Down To The Last 16 At Kamui Open

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THERE WAS A full day of 8-ball action as the KAMUI SLOVENIAN OPEN played down to the final 16 players to contest the last day at the Terme Olimia resort in Podčetrtek. As usual the field is now a mix of big names, emerging young stars as well as some lesser lights and it promises to be a day of drama and excitement when play resumes on Saturday morning.

Sweden’s 17-year-old junior star, Walter Laikre, took his place in the round of 16 courtesy of a comprehensive 10-3 win over Pascal Enfroy (FRA). It is the Stockholm-based youngster’s second time reaching such lofty heights and he is full of confidence for tomorrow. Whilst making solid progress in the men’s game, Laikre will be staying on for the Predator European Youth Championships which follow next week and will be looking to add to his existing medal tally.

Commented Laikre, “It was really nice – my second time in last 16 and I’m really enjoying it and it’s the first time in 8-ball so I’m really happy. 8-ball’s not really my game but I don’t have any real favourite or most hated game so it doesn’t matter too much to me.

“If I play good and get my breaks going, I really feel that I can go far in this event but it’s 8-ball so anything can happen really and I need to have some luck on my side. But I feel like I can go pretty far. I started playing in the men’s tournaments quite a long time ago, the same time as I started playing in the juniors and I’m still not finished with the juniors – I’m staying here for the Youth ECs, but I like it!” he added.

Luca Menn is another up-and-comer looking to crash the big time and he made it through to the round of 16, beating Max Lechner 10-5 in a match that might have been closer than the scoreline suggested. The 25-year-old from Aachen, Germany was a quarter-finalist in Treviso a couple of years ago and he now has the opportunity to make a name for himself tomorrow.

He said, “I’m very pleased with my patterns and my runouts but this time I didn’t really break good at all but in the end, it was more successful than Max’s break even though he broke better. But sometimes it goes that way but I played that good.

2025 ET Slovenian Open - down to the last

“I don’t have the most fun playing 8-ball as it’s so break-reliant and once you get it down it’s either kind of easy or there’s some congestion when it’s no fun at all. In the past of my career, it’s probably been my most successful game so I can’t hate on it! In 8-ball everything is possible and I’ve beaten most of the guys once so why not three or four times in a row but that’s the hard part but let’s see how it goes,” added Luca

One of the Euro Tour’s lesser lights is Ramazan Akdag (Turkey) but he can look forward to a little more time in the spotlight on Saturday, following a 10-3 win over Spain’s Omar Fidalgo to equal his best-ever Euro Tour finish. Akdag has been playing on Tour off-and-on since 2007 but he’s stuck at it and is looking forward to taking his game to new heights in the last 16 on Saturday.

He said, “It feels good that I played good. I think I ran out four of six racks so I’m happy with my game and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. It’s always a tough field and it’s always my goal to get into the last 32 or last 16 and let’s look how far I can go tomorrow.

“I’ll take it match by match, I don’t want to think too far in the future so let’s see what happens tomorrow. It was three years ago since I last played 8-ball and I broke really good and made some tough racks and that’s why I’ve gone so far.”

Play continues tomorrow morning (Saturday) at 10.00 with the last 16, followed by the quarter-finals at 12.30, semi-finals at 15.00 and 17.30, with the championship match scheduled for 21.00.

In addition, the Kamui Slovenian Ladies Open starts at 10.00, playing down to the final eight who return on Sunday.

Streaming of Tables 1 and 2 for all Euro Tour and European Championships events can be found 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/

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