1. December, 2014

MEMORIAL MATEJA GRABNARJA 2014 - DAN 2

Dobitniki pokalov IX. MGM: Jaroslav Polach (Slovaška), Albin Ouschan (Avstrija), Zoran Svilar (Srbija) in Marko Lišnić (Hrvaška) s predsednikom BZS, Mitjo Gradišnikom, v sredini.

Memorial Mateja Grabnarja 2014 (Ljubljana, 29.-30. 11. 2014):

Albin Ouschan, 1. mesto
Jaroslav Polach, 2. mesto
Marko Lišnić, 3. mesto
Zoran Svilar, 3. mesto
Miko Balazs, 5. mesto
Karlo Dalmatin, 5. mesto
Nove Sarafimoski, 5. mesto
Borna Vukojević, 5. mesto

* * *

Four glass sculptures were resting on a well-lit table in the back of the pool hall and waiting for the pool player to proudly lift the biggest one in the air. In the center of the sculptures, the plaque read: Matej Grabnar Memorial, Ljubljana, 28.–30. 11. 2014.

The biggest pool tournament of the BZS season is over and the trophies are going to four different countries. What happened on the first day of the tournament is available for your reading pleasure here. Sunday brought the final matches and the competition had to be concluded. But as it is often the case with such thrillers as the MGM, many matches went hill-hill and the tournament was played into the wee hours of Monday. Both semifinal matches started in November and ended in December. Each year, more and more competitors from many countries want to be a part of the tournament and the waiting list gets longer and longer, but we will still have a hard time promising that the tournament will last more than two months next year. Maybe Ljubljana will be able to offer more locations? In this years’ tournament, the first three stages of the final group were played both in Pool Hall Direkt (Vič) and Pool Hall Kaval (Brod) where the tournament also ended late at night.

For Slovenian squad, the day started worse than anyone could have imagined. In the round of 64 Matjaž Erčulj, the N.1 of Slovenian ranking and the main trump card for the victory had to admit defeat to Alen Muratović, one of the most dangerous competitors from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Alen started the match better. Matjaž needed a break, pulled himself together and quickly almost turned the result in his favour when the first serious mistake again set him behind by one (6:5). A few minutes later he was at the brink of defeat, having to play a ball at an almost 90° angle into the middle pocket with the white ball almost in the corner on the wrong side of the table. He successfully executed the shot which earned him applause from the crowd in Direkt. Alas, it was not enough. At 7:7 he faced a situation where a safety would have been more prudent but he was about 5 centimeters short. 5 cm proved to be too much at this level and Alen finished the match with a 8:7 score.

His brother, Boris Erčulj (BK Gomes) delivered a better final result of the tournament. First, he had to beat his club colleague Alen Simonič who survived two hill-hill battles on Saturday but ran out of strength against Boris who pocketed the final 10-ball for a 8:5 finish. Boris then faced one of the favorites for the final victory Jürgen Jenisy that already eliminated Christian Nečimer, another A-list player from Gomes with a score of 8:1 in the first round. Jenisy started the match at lightning pace and was quickly leading 5:0, but the situations started to favor Boris who eventually drew the match at 7:7 and cleared the final table for the win. The match seemed to have taken a lot out of Boris which became evident in the battle for quarter finals with Marko Lišnić only leaving Boris two racks for the final 8:2 lead.

Boris was one of the two best placed Slovenian players at the end of the day. Jožko Marinko (BK Ljubljanski zmaji) was the only other Slovenian player to reach the final 16, showing that he was not crowned king of Saturday matches for nothing. Jože started the day with two great victories – 8:3 over dangerous Serbian player Ivan Hodžić and the same score over Henrique Correira, Portuguese master who placed third last year. Just as the hopes of Jože lifting one of the trophies began to form in the minds of the spectators, they were crushed when Jože faced Jaroslav Polach from Slovakia in the final 16. The story of Slovenian success at this years’ Memorial ended with the final score of 8:5 for Jaroslav.

