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Thursday-Saturday 31 May - 2 June 2012

The winner, Nikos Ekonomopoulos from Greece Foto: EPBF/AMM
Greece over Poland in the final match

Saturday, 02 June 2012: Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) has won the final of the Dynamic Austria Open and defeated Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) with 9:4.

The tournament was different to other Euro-Tours. That could
especially be witnessed in the latter stages of the event. In the quarter-finals, eight different nations were represented. In the semi-finals, three out of four players have never gotten so far. The two finalists, Ekonomopoulos and Szewczyk belonged to them.

The match started out quite evenly. After 7 racks, Ekonomopoulos was leading 4:3. Up until then, none of the two players was able to get an advantage over the other one of more than one rack. But suddenly, Ekonomopoulos seemed to get in better shape. He benefitted from some mistakes from Szewczyk and took a three point lead. The scoreboard showed 6:3 for Ekonomopoulos. The 10th rack was determined by safety play. Szewczyk came out on top of the Greek and put another point in his account. But it was still 6:4 in favour of Ekonomopoulos. The next two racks were taken by Ekonomopoulos who went on the hill and took an 8:4 lead over Szewczyk. The pressure was on. In the 13th rack, Ekonomopoulos executed the break shot and came up dry. However, he was a bit lucky since Szewczyk could not see the 1-ball. Wojciech Szewczyk tried a safety shot but left a tough but makeable 1-ball for Ekonomopoulos. That was all that the Greek player needed. He finished the rack and took the Euro-Tour tournament victory for the first time in his life.

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THE DYNAMIC AUSTRIAN OPEN - TOP 16 FINAL STANDINGS
Position	Name	Country	Flag	Prize
1 2 3 3 5 5 5 5 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9	Nikos Ekonomopoulos Wojciech Szewczyk Marcus Chamat Nicolas Ottermann Niels Feijen Roman Hybler Bruno Muratore Artem Koshovyi Ralf Souquet Darren Appleton Nick v.d. Berg Oliver Ortmann Karlo Dalmatin Kristoffer Mindreboe Cliff Castelein Phil Burford	GRE POL SWE GER NED CZE ITA UKR GER GBR NED GER CRO NOR BEL GBR		3400,- � 2200,- � 1400,- � 1400,- � 1000,- � 1000,- � 1000,- � 1000,- � 900,- � 900,- � 900,- � 900,- � 900,- � 900,- � 900,- � 900,- �

THE EPBF EURO TOUR - FINAL TOP TEN RANKINGS
Position	Name	Country	Flag	Points
1 2 = 4 5 6 7 8 9 =	Dimitri Jungo Nick v.d. Berg Darren Appleton Chris Melling Marcus Chamat Albin Ouschan Mark Gray Ralf Souquet Oliver Ortmann Serge Das	SUI NED GBR GBR SWE AUT GBR GER GER BEL		2235 pts 2190 pts 2190 pts 2160 pts 2135 pts 2115 pts 2105 pts 2010 pts 1960 pts 1960 pts

Newbies make it in Austria

Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) Foto: EPBF/AMM
Final match to be played between Ekonomopoulos and Szewczyk

Saturday, 02 June 2012: In a high class semi-final match, Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) defeated Nicolas Ottermann (GER) with 9:5.

The early racks definitely went in favour of Szewczyk. The young Pole was dominating the match and had the better shots. His stroke seemed to be smooth and easy and though both of the contestants have been in a semi-final of the Euro-Tour for the first time in their lives, Szewczyk seemed to be calm and at ease. After 10 racks, Szewczyk had a comfortable 7:3 lead over Ottermann. But the German fought back. He played a brilliant break and run and closed the gap to 4:7, still in favour of Szewczyk.

From that moment on, the balls did not run in Ottermann�s favour and Szewczyk impressed everyone with his extremely strong performance. He only made one minor mistake and was punished by Ottermann straight away. That was in the 12th rack, and the German made the score 7:5 in favour of Szewczyk. In the 13th rack, the two players played some safety shots. Then Ottermann had no other chance but leave a long and difficult shot for Szewczyk. The young Pole made that shot as if it was the most normal thing in the World to do, not showing any nervousness at all. He finished that rack and another one, snatching the match with 9:5 from Ottermann who has also played a great tournament and finishes now in 3rd place.

The final match will be played at 18:00 CET between Nikos Ekonomopoulos and Wojciech Szewczyk.

Ekonomopoulos clearly terminates Chamat

Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) Foto: EPBF/AMM
First semi-final finished in Dynamic Austria Open

Saturday, 02 June 2012: With a strong and constant performance, Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) terminates �Napoleon� Marcus Chamat (SWE) with 9:4.

Both players started a bit cautious and refrained from playing aggressive shots if possible. When Ekonomopoulos took his time-out, he was leading by one rack with 4:2. In the 7th rack, the Greek played a poor safety shot and Chamat used the opportunity to run the rack, making the score 3:4. Then Ekonomopoulos shifted into overdrive! He played really focussed and pocketed all tough shots. But he also played smart, not taking too many risks.

Whenever advisable, he played a safety shot instead going for a tough long ball. That made his play stronger and he got momentum from it. On the other side, Chamat had a few unlucky outcomes from his shots. One was in the 11th rack when Chamat played a good break shot but the cue ball scratched. Ekonomopoulos benefitted from that and ran the rack which put him on the hill. The final rack at a score of 8:4 in favour of Ekonomopoulos was kind of amazing.

After a few safety shots were exchanged, Ekonomopoulos found himself with ball in hand on the 4-ball. He tried to pocket the 5-ball which blocked the 4-ball�s way into the pocket� and missed it! What a drama. Chamat got back to the table and pocketed the 5-ball with a kiss shot from the 4-ball but again ended up unlucky. The cue ball found itself hidden behind the 6-ball so that Chamat could not make the 4-ball. He hit the 4-ball but gave Ekonomopoulos the chance to play another good safety that Chamat could not find an answer for. The Greek won another rack and the match and secured his seat in the final match of the Dynamic Austria Open.

Results Quarter-finals:
Nicolas Ottermann GER v Roman Hybler CZE 9 : 3
Niels Feijen NED v Marcus Chamat SWE 2 : 9
Artem Koshovyi UKR v Wojciech Szewczyk POL 5 : 9
Bruno Muratore ITA v Nikos Ekonomopoulos GRE 4 : 9

The second semi-final between Nicolas Ottermann (GER) and Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) will begin at 16:00 CET.

The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu , follow us on twitter @EPBF_News or contact our press office.

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