s Pia Blaeser is also in a pretty good condition here in Treviso. She managed to overmaster Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) 7:5 and Claudia von Rohr (SUI) 7:5 to book her seat in the round of the last 16 players.
Tomorrow, the Dynamic Billard Italian Women Open will continue at 09:30 CET with matches from the round of the last 16 player single elimination. The final match is scheduled for 14:30 local time.
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