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The Dynamic Billard Leende Open
Golden Tulip Jagershorst
Valkenswaardseweg 44
Leende
Netherlands
www.europeanpocketbilliardfederation.com
www.eurotouronline.com
www.goldentulipjagershorst.nl

Thursday-Sunday 7-10 February 2019

Joshua Filler winning his first Euro-Tour title
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"Killer" Filler wins the Dynamic Billard Leende Open 2019

Joshua Filler (GER) just won his first Euro-Tour tournament, the Dynamic Billard Leende Open 2019, with an impressive 9:7 final victory over Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS).

The final match was determined by high class pool billiards by both players. The pressure and the heat was on for the athletes. They took racks in turn and kept the match open for a long time. After 11 racks, Chinakhov missed an easy shot on the 6-ball when he could have gotten a 2-rack-advantage over Filler. But instead, the young German who just claimed his first World Champion title in 9-ball last year, levelled the match at 6:6. Then, he broke dry and gave the table back to Chinakhov. A safety battle occurred with Filler coming out as the winner. But now he showed some nerves and missed a makable 2-ball. However, the Russian could not capitalise from Filler’s mistake and allowed Filler to get to 7:6. The next rack was a break-and-run by Chinakhov, so the heat was really on at 7:7. With Filler on the break shot, the World Champion kept his nerves together and got on the hill with 8:7. Then, Chinakhov broke and to his horror the cue ball scratched, giving Filler an open table with ball in hand. The layout was not easy, but Filler stayed as cold as ice and ran the rack, winning the match with 9:7 over Chinakhov who also performed extremely well during the Dynamic Billard Leende Open 2019.

„I can’t even describe how happy I am“, stated Filler when asked after the awards ceremony. „It was a long day with some really tough matches form me and now I’m really tired but extremely satisfied“, Filler added. When asked, was his next goal is after winning his first World Champion title a few months ago and now winning his first Euro-Tour, Filler’s answer came without hesitation: „US Open Champion“ !

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Earlier today, several unforced errors and „easy“ misses could be watched by players who usually perform rock solid on the Euro-Tour. In the round of the last 16 players, Niels Feijen (NED) missed an easy 7-ball when he was on hill-hill with Ruslan Chinakhov. The Russian of course accepted the gift and won the match with 9:8. Also on hill-hill, Imran Majid (GBR) missed an easy 8-ball which put Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) to the table and allowed him to win the match with 9:8. In the next round, Mark Gray (GBR) had the break-shot and a nice layout in front of him when the score was 8:8 against Joshua Filler. Gray missed the 2-ball and gave the table to Filler who ran it and decided the match with 9:8 in his favour.

Top Eight Finishers Dynamic Billard Leende Open 2019
1. Joshua Filler GER
2. Ruslan Chinakhov RUS
3. Maximilian Lechner AUT
Ralf Souquet GER
5. Wiktor Zielinski POL
Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz ESP
Mark Gray GBR
Albin Ouschan AUT

This result leaves Eklent Kaci (ALB) on top of the rankings with a big lead still. He is ahead 315 points of the #2 ranked player who is now Joshua Filler. The „KillerFiller“ catapulted himself on #2 with this victory here in Leende and has still one event less than the other top ranked players. #3 on the rankings is Albin Ouschan (AUT)

Top ten Euro-Tour Rankings
1. Eklent Kaci ALB
2. Joshua Filler GER
3. Albin Ouschan AUT
4. Maximilian Lechner AUT
5. Fedor Gorst RUS
6. Alexander Kazakis GRE
7. Niels Feijen NED
8. Mateusz Sniegocki POL
9. Mark Gray GBR
10. Ralf Souquet GER

That concludes the coverage of the Dynamic Billard Leende Open 2019. We will be back with more info about our next event, the Dynamic Billard European Championships for Men, Women and Wheelchair Athletes in Treviso, Italy, to be held April 27th through May 7th, 2019, followed by the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open for Men and the EPBF BHR Treviso Open for Women, May 9th through 11th, 2019.

The event was hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organised by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). Play starts Thursday at 09:00 local time, for further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epbf.com under the Eurotour tab. You can also visit us on our Facebook page or check out the EPBF YouTube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.

SUNDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2019

Left to right: Maximilian Lechner, Ruslan Chinakhov and Damianos Giallourakis
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Euro-Tour in Leende down to last 16 players

The Dynamic Billard Leende Open 2019 is down to the final 16 players single elimination stage.

