Konstantin Stepanov (RUS)
Portoroz, Slovenia: Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) defeated Zoran Svilar (SRB) with 8:5 in 10-ball and secured his sport among the last 16 players in the field.
Stepanov was simply the better player in that match. His break was more efficient than Svilar's. He always had a ball down on his break and most of the time he was able to make use of his layouts. However, in the early stage of the match he had to fight his nerves in order to stay in the match. He was not able to turn Svilar's mistakes into good points for him. In the 5th rack, they both played some good safety shots in the beginning. Then, Stepanov pocketed a fantastic jump shot and found himself with all balls left open on the table for him. But instead of clearing the table he missed the 10-ball. "I tried to attack in the beginning but then I understood that it's not my game now", said Stepanov. "I needed to play more defensive". And even though he did, he could not really get an advantage over Svilar. After ten racks, the score was 5:5 with Stepanov's break coming up. It looked like someone had turned a switch because he cleared the table fast and seemed to have found new strength for his performance. "In the final stage of the match, I played good kick shots. That's possibly the reason why I won", stated Stepanov. That was definitely the case. He played very good kick shots but also showed permanence in his shotmaking. No wonder, he could get on the hill and create huge pressure for Svilar. At 7:5 for Stepanov, the match was again opened with a strategic safety shot exchange. Stepanov played the better shots, but even committed a foul. Svilar had ball in hand and played a safety which looked good. But Stepanov had aneven better answer for it, played a marvelous resafe for Svilar who then committed a foul, too. That was good enough for Stepanov to end the match with 8:5. He will now face Niels Feijen in the round of the last 16 players. Svilar has to settle for 17th.
Another notable story is the performance of Ralf Souquet (GER). He had to deal with his teammate, the defending Champion Dominic Jentsch (GER), and many spectator's saw a high class match with a lot of tension and action. In the end, Souquet was the winner with 8:7. In the next round, he could not take his game up and lost 3:8 to Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE).
In the women's division, Kynthia Orfanidis (NED) defeated Jasmin Michel (GER) with 6:2 to go to the round of the final 16 players. Defending Champion Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) showed no mercy with her opponent Severine Titaux (FRA) and threw her out with a whitewash 6:0.
In the wheelchair division, Henrik Larsson (SWE) overpowered Fred Dinsmore (IRL) by a whisker with 5:4.
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.
