The first day in Antalya of the Dynamic Billard Antalya Open 2019 started sunny as expected. Most players of the first round matches were on time for the beginning of their competition. In the first round, Nick Malai (GRE) and Marcel Price (GBR) had the toughest challenges. Both of them won their opening matches with 9:8 over their respective opponents which took a lot of energy out of them at such an early time of the day.
As the day continued, more remarkable matches could be witnessed. In the first winner’s round, Nick Malai took down Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) surprisingly clear with 9:1 and sent him to the loser’s side of the bracket. Jan Rempe (NED), young player from the dutch contingency, managed to overpower Fedor Gorst (RUS) with 9:5 in the same round. Jani Siekkinen (FIN) wasted no time with Alex Montpellier (FRA) wiping the floor with him with 9:0. Siekkinen’s teammate Jani Uski (FIN) also won his match against Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) with 9:7.
Nick Malai (left) and Darren Appleton
One of the two big clashes in the first winner’s round was the all British match between Mark Gray and Darren Appleton. Both players have earned their merits in the past and it was clear that the one with the better daily form would probably succeed over the other. Additionally, Appleton had been absent for a long time and just started his Euro-Tour play again last tournament in Klagenfurt, Austria, while Gray has been a regular on the tour for many years now. Today, the match went in favour of Appleton since Gray had no break at all. Appleton took him down 9:5 and Gray stated on his facebook page later: „Horrible game that lost 9-5 to Darren Appleton. Better player undoubtedly won. Break killed me but didn’t feel good so good luck to Daz… Granite back to the beach!!“ The other „big match“ in that round was the encounter between Pijus Labutis (LTU) and Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP). That match was controlled by the Spaniard and won with 9:6 by Sanchez-Ruiz.
The Dynamic Billard Antalya Open 2019 will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 local time with matches from winner’s round 2.
Every day, up to two matches will be streamed LIVE over the EPBF Facebook page and on the EPBF YouTube channel. Check for updates and announcements.
The Dynamic Billard Antalya Open are played in the Limak Atlantis Resort in Belek, Turkey, on up to 20 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be obtained at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.eurotouronline.com or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office [email protected].