#david alcaide

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WORLD POOL MASTERS RETURNS TO GIBRALTAR, MARCH 26-29

The 2020 World Pool Masters, 9-ball’s biggest invitational tournament, will take place from March 26-29 at the new Europa Sports Complex in Gibraltar, Matchroom Multi Sport is pleased to announce.

The World Pool Masters features 24 of the best players from around the world battling it out for their share of the $100,000 prize fund. Tickets will go on sale to Matchroom Pool Club subscribers on Monday, December 9 and on general sale on Tuesday, December 10.

David Alcaide won his second Masters title in 2019 and will be looking to defend his crown against a superstar field including the likes of US Open champion Joshua Filler and two-time Masters winner Shane van Boening.

The 24-player field will again include eight pre-determined players who qualify through major achievements, with a further 15 players invited by tournament promoter Matchroom Multi Sport. The final member of the field will be selected by you, the fans as the Fans’ Choice vote returns.

Van Boening, Jayson Shaw and Alex Pagulayan are the first invited payers while Alcaide, Filler and European Champion Fedor Gorst have already qualified to participate.

Matchroom Multi Sport COO Emily Frazer said: “The re-vamped World Pool Masters is back on the Rock in Gibraltar seeing 24 of the world’s best in a straight knockout format. $100,000 in prize money, a qualification criteria and a new sports venue supported by the Gibraltar Ministry of Culture, Media, Youth and Sport; this is the Superstars of Pool!

“The standard of play in women’s pool is impressive right now and what better stage to see the World No. 1 female player than the World Pool Masters. It’s race to 7 with the exception of the final, 9 on the spot – expect drama, excitement and close matches. Only the best of the best will be there!”

The Hon Steven Linares MP, Gibraltar’s Minister for Sport said: “It is an honour for me as the Minister for Sport to see the World Pool Masters and Matchroom Sport return to the Rock once again in 2020. These world class events continue to attract both locals and visitors alike and are true examples of HM Government of Gibraltar’s events-led tourism policy.

“I am truly delighted to continue our work with Matchroom Sport. Our close relationship allows us to deliver and host world-class events such as this one for the enjoyment of all.”

The eight pre-determined players will be seeded straight into the last 16, with the remaining 16 invited players – including the Fans’ Choice – contesting the preliminary round. The eight seeded spots are reserved for:

Defending Champion                   David Alcaide

World No.1                                    As of December 31, 2019

World 9-Ball Champion

US Open Champion                      Joshua Filler

European 9-Ball Champion         Fedor Gorst

Mosconi Cup MVP                        

Asian No.1                                      On WPA World Rankings, Dec 31

World No.1 Female                      As of December 31, 2019

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Grabe takes Antalya Open 2019

Denis Grabe (EST) just won the Dynamic Billard Antalya Open 2019 with a clear 9:2 victory over Eklent Kaci (ALB). That is Grabe’s third Euro-Tour victory after Sankt Johann and Portoroz, both in 2014.

The two athletes who have made it to the finals belong undoubtedly to the top players of Europe’s elite who are always capable to win an event like this. However, since the Euro-Tour is probably the hardest event to win in the pool world, there are many other applicants for the title every time the Euro-Tour stage opens its curtains. Today, Grabe made the final with victories over Oliver Szolnoki (HUN) 9:5, Mieszko Fortunski (POL) 9:6 and Fedor Gorst (RUS) 9:6 in the semi-final. Kaci, member of this year’s Mosconi Cup team, made the final by eliminating Aleksa Pecelj (SRB) 9:2, Sanjin Pehlivanovic (BIH) 9:5 and David Alcaide (ESP) 9:4 in his semi-final match. The stage was set for a high class final. The last match of the tournament turned out to be high class but only from one side. Denis Grabe performed rock solid while Kaci seemed to struggle. He was probably very upset with his play. Trailing 1:4, Kaci even conceded a rack when he missed the 2-ball. This was a clear indication of how frustrated Kaci was with his performance in the final match. This concession was considered unsportsmanlike by referee Nikola Pešo from Croatia and he penalised Kaci by awarding the next rack to Grabe as well. This correct decision was predetermining the outcome of the match. Kaci could not match Grabe today and consequently lost the match 2:9. Grabe was clearly the better player in that match and rightfully pocketed his third victory in a Euro-Tour event.

Denis Grabe

Top Eight Finishers Dynamic Billard Antalya Open 2019

1. Denis Grabe EST 2. Eklent Kaci ALB 3. David Alcaide ESP     Fedor Gorst RUS 5. Joshua Filler GER     Sanjin Pehlivanovic BIH     Mieszko Fortunski POL     Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz ESP

That concludes the coverage of the Dynamic Billard Antalya Open 2019.

