Petroni made short work with Szolnoki
Sarajevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina: In the first winner's round of today's Dynamic Billard Bosnia & Hercegovina Open, Fabio Petroni (ITA) trounced Oliver Szolnoki (HUN) with 8:3.
It was a classical clash between mature and young- or experienced and green. In the beginning, Szolnoki appeared to be nervous and Petroni could easily benefit from it. Being the old hand that he is with so much tournaments under his belt, Petroni punished Szolnoki's early mistakes and got to a 2:0 lead. But 16-year-old Szolnoki who just won the Silver Medal in pupil's 8-ball and a Bronze Medal in pupil's 10-ball two weeks ago was far from abandoning his attempts to win this match. He struck back with a sharp blade and after six racks, all of a sudden the match was tied at 3:3. Would young Szolnoki be able to endanger Petroni's path towards the winner's qualification round? Obviously not since Petroni managed to win the next four consecutive racks, getting on the hill with 7:3. He seemed to be very comfortable at the table while Szolnoki found no proper way to stop his journey. Rack number ten was almost another break and run by the Italian who claimed the match with 8:3 in the end. Petroni missed the 9-ball and left it at a difficult angle for Szolnoki. The Hungarian missed it and that was the end for him in that match. It was a brave enterprise by Szolnoki but in the end experience defeated youth. Szolnoki needs to take the detour through the loser's side of the draw while Petroni marches forward into the next winner's round.
Other notable results from today's Euro-Tour include Nr.1 ranked player Niels Feijen (NED) wasting no time with Georgije Femikj (MKD), handing him an 8:0 doughnut. Stephane Cohen (FRA) who celebrated his birthday yesterday, overcame Vegar Kristiansen (NOR) with 8:5. A small upset happened when unheralded Alex Montpellier (FRA) met with Nr. 6 in Europe, Nikos Ekonomopoulos. Montpellier looked like a walk in the park but he obviously wasn't. He sent Ekonomopoulos on the left side of the draw with an 8:6 victory.
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