Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) - Photo: EPBF/DK 

Souquet, Feijen and See out

Monday, 26 March 2012: In a classic match, Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) ousted Bruno Muratore (ITA) with 8:5.

Chinakhov opened the duel with a run out after he won the lag. Muratore gives him the right answer and ran the next rack, making the score 1:1. That was repeated though both of the contestants made a mistake each, but the score after 4 racks was 2:2. All even! It could already be noted then that Chinakhov’s break seemed to be a bit better and stronger than Muratore’s. Again, Chinakhov played without any error and seized his game. Then Muratore played a mistake in the next rack and allowed Chinakhov to take a 2-point advantage over him. All of a sudden, there seemed to be a change in Chinakhov’s body language. He looked like he was disgusted with his own game and started missing positions and finally left a shot for Muratore which allowed the Italian to close the gap and tie the match again at 4:4. At that point in time, Muratore looked like the one with the stronger mental stamina. But Chinakhov only seemed to lose is focus. He continued to pocket the balls when needed and took a 5:4 lead over Muratore. When Bruno Muratore broke the balls in the 10th rack, a small catastrophe happened to him. He opened all balls on the table but none went in. Chinakhov, aware of his chance there, got to the table and did his job, ran the rack and again took a two-point lead in the match, 6:4. Then Muratore took his time-out. When he came back, Chinakhov hammered the cue ball into the rack and had balls pocketed. He knew that this rack could put him on the hill. But instead of getting there, he completely ran out of position for the last ball of his group and had to jump into the rail in order to even have a small chance to at least hit the ball. He didn’t succeed and the cue ball jumped off the table which gave ball in hand to Muratore. Instead of trying to run a complicated layout, Muratore who is known t be as cunning as a fox played a good safe and even made it easier for him to get that rack. Chinakhov fouled again and Muratore ran out. At that time, the score was 6:5 for Chinakhov still. And again, Muratore was unlucky with his break shot. He executed a hard and solid break but the cue ball got kicked and scratched into the corner pocket. That was Muratore’s last appearance at the table for that match. Chinakhov ran the rack and broke and ran the next one and took the victory with 8:5. That match was decided by Chinakhov having advantages on the break shot.

Left to right: Jasmin Ouschan, Daniel Luton and Dominic Jentsch - Photo: EPBF/DK

Other notable results include Mario He (AUT) defeating Nick van den Berg (NED) with 8:7 in the round of the last 32 players. Right after that, he terminated “The Terminator” Niels Feijen (NED) with 8:3. BCA Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet (GER) defeated Serge Das (BEL) with 8:6 and then fell for Spain’s David Alcaide with 7:8. At hill-hill, Souquet pocketed 5 balls and scratched!

In the women’s division, Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) ousted Anna Majirina (RUS) with 6:4.

In the wheelchair division, Roy Kimberley (GBR) and Fred Dinsmore (IRE) won their matches and made it to the semi-finals.

After all matches were finished, the award ceremony for the 10-ball competition has taken place. There, the three 10-ball European Champions Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) in the women’s, Daniel Luton (GBR) in the wheelchair and Dominic Jentsch (GER) in the men’s division were honoured.

The 8-ball competition will continue Tuesday morning 09:00 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