Too much pressure for Dalmatin
Treviso, Italy: Mattey Ullah (NOR) defeated Karlo Dalmatin (CRO) with a
clear 9:5 result.
Ullah was never trailing all the way through the match. He took a quick 2:0 lead but Dalmatin managed to tie the match at 2:2. Then, Ullah continued with his strong and solid performance and put a lot of pressure on Dalmatin. Whether it was Dalmatin not being able to handle the pressure or simply bad luck for the Croatian can only be guessed. Fact is that Dalmatin had many unforced errors and several unlucky incidents that probably cost him the match.
In the 10th rack, Ullah was leading 5:4. Dalmatin had just returned from his time-out and fired a good break shot, leaving only 7 balls on the table. The layout was perfect for him. He tried to bank the 3-ball and lost control over the cue ball which scratched in a corner pocket. Instead of tying the match at 5:5 he was now trailing 4:6. Ullah took advantage of his opponent's errors and improved his play during the match. Two incidents in rack 11 and 13 probably broke Dalmatin's neck: In rack 11 he missed the 8-ball in the corner pocket and in rack 13 he pocketed the 8-ball but the cue ball scratched in the side pocket from an unbelievable angle. Tough luck for Dalmatin. Who knows how he would have played that shot if he had not been trailing all the way through the match.
Ullah had no mercy and accepted the gifts he was given, demonstrating rock solid pool. 9:5 was the result in the end in favor of Ullah. He will continue on the winner's side while Dalmatin has to make his way through the loser's bracket now.
Other notable results include Mark Gray (GBR) winning with 9:6 over Tomas Larsson (SWE). Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) remained the upper hand in a great match with 9:5 over young Wojciech Szewczyk (POL). Albin Ouschan (AUT) made his way to the next winner's round with a nice 9:6 victory over Vegar Kristiansen (NOR). Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet (GER) had an unexpectedly tough fight with Miguel Silva (POR). In the end, the German won with 9:7. Local hero Fabio Petroni (ITA) destroyed Ralf Seeliger (GER) with 9:2.