Polach also defeated another Slovenian player, Uroš Meglič (BK Johanca) with the same result. For Uroš, this is the biggest success of his career so far and we are going to keep our fingers crossed that he can improve it the next time. Looking at the bigger picture, we can see that the last 32 were only reached by one other Slovenian player besides Boris and Jože – Mitja Gradišnik (BK Ilirija). He had shown his fighting spirit while at the same time playing a smart game with excellent potting in both his matches, but this was only enough to earn him one victory. He proved stronger than his club colleague Rado Doroslovac (8:5) but ended his tournament after facing Albin Ouchan who sent him packing after a 8:6 score. Before this match, Albin also sent home another Slovenian player Andrej Počeko (BK Ilirija), dealing him a doughnut. For Mitja, this was an excellent result and could have been even better with a bit of luck in the draw.

Other Slovenian representatives had to say their goodbyes after the first round. For some, this is an excellent result, but others left the Memorial with a bitter aftertaste although they all realize that there are no easy opponents at a tournament of this level. From the A-list players, Ana Gradišnik (BK Ilirija) lost against Hungarian Marton Keidl who was later defeated by Albin Ouchan; Jure Potočnik (BK Ilirija) borrowed a cue and finished with a 4:8 result against the dangerous Gabor Solymosi (Hungary) that later succumbed to Karlo Dalmatin from Croatia; before that, he beat the winner of Memorial from two years ago, Miloš Verkić (Serbia). Denis Kragolnik (BK Celje) had to admit defeat to Croatian Borna Vukojević who later finished fifth. Hopefully, a good result will motivate him to play more federal tournaments.

Vid Kuklec (BK Ilirija) learned the hard way why everyone is so afraid of Macedonian player Nove Sarafimoski who beat him 8:1, continuously raising his game and only finishing his matches in the quarterfinals. The end results could also be satisfactory for Blaž Kolenc (BK Direkt) who was eliminated in the final 64 by the final 3rd placed player and winner from three years back, Zoran Svilar (8:4). Two players from Kaval were no joke as well. Matej Dakol (BK Premium) was defeated by Marko Lišnić, playing a good game until 4:4 but later struggling with the problems that the balls posed for him, finally losing 8:4. Andrej Marcijan (BK Ljubljanski zmaji) was a serious threat for Benjamin Mujičić (Bosnia and Herzegovina) but ran out of luck for a result better than the final 8:6. Also packing their cues after the round of 64 were both representatives from BK BTC, Matjaž Demšar and Tomaž Dovgan. The current 10-ball champion Matjaž Demšar climbed the hill but lost against Siniša Rogošić (Croatia) with a final score of 8:7. Dovgan could not manage more than two racks against the only Romanian representative Ioan Ladanyi, losing with a final score of 8:2.

But even though Slovenians haven’t sent a single player into the quarterfinals that did not mean viewers weren’t treated to some spectacular performances. All four matches went all the way to the last game and with a few flicks and turns could have ended quite differently. Karlo Dalmatin looked strong early on against Albin Ouschan. He took a fast lead of 5:1 but even though he didn’t make a huge mistake to the end of the match it seemed to have turned against him. In an all-Croatian (all-Osijekan) battle between Marko Lišnić and Borna Vukojević the spoils went to Marko, even though he fell behind three times during the match (2:0, 4:2 and 6:4). Zoran Svilar proved to be the only one capable to turn the tables against Nove Sarafimoski and his extraordinary spins and Jaroslav Polach turned the odds against him by coming from 4:0 and 7:5 down to win against the best Hungarian competitor of the tournament, Miko Balazs.

The semifinal matches could not have turned out more different. Albin Ouschan showed us all what the phrase perfect game means as he took a fast 7:0 lead with 4 straight run-outs before missing a semi-tough 6 ball into the corner to let Marko Lišnić take a consolation rack as he could not do more in a match. Naturally, the players were starting to feel really tired around midnight.

On the other table however, Polach and Svilar battled another hill-hill nailbiter. Svilar was in front by a fraction throughout the match but when it counted the most, Polach found his best game and cleared the lot to reach victory and a place in the final match.

The final spots of both players were well deserved as none has yet had a taste of defeat with both having enough of skill and experience to take the title home. The match was tense to the final ball. Albin took the early lead of 2:0 and 3:1 but then we saw some careless cue ball control and signs of exhaustion, excitement and impatience and Jaroslav managed to turn it around to 5:3 in his favour. But controlling the match can be an ungrateful task and as Albin was waiting for the first real mistake of his opponent, the table layouts did not seem to get any easier and in the ninth rack Polach missed a difficult 6 ball on his way to 6:3 and the margin was again minimal.

