Wiktor Zielinski took home his first World Nineball Tour Ranking event win of the year at the Ljubljana City Mezz 9-Ball Open in the Slovenian capital beating Oliver Szolnoki 9-0 in the final to cement his place inside the world’s top ten.
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The Pole went on a streak that saw him drop only 20 racks across the tournament beating Vuk Strugar, Gorazd Žužek, Denis Kragolnik, Felix Vogel, Dimitris Loukatos, Georgi Georgiev, and Daniel Maciol to find his way to the final against Hungary’s Szolnoki. It was a match-up in the final of some of the finest young players has to offer with Szolnoki getting the better of two-time world champion Albin Ouschan in the quarter-finals with a hill hill finish.
Photo ©Matej Mrevlje
With over 20 nationalities represented, the field was stacked with talent looking to make their mark on the World Nineball Tour with rising Bosnian star Ajdin Piknjač reaching the semi-finals along with Maciol whilst Georgi Georgiev of Bulgaria made it to the quarter-finals with Tobias Bongers of Germany and Finland’s Jani Uski. The hopes of 2021 World Pool Masters winner Alexander Kazakis were ended hill hill by Slovakia’s Jakub Koniar in the Last 32 to dent his Mosconi Cup race.
Zielinski’s win sees him remain sixth on the World Nineball Tour Rankings but close the gap on Jayson Shaw to only $13,555 whilst Szolnoki’s run to the final sees him move back inside the top 16 in the world leapfrogging Chang Jung-Lin and Abdullah Alyousef. Both Zielinski, Ouschan and Kazakis will travel to the UK next for the 2023 World Pool Masters.
Wiktor Zielinski (L) & Oliver Szolnoki (R)｜Photo ©Matej Mrevlje
Next World Nineball Tour Event
The World Pool Masters returns to a 16-player field in Brentwood, Essex from May 10-13 with an increased prize fund of $125,000 on offer. The top 14 players on the World Nineball Tour Rankings at the conclusion of the World Pool Championship were invited alongside two wild cards. The draw was completed earlier this week. Find out more info here as Joshua Filler looks to defend his title.
Next World Nineball Tour Ranking Event
The World Nineball Tour rolls on with a field full of international superstars set to descend on Glasgow, Scotland for the JFlowers Scottish Open the weekend prior to the UK Open Pool Championship (May 26-28) offering a huge amount of vital ranking points as well as the perfect warm-up ahead of the next signature multi-table event from Matchroom. Info can be found here.