Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS)
Portoroz, Slovenia: In a very one sided match, Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) defeated Tomasz Kaplan (POL) clearly with 8:2.
Both players had a great start and ran their racks to get to 1:1. On paper, one would have expected the match to stay very close since the two contestants play on the same level. In the third rack however, problems started for Kaplan. He scratched and Chinakhov punished him straight away with the 2:1. Then an amazing rack occurred. Chinakhov missed an easy first shot after a successful break and allowed Kaplan to the table. The Polish came in and completely unnecessarily ran out of position in his 4th shot. He tried to fix it but could not win this rack anymore. Chinakhov went ahead 3:1. Kaplan's performance got worse and worse. Even if Chinakhov allowed him in the match, he did not use his chances but committed a foul instead. Before the 6th rack, Kaplan took a time-out and obviously tried to get his focus back. It seemed to work. he came back, broke and ran the rack to make the score 2:4. Then two runs from Chinakhov followed who did not seem to be impressed at all by Kaplan. At 6:2, Kaplan again ran out of position and allowed Chinakhov to take his spot on the hill, 7:2. Kaplan would not get any more chance in the 8-ball competition this year. Chinakhov broke and ran the balls for the 5th time in the match and eliminated Kaplan rightfully 8:2. "This was the first match when I felt good. All my previous matches, I could not get my Agame on the table", stated Chinakhov. "It is normal for me in European Championships to start a bit weak but then usually I improve and get going." "I ran out 5 racks and only missed two shots in the whole match. Who knows, maybe I can get very far this year". Chinakhov will join the other final 31 players in the 8-ball competition and get his next challenge tonight at 19:00 CET.
Other notable results include Aki Heiskanen (FIN) whitewashing Fabio Petroni (ITA) with 8:0. Probably one of the bigger surprises happened in the match between Nick van den Berg (NED) and Ivica Putnik (CRO). At 7:7, van den Berg missed a super easy ball and Putnik could run the table. That was a very uncharacteristic shot for the Straight Pool Champion from the Netherlands.
In the women's division, Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) and Ine Helvik (NOR) both won their matches to go to the round of the final 16 players. Ouschan took care of Severine Titaux (FRA) with 6:3 while Helvik exited Louise Furberg (SWE) with the same result.
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.
