NEWS -September 11, 2005  IBP Netherlands Open – Feijen takes the lead



Babica-Souquet-Feijen-Chamat

At the fifth event of the Eurotour 2005, a new record could be set with 232 participants and their number had to be limited. Some players had to wait on a waiting list until the draw. The HOB in Weert counts among the leading promoters of international events and was about to organize once more a top event.

In was sseded 6th and had started with a walk-through in my group F. My first match in the winners bracket was against Björn Lepke (GER). After a weak start and at 0-1, I was lucky that my opponent missed an easy 9 ball. Then I could benefit from the low nerves of my opponent and won 9-2. My next opponent was Frenchman Alban Richard, I played better and won 9-4. In the third winners round, I played Angelo Milauro (ITA). My game was solid and I fully deserved to win 9-6 and to enter the final round of the last 32 players. All group results can be checked on http://www.epbf.com/sportsite/2005/Eurotour/Weert/Weert.htm


 

Ralf 
 

In the KO bracket, the draw made me play against the short Finn Aki Heiskanen. After a good start and an intermediate 7-3 lead, a black break and a luck ball of my opponent made him come back to 7-6. But then, I made use of a mistake made by Heiskanen and won the match (9-6). In the round of the last 16 players, I faced Tony Drago (MLT) who had upset Thomas Engert. As usual, Drago had a head start and took a quick 2-0 lead. A long safety battle ended up in my favour, since I managed to play one snooker after the other. After several tries, I finally had ball in hand and could come back into the match. From now on, I played almost without any mistakes and controlled the match until the end. After a good performance, I won 9-4 and had entered the quarter-finals. Here, Fabio Petroni (ITA) was waiting for me, another tough opponent. But I could stabilize my good shape and even improve my game. Finally, the Italian player did not stand a chance and lost 2-9, in spite of the changing break.

I the semi-finals, my next opponent was the new no. 1 in Europe, Niels Feijen (NED). I had lost our last matches and each time, I did not make use of my opportunities. So, it was about time to change something. Bad enough, I fell once more into my “awake coma” and could not repeat my good performances showed earlier. At 3-5, I played a bad position on the 9 ball and missed it. A mistake I repeated in the next rack on the 2 ball and instead of 5-5, the score evolved to 3-7. Even if Feijen missed his first match point to win 9-3, so that I could come back to 5-8, the Dutchman finished by winning the match. However, my first podium rank in this Eurotour season 2005 showed an improvement, but finally, too many mistakes barred me from the final.

In the final, the new No. 1 from Holland defeated „Napoleon“ Marcus Chamat (SWE) 9-6 and his currently exceptional form gained him a spot in the Team Europe for the Mosconi Cup 2005. Rank 3 went also to Radoslaw Babica from Poland who had lost to Chamat 6-9, after having won against Oliver Ortmann (GER), Angelo Milauro (ITA) and Michael Schmidt (GER).

In the overall ranking, I improved from rank 6 to rank 4. Second is now Sandor Tot (HUN) before Chamat.


 Ralf


Ralf - Shirley