At the Dynamic Billard Leende Open 2019 Euro-Tour in The Netherlands, the titans of pool stay alive in the event though some of them have already received some visible battle scars.
Chris Melling (GBR) is one of those favoured players who have already suffered a defeat yesterday. So he was already with one foot in the grave when me met Christian Brehme (GER) in his loser’s round match. The German did not seem to be too impressed from Melling’s big name in the beginning and took a small lead in the early stage of the match. He was also accompanied by Lady Luck in one of two situations when he fluke the 8-ball in or when Melling scratched on his break, leaving an open table for Brehme. But Melling stayed in the match and fought his way back. As the match continued, Melling got stronger and stronger and Brehme missed several shots or positions which was punished by Melling to the max. The Brit overtook Brehme and stayed alive in the event, winning the match with 9:6 in the end. Melling will be up against Dimitris Loukatos (GRE) in his next match and needs to win it plus another two in order to make it to the single elimination stage of the event.
Left to right: Eklent Kaci, Oliver Ortmann and Chris Melling
Another star player who received a scar today is Europe’s #1 ranked Eklent Kaci (ALB). He was up against Alex Montpellier (FRA) in his first match. The Frenchman played quite solid and Kaci did not get his a-game going. The match came to a hill-hill situation at 8:8. There, Montpellier had the break shot but did not manage to run the rack and win the match. A safety battle occurred with Kaci being the one on top when finally he had a shot on the 3-ball which was the lowest numbered ball on the slate. In a shocking moment for the spectators, Kaci clearly missed a relatively easy shot and left an open situation for Montpellier on the table. The French got to the table and attempted to pocket the 3-ball in the corner pocket. But he missed it, too. However, the 3-ball was played with so much speed that it struck the 9-ball which found its way into the side pocket and dropped under the eyes of an astonished audience. Montpellier fluked the 9-ball in and won the match with 9:8 to send Kaci to the loser’s side.
One former World Champion who is still on the winner’s side is Oliver Ortmann (GER). He encountered Denis Grabe (EST) and demonstrated very decent pool billiards, firing the crucial shots in the center of the pockets. After 14 racks played, the final score was 9:5 in favour of Ortmann. He will face underdog Joey Haegmans (NED) in his next match for a spot among the last 32 players of the Dynamic Billard Leende Open.
Friday through Sunday, EPBF will show up to two feature matches LIVE on the EPBF Facebook page. The entire tournament from the first round to the final match is shown on 11 tables LIVE on kozoom.com for premium pass holders.
The Dynamic Billard Leende Open 2019 will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 local time with matches from loser’s round 3.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organised by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). Play starts Thursday at 09:00 local time, for further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epbf.com under the Eurotour tab. You can also visit us on our Facebook page or check out the EPBF YouTube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office [email protected].