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NEWS September 24, 2007 ET Netherlands Open – Majid defeats Hybler |
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The 5th stop of this year’s Eurotour was played once again in
the Netherlands in the House of Billiards in Weert. The promoters could
welcome 251 competitors and the suspense was high, because after this event,
Team Europe announces traditionally the spots for the European Mosconi Cup
team. In group B, I first had a walk-through and then played against Frenchman
Emmanuel Lemaire, who happened to be quite nervous and who conceded a few
racks too many, so that I won 10-1. My next match was against Englishman
Richard Jones, whom I had under control winning 10-5. My next opponent was
his fellow countryman Imran Majid and the match turned out to be very
balanced. Everything went quite normally until 7-7, but then I made the big
mistake. I missed an almost straight 9 ball to take the lead and gave away
the match. Majid took the 8-7 lead and ran out the next two racks to finally
win 10-7. In the loser’s bracket, I then played the Italian player Giorgio
Margola. I won 10-6, but I did not play well. It was a pure fight from both
ends. But in the end of the day, it’s the result which counts and I had
entered the KO round of the last 32 players. The draw made me play the undefeated Polish player Radoslaw Babica.
Another match with quite a number of mistakes on both sides, but I managed
to win 10-7 to enter he round of the last 16 players. My opponent was the
Russian player Ruslan Chinahov, and I was about to deliver my best
performance of the tournament. Strange enough, my best performance was not
sufficient to defeat the young Russian player. Chinahov played a fresh game
and did not commit any mistake. With my 7-10 defeat, I finished on the 9th
rank and had missed another opportunity to climb into the top ranks in the
overall ranking. Almost all Top 10 players had already been eliminated and it would have
been a great occasion, but my performance was not sufficient to obtain a
better position. In the semi-finals, both players who had won against me met - Majid and
Chinahov. It looked like a clear win fort he young Russian who was already
leading 7-2. But a few minor mistakes turned the match around and the
experienced Imran Majid managed to win 10-8. In the second semi-final, Mark
Gray from England played the Czech national player Roman Hybler. Gray, who
had upset the two German players Oliver Ortmann and Sebastian Staab 10-9,
had then defeated the Spanish player David Alcaide 10-8. Full of
self-confidence, he wanted to force a pure British final. But Hybler had
other plans and winning 10-6, he entered the final against Majid. For Majid, it was the second Eurotour final and for Hybler the third. But
Majid was to remain undefeated in finals and won his second Eurotour title
10-7. For Roman Hybler, it was the second defeat in his third final of a
Eurotour event. |