Oliver Szolnoki
DAY ONE CONCLUDED in Slovenia today at the third Euro Tour stop on the 2024 calendar as two events got underway, the DYNAMIC BILLARD Podčetrtek Open for the men and the PREDATOR Women’s Podčetrtek Open. Both events have made their way through four complete rounds and in the men’s event, there have been no major casualties so far.
One player eyeing up his maiden Dynamic Billard Euro Tour win is Hungary’s Oliver Szolnoki, but he’ll have to do it the hard way as he was sent to the one-loss side early doors. Szolnoki has made one Euro Tour final as well as a couple of semi-finals but the main prize has eluded him. He was coming into the event on the back of a gold medal-winning performance at last weeks Dynamic Billard European Championships in the 10-ball division.
Szolnoki enjoyed a win over rated Spaniard Diego Pedro Simon in his first match before being beaten by Juri Pisklov (Germany)
“I was leading 3-1 in my second match and I didn’t play bad but when I broke perfect, nothing went in and when he mis-hit the break somehow something went in and he had position. When he missed, I had nothing so one of those stupid ways to lose, I guess.
“It will be very long tomorrow and if I want to stay alive, I’ll need to win like, five matches in a row and that’s a lot and especially in this heat, it’s tiring. I think I’ll just have to get a good night’s sleep because tomorrow I’ll have to fight all day.”
They like to start them young on the Dynamic Billard Euro Tour and one competitor this week is just eight years old. Young Latvian Aleksejs Grigolunovics is here for the European Junior Championships starting next week, and took the opportunity to season himself in the men’s game.
He took four racks off Germany’s Sajan Schroter before retiring from the event with a little fatigue before he faced Luca Menn. His presence though, is something in itself and it will be interesting to see how he fares next week.
In the Predator Women’s Podčetrtek Open, Darya Siranchuk enjoyed a fine day with two solid victories to advance on the winners’ side. The Ukrainian enjoyed a fine week at the European Championships, collecting a silver and bronze and she got off to the best possible start as she won three matches, sending No.1 ranked Pia Filler to the losers’ side and then despatching Jolien Schuurman who won this event last year, to see herself into the last 16.
Play continues at tomorrow at 9.30 for the men and at 13.00 for the ladies.
For viewers at home, Tables 1 & 2 will be streamed throughout on YouTube. Table 1 will be on the Kozoom channel, while Table 2 will be available throughout on the EPBF platform. All other tables can be viewed on the Kozoom.com website, where there are a variety of subscription options.
Table 1 link = https://www.youtube.com/@Kozoo
Table 2 link = https://www.youtube.com/@theep
Tables 1-20 = https://home.kozoom.com/en/all
As well as the prize money, there are Tour ranking points on offer. This week’s Euro Tour tournaments are 10-ball and players compete in a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 32 competitors for the men and last 16 for the women. From there it is single elimination until the finish. The men’s matches are races-to-8 racks with alternate break, while the women play a race-to-6.
Results, live scoring, and draw are available at www.epbf.com
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