Oliver Szolnoki
OLIVER SZOLNOKI, SEARCHING for his maiden DYNAMIC BILLARD Euro Tour title, finally came good in Turkey as he defeated Poland’s Daniel Maciol 8-6 to lift the Dynamic Billard Antalya Open. The 26-year-old Hungarian had been knocking on the door for some time and finally got the job done in a tense match that started one way then went the other before a dramatic conclusion.
Commented Szolnoki, “Finally, that’s a relief! I had to wait quite a long time for it and finally everything came together and I managed to win it. It was a crazy day. I started the last 16 against Joao Grilo and he was 4-0 up on me and destroying me. I had no chance in that match and then he missed an 8-ball and it gave me a chance to comeback. Against Stefan Kasper it was similar except I was leading 4-0 and then missed a 10-ball and he came back but I managed to close it from 6-4 to 8-4. The semis and final were just hectic.”
Both players had the chance to ascend to the No.1 position in the rankings but it is Szolnoki who will end the year at the top of the tree following a steady climb over the past 18 months. He stated yesterday that, ‘to win the tournament is in my hands but the Polish guys are chasing me,’ and so it proved with the Poles filling five of the eight quarter-final spots and three of the four in the semi-finals.
Maciol, who won his first ever Euro Tour crown in Tallinn in 2024’s opening event, was situated at #4 in the ranking. He had earlier defeated countryman Mateusz Sniegocki, who also had designs on the No.1 spot, by 8-5 in the semi-final. Szolnoki – ranked at No.2 – put paid to the hopes of Radoslaw Babica by a similar scoreline.
Taking place at the Xanadu Resort Hotel in Belek, Szolnoki won the lag and got things up-and-running. A loss of position, going from 2 to 3 forced a tight safety and Maciol’s escape wasn’t good enough to stop Szolnoki getting among the balls and he cleared the table for the early lead.
Szolnoki had another opportunity in the second game after Maciol failed to make anything of the 1-ball following his break. The classy Hungarian wasted no time in increasing his lead to two, with a valuable break of serve.
A dry break set Maciol on his way and he steadied the ship with a nice run out. With a ball down from his break and a nice spread, Maciol had a great chance to level the match and he made no mistakes.
Szolnoki attempted a long jump shot on the 1 ball but it fell into a non-nominated pocket and under the call-shot rules, the table returned to Maciol. They traded safeties before Szolnoki got a look at the 3-ball and he rolled it in to set up the run out and restore his lead at 3-2.
Maciol looked good for the break and run in the sixth game but a bad miss on the green 6 unravelled his chance. A great long pot from Szolnoki, taking the 6-ball off the rail was the hard work done and he cleared to increase his lead.
A dry break gave Maciol a good look at the table although it was by no means a formality. A couple of tricky shots were well-negotiated and he downed the 10-ball to reduce the deficit to 4-3. The stylish Pole then came up with a tidy break and run at the most opportune time to square the match.
Szolnoki lost a bit of position in the next going from 1 to 3 and it forced a miss, leaving the 3-ball available for Maciol. He took full advantage as he ran out to take the lead for the first time with his third consecutive rack.
Another dry break from Maciol left the 1-ball on for Szolnoki and he sprang into action to clear the table and take this fascinating match to 5-5. With nothing on the break from Szolnoki, it left no realistic attacking shot on the 1-ball. Maciol went for it anyway, missed, and disastrously scratched down table. Not one to shun such a gift, Szolnoki ran out to get a step closer to the finishing line at 6-5.
A successful break from Maciol saw a ball drop and the 1-ball available. His next shot was a tricky 2/8 combo but it proved no problem and from there he ran the table to restore parity. Two balls down from Szolnoki and a shot on the 1-ball was ideal and he wasted no time as he reached the hill at 7-6
It was a big break shot for Maciol but he suffered an unfortunate scratch as the white was kicked in uptable. The rack wasn’t over though as a tricky cluster forced Szolnoki to call the safety on the 6-ball and he locked it up behind the 9. For Maciol, it was hit-and-hope and it didn’t work out as he left the 6 on.
The 7-ball was tight on the top rail which meant another safety from the Hungarian but it left the 7 available in the top left pocket. Maciol looked good for the rack but missed the 8-ball, leaving a long cut for Szolnoki. He made it and with the last two balls handily placed, he cleared to take his first-ever Euro Tour title
Szolnoki added, “In both the semis and the final I felt like I was hitting the breaks very well; my white was jumping, it stayed strong and stayed in the middle but somehow the balls kept each other out of the pockets so it gave my opponents more chances to come back. Especially against Daniel, I was 7-6 up, played a good safe, made the 6, but got one or two balls too short on the 7, and I didn’t have the extension. I played a bad safe and thought it would be hill-hill and because my break wasn’t really working it was never a guarantee, but he missed the 8-ball and I managed to make a crazy cut shot on it and win the match.
“This feels great as I’d never managed to lead the rankings and this year I’ve managed to tick some things off my bucket list. I won the 10-ball EC, qualified for the World Games and now finally, after like, 14 years, I’ve finally won the Euro Tour and am leading the rankings!”
The two-day Predator Ladies Antalya Open commenced today and from 47 players, the tournament played down to the last eight. The quarter-finals start at 10.00 on Sunday morning, with the title-decider scheduled for 15.45 in the afternoon.
For streaming fans, Tables 1 & 2 will be shown 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
0 comments