JUST 16 PLAYERS remain at the Longoni Italian Open in Treviso after a hard-fought day of 10-ball action. Taking place at the ever-popular Best Western BHR Treviso Hotel, there are plenty of the tour’s heavy hitters in the mix as the event enters it’s final day.
Euro Tour legend, Oliver Ortmann, rolled back the year’s with a solid win over Dutch youngster Mika Van Berkel to advance to Sunday and the last 16. With 14 tournament victories, he is the second most successful player in the tour’s long history and he’s still in the mix for the final day shake-up. He can look forward to playing Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) tomorrow morning.
He said, “It’s been a long time! I haven’t played that much and I’m 57 now so I’m not even thinking about playing at the top in Europe. But I’m not surprised but I’m pretty happy with my results so far. Let’s see what’s going on tomorrow.
“Of course, I love playing pool but most important for me is my business so I’m more concentrating on that and once in a while I play a tournament here and there. I love playing the Euro Tour in Italy and Austria and that’s why I came to try and compete. A good night’s sleep and beer and let’s see what’s going on tomorrow,” he added.
Oliver Ortmann
Also going well is the Netherland’s Niels Feijen who stands third in the all-time Euro Tour title list. Feijen put paid to the hopes of France’s Fabio Rizzi in his march to the last 16.
Commented Niels, “I felt I played pretty decent. There’s a lot of time between the matches and I like to play a lot; it’s when I’m at my best so three matches is good. The more you play, you get into a bit of a groove and your focus gets going and I felt my focus was pretty good in that last match.
“ I haven’t been too lucky on the break so it’s been pretty much of a grind and you have to be prepared to battle for every rack and I’m doing that and it’s paying off. I’m still here, kicking, and I’m only going to get stronger.”
Niels Feijen
Despite battling jet lag after a successful trip to the Derby City Classic, Germany’s Joshua Filler still had too much for Spain’s Alvaro Canoniga as he ran out a 10-4 winner, to set up a round of 16 clash with countryman Ugur Turku.
Filler said, “Compared to the circumstances, fighting the jet lag, I played good and I’m happy that I’m still in because I knew today was going to be a rough day with just two hours sleep. I know how it is but I’ll always fight till the end, just grinding. It takes me a bit longer as my brain isn’t as fast as it’s supposed to be.
“Nevertheless, I played good and I’m still in. The break is quite funny with the break box so I have to see how that works. I’m always positive because my game is there so I hope I can sleep well tonight and I’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
Joshua Filler
Play continues on Saturday morning at 10.00 with the round of 16 and culminates in the final which is set 18.00.
The Longoni Italian Open Women starts at 9.00 on Saturday morning with a strong field of 58 players. The event concludes with the title match at 16.00 on Sunday.
This year sees a new streaming platform for all Euro Tour and European Championships events.
Table 1 will be streamed throughout on YouTube, via the Pro Billiard TV channel – https://www.youtube.com/@ProBilliardTV
For all results, live scoring and draw, visit https://www.epbf.com/tournaments/eurotour/information/
The Predator Euro Tour Series is the world’s longest-running pool tour. Sanctioned by the EPBF, there are six events annually on the calendar and all tournaments are played on Predator ARC tables, covered with Simonis 860 cloth, using Aramith Duramith balls. Additional sponsors are Kamui Chalk and Longoni Cues.
The host sponsor at the Longoni Italian Open is the Best Western Premier BHR Treviso Hotel