It was Albins turn to turn the tide to his advantage and before no time he climbed to the hill at 7:5 but not without a lot of help from Jaro as he missed a 10 ball into a blind pocket and left it in the jaws. Polach managed to gain another rack before a foul on the 1 ball in rack fourteen cost him the victory and the biggest of the trophies which again – for the second time in the row – went to Austria, courtesy of Albin Ouschan. Many congratulations!

And with that this years ninth edition of Matej Grabnar Memorial came to an end. Every year we want the tournament to be the biggest one yet and we hope we are covering more and more ground. This time around the big plus seemed to be bigger media coverage and constant notifications about the results on social media as live streaming again turned out as a very difficult task. Small things that keep the players returning as the years pass. Till next time when we return even greater, best regards and good training!

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Na osvetljeni mizi v ozadju je sameval kvartet steklenih skulpturic in čakal na primernega biljardista, da v zrak ponosno dvigne največjega izmed njih. Na sredini kristalnih trikotničkov je stala kovinska ploščica z napisom: Memorial Mateja Grabnarja, Ljubljana, 28.–30. 11. 2014.

Največji biljardistični turnir sezone BZS je tako zaključen, pokalčki pa so romali vsak v svojo državo. Kaj vse se je zgodilo prvi dan turnirja, si lahko preberete preko te povezave. V nedeljo, drugi dan, je bilo potrebno s tekmovanjem zaključiti, ker pa je – kot se za takšne trilerje, kot je MGM, spodobi – bilo ogromno dvobojev tesnih do samega odločilca, se je turnir zavlekel več ur v ponedeljek. Oba polfinalna obračuna sta se pričela igrati novembra, zaključila pa decembra. Vsako leto je več tekmovalcev iz različnih držav, vsako leto imamo daljšo čakalno vrsto, težko pa obljubimo, da bo naslednje leto turnir trajal več kot dva meseca. Morda pa bo več lokacij v Ljubljani? V letošnji izvedbi so se prva tri kola finalne skupine odigrala tako v Biljardnici Direkt (Vič) in Biljardnici Kaval (Brod), vse pa se je zaključilo v Kavalu ob poznih večernih urah.

Za slovensko reprezentanco se je dan začel še slabše od najhujših pričakovanj. Že v krogu najboljših 64 je izpadel glavni adut in prvi na lestvici, Matjaž Erčulj (BK Gomes). Premagal ga je Alen Muratović, eden najnevarnejših tekmovalcev iz Bosne in Hercegovine. Alen je bolje začel z matchem, Matjaž je potreboval odmor, da se je dodatno zbral in rezultat skoraj obrnil v svoj prid, ko ga je prva resnejša napaka ponovno stala zaostanka za ena (6:5). Nekaj minut kasneje se je že znašel na robu prepada, ciljati je moral skoraj 90° liz v srednjo z belo skoraj v žepu na napačni strani mize. Udarec mu je uspel, izzval je nemalo vzdihov občudovanja in aplavz občinstva v Direktu, a žal ni bilo dovolj. Pri 7-7 se je znašel v situaciji, ko je bilo pametneje odigrati sejf, do katerega mu je zmanjkalo vsega 5 centimetrov, 5 centimetrov preveč pri tem nivoju in Alen je zaključil 8-7.

Boljši končni rezultat turnirja je nanizal Matjažev brat Boris Erčulj (BK Gomes). Najprej je moral premagati klubskega kolega Alena Simoniča, ki je v soboto preživel kar dve hrib-hrib bitki v repasažu, proti Borisu pa mu je malo zmanjkalo in zaključila sta pri 8:5. Nato se je Boris srečal z enim od favoritov za končno zmago na turnirju, z Jürgenom Jenisyjem, ki je v prvem krogu suvereno izločil še enega A-ligaša iz Gomesa, Christiana Nečimra (8:1). Jenisy je začel bliskovito, skočil je v prednost 5:0, nakar se je vedno več situacij obrnilo v Borisov prid in sčasoma je prišel do izenačenja na 7 in lepo je pospravil zadnjo mizo za 8:7. Dvoboj pa mu je očitno pobral veliko energije, kar se je poznalo v bitki za četrtfinale, kjer ga je hrvaški as Marko Lišnić pustil le do 8:2.