The Dynamic Billard Antalya Open were played in the Limak Atlantis Resort in Belek, Turkey, on up to 20 tables which were all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be obtained at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.

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3 European Countries with an Active Cue Sports Scene

There are many who don’t think of cue sports as actual sports but rather as something you do for fun. This probably has to do with how accessible it is to the general public: it doesn’t need superior fitness and stamina, only a good aim and a free table at the local pool club. The image of cue sports in popular culture doesn’t help either – it is often depicted as something done by bikers (usually the bad guys) in roadside bars, and usually for money. This doesn’t stop them from being not only a popular recreational activity but also a serious sport in Europe and the Americas, even if cue sports barely qualify for one of the most beloved sports in Canada and the US. There are, in turn, countries that may not be famous for their vivid cue sports scene but are serious about it.

Hungary

Hungary is famous throughout the world for its amazing association football team – the Golden Team – that played its way to the top in the 1950s. While soccer is still the most popular sport in the country, there are many others that are played seriously in the country – and cue sports are among them. The country has an official “Billiards Association” that organizes country-wide tournaments for its members – the next National Pool Championship is set to take place this week, and its Masters Tournament will be played in December.

Estonia

Estonia is perhaps better known for its thriving startup business scene than for its billiards but make no mistake, it is quite the popular sport over there. The local cue sports association – the Eesti Piljardiliit – has sections for pool, snooker, and Russian pool, perhaps better known as pyramid billiards. Pyramid is considered one of the most difficult billiard variants – it is played on a large table (similar in size to the snooker table, usually thinner) with the corner pockets only millimeters wider than the balls themselves, and sixteen numbered balls that are all white (plus a cue ball that’s even larger). The game is played with more massive cues (the tips are usually 15 millimeters wide) and the rules forbid the use of jump shots and massé shots in tournament play (which are already very difficult due to the larger and heavier balls).

Russia

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US hopes in tatters as Europe’s hammer falls

US hopes in tatters as Europe’s hammer falls

  Europe 8 – 2 USA

  Van den Berg & Alcaide 4 – 5 Hatch & Thorpe

Ralf Souquet 5 – 3 Oscar Dominguez

Filler & Shaw 5 – 1 Van Boening & Woodward

David Alcaide 5 – 1 Skyler Woodward

Van den Berg & Filler 5 – 0 Van Boening & Thorpe

  THE PARTYPOKER MOSCONI CUP has hit the halfway stage and it’s already looking all over as the Europeans home in on their eighth successive victory following another easy day on the table against a miss-firing American side.

  With the Euros leading 4-1 at the overnight stage anything other than US overall victory would be a huge setback and so it turned out as the European’s once again decimated their opponents 4-1 to carry an 8-2 lead into the third day.

  In fact, Marcus Chamat’s Team Europe now need only three more wins to seal the deal with a maximum five matches scheduled for Wednesday.

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“The way the first match was, I was thinking if we could win two matches today I would be happy because we would still have the lead. Winning 4-1, I am way over the moon,” said a delighted Chamat.

  “The second match could have gone either way. The eight ball that Oscar missed, we might look back at a big swing in the event. It is far from over but that could be a big swing. This is sport and we saw today that one mistake can turn things around,” he added.

  Things started off so brightly for the USA as Dennis Hatch and Billy Thorpe squandered a 4-1 lead before hanging on in the deciding rack to record a 5-4 victory over Nick van den Berg and David Alcaide.

  That momentum didn’t last long as Oscar Dominguez lost a 3-2 lead to fall to veteran Ralf Souquet by 5-3. After that it was a total collapse as the USA managed to win just three racks in the final three matches as Joshua Filler ran rampant.

  The 20-year-old German looks set to be one of the game’s brightest stars his shot-making and positional play look to be up there with the best. First, he teamed up with Jason Shaw to dispatch Van Boening and Dominguez 5-1 and then, alongside Nick Van den Berg, they crushed Van Boening and Thorpe 5-0.

  Commented Marcus Chamat, “I get goose bumps just talking about Joshua. When you see him play, you know he will run out and go around smiling. He makes the game look so easy. Once in a lifetime you get these players.”

  For American captain Johan Ruijsink, it was more misery after the experience of Monday; “We are not happy. We didn’t look confident today, we broke better, I really felt that we broke better but we missed balls that we shouldn’t have, and that is disappointing.

  “It is hard to win if you get bad racks and in the last match we didn’t do much wrong but they played very good shots and broke well. We got a couple of terrible, difficult shots, which we didn’t make.

