Roberto Bartol (CRO) upset the pool world at the Dynamic Billard European Championships in St. Johann i.Pg., Austria, by eliminating highly favored Nick van den Berg (NED) with 9:8 from the event in the round of the last 64 players.
Maybe it is a curse that lies on van den Berg when he plays against a Bartol. Two years ago, he lost to Roberto’s brother Michel in North Cyprus at the European Championships. Today, he went up highly favored against totally unheralded Roberto Bartol, the younger brother of the two. Things started out pretty promising fro van den Berg. After six racks, he was in front with 5:1 and it looked like a was in the park for van den Berg. But suddenly the tide turned in the match. Barton got the room of the balls and also improved his play immensely. He took the next five racks and went up on van den Berg with 6:5. Suddenly, the match was hot again. Barton was a real challenge for van den Berg. Being 7:6 in the lead, the Dutch Champion missed an 8-ball and instead of getting on the hill with 8:6, the match was tied at 7:7. All of that gave Bartol some wind underneath his wings. He played focussed and steady and went on the hill first with 8:7. Van den Berg needed a good roll and he got it. He tied the match at 8:8. Rack 17 was the decider. Barton committed no more mistakes and in the end won the match with 9:8. It can be stated that this victory is not undeserved at all. Barton consequently made use of the chances he was given and rightfully took the victory over van den Berg. Barton will face Denis Grabe (EST) in his next match in the round of the last 32 players. Grabe defeated Marco Teutscher (NED) 9:5.
Other remarkable results include Maximilian Lechner (AUT), one of the local players defeated BCA Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet (GER) 9:6. To the surprise of the audience, Lechner was fully in control of the match and Souquet struggled to find his rhythm. The match was very slow so the tournament direction decided impose a shot-clock on the match. Lechner got momentum first and ousted Souquet from the men’s 9-ball competition. He will be up next against Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP). Gabor Solymosi (HUN) won 9:5 over Jim Chawki (SWE) and is now in the round of the last 32 players where he will face Karol Skowerski (POL) as his next opponent. Albin Ouschan (AUT) just stayed alive in the 9-ball event, handing Kim Laaksonen (FIN) a 9:8 defeat. In the women’s division, Kristina Tkach (RUS) remained victorious with 7:6 over Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL). Tkach will be up against her teammate Nataliya Seroshtan (RUS) in the loser’s qualification round. In the wheelchair division, David Himpe (BEL) was able to win his match with Leszek Blumczynski (POL) 7:6.
The Dynamic Billard European Championships will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 local time with matches in the last 16 single elimination 9-ball individuals. The Austrian national TV station ORF will broadcast six hours LIVE from the event.
The Championships are played on 24 tables which will all be streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be purchased 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, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.