Konstantin Stepanov (RUS)
Kyrenia, North Cyprus: Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) booked his seat in the final match of the Dynamic Billiard North Cyprus Open 2013 by smashing "The Terminator" Niels Feijen (NED) with 9:3.
Feijen is definitely one of the powerhouses of European pool-billiard. Counting all his titles and achievements here would be too much. But he seemed to be a bit exhausted in this semi-final against Stepanov. Feijen needed to wrestle Koshovyi down in the quarter-final and had a great comeback in that match. However, that probably cost him a lot of energy. Stepanov also had a 9:8 thriller over Diaz-Pizarro in his previous match but seemed to be in a better state. Whatever the reasons were, Stepanov hit Feijen like a ton of bricks, taking the first five racks in a row. He was already half way through when Feijen opened his account after the sixth rack to turn the scoreboard to 1:5. Feijen managed to take another rack and it seemed as if he would be able to launch another comeback. But Stepanov did not allow that to happen. He won rack eight, went ahead 6:2 and took a time-out to gather new strength. After the time-out, Feijen took the next rack. But that was it for him in the match. Stepanov finished him 9:3 by winning three racks in a row.
The other semi-final was an all Italian clash between experienced Bruno Muratore and newbie Daniele Corrieri. Corrieri started much better and quickly achieved a 6:1 lead over Muratore. What looked like an easy walk for Corrieri suddenly changed. He could not benefit from his break shot anymore and Muratore gained some momentum. He used his chances and pulled rack after rack back from Corrieri. After 12 racks, the score was 7:5 for Corrieri. He also broke the next rack. But again, his break shot did not work and he had a dry break. Muratore found an open table in front of him an converted that into another point for his account, pocketing the 9-ball with a combination shot on the 5-ball. The air grew thinner and thinner for Corrieri. In fact, now Muratore's break seemed to work well for him now. As the match went along, Muratore leveled the score at 7:7. The excitement grew to a maximum. It was again Daniele Corrieri who got on the hill first, taking an 8:7 lead with Muratore's break shot coming up. Bruno needed a good break but Lady Luck deserted him. No ball went in the pocket and Corrieri had an open table with a possible layout in front of him. But to everyone's surprise, he missed the 1-ball and scratched! That gave a second life to Bruno Muratore who could not believe he got back to the table in that match. With ball in hand he ran the rack to tie the match hill-hill, 8:8. Corrieri broke the decisive 17th rack. The break worked fine for him this time. He pocketed the 1-ball and the 6-ball and had all balls in the open with a nice shot at the 2-ball. He had his fate in his own hands. He awarded himself and ran the rack to win the match with 9:8.
| Semi-Finals | |||
| Niels Feijen (NED) | v | Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) | 3:9 |
| Bruno Muratore (ITA) | v | Daniele Corrieri (ITA) | 8:9 |
| Finals | |||
| Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) | v | Daniele Corrieri (ITA) | |
The final match will be shown LIVE on local national TV in North Cyprus.
All action can be followed LIVE on all tables throughout the tournament on www.kozoom.com/en/pool-billiard/ .
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 http://www.eurotouronline.eu or contact our press office.
