Two-time World Pool Masters champion Niels Feijen has admitted it was a surprise when he received his wild card invite for the 2022 World Pool Masters at the Europa Point Sports Complex, Gibraltar May 5-8 live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Feijen was speaking to Karl Boyes on the latest episode of Loose Pool with the Dutchman in a reflective mood ahead of next week admitting that it would be an amazing feeling to claim the title for the third time, but he’s aware the challenge is much harder as an unseeded player: “When you look at it back then you had to win four matches but you have to beat four of the toughest guys on the planet. Now I have to win five! If I catch some groove and form, I am playing well enough to win. I don’t think anyone is a hot favourite. It’s a tough format. It would feel amazing to win it three times. It’d be a good line to see how many have won it more than twice. It’d be a nice group to join.”
In 2018, Feijen had to overcome Shane Van Boening in the final, but it wasn’t his biggest challenge after being told to stay away from the pool table for over ten weeks prior to the tournament to recover from tennis elbow. The victory was an emotional one for Feijen who only really felt his best when playing Boyes in the semi-finals: “I wasn’t able to hit a ball until right before. It was borderline that I was about to pull out but then I got the green light from my physio to play for 20 minutes a week before the event. The next day I could do 30 then 40 etc. Then I was allowed to do a break that really hurt in the beginning. I had zero form and zero expectation.”
“When I got there, I played you (Karl Boyes) in the semis. The thing was, that was the first match, and moment I was pain-free, the chains just flew off, there was so much energy going through me. I didn’t care if I was going to win or lose. I was like a kid again. When you get in that mode it’s a win-win. Won the semis then I won the final. Amazing memories and one of the biggest wins emotionally for me in my career.”
©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport (file)
Some may write off Feijen with the new wave of European players breaking through but he’s more focussed than before to keep delivering huge moments with the Terminator keen to keep impressing: “During COVID-19, I struggled you were playing then taken off for four or five weeks. That’s tough you must pick back up and stay motivated. I wasn’t playing well but to be honest, my motivation wasn’t at its peak. This year, I said we had the European Championship, I want to go there and get a gold medal. I got gold medal in Nineball. My game’s been good.”
The 2022 World Pool Masters will once again be played on Rasson Ox tables with 4-inch pockets with the tournament known as one of the toughest in Nineball not just for the strength and depth of the field but playing conditions: “I think it’s good. It was tough last year. The heat is on in short races. You see surprising misses. The players are under pressure right out the gate. You must take of your position play than with looser pockets. You will see more surprises in the World Pool Masters with crazy misses and it will get under the player’s skin. You must mentally prepare.”
Feijen will enter the preliminary stage before facing one of the seeded top eight off the 2022 Nineball World Rankings in the Last 16. He will find out his opponent when the draw is complete on Thursday, April 28.
©JP Parmentier/Matchroom Multi Sport (file)
EVENT FORMAT
The top 8 seeded players enter at the last 16, where they are joined by the winners from the preliminary round, where players ranked 9-24 face off.
All matches race to 7, winner breaks, except for the final which is a race to 9.
MATCH SCHEDULE
Thursday 5th May – Evening Session
x4 Preliminary Round matches
Friday 6th May – Afternoon Session
x4 Preliminary Round matches
Evening Session
x3 Last 16 Matches
Saturday 7th May – Afternoon Session
x3 Last 16 Matches
Evening Session
x2 Last 16 Matches / x1 Quarter-Final
Sunday 8th May – Afternoon Session
x3 Quarter Finals
Evening Session
x2 Semi-Finals / Final
©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport (file)
兩屆大師賽冠軍 Niels Feijen 以外卡選手身份受邀參加於5月5日至8日在直布羅陀歐洲體育中心舉辦的2022年世界花式撞球大師賽，英國 Sky Sports 將對比賽進行全程直播。
Feijen 在近期接受 Karl Boyes 的採訪時表示，對於下周即將開始的大師賽他非常期待，能夠擁有第三次衝冠的機會既是一種驚喜又充滿了五味雜陳的不安。作為非種子球員身份參賽，Feijen 清楚的知道想要挑戰賽會中的諸多高手將是多麼困難的一件事。
Feijen 說: “當你看到簽表時，你知道你需要贏得四場比賽 (就可以拿到冠軍)，但你要知道你必須擊敗的是這個世界上最優秀的四個球員。而現在對我來說 (多打一輪) 必須贏得五場才行! 如果我能把握住比賽的節奏並且打的很好的話，我是有機會獲勝的。我不覺得有誰是冠軍的熱門人選。這是一項頗為艱難的比賽。如果我能第三次贏得冠軍那該是多麼的不可思議。看看有多少人曾經在一項賽事中拿過兩個以上的冠軍，這可不是一件容易的事。能夠實現單項賽事兩冠的都是業內的佼佼者。”
2018年，Feijen 在決賽中艱難戰勝 Shane Van Boening ，但這並不是 Feijen 所面對的最大挑戰。正是在賽前 Feijen 才得知自己因網球肘的傷勢必須要遠離球桌靜養十數周，而決賽的勝利更多的是對 Feijen 精神上的鼓勵和認可，他直到半決賽對陣 Karl Boyes 的比賽中才真正感受到自己最佳狀態的來臨。
Feijen 說：“直到比賽前，我甚至都沒法打球。我當時差點就要退出比賽了，但後來理療師給我開了綠燈，讓我在比賽前一周可以每天打20分鐘，接下來第二天我可以打30分鐘，然後是40分鐘，嚴格控制練球時間。開始的時候傷處真的很疼，我的狀態為零，我對比賽成績也毫無期待。”
“當我來到比賽現場，我在半決賽中與你 (Karl Boyes)交手。不得不說，那是我近期來第一次感覺在沒有疼痛感的情況下比賽，而掙脫了疼痛束縛的我渾身有用不完的力氣。我不在乎我是贏是輸，我就像個孩子一樣的欣喜若狂。當你進入這種狀態時，這會帶來一個雙贏的結果。我不僅贏得了半決賽，最終我還贏得了決賽的勝利。這次的經歷對我來說是自己職業生涯中最動情的一場勝利。”
隨著歐洲新一代球員的崛起，Feijen 的地位和排名岌岌可危，但他比以前更專注並且渴望繼續在賽場上給人留下深刻印象。Feijen 談到：“在新冠大流行期間，我掙扎著上場參賽，然後又是四五個星期的休息。這很艱難，你必須重新振作起來並保持動力。我當時打得不好，但說實話，我並不在巔峰狀態。今年我們有了歐洲錦標賽，我想去那裡拿個冠軍。我想繼續在9號球領域奪冠，以此證明我良好的競技狀態。”
2022年大師賽將再次採用以4英寸袋口為標準的銳勝Ox球桌。大師賽以其場地條件、賽事強度和比賽深度一直被稱為9號球中最難的比賽之一，對此 Feijen 說：“我認為這很好。去年的比賽很有難度。出杆限時和短局制點燃了比賽的現場氣氛，你會看到不怎麼常見的失誤。球員們一出場就面臨著不小的壓力。你必須注意你的走位和打法，而不是渴望一個寬鬆的袋口幫你。在大師賽中，你會看到更多的驚喜和瘋狂的失誤，這將使得選手們普遍感受到壓力。你必須在心理上做好準備。”
Feijen 作為非種子選手將率先經受資格賽階段的考驗，如果順利過關他將在八分之一決賽中面對2022年世界排名前八的種子選手。