6. November, 2013

Summary of the 8th Matej Grabnar memorial tournament

Previous weekend, Slovenian pool federation hosted the VIII. Matej Grabnar memorial in Biljardna hiša Ljubljana and Biljardnica Direkt pool halls. The participants measured their strengths in the 10ball discipline. A very strong field of 128 participants from eleven different countries included current N.2 of EPBF ranking, Albin Oushcan (Austria), European junior champion Lars Kuckherm (Germany), four times European senior champion, Henrique Correia (Portugal) and a number of other excellent competitors and winners of prestigious trophies (Ivica Putnik, Šandor Tot, Miko Balasz, Robert Sudić and Barbara Bolfelli, just to name a few).
The biggest sensation of the tournament was without a doubt the 12-year old Sanjin Pehlivanović, who eliminated last years' champion Miloš Verkić (Serbia) with a score 8:3 to enter the last 32 players standing.
Last 16 included three of Slovenia’s old troupers, but none of them managed to make it to the last 8: Matjaž Demšar succumbed to Martin Martinović (Serbia), Matjaž Erčulj lost his edge to Benjamin Heimmerrer (Germany) and Rado Doroslovac fell victim to the already mentioned young Sanjin Pehlivanović (Bosnia and Herzegovina) with a score of 8:5.
Young Sanjin ended his winning streak in 5th place, which also granted him the title of the best placed junior in the competition. The title of best woman went to the 17-year old Ana Gradišnik, multiple junior European vice-champion and fifth from last years' junior European championship.
Quarterfinal matches clearly showed the strength of the undisputed favorites from the West: Ouschan eliminated Martinović (8:6), while Correia beat the notorious Ivica Putnik (former European champion in 14.1) with the same score. Pehlivanović fell from the high cloud when being dealt a doughnut by Kuckherm (8:0) and Marko Lišnić (Croatia) lost to the great thinker Heimmerer (8:5).
Kuckherm entered the final after a win over Heimmerer (8:5) and was faced with Ouschan, who beat Correia (8:6). After a very tight race leading to the result 5:5, young Lars let his attention slip for a moment, which gave Albin Ouschan the right opportunity to win the tournament (8:5). Loud applause from the large crowd that was still following the matches late at night showed the attractiveness of this increasingly popular sport.
The competition was organized at a high level. All the competitors received a practical gift and a free snack. The shuttle service, live streaming and other small details made this competition a memorable experience.
Such competitions would not be possible without generous help of partners and sponsors, who we need to thank:
Family Grabnar and Dnevni bar Miško as general sponsors
And
-          Wottshop, Timotej Veršec s.p.
-          Biljardna Hiša Ljubljana
-          Biljardnica Direkt
-          Hotel Park Ljubljana
-          Promo Sapiens d.o.o.
-          Venera masaže - PE Trzin, Tinalejla Lasecky s.p.
-          Inštalacije Ror d.o.o.
-          Trgovina Corner Pocket
-          Pizzerija Piazza
-          Taurus bar Nr. 1
-          Fast food kiosk BTC
-          Impedanca d.o.o.
-          Biljard klub Ilirija
-          Optika Anja d.o.o.
-          Trgovina Mixfix, Miha Zajc s.p.
-          Anonymous donor
-        And other pool players and sport enthusiasts with smaller donations (monetary or in labor).
We thank all of the players, audience, tournament leaders, referees, technical staff, volunteers and all others that helped create this extraordinary sporting event.
Without all of them, this competition would not be possible.
Sincere thanks to all!