Ralf Souquet
THE KAMUI SLOVENIAN OPEN got underway today at the Terme Olimia resort in the peaceful border town of Podčetrtek as 140-plus players screwed their cues together for the PREDATOR Euro Tour’s second-ever 8-ball competition. Making a change from the more regular rotation games, there were some big names of the game getting to grips with the finer nuances of the all-balls-on-the table variation.
One player with unquestionable 8-ball credentials is Germany’s elder statesman, Ralf Souquet. Chasing his 24th Euro Tour title, the ever-green Kaiser enjoyed three wins today to progress on the winners’ side. Souquet, now 56, won his first ever Euro Tour title in Monte Carlo back in 1992. In total, Ralf has reached the last four on 52 occasions and made 35 Euro Tour finals, winning 23 of them and he still believes that he has one more in him.
He commented, “I would say 8-ball is a stronger game for me. I’m not getting any younger but 8-ball is still my favourite game and I really like my chances of going deep, so let’s see how it goes. This is actually my first ever 8-ball Euro Tour – there was one before but I wasn’t able to play but it would be nice to put an 8-ball win on the Euro Tour list as well.
“I had a very early morning as I had to play my first round at 9am, followed up by a 10.45 game, so back-to-back matches and I’m certainly awake now. I enjoyed it – I didn’t play the best yet but It was good enough to win.”
Mieszko Fortunski
Miesko Fortunski returned to the Euro Tour riding high on the back of his Predator Austrian Open victory last month and he safely negotiated the opening day with two wins. ‘The Butcher’ is chasing his fourth Euro Tour title having first won over nine years ago in Italy and is now through to Friday’s Winners’ Qualification round.
He said, “I’m feeling good and this is a nice place with a nice atmosphere. The facilities here are superb and it’s a good place to take a rest and I think everyone has fun playing here.
“I played good first match and I don’t know if I’m playing my best-ever pool but I hope so and I really believe in myself. 8-ball is a difficult game to play because everyone can play it well and a lot depends on the break so I hope mine will be working this week,” he added.
Another player through to the Winners’ Qualification round is 20-year-old Yannick Pongers (NED) who 12 months ago, won his maiden Euro Tour title in this same building, defeating Mario He for the title.
With two wins under his belt, Pongers was still getting to grips with the conditions as well as the game itself; “It was pretty fun to play but getting used to the table is always quite tricky, switching tables from home to here, but I’m happy with the way I played.
“8-ball is definitely my most ‘hated’ discipline and it’s hard to motivate myself to make the best out of it but still try to enjoy it. There’s more thinking than rotation games. With rotation games you have one shot with position and that’s it but here there are patterns and it’s quite difficult for me.
“Sadly, it’s not the same discipline as here last year, but it’s still a great feeling to come back here and maybe reclaim the title again. I mean the first one came unexpected and I think the second one is still going to be unexpected but I’ll try my best and we’ll see what happens,” he concluded.
Play continues tomorrow morning at 9.30 with Losers Round Four and plays down to the final 16 players.
Streaming of Tables 1 and 2 for all Euro Tour and European Championships events can be found 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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