Ralf Souquet (GER), BCA Hall of Famer, has just ousted current number one Euro-Tour player Nick van den Berg (NED) with a very convincing 9:4 victory in the single elimination round of the final 32 players.Souquet.
Many people said that this would have been a nice final match for the Dynamic Billard Italian Open 2015. Souquet versus van den Berg is alway promising high class pool billiard. And that’s what it was this time, too. However, it was a bit one sided. Van den Berg made some mistakes in the early stage of the match whereas Souquet performed rock solid and left no doubts that he is on a mission here in Treviso. „I think I really played a pretty good match here“ stated Souquet, „I felt very confident and I guess the score of 9:4 says it all“. Souquet will now proceed to the round of the last 16 players which will be played tomorrow morning at10:00 CET where he will have to deal with Philipp Stojanovic (CRO).
Another thriller in the round of the last 32 players was the match between Karol Skowerski (POL) and former World Champion Oliver Ortmann (GER). Ortmann was always leading throughout the match. 5:2, 7:6 and 8:7 were his advantages over Skowerski but the Polish player did not give up. He tied the match at 8:8. There, a safety battle evolved between the two contestants with the better end for Ortmann. 9:8 was the result that put Ortmann in the next round where he will face Juan Carlos Exposito (ESP).
One remarkable match earlier today was the match between Serge Das (BEL) and David Alcaide (ESP) in the winner’s qualification round. Das got momentum first and played strong while Alcaide missed some easy shots. That resulted in a 6:2 lead for Das after eight racks. Then, Alcaide caught up a bit, pulling back some racks from Das. After 11 racks, Das’ lead was down to 6:5. They both took another rack and at 7:6, Das missed a big point by missing a makable 3-ball. Alcaide consequently used that chance and tied the match at 7:7. It looked like he had turned the tide in the match but just when he was about to get going, he scratched. Das went on the hill 8:7. The next rack saw some mistakes by both players. Alcaide left a very tough thin cut for Das on the 6-ball. Das went for it and perfectly made it. He ran the rack and finished the match with a justified 9:7 victory that took him into the round of the last 32 players. There, he had another heartbreaker against a player from Sp ain, Juan Carlos Exposito (ESP). The match went hill-hill and at 8:8, Exposito missed the 7-ball because he ran out of position. However, he was lucky and left no shot for Das who could not even play the 7-ball since it was blocked by the 8-ball. Das went for rail first but left an open table with three easy shots for Exposito who finished and eliminated Das with 9:8.
Alcaide had to take the detour over the loser’s side which turned out not to be a walk in the park for him. He just made it over Wojciech Sroczynski (POL) 9:8 to also sneak into the single elimination round of the final 32 players. There he met Imran Majid (GBR) and won 9:7.
Last 16 players line-up
Marco Teutscher (NED) v Perfrancesco Garzia (ITA)
David Alcaide (ESP) v Karl Boyes (GBR)
Oliver Ortmann (GER) v Juan Carlos Exposito (ESP)
Bruno Muratore (ITA) v Niels Feijen (NED)
Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) v Nick Malai (GRE)
Petri Makkonen (FIN) v Denis Grabe (EST)
Philipp Stojanovic (CRO) v Ralf Souquet (GER)
Mario He (AUT) v Mark Gray (GBR)
The tournament will continue tomorrow morning at 10:00 CET.
12 tables can be watched LIVE throughout the event on www.kozoom.com. The event will be hosted by the European Pocket Billiard Federation EPBF and organized by International Billiard Promotion, IBP. For further information, please check the event website atwww.eurotouronline.com, visit our Facebook page or contact the EPBF press office atpress@epbf.com
