2023’s DYNAMIC BILLARD Euro Tour season gets into gear this Saturday 18th February – as 200 players gather at Kalev Sports Hall in the picturesque Estonian capital city of Tallinn to contest the Estonian Open. Played out over three days, with the semi-finals and final set for live TV coverage on Monday evening, the event operates as double elimination down to the last 32 players before moving to single elimination to the conclusion.
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, currently ranked #2, has a golden opportunity to slide into the number one position as his two biggest rivals, Wiktor Zielinski and Joshua Filler, have opted to sit out the tournament. The Spaniard is enjoying an unrivalled run of form which started when he triumphed in back-to-back Euro Tour events in mid-2021.
Since then, he has cleaned up, winning World 8 Ball and 9 Ball titles as well as the US Open and host of other championships. Sanchez Ruiz is without doubt, the best player in the world currently and will be the man to beat in Tallinn.
Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz｜Photo © EPBF
Absentee Zielinski will be on 2,390 points following the conclusion of the Estonian Open while Filler will finish on 2,280 points. This will shift them to fifth and sixth positions respectively in the ET rankings.
This opens the window for Sanchez-Ruiz to usurp the No.1 spot as well as give Eklent Kaci – #4 – and Mario He at #5 a great opportunity to improve their positions. Both players contested the final of the last Euro Tour event of 2022 – the Italian Open in Treviso – with He emerging a 9-5 winner.
It’s a first-time visit to Estonia for the Euro Tour and there is a large contingent of 29 local players entered. Heading the list is Euro Tour winner Dennis Grabe, ET ranked No.12, who will be hoping to impress in front of his home crowd. He will be ably supported by recent WPA World U17 Champion Karl Gnadeberg who is looking to make strides in the senior ranks.
Play gets underway at 9.00am local time, with the semi-finals and the final taking place on Monday evening, 20th February.
Mario He｜©EPBF
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
The semi-finals and final, played out on Monday night, will be live or highlights on the following television stations across Europe;
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