NEWS  February 25, 2007  ET Czech Open – An unexpected winner from Poland

The first stop of the Eurotour season 2007 was in Liberec, in the north of the Czech Republic. The event was played in a huge resort, comprising a hotel, a leisure swimming hall and a casino. Not less than 256 players started the qualifying round in this labyrinth, to score a spot amongst the 32 players who would qualify for the final round. For the first time, the top 32 players of the ranking were seeded for the final round and only played on Saturday with the 32 qualified players. More than 400 players wanted to enrol for the qualification, which is a token for the growing success of the Eurotour. But the promoters had to limit the field to 256 players, otherwise, the tournament schedule could not have been respected.

I started playing on Saturday and as the number 21 of the seeding list, the draw made me play an opponent who had qualified without conceding a defeat throughout the two qualification days. The Greek player John Papadopoulos managed to extend his winning streak also against me. I made a few mistakes and could not put my opponent under pressure, so my 5-10 defeat was somehow a logical consequence. Now, I had to go the long and hard way through the loser’s bracket. My next opponent was Italien player Vittorio De Falco, whom I managed to beat 10-6, playing a bit better.

Now, my opponent was a tough one - Marcus Chamat (SWE). On the TV table, I played well and could use my breaks and those of my opponent to take a fast 6-0 lead. The next racks were more balanced and finally, I won 10-4. But things were not meant to become easier – my next opponent was country fellowman Oliver Ortmann, one of the top shots of the tournament. At the beginning, the match went back and forth, but after a while, I could build up a lead and benefit from some mistakes made by Ortmann. I won 10-5 and was waiting form my next opponent, another loser from the winner’s bracket. Another clash – my opponent was Niels Feijen (NED), who had already scored two tournament wins earlier this year. The battle was tight, but I managed to further improve my performance. With a bit of luck, I won 10-4, a fully deserved victory and my qualification for the KO bracket of the last 16 players.

The draw made me play the so far undefeated „British Swiss“ Jonni Fulcher, who had won last year’s Eurotour event in Switzerland. At the time, I had lost to the later winner 9-10, but this time, it was meant to be different. After more than 12 hours play, I was not as concentrated as before, but showed a solid performance and finally scored an undisputed 10-2.

For the first time after more than 16 months, I had entered a quarter-final at the Eurotour. I had defeated some of the top players and my next match seemed to be easy. My opponent was the Polish player Wojciech Trajdos. But it came as so often. The following day, after 5 hours sleep, I did not find my game. For the first time at this tournament, I lost the opening break and Trajdos scored three racks to start. Upon my first break, the cue ball fell and after this, the cue ball fell again when pocketing an 8 ball. After just 20 minutes, the score was 0-5. Even if I managed to score some racks, the format does not always allow to come back from such a score. At the end, I had to hope for mistakes by my opponent, but he did not commit any. I lost 4-10 and terminated the tournament on rank 5.

The following matches were played in the semi-finals:

Wojciech Trajdos – Thomas Engert (GER)  10-5

Konstantin Stepanov (RUS) – Marlon Manalo (PHI)  10-6