Loser's qualification round with tight matches
Friday, 01 June 2012: In a match that was determined by many errors, “The Kaiser”
Ralf Souquet (GER) ousted Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) with 9:5.
The match began with a bad omen for Chinakhov. He miscued on his first shot. He seemed to be not as focussed as he should have been when playing a Hall of Famer. Souquet benefitted from Chinakhov's mistakes and took a comfortable 3:0 lead. In the 4th rack, Souquet was almost sure to take the point but when he played position for the 9-ball he scratched. Was that the turn of the tide for Chinakhov? AT least the Russian was able to tie the match at 3:3 and then took a time-out. The next two racks were full of mistakes. At 3:3, Chinakhov missed an easy 2-ball and gave Souquet the possibility to take a 4:3 lead. “The Kaiser” did not want to come across unappreciative and also misses an easy ball, the 7-ball in the next rack. That tied the match again at 4:4. From then on, Souquet seemed to gain a bit more momentum than Chinakhov. Though both players did not play their A-game, Chinakhov made more errors than Souquet. In the 13th rack, the score was 7:5 in favour of Souquet, Chinakhov had an easy layout in front of him. But instead of closing the gap he missed an easy and avoidable 6-ball and let Souquet get on the hill with 8:5. Then again, in the 14th rack it
was Chinakhov to be at the table with a makeable layout. He had his final chance but he blew it again. He missed another easy 8-ball and left the table to congratulate Souquet for his win.
Chinakhov was frustrated from his poor performance. Souquet will be drawn in the round of the final 32 players which will be played at 20:30 CET tonight. Other notable results include Manuel Gama (POR) sending Chris Melling (GBR) home with a surprisingly clear result of 9:3. Denis Grabe (EST) ended all hopes of last event's winner Dominic Jentsch (GER) by defeating him with 9:5. Guilherme Sousa (POR) came up with a little upset as he unexpectedly ousted former 9-ball World Champion Daryl Peach (GBR) from the event with 9:4. Norway's Kristoffer Mindreboe terminated Mark Gray (GBR) with 9:7. Another Brit got sent home from the event. Oliver Ortmann (GER) creamed Richard Jones (GBR) with 9:8.
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.epconline.eu , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office.