As always in the later stages of the Euro-Tour, today saw many great players exiting the field. One of the earliest outs was Thorsten Hohmann (GER) who fell to the sharp blade of Philipp Stojanovic (CRO) with 4:9 in loser’s round 4. Another high profile victim in the same round was David Alcaide (ESP) who got eliminated by Alexander Kazakis (GRE) with 6:9. The same fate was shared by Chis Melling (GBR) who lost 8:9 against unheralded Dimitris Loukatos (GRE) with 8:9 in a heartbreaker.

One of the most prominent casualty of today happened one round later when #1 ranked player Eklent Kaci (ALB) had to give in to Vitaliy Patsura (UKR) with the closest of all results, 8:9.

Apart from those mentioned guns, most of the seeded players reached the single elimination stage as expected. In the round of the last 32 players, the established faces all made their way through to the next round. Only Oliver Ortmann (GER) found no cure against Damianos Giallourakis (GRE) and left the tournament with a 7:9 defeat against the Greek who originates from Rhodes Island and lives in Scandinavia currently. „The Terminator“ Niels Feijen (NED) came up with a super convincing performance against young Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) leaving no chance for the young gun from Bosnia and Hercegovina, winning as clearly as 9:1 over him. Albin Ouschan (AUT) needed some more effort to overpower Kim Laaksonen (FIN) with 9:6 in a fiercely fought over match. Joshua Filler (GER), the player who seems to be on fire at the moment, ended the hopes of Konstantinos Koukiadakis (GRE) with an impressive 9:3 victory. Grandmaster Ralf Souquet (GER), „The Kaiser“ outplayed Georgi Georgiev (BUL) with 9:6 and also still has a saying in who will win the title here in Leende.

Last 16 Players Single Elimination
Fedor Gorst RUS v Ralf Souquet GER
Wiktor Zielinski POL v Daniel Maciol POL
Imran Majid GBR v Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz ESP
Ruslan Chinakhov RUS v Niels Feijen NED
Joshua Filler GER v Wojciech Szewczyk POL
Mark Gray GBR v Damianos Giallourakis GRE
Maximilian Lechner AUT v Marek Kudlik POL
Dimitris Loukatos GRE v Albin Ouschan AUT

Friday through Sunday, EPBF will show up to two feature matches LIVE on the EPBF Facebook page. The entire tournament from the first round to the final match is shown on 11 tables LIVE on kozoom.com for premium pass holders.

The Dynamic Billard Leende Open 2019 will continue tomorrow morning at 10:00 local time with matches from the last 16 players single elimination.

The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organised by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). Play starts Thursday at 09:00 local time, for further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epbf.com under the Eurotour tab. You can also visit us on our Facebook page or check out the EPBF YouTube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.

SATURDAY 9 FEBRUARY 2019

Left to right: Eklent Kaci, Oliver Ortmann and Chris Melling
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The titans stay alive

At the Dynamic Billard Leende Open 2019 Euro-Tour in The Netherlands, the titans of pool stay alive in the event though some of them have already received some visible battle scars.

Chris Melling (GBR) is one of those favoured players who have already suffered a defeat yesterday. So he was already with one foot in the grave when me met Christian Brehme (GER) in his loser’s round match. The German did not seem to be too impressed from Melling’s big name in the beginning and took a small lead in the early stage of the match. He was also accompanied by Lady Luck in one of two situations when he fluke the 8-ball in or when Melling scratched on his break, leaving an open table for Brehme. But Melling stayed in the match and fought his way back. As the match continued, Melling got stronger and stronger and Brehme missed several shots or positions which was punished by Melling to the max. The Brit overtook Brehme and stayed alive in the event, winning the match with 9:6 in the end. Melling will be up against Dimitris Loukatos (GRE) in his next match and needs to win it plus another two in order to make it to the single elimination stage of the event.

Another star player who received a scar today is Europe’s #1 ranked Eklent Kaci (ALB). He was up against Alex Montpellier (FRA) in his first match. The Frenchman played quite solid and Kaci did not get his a-game going. The match came to a hill-hill situation at 8:8. There, Montpellier had the break shot but did not manage to run the rack and win the match. A safety battle occurred with Kaci being the one on top when finally he had a shot on the 3-ball which was the lowest numbered ball on the slate. In a shocking moment for the spectators, Kaci clearly missed a relatively easy shot and left an open situation for Montpellier on the table. The French got to the table and attempted to pocket the 3-ball in the corner pocket. But he missed it, too. However, the 3-ball was played with so much speed that it struck the 9-ball which found its way into the side pocket and dropped under the eyes of an astonished audience. Montpellier fluked the 9-ball in and won the match with 9:8 to send Kaci to the loser’s side.

