Serge Das (BEL) and Albin Ouschan (AUT) have both won their matches in the single elimination round of the final 64 players to proceed to the last 32.
In an action packed match, Das had to deal with Tomas Larsson (SWE). The Scandinavian player had a better start and took a 50:32 advantage over Das. Both players seemed not to be on their "A"-game yet. However, at 50:32, Larsson played a good break shot but unfortunately scratched with the cue ball in the corner pocket on the far end of the table. Das got to the table and ran the complete match with a series of 93 points. "I think we both did not have a good start", stated Das after the match. "We made too many mistakes. When I got to the table I started to feel better and better and managed to run 93 balls and out. That was pretty good and I’m happy I’m still in the competition", added Das.
Another high class match was the encounter between Albin Ouschan (AUT) and Mariusz Skoneczny (POL). Just like in the match above, Ouschan trailed big time with 11:54. Then Skoneczny missed a makable ball and allowed Ouschan back to the table. The Austrian ran 61 balls to take a 72:54 lead himself before he stepped off the table. Then, Skoneczny started shooting again but at a 77:72 lead he again missed an easy shot. That was too much for one match, especially if you play a top player like Ouschan. Albin Ouschan ran the remaining 53 balls and finished the match and Skoneczny’s hope for a title in straight pool with 125:77.
Other remarkable results include defending Champion Niels Feijen (NED) winning his first match over Jani Siekkinen (FIN) with 100:36. The result is a bit misleading here. Feijen was almost there when he played an unbelievably bad shot at 98:22. He gave second life to Siekkinen who had almost surrendered. But Siekkinen could not benefit from Feijen’s mistake. He pocketed 13 balls and left 2 balls on the table for Feijen who then took the match to proceed to the next round. There, Feijen made short work of Jorge Tinoco (POR) by defeating the local player with 125:44.
Karol Skowerski (POL) eliminated former Champion Fabio Petroni (ITA) with 125:25 from the straight pool individuals. The same fate came to Mario He (AUT). He fell to the sharp blade of Mieszko Fortunski (POL) with 52:125.
There were also two rounds of men’s team matches played today. These were the results:
Round 1:
RUS v LUX 2:0
SVK v DEN 2:1
FRA v FIN 0:2
NOR v GRE 0:2
TUR v CZE 0:2
POL v SWE 2:1
Winner’s round 1:
AUT v RUS 2:0
NED v TNC 2:0
SLO v SVK 0:2
FIN v POR 1:2
GER v GRE 2:1
CZE v CRO 1:2
SUI v ITA 1:2
POL v ESP 2:0
The tournament will continue tomorrow at 09:00 local time with the round of the last 32 players single elimination, men’s straight pool. The final will be played at 20:00 local time.
All matches can be viewed LIVE at www.kozoom.com. 24 tables in HiRes quality are providing you with all the action of the event. You do not miss out one single match! Join today!
More information about participants, schedules, achievements, rankings, etc can be found on the event website www.epconline.eu.
The event will be hosted by the European Pocket Billiard Federation EPBF and organized by International Billiard Promotion Foundation IBPF.
