After having received her first round defeat 1:6 against Tamara Peeters-Rademakers (NED) yesterday, defending Champion Kristina Tkach (RUS) was eliminated today from the 8-ball by losing 3:6 to Vivien Schade (GER) in the loser’s qualification round.
A loss is something very unusual for Tkach anyway. She had one night to sleep and get over her performance yesterday. Today, She started with two more victories on the loser’s bracket, ousting Eylul Kibaroglu (TUR) 6:3 and Yulia Evseenko (UKR) 6:2. In the loser’s qualification round, Tkach had to stand up against Vivien Schade. The German had just lost to Marharyta Fefilava (BLR) in the loser’s qualification round and was probably steaming hot for a revenge. She went in the match with Tkach and tried her best to survive against the favourite from Russia. After 6 racks the match was levelled at 3:3. Tkach broke rack 7 and no ball went in any pocket. Schade found a difficult task in front of her since the balls were not in front of her with an easy layout. However, she mastered the rack and pocketed the 8-ball for a 4:3 lead over Tkach. Then, Schade broke and ran the next rack which brought her on the hill with a 5:3 lead over Tkach. Now was the time if at all for Tkach for a comeback. The Russian broke and a blow went in a pocket. To the horror of the Russian fans and probably also for herself, she missed the first shot in the side pocket. That brought Schade back to the table who saw her chance coming. She cleared the table one more time and rightfully ousted the defending Champion with 6:3 in a match that saw an impressive turnover from Vivien Schade. She will encounter her teammate Ina Kaplan tomorrow in the single elimination round of the final 16 women. Germany’s Kristina Grim also stayed alive in the event by eliminating Yini Gaspar (SUI) with 6:2 in the loser’s qualification round. However, she will have to deal with Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) tomorrow in the single elimination.
In the men’s division, the defending Champion is also already history in the 8-ball individuals. Vitaliy Patsura (UKR) lost his match in the round of the last 32 men players against underdog Jakub Koniar (SVK) 4:8. Koniar will be up against newly crowned European 10-ball Champion Marc Bijsterbosch (NED) tomorrow. After a fierce fight, Francesco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) made his way into the next round by pipping Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) to the post 8:7. Christian Sparrenloev-Fischer (SWE) managed to oust German Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet (GER) 8:6 in the round of the last 64 players. After that, he lost 1:8 to Sniegocki’s teammate Mieszko Fortunski (POL).
In the wheelchair division, Kurt Deklerck (BEL) and Jouni Tahti (FIN) have booked their seat in the semi-final matches already. They wait for the winners from the matches between Toni Southern (GBR) v Emil Malanowski (POL) and Fred Dinsmore (IRL) v Roy Kimberley (GBR).
Tomorrow, the tournament will continue at 09:00 GMT with matches from the 8-ball individuals competition last 16 single elimination.
Every day, one match from the events will be shown LIVE on the Facebook page of the EPBF. All Facebook users may check out the high standard of quality which is provided for all the events and see what the Kozoom members receive all the time. You can see all the matches live via www.kozoom.com who stream the whole event on 24 tables on the internet LIVE. The FB live matches are announced on the EPBF Facebook page around noon every day. Results and schedule can be found at www.europeanpoolchampionships.
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.epbf.com, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