Borisov rezultat je bil na koncu dneva eden od dveh slovenskih najboljših. Med 16 najmočnejših se je uspelo prebiti le še Jožkotu Marinku (BK Ljubljanski zmaji), ki ni zastonj pobral titule kralja prvega dne Memoriala v soboto. Jože je začel dan z dvema odličnima zmagama 8:3 nad nevarnim srbskim tekmovalcem Ivanom Hodžićem in portugalskim mojstrom, Henriquem Correiro, tretjeuvrščenim lansko leto. Ko je že izgledalo, da bi lahko bil Jože tisti Slovenec, ki bo doma zadržal katero od trofej pa je v osmini finala naletel na Jaroslava Polacha iz Slovaške, ki pa ga ni spustil dlje od 5 in slovenska zgodba o uspehu na letošnjem MGM je bila končana.

Polach je z istim rezultatom v prvem krogu ugnal še enega Slovenca, Uroša Megliča (BK Johanca). Za Uroša je to eden največjih uspehov kariere doslej in držimo pesti, da bo vsako leto še bolje. Nasploh se je v drugo kolo finalne grupe poleg Borisa in Jožeta uspelo prebiti le še enemu Slovencu, in sicer Mitji Gradišniku iz Ilirije. Pokazal je izjemno borbenost in pametno igro z izvrstnim potapljanjem v obeh svojih matchih, a je bilo žal dovolj le za eno zmago. Izkazal se je za močnejšega od klubskega kolega Radota Doroslovca (8:5), na šestici pa se je zaustavil proti Albinu Ouschnu, ki je v prvem krogu ekspresno skočil mimo še enega Ilirca, Andreja Počeka (z 8:0). Za Mitjo je to resnično izvrsten rezultat, ki pa bi lahko bil s kančkom sreče pri žrebu še boljši.

Ostali predstavniki Slovenije so se morali žal posloviti že v prvem kolu. Za nekatere je to odličen rezultat, drugim bo pustil grenak priokus, čeprav je jasno, da na takem turnirju lahkega dvoboja ni. Od Ajevcev je tako Ana Gradišnik (BK Ilirija) izgubila proti Madžaru Martonu Keidlu, ki je klonil proti Ouschnu v osmini finala; Jure Potočnik (BK Ilirija) je z izposojeno palico uspel priti na pol poti proti strupenemu Gaborju Solymosiju (Madžarska), ki je v osmini moral priznati premoč Karlu Dalmatinu s Hrvaške; še prej pa je med 32 ugnal zmagovalca Memoriala izpred dveh let, Miloša Verkića (Srbija). Denis Kragolnik (BK Celje) je moral priznati premoč Hrvatu Borni Vukojeviću, ki je dosegel končno peto mesto. Upajmo, da ga bo dober rezultat prepričal k več nastopom na zveznih turnirjih, ki jih je v zadnji sezoni več izpustil, saj bo to pomagalo tako njemu kot njegovim nasprotnikom.

Vid Kuklec (BK Ilirija) je spoznal, zakaj se vsi tako bojijo Makedonca Noveta Sarafimoskega. Ugnal ga je z 8:1, cel dan pa je izgledalo, kot da svojo igro le še stopnjuje in zaključil je v četrtini finala. S svojim rezultatom je prav tako lahko zadovoljen Blaž Kolenc (BK Direkt), ki ga je med 64 zaustavil končni tretjeuvrščeni in zmagovalec izpred treh let, Zoran Svilar, z 8 proti 4. Tesno je bilo tudi v borbah obeh Kavalovcev. Dakolu Mateju (Premium BK) se je ustavilo na 4:4 proti Marku Lišniću, ni se več dobro znašel med problemi na mizah in Marko je zmagal z 8:4; Andrej Marcijan (BK Ljubljanski zmaji) pa je resno ogrozil Benjamina Mujičića (Bosna in Hercegovina), a mu je zmanjkalo malo sreče za kaj več od 8:6. Prav tako pa sta se med najboljšimi 64 poslovila oba predstavnika BK BTC, Matjaž Demšar in Tomaž Dovgan. Aktualni državni prvak v desetki, Demšar, je izgubil mojstrico proti Siniši Rogošiću (Hrvaška), Dovgana pa je na dvojki zadržal edini romunski predstavnik na tekmovanju, Ioan Ladanyi.

