10-ball competition started in Sarajevo
Sarajevo, Bosnia & Hercegovina: Vegar Kristiansen (NOR) just defeated Tomasz Malinowski (POL) in the first round of the 10-ball individuals with 7:3.
The match itself was quite unspectacular. But the fact that Kristiansen is still waiting for his luggage adds a bit spice to it. He had to borrow black trousers, he borrowed a house cue stick from the local bowling alley and he is without his glasses that he desperately needs. "Not my tournament so far", stated the modest Norwegian, "it's too hot for me here being from Norway. Also, playing without my glasses constitutes a nightmare for me". However, he only lost last night in the quarter-final of the straight pool competition and now took his first victory in 10-ball. The first four racks were divided between the two players to get to a score of 2:2. But then the mistakes increased sharply. With a bit of luck and the better positional play, Kristiansen succeeded to take a 4-rack advantage over Malinowski, now leading 6:2. In the 9th rack, Malinowski played some great safety shots and forced Kristiansen to commit a foul. With ball in hand, Malinowski ran out and tried to stay in the match. One could see that Kristiansen really struggled with his eyesight. In the next rack, Malinowski should have taken another point back from Kristiansen since he was at the table with three balls left. But Malinowski dogged the 8-ball. That was enough for Kristiansen to finish the match, winning with 7:3. He will play the winner's qualification round next while Malinowski has to take a cruise through the loser's side.
Other notable results from the first rounds in 10-ball include defending Champion Henrique Correia (POR) wiping the floor with his opponent Markku Savolainen (FIN) 7:0. Kurt Deklerck (BEL), multiple Champion in several wheelchair divisions, won his first match over Johann Schernthaner (AUT) with 7:1. Last year's silver medalist Frank Willner (GER) also won his first 10-ball match with an uncontested 7:4 victory over Werner Scheu (AUT).
In the ladies division, Monika Oeschger (SUI) stayed on top of Maarit Gerkmann (FIN) with a score of 5:4. Barbara Bolfelli (ITA) had a furious start and won her match over Lidia Moreira (POR) clearly with 5:1.
The tournament will be streamed LIVE at all days on up to 20 tables at www.kozoom.com/en/pool-billiard/
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.billiardapps.com or contact our press office.
