Ivo Aarts (NED)
Portoroz, Slovenia: In an exciting thriller, Ivo Aarts (NED) prevailed over Mikael Oegaard (NOR) with 9:7.
In the beginning of the match it did not look good for Aarts. He scratched twice on his own break shot and missed the 9-ball once, so Oegaard took his chances and gained a 7:3 advantage over Aarts. Nobody would have thought that Aarts would be able to come back. But Aarts proved everybody wrong! At 3:7, he ran his next rack. Then, he claimed back rack after rack and tied the match at 7:7. Suddenly, the pressure was on Oegaard and he could not handle it properly. Aarts played the better safety shots and whenever he received a chance, he used it. That happened two times in a row and was enough for Aarts to take the match after a magnificent comeback with 9:7. "This is a great victory for me", stated Aarts after the match. "I had a bad start but when I got back to 5:7, I knew that the match was not over for me yet". Aarts belongs to the Dutch team who is very well mentored by coaches Alex Lely and Arjen Verheij. "My coaches are great. They know how to built me up and when to motivate me." Well, success seems to prove him right.
Other notable results include Johan D'Hondt (BEL) winning over David Alcaide (ESP) with 9:7 before losing to Henrikas Strolis (LIT) with 6:9. Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) took revenge from Marika Poikkijoki (FIN) and defeated her 7:4.
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.
