Big win for "Fabulous" Fabio

Treviso, Italy:  At the Dynamic Billard Italian Open Euro-Tour in Quinto di Treviso, Italy, local hero "Fabulous" Fabio Petroni (ITA) defeated Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet (GER) in a tight encounter with 9:7.

It was a line-up that had already existed several time in the history of European Pool-Billiard. Both players, Souquet and Petroni are well-know, have earned their merits and can be regarded as top stars of the international pool scene. In the direct comparison, Souquet would probably be the favored player. But the statistics of this match turned that statement upside down. Petroni had the better break quota. He had seven good break shots out of eight while Souquet had five out of three. Souquet made an unbelievable amount of seven missed balls in that match. Sometimes, Souquet does not miss that many balls in a whole tournament. Though Petroni was by far better in the statistics, he could not get an advantage over Souquet during most of the match. Souquet was constantly leading with one or two racks over Petroni. That changed after the 14th rack. The score was 7:7. Souquet played the break shot and had a nice layout. It was possible to run the rack. But he missed the 2-ball in the side pocket. Petroni then pocketed the 2-ball but got no position for the 3-ball. He tried to ban it into the side but missed it. Souquet pocketed the 3-ball over one rail in the corner pocket but the cue ball came to rest frozen to the 9-ball. "The Kaiser" played a safety shot which was not good enough for Petroni. He cleared the table after that and took the lead for the first time, being on the hill with 8:7. Then it was Petroni's break coming up. He had the 1-ball and the 2-ball down and a feasible layout of the balls. Petroni ran them out and took the match with 9:7. He is now through to the single elimination stage of the last 32 players while Souquet has to win another match on the loser's side in  order to get a chance for the title.

Other notable results from the winner's qualification round include Huidji See (NED) defeating Tony Drago (MLT) 9:8. Mattey Ullah (NOR) joins See by winning 9:5 over Senharip Azar (SWE). Daryl Peach (GBR) enters the single elimination stage with a 9:7 victory over Denis Grabe (EST).