One former World Champion who is still on the winner’s side is Oliver Ortmann(GER). He encountered Denis Grabe (EST) and demonstrated very decent pool billiards, firing the crucial shots in the center of the pockets. After 14 racks played, the final score was 9:5 in favour of Ortmann. He will face underdog Joey Haegmans (NED) in his next match for a spot among the last 32 players of the Dynamic Billard Leende Open.

Friday through Sunday, EPBF will show up to two feature matches LIVE on the EPBF Facebook page. The entire tournament from the first round to the final match is shown on 11 tables LIVE on kozoom.com for premium pass holders.

The Dynamic Billard Leende Open 2019 will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 local time with matches from loser’s round 3.

The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organised by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). Play starts Thursday at 09:00 local time, for further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epbf.com under the Eurotour tab. You can also visit us on our Facebook page or check out the EPBF YouTube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.

FRIDAY 8 FEBRUARY 2019

Thorsten Hohmann (GER)
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Thrilling matches on day one in Leende

Day one of the Dynamic Billard Leende Open 2019 already provided some high-class matches, drama and upsets.

One high-class matches with a close result took place between Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) and Nick Malai (GRE). Both players ran racks and committed almost no mistakes. In the end, Malai was the happy winner with 9:7. Another amazing encounter happened between Michal Turkowski (POL) and Thorsten Hohmann (GER). Hohmann played his first Euro-Tour in years and travelled from the US, where he currently resides, to The Netherlands to participate. Turkowski gave him a hard time and the match went to 8:8. There, Hohmann was the more experienced player and played better safety shots in order to win the match by a hair’s breadth with 9:8. Still thrilling but not so close was the match between Alexander Kazakis (GRE) and Imran Majid (GBR). Both players belong to Europe’s elite and started out quite impressive. It was Kazakis who had some bad rolls, scratches and unforced errors on his side. That gave wind underneath Majid’s wings and the Brit capitalised from it, using his chances and punishing Kazakis’ errors in winning the match with 9:6.

An upset was brought to the event when local player Joey Haegmans (NED) pipped Chris Melling (GBR) to the post with 9:8. Melling, who also played his first Euro-Tour event after a long break, wrote on his facebook page: „Just lost 9-8 first round in eurotour to a young Dutch lad he played well but certainly had some form. I Broke and ran 7/8 games i won and snookered him in the decider for him to whack it fluke and land perfect lol.“ Well, there is another chance for Melling to make it to the single elimination stage through the loser’s side.

Today, two matches on Facebook Live were commented and Thomas Overbeck was joined by Damianos Giallourakis (GRE) and Joshua Filler (GER) in the commentator’s box. The matches were shown and questions were answered live. This interactive feature was very well received by a huge fanbase who came up with a lot of questions to their stars. This will be continued in the future in order to improve our service and entertainment for the viewers.

Friday through Sunday, EPBF will show up to two feature matches LIVE on the EPBF Facebook page. The entire tournament from the first round to the final match is shown on 11 tables LIVE on kozoom.com for premium pass holders.

The Dynamic Billard Leende open 2019 will continue tomorrow morning at 09:00 local time with matches from loser’s round 1.

The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organised by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). Play starts Thursday at 09:00 local time, for further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epbf.com under the Eurotour tab. You can also visit us on our Facebook page or check out the EPBF YouTube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.

THURSDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2019

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Full field at the outset of the new Euro-Tour season

The Dynamic Billard Leende Open 2019 starts with a full field of 170 players. Once again, the Golden Tulip Jagershorst Hotel in Leende, the Netherlands, is the host to an international pool competition. For many years now, this venue has proven its suitability for high class pool billiards and first class accommodation.

The prize money in the new season has gone up to 38.000,-€ for the event with 4.500,-€ going to the winner alone.

Besides the „regulars“ Germany (26), Poland (21) and The Netherlands (25), this tournament features a large contingency with 13 players from Saudi Arabia. All top players are present in Leende except Mario He (AUT) who still has to serve his penalty from his doping offence. He will lose 480 points from last year’s event in Treviso and will drop quite a few places down the rankings. However, after this tournament Mario He will be able to participate in international events again.

On Thursday, all matches on feature table 1 will additionally be streamed LIVE on the EPBF Facebook page. From time to time during tomorrow’s matches, commentary will be added. There will also be several top players joining in every once in a while, ready to answer the questions from the LIVE audience. This interactive feature is new to the Euro-Tour.

Friday through Sunday, EPBF will show up to two feature matches LIVE on the EPBF Facebook page. The entire tournament from the first round to the final match is shown on 11 tables LIVE on kozoom.com for premium pass holders.

The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organised by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). Play starts Thursday at 09:00 local time, for further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epbf.com under the Eurotour tab. You can also visit us on our Facebook page or check out the EPBF YouTube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.

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