Unexpectedly close results in the ladies' division
Sarajevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina: Pascal Budo (BEL) just eliminated Mika Määttä (FIN) with 9:6 from the 9-ball individuals.
Both players did not necessarily have a good start yesterday. Määttä received a disastrous 9:0 defeat from Tom Storm (SWE) while Budo fell to Pereira (POR) with 9:2. They were both seriously longing for a victory since the loser was going to be eliminated from the 9-ball. This explained them playing rather cautious than going for offensive shots. So the match crept along with the players taking their racks in alternate turns. They took their time for each shot and the tournament direction felt it appropriate to impose a shot-clock on the match. After twelve racks the match was leveled at 6:6. Määttä went for his time-out. When he got back, it seemed that his time-out had served Budo better than him. Budo pocketed the next two racks in his account, leading 8:6. In rack 15, Budo finished the match, running all balls after Määttä's unsuccessful break shot. Budo stays in the 9-ball competition on the loser's side and will play Werner Scheu (AUT) in his next match while Määttä will have to settle for 49th.
In the winner's qualification round, we had a re-match from last night's 8-ball final between Tom Storm (SWE) and Manuel Pereira (POR), Storm took revenge and won the 9-ball with 9:7. In another Swedish-Portuguese skirmish, Kent Karlsson (SWE) delivered a 9:3 defeat to Henrique Correia (POR). Correia defeated defending Champion Giorgio Margola (ITA) in the first round of the event but Karlsson was too much of an obstacle for him today.
An upset occurred in the ladies' division when Lot van Helmond (NED) got the better of Barbara Bolfelli (ITA) with 5:4. Newly crowned 8-ball Champion in the ladies' division, Susanne Wessel (GER) did not have an easy start into the new working day. She met Monika Oeschger (SUI) in the first winner's round of ladies' 9-ball and just made it with a 5:4 victory into the next round on the winner's side.
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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.billiardapps.com or contact our press office.
