MOHAMMAD SOUFI, the German-based Syrian, claimed his first ever Dynamic Billard Euro Tour title as he defeated World No.1 Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (Spain) 9-6 to claim the Estonian Open in Tallinn. Staged at the Kalev Sports Hall in the Estonian capital city, the match was a re-run of last month’s World 9 Ball Championship final but this time the outcome was different as Soufi got the better of a sub-par Sanchez-Ruiz.
Soufi’s best ever finish on the Euro Tour was a semi-final in Lasko, Slovenia in 2021 but he seems to have found the confidence to take his always-entertaining game to the highest level. Sanchez-Ruiz came into the final on a roll of all rolls, having totally dominated tournament pool in the past 12 months. However, mistakes here and there allowed Soufi the opportunity to claim victory.
Commented Soufi, “I’m very happy to win this event. After our last match in Poland and coming second in the World 9 Ball Championship, it gave me a big push to win my next tournament. It inspired me.
“Before coming here, I felt I had to win it. I’ve the greatest respect for Francisco – he is the best player in the world, he plays very, very good but I wanted to get to this final. I’m so happy and ready for the next event. I’ve been training so hard and I believe that I have so much more and I want everyone to see what I can do,” he added.
©EPBF
Starting the match as favourite, Sanchez Ruiz unluckily scratched going from 6 to 7 in the opener and Soufi mopped up the table to take the opening rack. Not hanging about, the Spaniard dropped two balls on the break and a quick 2/9 combo levelled things up. Soufi, whose fast-paced style can unsettle opponents, took no time to run out from the break and restore his lead at 2.1.
Sanchez Ruiz enjoyed a golden break to get back on level terms, before Soufi gave the next away, missing the 7 ball into the centre pocket. That gave Sanchez a 3-2 lead but he missed the 3 ball in the next and after some safeties, the Syrian banked it up table and cleared the rack to level it once again at 3-3.
A great table-length cut on the 1 ball from Soufi set up the runout and restored his lead at 4-3. The next rack slowed the pace down as both players had visits as they traded safeties before Soufi fouled to give ball-in-hand to Sanchez and he kept himself together to restore parity as the intriguing match moved to 4-4.
Three off the break gave Soufi a great chance to restore his lead, but he failed to bank the 2 ball and left it hanging over the centre pocket. There were errors from both players before a double kiss from Sanchez left the 3 ball on for his opponent and Soufi ran it out for a 5-4 lead.
Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz｜©EPBF
Both players had visits in the tenth game but it was Soufi who saw it out to open up a two-rack lead at 6-4. That soon became a three-rack lead as a jump shot from Sanchez saw the cue ball fall favourably for Soufi.
Sanchez Ruiz took the next with a well-executed run out but Soufi reached the hill in the 13th rack as he whizzed through the table to put himself on the brink of his first major title. In a must win rack, Sanchez delivered a crusher which saw two balls drop and leave the 2 ball available. He made it and then locked Soufi in a tight snooker, which he escaped from but left the 3 ball on for Sanchez who pocketed it and ran out for 8-6.
Soufi‘s next break was both dry and illegal but left nothing easy for the incoming Sanchez. He didn’t play the best safety and Soufi downed a long 1 ball to stay at the table. There was a 4/9 combination available and Soufi rattled the 9 ball but it stayed out.
Soufi tied up Sanchez in a tight snooker and Francisco had a flash at it that saw balls scatter across the table. Soufi then missed the 4 ball, as the drama mounted, and left it on for Sanchez. He looked favourite but made a shocking miss on the 7 ball to leave three balls between Soufi and the title which he duly executed for a terrific victory.
Soufi celebrations｜©EPBF
Soufi has caught the pool world’s imagination with his speedy play and devil-may-care attitude around the table and it is something he wants to work on; “I play fast and sometimes I play so fast but I need some coaching in how to play slower at times. It’s two or three seconds but I probably need to slow down on some shots. I’ll always give my best and I know there are so many good players on the Euro Tour but I’m ready!”
Earlier, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz had beaten Alexander Kazakis 9-6 to move into the final, while Soufi squeezed past Niels Feijen 9-8. The Dynamic Billard Euro Tour returns at St Johan Im Pongau, Austria on 14th April.
All the matches can be viewed live by visiting www.epbf.com/tournaments/eurot
Results, live scoring, and draw are available at www.epbf.com
Mohammad Soufi｜©EPBF
Soufi 戰勝 FSR 摘首座歐巡賽冠軍
男子歐巡賽-愛沙尼亞公開賽在首都塔林的 Kalev 體育館落下帷幕。昨晚的冠軍戰猶如2周前在波蘭9號球世錦賽決賽的重演，但此次的結果則有所不同，常住於德國的敘利亞選手 Mohammad Soufi 以 9-6 戰勝世界排名第一的西班牙好手 Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz，捧起個人首座歐巡賽獎盃。
昨日之前 Soufi 在歐巡賽的最佳成績為 2021年在斯洛維尼亞的 Lasko 公開賽上打進半決賽。Soufi 在八強賽中以 9-6 淘汰波蘭選手 Mieszko Fortuński，接著在半決賽中 9-8 力克四屆莫斯考尼盃 MVP，荷蘭 “終結者” Niels Feijen 挺進決賽。而他的對手則是在過去12個月中在賽場上表現相當亮眼的 Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz；以 9-6 讓去年的10號球世界冠軍 Wojciech Szewczyk (波蘭) 止步八強，接著在半決賽上以 9-6 打敗 2021 世界花式撞球大師賽冠軍 Alexander Kazakis (希臘) 進入決賽。
決賽的前半段 Soufi 與 Sanchez-Ruiz 在比分上緊咬著對方，然而 Sanchez-Ruiz 在昨日的比賽當中並未能打出其最佳狀態，出現多次的失誤成為了其致命傷，終場 Soufi 憑藉著出色的發揮再加上對手的失誤以 9-6 勝出，摘下個人的第一座歐巡賽冠軍。
Soufi 說道: “在波蘭的9號球世錦賽上獲得亞軍之後，不僅鼓舞了我也帶給我贏得下一場比賽很大的動力。來這之前，我覺得我必須得贏。我非常地尊重 Francisco，他是世界上最優秀的球員，他表現得非常的好，但我想打進決賽。我很高興拿下冠軍並且已為下一個賽事做好準備。我一直很努力地在訓練，我希望大家能看到我能有多大的能力。