Eurotour stop 4 in Austria
Posted at 5:12 PM, 18 June 2008 to Online pool
Well it all started on wednsesday, a trip to Austria (900km) and it took me 11 hours by car. Together with Huidji See, Brian Beekers and Tony Drago we arrived at 6:30 PM
I was totally excosted and felt lile sleeping after this trip and short nights. But we had a meeting with the dutch selection and afterwards with the Eurotour organizers.
We talked about sanctionizing tournaments which is very important for the future of pool. So hereby I would like to ask all tournament organizers to sanction their tournaments or
else the pros like me would not be able to play in it. Iam saying this but iam still VERY dissapointed i cannot play in the Lugo open in Spain. Which holds a very big pricepoule.
Back to the tournament. Iam not going to tell about all the matches. because in the beginning of the tournament it was hard work for every shot and every game.
I won 4 matches and lost 1 in the qualification stage, without really playing well.
At the last 32 i played Markus Juva from Finland. I made some good shots and no bad errors. (9-5)
Last 16 against Richard ‘Indiana’ Jones, i tried to work hard for every shot again because nothing clicked in my system. He was really stroking and hitting the ball very nice. I came behind 5-1 and had to do something to turn it around. I focussed real hard on all shots and took some more risk on some shots and somehow it clicked again. I won 9-6 without making anymore mistakes.
Quarter final against the current number 1 Mark Gray. I started of very well (5-1) he came back to 6-6 and i slipped and missed :(. 7-6 in his favour with him breaking.
He broke dry and i ran out. i broke and ran. And he broke dry again. I ran out for 9-7.
Semi Final. I hoped to face Niels in a possible final but when i looked at the draw i saw i had to play him in the semis.
We had a 2 hour break so we went to eat something. I was quit relaxed and it showed in our match. I won 9-2.
Finals: from the experience i know you cant expect anything so just play your game and hope for the best. I really didnt make any mistakes in the whole match except for
one safety to myself but i kicked it resafe again :). I won 9-2 and dont think i was this happy before by winning a tournament.
In the years ihave seen how tough it is to win a tournament like the Eurotour so iam very pleased to have 4 titles under my belt now. going for 5 now 
Iam really aiming for the Mosconi cup this year.
But still the Eurotour in Weert to go to see who finishes number 1 at the cutoff for the Mosconi. Mark Gray is holding the best cards. But i certainly have a chance.
A lot of straight pool training coming up for the European Championships and the World championships.
See you at the European Championships in Willingen Germany.
Nick
Eurotour stop #3 Germany
Posted at 10:31 PM, 25 May 2008 to Online pool
5th place, Its getting tougher and tougher to win a Eurotour, i think i played one of my best tournaments in my life. I didnt miss many balls and break was very good. On Thursday i had to play a guy from Italy who had too forfeit because what i heard he was involved in a car crash on his way to Germany. I hope he is ok and will be allright. So now instead of th Italian i played Micca Georgopolus from Greece, i played well and won 9-5. Another match on Thursday against Henrique Correia from Portugal. He didnt play as good as he did in his last match and made some critical mistakes, score 9-2. Went to bed early because i didnt got much sleep in the last week because of Sky who is been keeping us awake at night :). On Friday i had a tv match against Albin Ouschan, yes the younger brother of.. And he can shoot so i had to be aware an focused. He had to take a 3-1 lead but missed the 7 ball. I took advantage of it and controlled the match for a 9-6 win 1 more to qualify for the single elimation round (last 32). Martin Larsen from Denmark was my opponent who i had beaten the last eurotour 9-8 in the last 32. I took a 6-1 lead but he fought back to 8-7. My break and made 4 balls but a tough first shot, i made it and ran the last 4 balls. 