WE’RE DOWN TO the last 16 players at the Dynamic Billard Estonian Open following a full day’s play on the second day of three of the event. Taking place at the Kalev Sports Hall in Tallinn, the tournament is the first of 2023 on the Euro Tour’s six event calendar.
The first man through to the last 16 was Switzerland’s Ronni Regli, the No.14 ranked player. He beat game youngster Karl Gnadeberg 9-7. Reaching the final 32 was a tremendous achievement for the 2022 WPA World U17 Champion, who beat some good names earlier in the competition.
For Regli, who has reached one Euro Tour final before, back in 2016, it was a good result against a potentially tricky opponent. He said, post-match, “The goal is always to win the tournament but we will see how it goes. It’s tough, the Euro Tour, and tomorrow is a new day and now it’s time to calm down and prepare for tomorrow.
“There was no extra pressure playing Karl; there are so many young guns today and they play really great and for sure there is a good future for Europe,” he added.
Regli will face Miesko Fortunski tomorrow. The Pole has battled back well after losing his opening match to the aforementioned Gnadeberg.
Ronni Regli (SUI)｜©EPBF
Big guns Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and Niels Feijen, at opposite ends of the draw, both prevailed against Joao Grilo and Mats Schjetne, respectively. No one would bet against these two facing each other in tomorrow’s final.
Dennis Grabe is the last remaining Estonian player left in the competition as he defeated Spain’s Jose Alberto Delgado 9-5.
“I don’t think playing in Tallinn puts more pressure on me, rather it gives me more energy and motivation to play my best game in front of my friends and in front of my home crowd,” said Grabe.
“I’ve showed that I can play really good – I just finished in ninth place in the World Championship and I beat a lot of good players so I’m in good shape and I’m confident,” said Grabe.
The last 16 commences at 10.00 on Monday morning with the final set to take place at 20.00. 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.
Dennis Grabe (EST)｜©EPBF
Running alongside the men’s event is the Ladies’ Estonian Open and from 38 starters, they have played down to the last four. No.1 ranked player, Eyllul Kibaroglu (Turkey) is one course to maintain her top spot as she overpowered Czech player Veronika Hubrtova 7-3. She will play Oliwia Zalewska (Poland), whose semi-final spot is her best Ladies Euro Tour finish in the past 12 months and could well get better.
The second semi-final is an all-German match between Veronika Ivanovskaia, who beat Bojana Sarac 7-3, and Melanie Sussenguth who got the better of Ina Kaplan 7-5. Both semi-finals get underway at 10.00 on Monday morning.
Eyllul Kibaroglu (TUR)｜©EPBF
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
Results, live scoring, and draw are available at www.epbf.com