The draw for the 2024 European Open Championship set to take place at Hotel Esperanto, Fulda in Germany from August 6-11 is complete. Defending champion David Alcaide begins title defence against James Oyangoren live on Sky Sports in the UK, and in partnership with the City of Fulda and local sport’s authority Fulda Die Sportstadt.
The European Open Championship, promoted by Matchroom, will feature a 256-player field on the World Nineball Tour. The tournament will begin with a seeded double elimination format, featuring the top 128 World Nineball Tour players. From there, only 64 players will advance to the single elimination rounds.
Stakes are high with a $200,000 prize pot in the offing and the first automatic spots set to be locked in for both Team Europe and USA ahead of the 2024 Mosconi Cup as well as the second qualifying spot for both Team Asia and Team Europe in the inaugural Reyes Cup.
The defending champion Alcaide is joined by 2022 European Open champion Albin Ouschan, who will face the Italian Carlo Blasi in his quest to reclaim the title. Hometown favourites Joshua Filler and Pia Filler are set to play against the German pair Sebastian Rudek and Ernst Schmidt, respectively. Meanwhile, the World Champion Fedor Gorst will take on Hai Long Le from Vietnam.
The first qualifier for Team Asia in the upcoming Reyes Cup, Aloysius Yapp will compete against the Korean Seo Seoa, while Vietnamese star Duong Quoc Hoang will face the Kuwait cueist Abudallah Alenzi. Snooker fans can look forward to a thrilling matchup between the 2024 Snooker Welsh Open champion Gary Wilson and former snooker player Fraser Patrick.
Selected Round 1 Matches
- David Alcaide (7) vs James Oyangoren
- Albin Ouschan (12) vs Carlo Blasi
- Joshua Filler (6) vs Sebastian Rudek
- Aloysius Yapp (9) vs Seo Seoa
- Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (3) vs Thanasis Chronis
- Anton Raga (19) vs Robert Braga
- Fedor Gorst (1) vs Hai Long Le
- Duong Quoc Hoang (37) vs Abdullah Alenzi
- Pia Filler (120) vs Ernst Schmidt
- Gary Wilson (91) vs Fraser Patrick
- Eklent Kaçi (3) vs Vaggelis Seidis
The top 128 players in the field were seeded based on the 2024 World Nineball Tour Rankings with Round 1 matches taking place over the opening two days.
Live rack-by-rack scoring, including the full schedule of play, will be available throughout the event here.