“Even the 5-4 win was not confident – we should have beaten them 5-1, 5-2. We should have put our foot on the gas pedal but we didn’t and that stayed there for the whole day.

  “I truly felt that we broke better and if we had played as we did yesterday we would have got more points, but we didn’t. It is a learning curve and we will try to combine the better play from Monday and the break from today, but we cannot lose the day tomorrow – that is obvious.”

  Play continues with a scheduled four more games on Wednesday – two doubles and two singles matches.

  Follow the Partypoker Mosconi Cup on www.mosconicup.com and @mosconicup across social media.

  2017 partypoker Mosconi Cup is also sponsored by Rasson Billiards who supplies the Official Table; the cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis and the Official Balls are Super Aramith by Saluc. Predator is the Official Cue of the event and Ultimate Team Gear provide all Mosconi Cup apparel. APA are the Official Team Sponsor of Team USA.

    For More Information:

  Luke Riches, Matchroom Sport: [email protected] 

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2017 12BET World Cup of Pool - Quarter final line up is complete

Philippines 7-5 Holland England 7-6 Scotland USA 7-5 Spain   THERE WERE THREE more humdingers at the York Hall on Friday night as the second round of the 12BET World Cup of Pool concluded. There were wins for the Philippines, England B and the USA but each match was hard fought and went down to the closing stages.   Featuring 32 two-man teams from around the globe, the 12BET World Cup of Pool is into its 11th year as reigning champions Chinese Taipei attempt to become the first team ever to successfully defend the title at the York Hall.   In a high-quality match-up, the Filipino duo of Johan ‘Bubwit’ Chua and Carlo Biado edged past Holland in a game where all four players were up to the task. There was offensive play and high-quality safeties and the close of the match rested on a miscalculation by Nils Feijen.   Earlier, the Philippines had opened up a 5-1 lead, but Feijen and Nick van den Berg had come back at them methodically to level it up at 5-5. Following van den Berg’s break, there was no shot on the lowest ball and Feijen pushed out, nudging the 9 ball.   He left a tough angled pot but Chua made it and the subsequent run out put the Philippines on the hill. In what was the final rack, Biado played a good safe and van den Berg clipped the 9 ball trying to escape. With ball in hand, the Philippines closed out the match.   The second match was an Old Firm classic as England took on Scotland for a place in the last eight. With an old-school noisy York Hall crowd bringing the atmosphere, both teams had great spells as well as made their share of mistakes.   The match went back and forth and at 6-6, England – Daryl Peach and Imran Majid – were breaking for the match. Majid delivered the perfect shot as balls fell and the remainder sat out in the open and Jayson Shaw and Pat Holtz could only watch as England ran out for the win.   Commented Peach; “It was nerve wracking, that is for sure. I struggled from the off there, I didn’t feel too good in myself and Imran held it together for us, he played brilliant – I thought he was awesome.   “It feels great, but it doesn’t matter that it is against Scotland. Both players are our friends and we will have a beer with them later. It is good to beat any team. We are into the quarter-finals now, we will regroup and come back stronger tomorrow.”   Majid added, “It was a complete contrast to the first match. Everything went our way against Indonesia, everything was sweet and rosy and we had a shot off the break every time. But tonight was a complete contrast – we were down, we had to grind it out, stick to our guns and try and get the ‘W’ – that’s what counted.”   In the final match, Shane Van Boening and Skyler Woodward kept the Stars and Stripes flying as the got the better of a string Spanish side in David Alcaide and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz.   Van Boening said, “It means a lot. I made a couple of mistakes but Skyler saved us. He shot great, he didn’t really make any mistakes. We have been working together a lot, working on our break and if we can be careful with the cue ball we should be okay. “I am looking to win the tournament again, I would love to win it two times. It has been nine years since I won it and it would be fun to win it with Skyler.   Woodward, “We broke well but a couple of times we didn’t get shots. Shane struggled a little but we played well overall, even though we made a couple of mistakes.   “It would be huge if we can win this. It is my first time playing this and I haven’t won something worldwide so it would be amazing to win, and to win with Shane – he is a guy I have looked up to my whole life.   “I like it in London, it is crazy – if you make a ball the fans scream and if you miss they scream, it’s stupid crazy, it is awesome!”  

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Alcaide is the Master!

Alcaide is the Master!

