Niels Feijen (left) and Thorsten Hohmann
"The Terminator" Niels Feijen (NED) thrashed "The Hitman" Thorsten Hohmann (GER) with 9:3 in a very single sided match of the Dynamic Billard St. Johann im Pongau Open 2019.
The match was expected to have two ingredients: high class pool and close combat action. Both players are known to be able to perform on the highest level and have plenty of titles under their belt. In the early stage of the match, that promise was broken by a mile and spectators were disappointed a bit since the two contestants committed many mistakes and took wrong decisions. This unforeseen course of the match lead to a 3:1 lead for Feijen. However, during the match it was "The Terminator" who composed himself and got to his normal performance while Hohmann struggled. Hohmann kept on missing shots and playing bad positions and safeties while Feijen got to "normal mode". The logical consequence was Feijen running away on the scoreboard, taking a 7:2 lead after nine racks played. Then, a curious situation occurred. Feijen broke the 9-ball and went on the hill with 8:2. The rack was made for Hohmann who went in there and also broke the 9-ball! Two 9-ball breaks in a row, that does not happen so often. However, after that the match was over. Feijen cleared the table once more to achieve his deserved 9:3 victory over Hohmann.
Another remarkable match was the encounter between #5 ranked player Mark Gray (GBR) and Fabio Petroni (ITA) in the first winner’s round. Gray as the favoured player was seeded and had a walk-over in the first round while Petroni needed to overcome his first obstacle in the person of Denver Amoyo (AUT). Petroni wasted no time with his Austrian opponent and won the match quite comfortably with 9:4. Then, the experienced Italian met Gray. That match stayed open until the first six racks have been played. The scoreboard displayed a 3:3 score when Petroni shifted into overdrive and took the next five consecutive racks from Gray. He was simply outplaying the Brit who only achieved one more point before Petroni sealed the deal and hammered Gray with 9:4 to the loser’s side. "Long slog time starts now here in Austria!!!! Lost 9-4 to Italy’s Fabio Petroni he played decent and I didn’t!!!! Back on in a couple hours time…." was Gray’s comment on his public facebook page. Gray faced unheralded Sascha Ratz (GER) in his next match. There, he wiped the floor with the German and won 9:1 to get to the next round.
In an "iberian battle" in winner’s round 1, Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) outfought Henrique Correia (POR) with 9:5. An unexpectedly clear defeat was handed to young Pijus Labutis (LTU). He was trounced 2:9 by Mats Schjetne (NOR). Imran Majid (GBR) steamrolled former World Champion Oliver Ortmann (GER) with 9:2.
Every day, up to two matches will be streamed LIVE over the EPBF Facebook page. Check for updates and announcements.
The Dynamic Billard St. Johann im Pongau Open will commence tomorrow, June 14th, at 09:00 CET with matches from winner’s round 2.
The Dynamic Billard St. Johann im Pongau Open are played in the Sporthotel Alpina Alpendorf in St. Johann im Pongau, Austria, on up to 24 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be obtained 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.eurotouronline.com or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
