Day 3 Results - Austrian Open - Fortunski is king of the Alps!
Posted on Friday, June 13 2025 @ 13:02:42 UTCby admin
Fortunski is king of the Alps!
14th June 2025
POLAND’S MIESKO FORTUNSKI claimed his third Euro Tour crown as he defeated countryman Wojciech Szewczyk 11-7 to claim the PREDATOR Austrian Open. He can now add this to the 2016 Italian Open and Tampere Open from 2023 but for Szewczyk, the hunt for his first Euro Tour title must continue.
Taking place in the picturesque Alpine town of St Johann im Pongau, the final itself stayed close until the mid-point when Fortunski began to edge away as he led 8-4, needing three more for glory. To his great credit, Szewczyk staged something of a comeback as he took the score to 7-9, to give his opponent something to think about.
However, sensing this was his time, Fortunski closed out the match to add the beautiful trophy to his Euro Tour collection. The Pole enjoyed the more comfortable ride to the final as he overpowered surprise package Ugur Turku and then No.1 ranked player Stefan Kasper in the quarters and semi-finals respectively.
Afterwards he was thrilled with his success; “I’m feeling amazing. It was a really nice atmosphere to play here for the people who watched and I’m very happy. I think that was a better match for me than the semi-final and I felt better on the table. I was more confident so I’m happy with that.
“It’s never easy to play against a friend from the national team so of course I’m happy because I won but there are no words for him right now except full respect. I have an eight-hour car journey home now but with this trophy!” he added.
For Szewczyk it was one match too far after putting in two massive performances to come from behind in the quarter-finals, winning 11-10 over Oliver Szolnoki and then holding off Mario He to win his semi-final 11-8.
He said, “It’s just a game and I try my best and today it meant second place not first but overall, I think I played a good tournament. Coming here I had no expectations and didn’t feel too good at the table and I didn’t play too well in my opening matches but later on I got some groove.
“I’d love to win, obviously, but I’m also happy for Miesko – he was the better player in the final. I accept that whenever you lose it’s just part of the game. I know my efforts were huge today and I’m proud of that.”
The Women’s Predator Austrian Open got underway on earlier in the day Saturday at 9.00, and the 64-player played down to the last eight. The quarter-finals commence at 10.00 on Sunday morning, with the title-decider taking place at 17.00.
This year sees a new streaming platform for all Euro Tour and European Championships events.
Table 1 and 2 will be streamed throughout on YouTube, via the Pro Billiard TV channel - https://www.youtube.com/@ProBilliardTV
For all results, live scoring and draw, visit https://www.epbf.com/tournaments/eurotour/information/
WITH TEMPERATURES OUTSIDE tipping 32 degrees, the venue was surprisingly cool inside as eight rounds of play were completed to arrive at a final 16 at the PREDATOR Austrian Open.
The strongest contingent is Germany with six players represented including Ralf Souquet and Stefan Kasper, but one major name missing is Joshua Filler, who was ousted by countryman Ugur Turku by an 11-5 upset scoreline.
Serbia’s Aleksa Pecelj
Turku put some distance between himself and Filler early on and kept it that way to canter home a comfortable winner. He has equalled his best-ever finish at a Euro Tour and now Roman Hybler stands between him and going one better.
Another German player striding through was Felix Vogel, an 11-3 winner over Emil Andre Gangflot. The super-talented youngster will be looking for his first Euro Tour title tomorrow having finished runner-up twice last year.
Vogel said, “I’m happy to get through to the last 16 because I had a very long day today, I think five or six matches. It was very hard but in the end I’m happy to win against some top players and of course to win against Emil was very satisfying. Unfortunately, he couldn’t bring his best match but I played good so I’m happy. Of course, I hope to win all my matches tomorrow. I start with the last 16 and I hope end with the final!”
Germany's Felix Vogel
Another player knocking on the door of his maiden Tour win is Serbia’s Aleksa Pecelj who enjoyed a lop-sided 11-3 win against Poland’s Szymon Kural.
