DAY TWO OF three wrapped up this evening in Slovenia at the Dynamic Billard Lasko Open as the field whittled down to the final 16 players who return on Saturday morning at 10.00am and play through to the final which takes place at 17.00. Action today started with Rounds 2 and 3 of the one-loss side before winners’ qualification, losers’ qualification and finally the last 32.
Joshua Filler has been owning the Euro Tour of late. With wins at this same venue in 2022 and then victories in Austria and then Podčetrtek, Slovenia last time out, he is on track to claim four from four starts as he eased his way in the last 16 this evening.
He defeated Turkey’s Ramazan Akdag 9-3 to seal his spot after earlier squeaking past Ajdin Piknjac (BIH) in a final rack decider. Filler admitted though that he wasn’t in the best of health as he pursues a busy schedule.
“For two weeks I’ve had a big flu which is not really stopping. Sometimes I feel like I need to throw up, it’s that bad. I’m struggling with sleep because of the jet lag. Those are things that can have a big impact on your game and they have, obviously. But that last match, I played perfect and I didn’t make any mistakes, four or five break and runs so I can still play, obviously. Sometimes the focus is not there and it’s hard to stay positive. But still, I want to win and I’ll try my best, that’s for sure.
A couple of European pool’s brightest junior stars made their respective ways in the final 16 with impressive performances. Estonia’s Karl Gnadeberg, who was talking up his chances, pre-event, delivered on those words as he bounced back from a 9-6 defeat at the hands of previous 2023 Euro Tour champion Mohammad Soufi to defeat fellow junior Felix Vogel 9-6 to reach the last 32.
He then had an even more impressive victory, beating 20th ranked Tobias Bongers (Germany) 9-3 to take his place in the last 16. Szymon Kural, like Karl, a WPA World Junior Champion, carried on undefeated with wins over Roman Hybler and then Roberto Bartol to keep his hopes alive. The young Pole now faces countryman Wiktor Zielinski tomorrow.
Zielinski, who defeated another top junior in Yuma Dorner, to reach the 16, had a fight on his hands as he needed to overcome a big deficit to defeat Lithuania’s Jokubas Silantjevas in the winner’s qualification round. His last 32 win over Dorner was more comfortable as he seeks his third Euro Tour crown. The Pole last won at this venue in early 2022 and now faces Kural tomorrow.
“The first match wasn’t that easy. I was 5-1 down and struggled a bit but then I started playing well and in the last 32 I just made one bad break and missed one shot. I was happy with that win and looking forward to tomorrow. It’s going to be a tough match as Szymon is in good shape – he was third in the Qatar Open so it’s not going to be an easy one but I’ll try and prove I’m the leader!”
The aforementioned Karl Gnadeberg will be facing Spanish veteran Francisco Diaz-Pizarro in the last 16 as the former European 9-Ball Champion continued his excellent 2023, defeating current Euro Tour No.1 Mieszko Fortunski by 9-7 in his last 32 match. In his infrequent appearances this year, Diaz reached the semi-finals in Tampere as well as picking up a 9-ball silver medal at the European Championships.
He said, “I was excited at the end there as I had no break and he broke almost perfect, making two or three balls every time. So, it was really tough to beat him like this. My break is horrible so if I can break good then anything can happen. I have to fight always with a safety shot but this is my pool life – I have no break!”
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.
The Women’s Euro Tour Lasko Open runs on a different schedule to the men’s event this week as it breaks off tomorrow (Saturday) and concludes with the final on the Sunday.
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