AFTER A LONG day’s play, the Dynamic Billards Slovenian Open, held in the mountainous town of Lasko, is well underway. The winners’ side is down to the last 32 qualification round, whilst remaining players on the other side of the bracket have three full rounds to complete before the last 32 single elimination knock-out matches.
There are plenty of big guns who have gone two and zero including David Alcaide, Eklent Kaci, Joshua Filler, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Mario He, Wojciech Szewczyk and Niels Feijen. Also there is Wiktor Zielinski, who is having a hugely successful 12 months on the Euro Tour including winning last time the tour visited Lasko.
Zielinski enjoyed two wins to position himself in the winners’ qualification round heading into Sunday. Firstly, he peat Czech Petr Urban by 9-3 and then followed it up with a hard-fought 9-7 victory over Portuguese veteran Henrique Correia.
Commented Zielinski, “The first match I played near to perfection. I made a lot of break and runs and a lot of nice outs but in the second one I think I lost my confidence because I got the feeling that the cloth was a bit more slidey.
“It was very easy to overspin the ball so I lost position a few times and due to that I lost my confidence. But I’m still happy that I managed to win this match as Henrique missed a 100 per cent 9-ball for 8-7 up.
“Instead of that I was 8-7 up so I took a time out and probably he was thinking about it. He broke illegal and I took advantage of it for the win. It was very tough and a close one. I have two chances to qualify for the single elimination round and if I had lost this one, I think I’d have to win a few matches.
“It’ll be a normal day tomorrow. I’m trying to get my work done so it will be a normal day in the office. It’ll also be a long day tomorrow as you need to win four matches to reach the semi-finals so that will be tough.”
©EPBF
From one of the younger stars of the Euro Tour to one still plying his trade, having won a host of international titles in a stellar career, Thorsten Hohmann also navigated the opening day, winning two from two to advance into the winners’ qualification.
Firstly, he beat veteran Andreja Klasovic by 9-3 on the main table and he followed that up with a 9-8 nail-biter against Austria’s Markus Pfistermuller.
Hohmann said, “My game is inconsistent and that showed in my last match. I had at least three or four misses that I’m not supposed to make at this level and it seems to happen too often. But I kept it together, used my opportunities, got a little lucky here and there at the end and I’m just super happy that I have two chances to qualify for the final stage tomorrow.
“I’m still very competitive and there are so many tournaments on the horizon that’s worth looking forward to so I want to play my game again. One factor is that I’m getting older, but I have some ideas of what I want to do. I have to be more structured when it comes to my training.
“I teach a lot in New York and that takes time away from my own practice and my focus on my own game. I’ve got to enjoy it as I get a bit too tight and when I was younger, I was more free and it was all fun, now it’s all serious and it seems like I can’t move. I’ve got to get more loose!
©EPBF
“I’ve played in a lot of Matchroom events in the arena and you guys put me on the TV table. I’ve had some good results – I finished fifth in the World Championship but just looking at all my matches, even the ones I won, there’s just too many unforced errors which you can’t make on that level. I believe that to win tournaments, you don’t have to make the ‘hero’ shots, you just have to reduce the unforced errors.
“I travelled half way round the world to be here but not just to participate. I want to do well and prove that I’ve still got it. I’ve never been the most consistent player in my career but I did have peaks so I just hope I can do it again, and I’m willing to work on my game,” added the German star.
As well as the prize money, there are Tour ranking points on offer as well as world ranking points, so there is everything to play for. All Euro Tour tournaments are 9-ball and players compete in a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 32 competitors, and then single elimination until the finish. All matches are races to 9 racks with alternate break.
All the matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com as well as selected matches on Facebook Live on the EPBF page. In addition, the semi-finals and final, played out on Monday night, will be live or highlights on the following television stations across Europe;
SportKlub HD – Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia,
Bosnia Herzegovina, Greece
Eyecons – Netherlands)
SportKlub – Poland
ORF – Austria
B1B Box – Bulgaria
Results, live scoring and draw are available at www.epbf.com