Commented Pecelj, “I felt pretty good – in the beginning I was breaking and running a couple of games and he was just sitting in the chair. When he started having a few chances, the rails are a little bit bouncy and he didn’t have a chance to get used to the table, missed a few positions and I took over and played really good. I’ve been close a couple of times and my game is good to win a Euro Tour. You need to have a little bit of luck and I hope for that and calmness tomorrow.”
Bosnia's Sanjin Pehlivanovic
The final match of the day on the TV table saw Sanjin Pehlivanovic edge past Max Lechner 11-9 in a high-quality encounter. The Bosnian has yet to win a Euro Tour but he feels that this could be his week.
He said, “I’m feeling good all tournament and this match I made, like, nine runouts. Max played good as well but I’m really satisfied with my game and tomorrow is a new day, new tournament, last 16 and hopefully I can win my first Euro Tour. If I continue playing like this and breaking like this then I don’t see why not.”
The round of 16 starts at 10.00 on Saturday morning with the semi-finals scheduled for 15.00 and 17.30. The final takes place at 20.00. The 64-player Women’s Predator Austrian Open gets underway on Saturday at 9.00, playing down to the final which takes place at 17.00 on Sunday. Races are to 7 for double elimination, and then 9 for single elimination. Both events operate a two-racks alternate break system.
This year sees a new streaming platform for all Euro Tour and European Championships events.
Table 1 and 2 will be streamed throughout on YouTube, via the Pro Billiard TV channel - https://www.youtube.com/@ProBilliardTV
For all results, live scoring and draw, visit https://www.epbf.com/tournaments/eurotour/information/
THE SUN SHONE in St Johann im Pongau as the PREDATOR Austrian Open got underway at the Hotel Alpina Alpendorf. The third event of six in the Predator Euro Tour series, the Open division completed three full rounds of play as 216 players jostled for position.
There is a huge German contingent of 66 players present in St Johann and the pick of the pack is title-winning machine Joshua Filler. Having won seven of his last nine Euro Tour events, nobody would bet against him taking the trophy home this week, and he got his campaign off to the right start, defeating Lazar Kostic (SRB) by 9-2.
Afterwards, Filler said, “My game is actually good but, in that match, I wasn’t really there at the beginning – I was fighting with the table. It’s kind of humid inside so that makes it kind of tough playing good shape on the table even if it was the TV table which normally slides, but it didn’t slide at all so I was kind of struggling.
“It was the first match and the first match is always the hardest because you need to get used to the table but luckily, he also made a couple of mistakes because otherwise I would have lost that match. I still need to work on the break – the cueball wasn’t really centre table but I’m just glad that I won that match as it could have gone the other way.
“Of course, my game is there to win any tournament but you always need luck on your side and it’s a stacked field. I don’t look on winning the event, I just want to find a good game. I’ve had two matches this year that I’ve lost even though I played a perfect match so it can happen. I’ll work on all the things I haven’t done right in this match and we will see – maybe I can lift the third one in a row,” he concluded.
Among the 24-strong contingent of Austrian players, Mario He is a front-runner for success this week and he enjoyed two victories to advance. Firstly, he beat Dzmitry Hryb (POL) 9-4 and then took down Portuguese veteran Jorge Tinoco by 9-3 and advances to Winners Round 2 tomorrow morning where he faces dangerous Swedish youngster Walter Laikre.
He said, “It always feels good playing in Austria. I had two tough matches but won them pretty easily – the score didn’t really say the truth. The weather could be better as I like to play when it’s not really sunny but I always enjoy playing here.
“It’s always the aim to win the tournament but I don’t really think about winning it, I just try to play good, hopefully go deep and maybe win it,” he added.
Play continues in the Predator Austrian Open on Friday morning at 9.00 with Winners Round 2 and One-Loss Round 2. The Women’s Predator Austrian Open, with 64 entrants, gets underway on Saturday at 9.00, playing down to the final which takes place at 17.00 on Sunday. Races are to 7 for double elimination, and then 9 for single elimination. Both events operate a two-racks alternate break system.
This year sees a new streaming platform for all Euro Tour and European Championships events.
Table 1 and 2 will be streamed throughout on YouTube, via the Pro Billiard TV channel - https://www.youtube.com/@ProBilliardTV
For all results, live scoring and draw, visit https://www.epbf.com/tournaments/eurotour/information/
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