  The Final David Alcaide (ESP) 8-7 Jayson Shaw (SCO) 

Semi-Finals Albin Ouschan (AUT) 6-8 David Alcaide (ESP) Jayson Shaw (SCO) 8-3 Chang Jung Lin (TPE)

SPAIN’S DAVID ALCAIDE is the 2017 World Pool Masters champion as he beat Jayson Shaw in a thrilling final that went down to the final rack. The Malaga man, who now lives near Madrid, had beaten a slew of star names en route to ultimate victory – Ralf Souquet, Shane Van Boening, Albin Ouschan and finally Jayson Shaw.

Alcaide was so overcome with emotion at the end that he needed to leave the arena and compose himself before the trophy presentation by The Hon Steven Linares, the Gibraltarian Minister of Sport.

The gutsy Spaniard picked up a $20,000 payday and more importantly joins a list all-time greats of the game who have held aloft this coveted trophy.  The match itself was a thriller from start to finish.

“This trophy is for my children,” said Alcaide.

“Thank you to Matchroom for the invitation to the tournament and thank you to all of my fans. I hope to play here next year and defend the title.”

Shaw had been gifted a free pass in Sunday afternoon’s quarter final when Alex Pagulayan missed the 9 ball with the score at hill-hill, and he took advantage to cruise past Chang Jung Lin in the semi-final. Alcaide overcame a shaky start against Albin Ouschan in his last four match to dominate the table and run out an 8-6 winner.

As the final match unravelled, they shared the opening four racks before Shaw moved into a 4-2 lead in the race to eight encounter. Alcaide took the next and despite some nervous moments tied the match up in the eighth game.

Shaw though missed the brown 7 down the rail to give his opponent a great chance to clear which he did to take the lead for the first time at 5-4. The Spaniard came up with a dry break in the next and Shaw seized the chance to run out for 5-5.

Shaw took the next running out, but Alcaide got back to the table in the twelfth game and made a great run out to bring a roar from his bank of fans. The 8 and the 9 were stuck together but his clever positional play allowed him to get behind the 8 ball and push it into the centre pocket.

Alcaide made two balls on the break in the next but missed the 2 ball. With the balls out in the open, Shaw ran the table to regain the lead at 7-6. With chances to close the match out, Shaw made two misses and each time the cue ball rolled safe.

The second time, Alcaide, with little option chose to make a very short range jump shot and his fans erupted as the 6 ball skidded into the middle pocket. He closed out the rack to make it hill-hill and with the break in his favour it was to win.

A great break shot saw balls drop and with the table open, Alcaide composed himself for what must have been the most difficult run out of his lengthy career, and he made it to become the 16th different player in the 24 year history of the Masters to etch his name on the trophy.

Alcaide said, “I didn’t play my best in the final, I missed two or three easy balls but there is a lot of pressure and I managed to get a bit of luck. I beat the best two players in the World, Shane and Jayson. The last 6 ball, the jump shot, that is my best shot. It was unbelievable; I don’t know how I made it.”

For Shaw it was a disappointing ending; “I had two chances, I blew it. I didn’t deserve to win it after having two chances. I watched all his matches this week and he played well. He deserved to win.

“I hadn’t played for a couple of weeks coming here. For the first couple of matches I was just trying to get in stroke but as the tournament went on I got better. I had chances but didn’t take them at the end – I was a little bit pumped, but that is the way it goes.”

Earlier, Alcaide had overcome Albin Ouschan in a match that flowed two ways. First Ouschan won three in a row before Alcaide kept him rooted in his chair for six racks and he went onto win by two. Shaw had an easier run as he beat Chang Jung Lin at a canter. 8-3 was the final score.

Taking place in Gibraltar, the Masters sees 16 top international players competing in the shadow of the Rock of Gibraltar to determine the destination of the $20,000 top prize. The whole event is broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK & Ireland and on networks around the world.

 The Masters carries an $80,000 prize fund, and the event is broadcast live for 20 hours in total.

The World Pool Masters is sponsored by the following suppliers: RASSON (tables), IWAN SIMONIS (cloth), SALUC (balls), PREDATOR (cues) and ULTIMATE TEAM GEAR (clothing).

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Alcaide wins Dynamic Billard Treviso Open

David Alcaide

In a more than thrilling final match, David Alcaide (ESP) won the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open against Joshua Filler (GER) with 9:6.

