THERE ARE JUST 16 players left at the Dynamic Billard Tampere Open after a long day’s play at the local Exhibition and Sports Centre. The highest-ranked player going into the tournament was Poland’s Mieszko Fortunski and he is very much on track for a second Euro Tour crown. However, there are still plenty of quality players contesting and he will have to play his best game throughout tomorrow to prevail.
Another player eyeing up a rise in the ranking is Holland’s Marc Bijsterbosch who is currently ranked at No.16. He was the first player to win through to Monday’s last 16 with a hard-fought 9-7 win over Ronald Regli (Switzerland). The Dutchman had lost his opening match of the tournament going down 9-5 to dangerous Turk, Onur Yildrim.
From there he had the onerous task of fighting through the multiple games on the one-loss side, a feat he achieved admirably, “I played five matches against four Finnish players and now I’m a little bit tired because I played a lot of matches but I managed to win all of them so I played good in the end and I’m happy to be through.
“Yesterday I came at 8.00 in the morning to the hotel and I had to play a match at 1.30, I think, so I was very tired. I hope to be in the top three of the Euro Tour rankings as that would be a nice target for me and I have a nice chance here,” he added.
From a huge starting contingent of Finnish players, there are just two left in the final 16. Caspar Matikainen, who plays very infrequently on tour, is enjoying a great two days in his homeland as he beat one of the tournament favourites, Wojciech Szewczyk, 9-4 to lock in a last 16 spot.
Commented Matikainen, “I know I had to play my best to beat him (Szewczyk). I was really focused and felt comfortable and I kept it together and I’m really happy for the win. I just know I’m going to give my everything and let’s see how it goes. Hopefully, I can maybe win it, you never know but I’m going to give it 100% tomorrow.”
The other Finn still alive is multi-titled veteran Mika Immonen, who was sent to the one-loss side early on but fought back to take his place in the final 16 with a 9-8 with over Petr Urban (Czech Republic).
Immonen said, “It was a bit of a relief really. I had some close calls with two hill-hill games so in the end it was a whole lot of work! After that, everything is just gravy. Along with Casper, it’s nice that there are two Finns in final 16.
“It’s been really nice for me in a home tournament and I can’t be disappointed. I’ve done a lot of grinding and I’m prepared for tomorrow. I’m going to go for the win and I feel the pressure is off.”
In contrast to Immonen, a young player just making his way after some good junior success is Yuma Dorner (Germany). The 19 year-old got the better of veteran Roman Hybler in the last 32 and will line up tomorrow against the aforementioned Matikainen.
“Considering the field is not as strong as usual, I had some expectation for myself. I thought last 32 at least but now I’m in the last 16 I want to go further because I’ve never been to the last eight so my hopes are high. Matikainen is a very strong player so It’s going to be difficult. I’m going into the match with confidence - that’s the main part- and hopefully, nothing can go wrong.”
Play resumes tomorrow at 11.00 with the last eight at 13.00, the semi-finals at 15.00 and 16.30 respectively and the championship match set for 19.00.
Meanwhile, on the Women’s Euro Tour Tampere Open, running concurrently to the men’s event, the semi-final match-ups are set. Eyllul Kibaroglu (Turkey) faces Germany’s Melanie Sussenguth which Monika Zabek of Poland will meet Veronika Ivanovskaia (Germany). Both matches will be taking place on Monday morning at 11.00 with the final scheduled to follow at 13.00.
As well as the prize money, there are Tour ranking points on offer, so there is everything to play for. All Euro Tour tournaments are 9-ball and players compete in a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 32 competitors, and then single elimination until the finish. All matches are races to 9 racks with alternate break.
All the matches can be viewed live by visiting www.epbf.com/tournaments/eurotour/ and clicking on the ‘LIVE’ button. This will take you through to viewing options. In addition, selected matches will be streamed on Facebook Live on the EPBF page.
Results, live scoring, and draw are available at www.epbf.com