Chawki out while Saris advances
Friday, 05 August 2011: The 9-ball competition had some surprising results up its sleeve. Jim Chawki (SWE) was ousted on the loser's side by Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) with 8:7. Chawki was already down 6:7 when he miscued on the 2-ball, hiving an easy layout on the table. The Polish went to the table and unexpectedly missed his second shot, too. Chawki pocketed the 3-ball but got a very bad position for himself on the 4-ball. As a consequence, he had to play a safety shot. Szewczyk tried a jump shot but missed it. Chawki ran out and the audience was presented with another hill-hill match. Chawki then took a time out. When he came back, Szewczyk broke the balls since the format here is alternate break. He pocketed three balls and had an easy table which he ran and won the match with 8:7, advancing to the single elimination stage. There he won 8:5 over Mario He (AUT).
The single elimination stage was played for the last16 players in the juniors and pupils division tonight. Ivar Saris (NED) had to deal with Filip Bermanec (CRO) who eliminated Bence Varga (HUN) the round before. On paper, Saris was the favourite player but Bermanec had wind underneath his sails from his last victory. The match started in favour of Saris, giving the Dutchman the possibility to take a 3:0 and 4:2 lead over Bermanec. Then Bermanec snatched two racks, making the score 4:4. Luck was a factor here. Saris took a time out. When he came back, his opponent was awarded another rack since Saris exceeded the time that he is allowed to stay away from the match (five minutes). The score was 5:4 in favour of the Croatian now. Bermanec now managed to get an advantage over Saris, taking a 6:4 and 7:5 lead, putting himself on the hill. But Saris stayed cool. Bermanec left him one chance in each of the next two racks which Saris thanked for and tied the match at 7:7. Now, Bermanec took a time out. He returned in time with Saris to execute the final break shot. One ball went down and Saris played a good safety shot. Bermanec tried to play a jump shot but he fouled. Saris got ball in hand and ran the rack, winning the match by a margin of 8:7.
The quarterfinals in 9-ball in all three divisions will be played on Saturday morning at 09:00 local time. Tonight, two rounds of team play will finish the tournament day.
The European Championships are 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.epbf.com , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office.