The final match was as high class as expected. Alcaide and Filler came up with a great performance and delivered some high class pool action. However, due to the pressure also some mistakes have been committed by both players. The fact that the final match and the semi-finals are played with a shot clock does its share to even raise the pressure. Alcaide had the better start in the final. He ran away with 3:0 before Filler got started. But the young German hung in there. He used his chances whenever given and kept the match a close and thrilling affair. After nine racks, the scoreboard displayed a 5:4 lead for Alcaide with Filler to break. The rack turned into a safety battle and actually it looked like Filler would be able to force Alcaide to commit a foul. Alcaide answered this by playing a deliberate foul and putting the 2-ball and the 6-ball together. The rack was dominated by tactical play. In the end, Alcaide pocketed the deciding ball and got to a 6:4 lead. That was one important point in the final match. Instead of Filler leveling the score at 5:5, Alcaide was now 6:4 up with his own break shot to come. He had an illegal break and Filler cleared to stay close with 5:6. The next break was Filler’s and he was really unlucky. He had three balls down but the cue ball got kicked and scratched in the corner pocket. Again, Alcaide got away with a 2-point-lead with his own break shot coming up. This time, he capitalized from his break shot. He almost ran out of position on the 3-ball but Lady Luck was on his side. Alcaide got on the hill with an 8:5 lead over Filler. Filler won the next rack before Alcaide got to the table with his own break, leading 8:6. Alcaide missed the 2-ball but left the cue ball very close to another object ball for Filler. The German kid used a rest but touched the 3-ball while pocketing the 2-ball. With ball in hand, Alcaide conquered the table, took the match with 9:6 and won his second Euro-Tour after 2009.

In the first semi-final, David Alcaide encountered Mieszko Fortunski (POL). The Spaniard had the far better start and got a quick 6:3 lead over Fortunski. The Polish struggled a bit with his break shot. Either he had no ball down or he played an illegal break. This problem was the reason for Alcaide to gain his early advantage. But after a while, Fortunski got in better shape and pulled some racks from Alcaide since he committed several mistakes. The match was hill-hill with Fortunski breaking the balls in rack 17. Again, his luck left him and he had no ball pocketed, leaving a good position for Alcaide. Alcaide seemed to be ice-cold, getting to the table and clearing the rack ball after ball, winning the semi-final to take him into the final match. In the second semi-final, Joshua Filler had to deal with „The Terminator“ Niels Feijen (NED). Filler got into the match better and won some early racks taking a 6:3 lead over Feijen. But then Feijen shifted into overdrive and even overtook Filler with 7:6. The players took racks in turn and again, the match had a hill-hill situation after 16 racks played. Rack 17 was opened by Feijen. He had no ball down on his break shot but left nothing for Filler. A few safety shots were exchanged. Filler started shooting first, pocketing an extremely hard jump shot on the 1-ball. The audience was shocked when he missed the 2-ball right after it. However, another tough position for Feijen. The Dutch tried to pocket the 2-ball along the long rail but he missed. Filler had nerves of steel, got to the table and ran the rack for his 9:8 victory over Feijen.

Earlier today, some real heartbreakers occurred among the matches. In the quarter-finals, three out of four matches ended 9:8 and one was 9:7. Drama was on among the last eight players. Albin Ouschan (AUT) went hill-hill with Joshua Filler. At 8:8, Ouschan had the break shot. He broke the balls and had a nice layout with a good first shot. However, he got a bit weird position on the 4-ball and the consequently found himself with a tough but makable 7-ball. Whether it was the pressure, his nerves or something else will probably remain Ouschan’s secret. For a fact, he dogged the 7-ball and gave Filler an early Christmas present. The young German got to the table and only needed to pocket three easy shots to win the quarter-final over the reigning World 9-ball Champion with 9:8. Feijen and Fortunski were the other two players who just got over the finish line with 9:8. Feijen ousted Sebastian Ludwig (GER) and Fortunski pipped Marco Teutscher (NED) to the post. David Alcaide achieved a 9:7 over Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) which took him into the semi-final match against Fortunski.

Marco Teutscher

  Top Eight Dynamic Billard Treviso Open

1. David Alcaide (ESP)

2. Joshua Filler (GER)

3. Niels Feijen (NED)

Mieszko Fortunski (POL)

5. Marco Teutscher (NED)

Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL)

Albin Ouschan (AUT)

Sebastian Ludwig (GER)

In the Dynamic Women Open, probably the biggest upset of the day was Kristina Tkach (RUS) handing a 7:3 defeat to Austria’s top star Jasmin Ouschan in the winner’s qualification round. In the same round, Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) managed to get the better of her German opponent Kristina Grim by a whisker with 7:6. Wesolowska’s teammate Monika Zabek (POL) had a good start, defeating Sara Rocha (POR) 7:5 and then Veronika Ivanovskaia (GER) 7:6.

Monika Zabek

Tomorrow, the Treviso Women Open will continue with the round of the final 8 players at 10:00 local time.

The Euro-Tour is played on 20 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be purchased at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.