Hard Times for Favorites

Marco Spitzky

Today, many favorite players had a tougher job in front of them than expected at the Dynamic Billard Dutch Open in the Golden Tulip Jagershorst Hotel in Leende, The Netherlands. Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) for example, long time Euro-Tour powerhouse and currently ranked number 28 in Europe, was ousted by unheralded Marco Spitzky (GER) with 7:9 in loser’s round two.

 

After yesterday and this afternoon, when Daryl Peach and Nick Van Den Berg went down to their opponents, the run for the dark horses continued here. Stepanov was the next victim of such a constellation. He fell to the sharp blade of Spitzky who made it to the next round on the loser’s side. Stepanov was able to get the better start in the match. The first three racks belonged to him. But then Spitzky seemed to wake up and also started potting balls. When Spitzky even overtook Stepanov, the Russian went for his time-out. But that did not help him. Spitzky always kept his nose in front of Stepanov and reached the finish line first, winning the match 9:7.

 

Marcus Chamat, „The Napoleon“ from Sweden just escaped that fate in the tournament. After having received a cruel bashing by Max Lechner (AUT) with 2:9 yesterday, Chamat needed to get some wins on the loser’s side. His first opponent was Michal Turkowski (POL) who was not much of an obstacle for Chamat. 9:6 was the final result in favor of the experienced Swede. Then he encountered young Kestutis Zadeikis from Lithuania. The young man showed absolutely no nerves and got Chamat in the back seat from the very beginning of the match. 5:1 and 6:2 were the intermediate results in favor of Zadeikis. But then Chamat fought his way back into the match. After several mistakes from the young Lithuanian, the scoreboard showed 8:8 with Chamat having the break in rack 17. What a drama unfolded! Chamat just had a possible layout and one ball down on his break shot. He deployed all his skill and energy in the rack and ran it, winning the match with the closest of all results 9:8. That just kept Chamat alive in the event, having survived loser’s round two only.

 

Other remarkable results from today’s loser’s rounds include multiple European and former World Champion Oliver Ortmann (GER) losing his second match against Ivo Aarts (NED) 7:9. That also ends Ortmann’s quest for glory here in Leende this year. Daryl Peach (GBR) made a statement and wiped the floor with Gino de Ruyter (BEL), sending him home 9:0.

 

Tomorrow, the Dynamic Billard Dutch Open will continue at 09:00 CET with matches from the loser’s round 3.

 

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