2014 World Champion Niels Feijen and recent Sharks International 9-Ball Open victor Ko Ping Chung are among those knocked out on day three at the 2023 European Open Pool Championship in Fulda, Germany, live on DAZN in the USA and networks worldwide.
Four-time Mosconi Cup MVP Feijen, who reached the semi-finals of the World Pool Masters in May, was knocked into the Loser’s Qualification bracket 9-6 by Dimitris Loukatos earlier in the day, leaving a tough task against Anton Raga. Under the bright lights of the main streamed table, the Terminator had his title chances terminated, succumbing to 9-3 loss to the Filipino.
©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Ko’s recent exploits in Raga’s home nation meant a target on the Chinese Taipei star’s back. With $30,000 World Nineball Tour ranking points putting him in the WNT top 10 in Quezon City, he was unable to strengthen his lead in Fulda. Defeat to German European Open Qualifier Can Salim on Wednesday led to a 9-5 final blow delivered on Thursday afternoon by Bulgarian Georgi Georgiev.
Skyler Woodward bucked an unwelcomed-trend of falling into the one-loss round – a feat achieved on the way to the semi-finals at both the UK Open and Spanish Open Pool Championships. 2015 World Snooker Champion Stuart Bingham was beaten by the Blue Grass Badass – who could secure his place in the 2023 Mosconi Cup with a strong run this week. Bingham’s Nineball adventure was cut short by Norway’s Mats Schjetne – but with impressive wins over Lo Ho Sum and Sullivan Clark – Ball Run will likely soon find himself back on the grey baize.
©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Pijus Labutis enjoyed a career-high run to the semi-finals of the Spanish Open Pool Championship, but the Lithuanian was unable to follow up on success in Lugo. Estonian prodigy Karl Gnadeberg inflicted a 9-3 defeat in the second round, and after fighting through Gabriel Vasilache and Do The Kien, Vietnamese star Duong Quoc Hoang proved too much – running out a 9-6 winner.
Shane Van Boening defeated James Aranas to reach the last 64 – before the Philippines’ World Cup of Pool champion headed home to Finland’s Jani Siekkinen. World Nineball Tour number one Francisco Sanchez Ruiz advanced past Emil André Gangfløt, whilst defending champion Albin Ouschan put a dent in Hunter Lombardo’s Mosconi Cup hopes for Team USA.
Fedor Gorst, Ko Pin Yi, Jayson Shaw and home favourite Joshua Filler are among the names who will be contesting the last 64.
©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Other Headlines
- World Championship runner-up Mohammad Soufi unable to reach knockout stages
- Hong Kong, China duo Robbie Capito and Lo Ho Sum head home
- Mika Immonen beats Chris Melling in a hill-hill thriller
- Sanjin Pehlivanovic fails to advance past to Turkey’s Ramazan Akdag
- 2022 semi-finalist Jose Aberto Delgado falls to the UAE’s Talal Alblooshi
- Ralf Souquet defeats best friend Thorsten Hohmann 9-6 – but both veteran Germans reach last 64
Session Times
The European Open Championship will take place from August 8-13.
All times are local (CEST)
8-11 August – from 10 am daily
12 August – 12 pm – 4:30 pm / 6:30 pm – 11:00 pm
13 August – 12 pm – 4:30 pm / 6 pm – 9 pm
The top 128 players in the field were seeded based on the 2023 World Nineball Tour Rankings with the last 64 matches set to get underway on day four of the European Open Pool Championship.
Outright betting markets priced up Joshua Filler as the odds-on favourite at 8/1 alongside Van Boening with Sanchez Ruiz at 10/1 and World Pool Masters champion Ko Pin Yi at 14/1. Full odds are available on various online gaming websites.
Live rack-by-rack scoring will be available throughout the event at www.matchroompool.com
Wherever you are in the world, you will be able to sweat the action with broadcasters globally and live on the Matchroom Pool and Multi Sport YouTube channels in selected territories and on Matchroom.Live. UK and Ireland-based fans can see the final two days on Sky Sports with the opening four on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom YouTube. Fans in the USA will be able to watch all six days live on DAZN whilst those in Scandinavia, the Baltics, Poland, and Netherlands can watch live on Viaplay.
Fans in the Philippines meanwhile will be able to sweat the action on TAP Go and those in Vietnam on VietContent channels. Those in Germany can see the final two days on Sport1.