FRANCISCO SANCHEZ RUIZ made it two-out-of-two Euro Tour titles as he took down the Dynamic Billiard Turkish Open presented by the Turkish Billiard Federation with a confident 9-5 victory over emerging young Serbian player Aleksa Pecelj.
The 29 year-old has been playing on the Euro Tour for the best part of a decade and may have been thinking that elusive title may never come but he won in August in Slovenia and followed it up today with a string of imposing performances to become the first man to win consecutive Euro Tour titles since Dennis Grabe in 2014.
Perhaps the confidence of winning his maiden title has elevated Sanchez Ruiz to a higher level and it certainly showed over the past three days here at the Venezia Palace Hotel on Turkey’s south coast. In tip-top form throughout, the Spaniard never conceded more than five racks in any of his matches.
Afterwards he said, “I feel very excited as I didn’t expect to win this tournament but I felt really good and played it round by round so I’m really happy.
“I’m going to try for a hat-trick in Treviso next month. I know it’s going to be tough but I’ll give it 100%. It’s practice, practice, practice and if you believe in your dream, you can do it!”
Aleksa Pecelj｜©EPBF
21 year-old Aleksa Pecelj make have got second prize but his performances these last three days have made plenty of people sit up and take notice.
Afterwards he said, “I didn’t expect such a good result. I was fighting throughout the whole tournament. I was losing in every match 5-2, 5-3, but I managed to get to the final. Francisco played amazing pool so he deserved the win for sure.”
Sanchez Ruiz and Pecelj stepped into the championship match courtesy of solid semi-final wins over Marc Bijsterbosch and Mariusz Skoneczny respectively. However, it was the Spaniard who got the better of the opening exchanges to open up a 3-1 lead in the race to 9, alternate break final.
In the fifth game, the Serbian missed a bank on the 2 ball to leave an open table and Sanchez Ruiz made no mistakes to run out for 4-1. That became 5-1 as he laid a tight safety on the 1 ball which Pecelj made contact with but left on.
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz｜©EPBF
Pecelj stopped the rot in the seventh as he won against the break and made it 5-3 following a good safety on the 4 ball and a nerveless run out. Sanchez Ruiz took the next and then downed three off the break to set up an easy run out and take the score to 7-3.
Pecelj wasn’t done and fired back in the next with an excellent run out under pressure but Sanchez Ruiz reached the hill in the next game as he ran out from the break. The young Serbian wasn’t finished as he took the next to make it 8-5 but with Sanchez Ruiz breaking on the hill, the signs were ominous.
Another big break from the Spaniard saw four balls drop and the title was within his grasp. With no problem balls on the table, he composed himself and ran through them for his second title in a little over two months.
The next stop on the Dynamic Billiard Euro Tour is the Treviso Open in Italy, commencing on 25th November.
All the matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com
Results, live scoring and draws are available at www.epbf.com
Luke Riches/EPBF