Oliver Szolnoki
THE DYNAMIC BILLARD Treviso Open got underway today as 136 players got down to business in a quest to win the fourth Euro Tour title of 2024. This week, 10-ball is the game and the reigning Dynamic Billard European 10-ball Champion, Oliver Szolnoki was in attendance and the highest ranked player in the field at No.5.
The Hungarian is still looking for his maiden Euro Tour win but last month’s 10-ball gold medal was the ideal form to bring to Treviso. Szolnoki advanced to Friday afternoon’s Winners’ Qualification round with two victories today and a win on Saturday could see him rise to the lofty heights of No.1.
He needed a deciding rack to get past Germany’s Holger Gries after looking like he was on the ropes at 6-0 down, and he then cruised past Mickael Hadjadj (France) in his second match.
Szolnoki said, “It was a crazy match against Gries. I didn’t do much wrong; I broke well, I made balls but I never really had position and when he broke it was always perfect and when he broke dry, I was always hooked. At 6-0 down it was kind of unbelievable but I managed to get a couple of racks and at 6-2 he missed the 7 ball so instead of 7-2 it was 6-3.
“He had more pressure on him and from there I played well, I made two break and runs at 6-6 and 7-7, so it was nice that I saved the day as it would have been a much longer day on the losers’ side. I know I’m first seed in this tournament and I’ve never been that before which is cool. I didn’t realise I had a chance to go to No.1 so that’s good,” he added.
Daniele Corrieri is one of the Italian hopes this week and he too won his way through to Winners’ Qualification with wins over Poland’s Dzmitry Hryb and Adrian Sistig (Germany). Corrieri can now look forward to a match with Dutch icon Alex Lely tomorrow.
Commented Daniele, “I’ve been practising more this year, putting the hours in and hopefully I can make some good progress tomorrow. There’s a bit more pressure playing at home as people expect you to win. There was less stress and pressure when I was younger but I’m here to win.”
Trying to emulate his brother, Yannick, the Netherland’s Quinten Pongers took the first steps today with two very comfortable wins to set up a last 32 qualification match against Dennis Laszkowski tomorrow. Yannick, of course, won last time out in Podčetrtek but elder brother Quinten is no slouch himself, having reached his first Euro Tour semi-final less than a year ago in Lasko.
Commented Quinten, “There’s now more motivation because it’s good that someone who inspires me and is close to me does so well and that’s better for me. There used to be family rivalry about five years ago but now we inspire each other. I think, now, that Yannick is the better player but that’s how it goes. One gets better, then the other gets better and we keep inspiring each other to get on the higher level and that’s a good relationship.”
Play resumes tomorrow at 9.00 with the remainder of Round 2 on the one-loss side, and the event plays down to the last 16 before resuming on Saturday morning, concluding with the title match which commences at 17.00. All matches are alternate break and a race-to-8 racks.
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/@KozoomTV/streams
Table 2 link = https://www.youtube.com/@theepbf/streams
Tables 1-20 = https://home.kozoom.com/en/all-cue-sports
Results, live scoring, and draw are available at www.epbf.com
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