EURO-TOUR 2000

Latina, 18.3.2000

Johnny Archer again!

Participating only for the second time, the more than sympathetic US-Star, Johnny Archer, celebrated his second victory. In a full field of 128 players he did have no problem to fight his way through. If this perhaps was clear to many already ahead of the event, his opponent in the final for sure surprised all: The young Nick van de Berg from the Netherlands, not even qualified in his own country for the upcoming European Championships, made what he himself probably never thought to be possible. In a grand and confident style he eliminated one player after the other, and did not even then show any respect when he played against the bigger names. During the preliminary rounds he only once lost with the tightest possible margin, against Jevgenij Stalev, 10 - 11. However, immediately following this he directly landed a sensation, beating Thomas Engert 11 - 9. Two rounds later the Swede, Marcus Chamat, became one of this young Dutch player's victims, again with 11 - 9. In the next round the winner in the match against Souquet, and also the now ranked number one player, Ralph Eckert, got a good opportunity to convince himself about the quality of van de Berg, when he without a chance lost 4 - 11. Against Souquet Eckert managed to impress a lot, even though he also did profit from the many mistakes of Souquet. His probably strongest game van de Berg delivered in the semi-final against his fellow countryman Alex Lely, who so far had played a really impressive tournament with a maximum of only six frames lost in each match.

For Archer the preliminary rounds were only a routine that he easily mastered. Oliver Ortmann on the other hand though, lost against the runner-up from the last World Championships in the Junior's Division, John Vassalos from Greece, in a match that ended 10 - 11. Ortmann, as always playing his attacking game, simply missed too many shots - a situation he hardly is known for. In the next round also Ralph Eckert lost 5 - 11 to the young Greek player. Since Ortmann was drawn into the very same position that he also had during the preliminary rounds, he again faced Vassalos. If it perhaps still was not the "good old Ortmann" that was to be seen, so for sure it was not the same player as during the preliminary rounds. Highly concentrated and very much focused on victory he managed to finish off also the toughest breaks, however, again it became a very tight match. This time though, the German managed to keep the nose just ahead to win 11 - 10. After such a warm-up Ortmann now played Archer and many expected this match to become a real slaughter between the two ex-World-Champions. The match never satisfied these expectations though, since Archer quite comfortably managed to deliver an 11 to 5 victory.

Samuel Clemann, so far absolutely convincing, reached only four games against Archer, and Mika Immonen that also was ahead 7 - 4 in the semi-final against Archer, then did not manage to win another game in spite of alternating breaks. The strength in Archer's game first of all must be credited to his fantastic position play, innovative safety play and exact pocketing of the balls, but on the other hand also his attitude. He simply plays! Sport as job! Whenever it is possible to do the job, it will be done - as good as only possible. No excuses, no complaints! A more than worthy winner!

Small details of Interest

Johnny Archer had just finished his match against Oliver Ortmann when the Tournament Director, Thomas Overbeck, informed Archer that due to the schedule he could not allow for any longer break. Archer's reply: "I'm ready!"

Johnny Archer ended up with a pattern that was more than complicated and difficult to solve, and therefore was forced to take his time thinking it through. A lady among the spectators was not late to make use of the opportunity to capture his very expressive pose, put the camera to her eyes and flashed straight in direction of his field of vision. Archer looked up and smiled, gave the lady a short wave, asked her to shoot yet another picture promising this time to also look into the camera, and then turned his focus back to the solution of his problem.

The "Cue Club", in which the event was taking place, performed a very good work. Wonderful decoration, an owner that simply refused to become tired, and a surrounding that was more than fitting - all was great. Only one small drops of Vermouth to be found: the temperatures were not the ones necessarily expected in Italy and a stone floor not necessarily ideal. However, these circumstances possibly disturb the pros. The domestic youth does not bother and already 3.00pm all of the 15 tables were occupied, and that for the rest of the day. Surprisingly many female guests were to be found among the tables.

Out of the 42 players from Italy not less than 17 managed to reach the final rounds. This goes to prove that Pool is becoming increasingly popular in Italy, and so also the quality of play.

A lot of talented planning was urgently asked for. Or, how else must a situation be evaluated, when for the purpose of a shuttle between the hotel and the arena, some 10 kilometers apart, a car with six seats including the driver's is offered, that only once every full hour will make the trip - if at all? To this it must be added that 16 tables were used, i.e. a total of 32 players needed to be at the same place at the same time. However, then again it would be of great value if also the one or other tournament official, for example the Tournament Director, would be present at the arena.

Surprising also that in so many of the younger minds, so much old thinking dominated. Pool without a tuxedo, or at least a vest and a bowtie, is no Pool! And, what about music during play? OK, if must be, at least not so loud that you actually will hear it! All of this perfectly reflects the thoughts of the Italian federation representatives, who however did manage to integrate a well performed press conference, perhaps a little too long for whoever does not understand Italian, in the opening ceremony.

