It was definitely a day of many surprises at the Dynamic Billard German Open in Baunatal, Germany, today.
The tournament is down to the final 16 players now. The round of the last 32 players was the last round of the day and many surprises happened.
One feature match was the encounter between Albin Ouschan (AUT) and Oliver Ortmann (GER). They met on table 1 and the match was an ongoing fight over the whole distance. Ouschan went on the hill first, taking an 8:7 lead over Ortmann. But the German fought back and got to the hill himself, tying the match at 8:8. The drama was so real and present in the venue. Many spectators held their breath when Ortmann broke and pocketed a ball, but the necessary conditions for a legal break were not met so Ouschan got to the table. He cleared the table until he got to the 7-ball. The positions he played got harder and harder and consequently, Ouschan missed the 7-ball since he had to jack up his cue stick because the cue ball was lying too close to the 9-ball. Ortmann got another chance in the match. But he also missed the 7-ball. That brought Ouschan back in. He pocketed the 7-ball and ran the rack, winning the match in a breathtaking final with 9:8 over Ortmann.
Another interesting match was the clash between Karl Boyes (GBR) and number one Euro-Tour player, Niels „The Terminator“ Feijen (NED). Boyes always had a small advantage of one or two racks over Feijen throughout the match. After 13 racks, it looked like Feijen could even out the gap when the score was only 7:6 for Boyes. But Boyes managed to win that deciding rack and claim the next one straight after it, winning the match with 9:6, ousting Niels Feijen in an early stage from the tournament.
Feijen’s fellow countryman Nick van den Berg (NED) had a better end on his side. He had to go over the whole distance with Tomas Larsson (SWE), trailing 7:8 after 15 racks. But he kept his nerves together and overpowered Larsson, winning the match with the closest of all results 9:8.
Two German youngsters were also still in the race: multiple European Junior Champion Joshua Filler and Kevin Becker. While Becker had smooth sailing in his match with Rui Edgar Franco (POR), Filler had to accept a fierce fight. Becker took his match easily with 9:5. Filler went hill-hill and then fell to the sharp blade of Serge Das (BEL) with 8:9.
The open tournament will continue tomorrow morning at 10:00 local time. The women’s Euro-Tour event will start tomorrow at 09:00 local time. 16 tables can be watched LIVE throughout the events on www.kozoom.com. The events are hosted by the European Pocket Billiard Federation EPBF and organized by International Billiard Promotion, IBP. For further information, please check the event website at www.eurotouronline.com, visit our Facebook page or contact the EPBF press office at press@epbf.com
