DAY ONE OF three has completed at the Xanadu Resort Hotel in Belek as the DYNAMIC BILLARD Antalya Open got underway today. With a big field of 200 players competing, there were plenty of rounds of matches a full day’s play completed. In total, 208 ties were determined in an epic day and the players return at 9.00 tomorrow to continue.
One of the tour’s up-and-coming young talents is Germany’s Luca Menn. The 23-year-old has had a successful junior career with medals in the European Championships in both Youth and Under 23 divisions and is now making progress in the adult ranks. With two quarter-final finishes as well as last 16s, he occupies the No.12 spot on the Euro Tour rankings.
Today, Menn enjoyed two wins, against Emre Celik (TUR) and countryman Christopher Kaminski to set up a Winners’ Qualification match against Sambor Stachowiak of Poland on Friday afternoon.
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Commented Menn, “I struggled with the first 10-ball EuroTour this year that was right after the European Championships. I actually got last in that one and didn’t play any better in the 10-ball EuroTour. Then in Treviso it was also 10-ball and I broke really well and didn’t make too many mistakes. But then Oliver Szolnoki got me again – I lost to him in the quarter-finals the year before and both were my top finishes on the Euro Tour.
“It’s just my form curve; sometimes I play better and sometimes less good but I’m feeling more confident, I’ve played a lot in the past month. I go to university, parallel to my pool, and three weeks ago I finished my Batchelor degree so I could practice every day and hopefully repeat my result from last time.
“I’m hoping that the experience will count as it’s a mental thing and sometimes when I see the finish line, I can struggle but I’ve improved in that without doing anything special. The more I play, the more I can get used to situations and improve.
“I like all four disciplines and I don’t think I peak in any one of them but probably I like 9-ball the most as I break the most consistent there. At home, my 10-ball break is really good but on the slidey match tables it’s a little bit different. I have to find it and I hope I can get in the groove again with a bit of positive thinking!”
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Another youngster making progress today was Estonia’s Revo Maimre. Maimre is just 15-years of age and is the reigning WPA Under 17 World Champion, having beaten Walter Laikre in New Zealand in September, and he recorded two wins from two today, both against local players. His next match is a Winners’ Qualification tie on Thursday at 15.00.
Maimre struggled to get over the line in his earlier match and explained; “I was so nervous at the time. I missed a 9-ball and was feeling so bad! In that respect, I really like Shane Van Boening as he doesn’t act in any way when he misses a ball, he just stays calm which is something I have to try and do. Hopefully, I can go on from here and do better than my previous best Euro Tour finish which was 9th earlier in the year in Slovenia,” he added.
Play continues] tomorrow at 9.00 with the remaining Winners Round 2 matches and the Round 3 games on the one-loss side.
For streaming fans, Tables 1 & 2 will be shown throughout on YouTube. Table 1 will be on the Kozoom channel, while Table 2 will be available throughout on the EPBF platform. All other tables can be viewed on the Kozoom.com website, where there are a variety of subscription options.
Table 1 link = https://www.youtube.com/@KozoomTV/streams
Table 2 link = https://www.youtube.com/@theepbf/streams
Tables 1-20 = https://home.kozoom.com/en/all-cue-sports
As well as the prize money, there are Tour ranking points on offer. This week’s Euro Tour tournaments are 10-ball and players compete in a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 32 competitors for the men and last 16 for the women. From there it is single elimination until the finish. The men’s matches are races-to-8 racks with alternate break, while the women play a race-to-6.
Results, live scoring, and draw are available at www.epbf.com