Ralph Eckert is the new number one in Europe! Partially this is due to him profiting out of the bonus system that still was in use when he last year won the tournament in Antalya. Since this system now has been abolished, he will also be falling in the rankings, how far is still to be seen. However, he does have twice as many points to defend than he possibly could gain, would he win in Kaliningrad. The one player that seems to have the best chances for pole position is Ralf Souquet, who does not have any points to defend at all.

The next event, in Kaliningrad April 19 - 22, will be deciding what eight spots are concerned for the World Championships in Cardiff. When it comes to Dieter Johns though, third in Alicante and still number five in the European Ranking, he has two problems to master. First of all, no matter if he still will be among the top five also after the next event, he still cannot rest assured that he will be allowed to participate since he is a US citizen. Secondly, his wife does expect their first child on April 22! These circumstances are more than enough for Johns, who prefers to refrain from participating in Kaliningrad and stay at home in Wuppertal. Does anyone have a problem in understanding this?

Erneut Johnny Archer

Bei seiner zweiten Teilnahme an einem Euro-Tour Turnier feierte der sympathische US-Star Johnny Archer seinen zweiten Sieg! In dem mit 128 Teilnehmern voll besetzten Feld setzte er sich souverän durch. So klar dies für viele bereits im Vorfeld war, so überraschend war der Finalgegner Archers: Der junge Nick van de Berg aus den Niederlanden, für die kommende Europameisterschaft im eigenen Lande nicht einmal qualifiziert, schaffte, was er wohl selbst kaum für möglich gehalten hatte. In grandioser, selbstsicher Art eliminierte er einen nach dem anderen und ließ sich dabei auch durch „große Namen“ nicht schrecken. In der Vorrunde hatte er nur knapp mit 10:11 gegen Evgenji Staley verloren, dann aber doch den Sprung ins Hauptfeld geschafft. Hier gelang ihm gleich eine kleine Sensation, als er Thomas Engert mit 11:9 schlagen konnte. Zwei Runden später war der Schwede Marcus Chamat ebenfalls mit 9:11 Opfer des jungen Holländers. Im nächsten Spiel konnte sich Souquet-Bezwinger und jetziger Gesamtranglistenerste, Ralph Eckert, von der Qualität van de Bergs überzeugen, als er chancenlos mit 4:11 unterlag. Gegen Souquet hatte Eckert noch überzeugen können, wenngleich er auch von katastrophalen Fehlern Souquets profitierte. Sein wohl stärkstes Spiel absolvierte v.d. Berg im Halbfinale beim 11:6 gegen seinen Landsmann Alex Lely, der bis dahin ein beeindruckendes Turnier gespielt hatte und maximal sechs Spiele in einem Match abgeben musste.

Für Archer war die Vorrunde nur eine Pflichtübung, die er locker absolvierte. Anders dagegen Oliver Ortmann, der sich mit 10:11 gegen John Vassalos aus Griechenland, amtierender Vizeweltmeister der Junioren, geschlagen geben musste. Bei Ortmann, der sein Spiel sehr offensiv gestaltete, häuften sich dabei Schussfehler, die man von ihm eigentlich nicht kennt. Und auch Ralph Eckert unterlag im nächsten Spiel deutlich mit 5:11 gegen den junge Griechen. Nachdem Ortmann genau an die gleiche Stelle gelost worden war, wo er sich auch in der Vorrunde befunden hatte, kam es zum erneuten Aufeinandertreffen zwischen ihm und Vassalos. Sah man auch hier noch nicht den „alten“ Ortmann, so sah man doch einen anderen als noch in der Vorrunde. Sehr konzentriert und siegorientiert gelangen ihm auch schwierigste Partien, doch wieder wurde es knapp. Diesmal allerdings hatte der Deutsche mit 11:10 die Nase vorn. Derart warm gespielt traf Ortmann nun Archer und viele erwarteten eine große Schlacht der beiden Ex-Weltmeister. Diese Erwartungen wurden enttäuscht, denn Archer konnte sich recht sicher mit 11:5 durchsetzen.

Samuel Clemann, bis dahin absolut überzeugend, bekam gegen Archer gar nur vier Spiele und Mika Immonen führte bereits mit 7:4 im Halbfinale gegen Archer, bekam dann aber kein Spiel mehr, und das trotz Wechselbreaks. Die Stärke von Archer liegt zum einen in seinem präzisen Positionsspiel, seinem Ideenreichtum beim Sicherheitsspiel und seiner Sicherheit beim Versenken der Bälle, zum anderen aber auch in seiner Einstellung. Er spielt einfach! Sport als Job! Wenn er zu erledigen ist, wird er erledigt, so gut, wie es geht! Kein Zaudern, kein Hadern. Ein würdiger Sieger!

Dies und das am Rande