PLAY GOT UNDERWAY at the Dynamic Billard Estonian Open as the opening day unfolded for the 200 or so competitors at the Kalev Sports Hall in Tallinn. Almost four rounds of play were completed and absentees Joshua Filler and Wiktor Zielinski were joined by No.4 ranked player Eklent Kaci who failed to materialise for his first round match, having failed to travel to Estonia.
That gave extra impetus to some of the big names competing, as 2022’s player of the year, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz won his opening game, beating Panagiotis Ksipoliteas (Greece) by 9-6. The Spaniard plays again tomorrow morning when he faces countryman Salvador Garcia Fernandez.
Estonian No.1 Dennis Grabe enjoyed a 9-7 win over Portugal’s Joao Grilo to safely negotiate day one, while countryman, reigning WPA World U17 champ Karl Gnadeberg, scored a fantastic win over No.10 ranked player Miesko Fortunski by 9-5. Both players had table time in the Longoni 9 Ball League on Friday evening but Gnadeberg certainly sent out a message with the win.
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (file)｜©EPBF
Another highly-decorated junior, 15 year-old Felix Vogel (Germany) made it two wins from two in Tallinn. Vogel was a gold medallist at the European Junior Championships last year and even at a tender age, is a dangerous opponent for anyone.
He beat Eero Romppanen 9-0 and then Azhdar Nasirov 9-3 to set up a Winners Round 2 match against top Hungarian Oliver Szolnoki, which will be a real test for the precocious young talent.
Felix Vogel of Germany (file)｜©EPBF
Mario He, the winner in Treviso last time out in November, suffered a body blow as he lost his opening match 9-6 to Adam Stankiewicz. The 21 year-old Pole is currently ranked No.76 on the Euro Tour and that was certainly one of his finer moments.
He though, bounced back on the one loss side as he defeated 16 year-old Finnish junior Juho Teittinen 9-6 to keep his hopes alive and he can look forward to facing another Finn, Leevi Auresto at midday tomorrow.
Juho Teittinen (FIN 芬蘭)｜©EPBF
There are plenty more matches in store on Sunday as the field plays down to the last 16. Action continues in the morning at 9.00am local time, with Losers Round 2 as well as Winners Round 2 matches.
As well as the prize money, there are Tour ranking points on offer. 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 by visiting www.epbf.com/tournaments/eurot
SportKlub HD – Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Greece
Duo5 – Estonia
SportKlub – Poland
ORF – Austria
Results, live scoring, and draw are available at www.epbf.com
Karl Gnadeberg of Estonia (file)｜©EPBF
2023歐巡賽首站於愛沙尼亞揭開戰幕
由歐洲撞球協會 (EPBF) 主辦的歐洲撞球巡迴賽 (歐巡賽) 2023年的首站昨日在愛沙尼亞塔林的 Kalev 體育館展開，這也是歐巡賽首次登陸愛沙尼亞。
2022 年度最佳球員 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 9-6 擊敗希臘的 Panagiotis Ksipoliteas 拿下首場比賽，將在下場比賽對上同胞選手 Salvador Garcia Fernandez；愛沙尼亞第一好手 Dennis Grabe 以 9-7 打敗 Joao Grilo (葡萄牙)，同樣來自愛沙尼亞，WPA世界青少年9號球錦標賽 U17衛冕冠軍 Karl Gnadeberg 以 9-5 扳倒排名第10的波蘭好手 Miesko Fortunski。另一位備受矚目的選手是去年奪下青少年歐錦賽10號球金牌，來自德國年僅15歲的 Felix Vogel，Vogel 在昨日的比賽中以 9-0、9-3 分別取勝於 Eero Romppanen (芬蘭) 與 Azhdar Nasirov (亞塞拜然)，他的下一場比賽將在勝部第二輪迎戰匈牙利選手 Oliver Szolnoki，那將是一場對他真正的考驗。
Mario He｜©EPBF
拿下2022年歐巡賽最終站-特雷維索公開賽冠軍的奧地利好手 Mario He 在2023年歐巡賽首站 6-9 負於波蘭年僅21歲的 Adam Stankiewicz，擊敗 Mario He 所取得的勝利無疑地成為 Stankiewicz 的最美好地時刻之一。落入敗部的 Mario He 9-6 擊敗芬蘭16歲小將 Juho Teittinen 保住其一線生機，下場比賽將在敗部第三輪對上另一位芬蘭選手 Leevi Auresto。
所有比賽都可通過點擊 EPBF 官網上 “LIVE” 觀看比賽直播視頻；此外，精選比賽則將會在 EPBF Facebook 專頁上直播。周一晚上將進行的半決賽與決賽則將在下列各地區之歐洲電視頻道上直播。
SportKlub HD – 塞爾維亞、斯洛維尼亞、克羅埃西亞、蒙特內哥羅、北馬其頓、波士尼亞與赫塞哥維納與希臘。
Duo5 – 愛沙尼亞
SportKlub – 波蘭
ORF – 奧地利