NEWS - 02-07-05  Prattler 9-Ball Jubilee Open – My first medal rank in the new year

 
The Billiard and Bowling Center in Pratteln (SUI) had invented something new for this year’s jubilee tournament and had invited 12 international top players. The promoter took care of everything and assumed the expenses for all invited players. Most of the players and the numerous spectators did very much enjoy the event. This success was foreseeable when the registrations flocked in and the promoter had to extend the field from 128 to 192 players. Especially for this tournament, the tables in the hall had been re-arranged and seats for some 300 spectators had been installed. The audience was happy since the invited players all played on the 4 tables surrounded by the crowd. I think only one of the seeded players did not reach the final round of 32 players. E. Strickland (USA) was obviously so upset about his elimination that he did not show for the next two days and even cancelled the planned trick shot show.

After a walk-through in round 1, my first opponent was R. Bicker (SUI). I started well, took a rapid 6-0 lead and entered round three with a 7-3 win. Here I played the young German B. Baier whom I did not know before, but he showed too much respect and did not do much to prevent the 1-7 defeat. After a break of several hours, the match against M. Schwab (GER) started. It took me some time to heat the engine, but finally I entered the final round with a more or less undisputed 9-4.

The next day, I faced my former team mate J. Burkhardt from Sindelfingen. In a match where both players seemed still a bit sleepy, I managed to turn the match around – after trailing 2-5, I finally won 11-8. In the round of the last 16 players, I played F. Petroni, the Italian # 1. I played much better than before and took a quick 5-0 lead. But an unnecessary mistake brought the Italian back into the match and he came back to 6-3. Then I regained control, extended the lead to 9-5 and finally won 11-6. In the quarter-finals, the last Swiss player was waiting for me. Of course, the crowd supported S. Specchia and the match was very balanced until a score of 5-5. Then, I took the lead and won once more 11-6. And now, it came to the clash with F. Bustamante. The player from the Philippines had confirmed his participation only three days before the event. I played a bad position on the 7 ball in the first rack and “Django” took off with a 4-0 lead. I then won a rack, but had to assist when Bustamante further extended his lead. At 7-10, I got another opportunity. I won the rack and also the next one to come back to 9-10. Then I shot an ace and also the final rack to win the match. My „fear opponent“ was upset and in the final, I had to face M. Immonen (FIN), my opponent in 2 of my last 4 finals. A black break in the first rack allowed the Finn to take a head start. He took a 4-0 lead and then played a safety shot. I did not succeed my re-safe and the score evolved to 0-6. Only then I could score a rack, then played a bad position in the next rack and was now trailing 1-8. Then I managed to come back to 4-9 and was about to get new hope, but another bad position brought the decision for the Finn. I lost 4-11 and had to satisfy myself ith the 2nd place – however, this was my first medal rank this year.

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