Malai wins epic thriller over Corrieri

10-ball down to semi-finals in Dynamic Billard European Championships

Portoroz, Slovenia: In a match that was packed with tension and excitement, Nick Malai (ALB) defeated Daniele Corrieri (ITA) with 8:7.

To be honest, this quarter-final was not necessarily expected by experts. Especially Corrieri can be considered an underdog. Having all those great players in mind that participate in these European Championships, it was definitely surprising to find him in the quarter-finals. Malai has won last year's Euro-Tour in North Cyprus, so he was "on the list". Of course, Malai was the favored player to win the match. And in the beginning, everything looked like expected. Malai was ahead 4:2 after six racks and Corrieri seemed to struggle a bit. Then the Italian took a time-out an came back with fresh energy. He won five out of the next six racks and went on the hill, leading 7:5. Everybody was astonished by Corrieri's performance; probably Malai was impressed the most. But Malai is also known a tough fighter. He kept his nerves together and played good safeties and managed to tie the match at 7:7. Then, he had a good break shot and a perfect layout in front of him. He did not let that chance slip out of his hand and took the final rack to win 8:7. Corrieri has to settle for a good 5th place while Malai will have to deal with Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) in the semi-final.

The semi-final matches will start at 19:15 CET.

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 or contact our press office.