Karen Corr out
Friday, 26 August 2011: In a gripping encounter, Roman Hybler (CZE) ousted Karen Corr (IRL) 8:6 and advanced into the loser's qualification round.
In the early stage of the match, Karen Corr was definitely performing better than Hybler. The Irish player who resides in the US these days and belongs to the top female athletes in our sport took an impressive 3:0 lead over Hybler. Two of the three games she ran out. She did benefit from mistakes that Hybler played. “You are always under pressure as a male athlete when you have to play against a woman”, stated Hybler after the match. “People expect you to win and this makes it tougher for you”. Corr struggled with her break shot. She did not make one ball in her first four break shots. In the 4th rack, Hybler was able to start his race to catch up. But only in the next rack, he again missed a makeable 3-ball and gave Karen the chance to run out. Corr ran out and the scoreboard showed 4:1 in her favour. The next rack contained the turn for the match. Corr played a bad safety shot on the 5-ball, giving Hybler the chance to win the rack. Hybler missed and more safes were exchanged. It came to a point when Hybler found himself with the 8-ball lying close to the long rail and the cue ball in a possible position but with a very tough angle. He went for the shot in a “do-or-die” mood and made the 8-ball, then cleaned the table winning the rack to make the score 4:2. If he would have missed that 8-ball, he would have been in trouble. “I know that this was a crucial shot. I went for it and thought that it's now or never. Fortunately, I made it”, said Hybler with a smile. The match went along and Hybler got into his game much better. It was Karen Corr now who started to miss shots and run out of position. After hard work and a tough fight from both players, Hybler remained victorious sending Karen Corr home with 8:6. “Karen definitely belongs to the top women in the sport worldwide and I knew it would not be easy to defeat her. I had a very rough start but I am happy to be the winner in the end.” “I think I was the better player in the second half of the match”, said Hybler who has to win one more match in order to make it to the single elimination of the 32 best players of the event.
Other notable results include Noel Bruynooghe (BEL) whitewashing Mark Gray (GBR) 8:0. Gray will join Appleton on his way home who lost 2:8 against Jürgen Jenisy (AUT) earlier today. Senharip Azar (SWE) ended Martin Steinlage's hopes for a better rank by defeating him with 8:3. Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) had smooth sailing into the next round, ousting Giorgio Margola (ITA) with 8:2. His fellow countryman Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) also made it into the next round. But he survived a thriller against Dominik Zajac (POL) barely with 8:7.
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.eurotouronline.eu , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office.