A čeprav Slovenci v četrtino finala nismo uspeli poslati niti enega tekmovalca, je bil gledalec nagrajen z izjemnimi predstavami, če se je odločil pogledati zaključek turnirja v živo. Vsi štirje dvoboji so se odvili do zadnje igre in ob malce drugačnih trkih kugel bi se dvoboji hitro odvili ravno obratno. Karlo Dalmatin je deloval izjemno suvereno proti Albinu Ouschnu, hitro je povedel 5:1, a kljub temu, da do konca ni napravil večje napake, se je vseeno obrnilo zoper njega. V vsehrvaškem (vseosiješkem) dvoboju med Markom Lišnićem in Borno Vukojevićem je na koncu slavil Lišnić, kljub temu, da je tekom matcha kar trikrat zaostajal za 2 (2:0, 4:2 in 6:4). Zoran Svilar se je izkazal za edinega, ki je uspel kontrirati Novetu Sarafimoskemu in njegovemu izjemnemu felširanju. Jaroslav Polach pa je obrnil zaostanka 4:0 in 7:5 v končno zmago proti najboljšemu madžarskemu predstavniku na turnirju, Miku Balazsu.

Polfinala se ne bi mogla odvijati drugače. Albin Ouschan je pokazal, kaj pomeni izraz perfect game, saj je brez zgrešene kugle in s štirimi štapi zapored bliskovito prevzel prednost 7:0, nato pa je zgrešil pol težko šestico blizu bande in dovolil Marku Lišniću vsaj častno partijo, saj mu več kot to ni uspelo. Utrujenost je okrog polnoči že kosila po bojnem polju.

Na sosednji mizi pa sta Polach in Svilar odigrala še en hrib-hrib nohtogriz. Svilar je bil ves čas za milimeter v prednosti, a takrat ko je najbolj štelo, je Polach našel svojo najboljšo igro in pospravil vse na mizi ter se na koncu prebil do zmage in mesta v finalnem obračunu.

Tam smo zasluženo videli najboljša dva tekmovalca s celotnega turnirja, oba še nepremagana in oba z zalogo znanja ter izkušenj, primernih za zmago. Dvoboj je bil do zadnje kugle izjemno napet. Albin je prvi skočil v prednost 2:0 in 3:1, nakar smo lahko videli nekaj površnih voženj in znakov utrujenosti, razburjenja ter nepotrpežljivosti in Jaroslav je hitro izkoristil situacijo v svoj prid za vodstvo 5:3. Narekovanje tempa pa je lahko tudi nehvaležno opravilo in medtem ko je Albin čakal na prvo resnejšo napako nasprotnika, mize niso postajale nič lažje in v devetem racku je Polach zgrešil težko šestico na poti do 6:3 in prednost je bila ponovno minimalna.

Sedaj je bilo na Albinu, da zgodbo obrne sebi v korist in preden smo se dobro zavedli situacije je prispel na hrib, 7:5, a ne brez Jarotove pomoči, ko je med sestavljanjem štapa zgrešil desetico in jo pustil na luknji. Polachu je uspel odvzeti še eno partijo, nakar ga je prekršek na enki v štirinajsti partiji koštal zmage in največje od trofej, ki je tako že drugo leto zapored romala v roke Albina Ouschna. Iskrene čestitke!

S tem se je zaključila letošnja, že deveta, edicija Memoriala Mateja Grabnarja. Turnir je vsako leto zastavljen bolj napredno in ekipa si želi le, da bi nam uspevalo pokrivati vedno večji teren. Letos se je za resničen plus izkazala večja medijska podprtost in pa stalno obveščanje o rezultatih, saj se je prenašanje dvobojev preko interneta ponovno izkazalo za težko opravilo. Finese, ki pa vseeno skrbijo za vedno boljšo obiskanost turnirja. Prihodnje leto se vrnemo še močnejši. Lep športni pozdrav in dober trening do prihodnjič!

Rezultati:
Skupina A
Skupina B
Skupina C
Skupina D
Finalna skupina