9-7. Saturday Last 32 First match against Ruslan Chinahov from Russia, the 17 year old talent started off really strong and made 4-1. But i broke and played very well from that point on and won 9-5. Last 16 Jonni Fulcher and me played a few matches on the eurotour yet and this wasnt even close to a match. The first rack i broke an ran. The next rack he broke and scratched on his second shot and directly gave up for 2-0 (wow) I took control to lead 6-0. on my break i left a dead 9 ball combination and again he gave up the game. He broke in rack 8 and missed his first shot and again he gave up that rack (I must say i would have run out anyway :)). In rack 9 i broke and made a ball. For a joke i asked him to give up the match and he did. He had to laugh about it himself too. Quarter final: In the Arena that felt like a sauna (about 40 degrees) I hope the Ibp will do something about it next tournament because i think some players will go knock out if the tension gets too high!! Karl Boyes played very well against me but so did i. So where did it go wrong??? The break, I wasnt able to break consistently and thats where i lost the match. 7-9. The ranking didnt change iam still 9th and Mark Gray is still ranked number 1. Results and Ranking you can find on www.eurotour.nu Next Eurotour is in Austria in 3 weeks during EC Soccer Videomatches you can find on www.247.tv (the ouschan and Boyes match are on there)
Nikky Sky is Born
Posted at 4:33 PM, 18 May 2008 to Online pool
Nikk Sky is born on the 14th of May, 3540grams, He and his mom are doing very fine. Some pictures in the photo section
Another Gp Win
Posted at 10:18 PM, 10 May 2008 to Online pool
Last Sunday i played the last Grand Prix of the Season and it was 9 ball.
I started of pretty well winning all 3 matches in the poule.
After that i had a win over Gijs van Helmond 9-4 to qualify for the last 8. Gilliano Smit was my next opponnent and he ran the first rack to get ahead 1-0. In the second rack i was forced to play a kickshot which i made. I ran 5 in a row from that point and it seemed to be decisive. So now the semi final against Aziz Moussati, He played very focussed and smart. But on 8-7 he scratched unluckily on the 6 ball. I made the last 3 balls to win 9-7.
In the final against Alex Lely who is still doing pretty good despite his poolretirement :) I played allthe good shots. Kicks, Banks Breaks everything went exactly the way i wanted and Alex made a few mistakes. I won 9-1 which is always nice in a final.
This weekend i am playing team competition for Club8. Next week will be the decider against Ames from Deurne.
Nick
Waiting on our little baby
Posted at 9:48 AM, 30 April 2008 to Online pool
Only 15 days to go till the 15th of may. Thats the day when Vanessa and me are expecting our first baby. I tell you and all the daddys know. This waiting takes too long every day seems like a week not to think about how Vanessa must feel. She is been carrying him with her all the time We both hope he will come a bit earlier then the 15th and hoping he’s healthy and can stay home.
Nick
First place on online “POOLSTARS”pool tournament
Posted at 11:12 PM, 20 April 2008 to Online pool
Just finished the weekly freeroll on Poolstars. You can qualify when you play a minimum of 30 games and have a minimum rating of 2.5 stars. 64 players started off. some didnt show up so a few walk overs in the first round.
In the semi final i played TJShifty who won the tournament last week. He run out till the 8 ball but gave me ball in hand. I ran out from there, a bit unbelievable in the final i played some safeties that let me win the final.
You can also play in the next weekly freeroll.
Go to www.Poolstars.com, sign up and start playing.
prices in the weekly freeroll:
1st $125
2nd $75
3rd/4th $50
Good luck
Eurotour Italy part 2
Posted at 10:57 AM, 13 April 2008 to Online pool
Hi,
Qualified Friday for the last 32 beating Nikola Kemilev 9-8, was trailing 8-5 when i caught a gear. I knew if i wouldnt make mistakes i would still get chances because he looked nervous to me. At 8-8 we had a nice safetybatlle when he banked in a cross corner bank on the 2. He didnt control the cue ball and scratched. I ran out for 9-8.
After that match i had to play better to beat Marcus Chamat for Sweden. At 7-7 i made two tough cut shots for 8-7. His break but he missed the 4 ball. 9-7
Last 32 Saturday.
First match against Martin Larsen from Denmark. This was a thriller with some mistakes from both sides. I managed to win 9-8 .
Last 16 against Imran Majid. at 4-4 He hplayed some nice shots to take the lead 8-4. I fought back to 8-8 where i would get a real big chance for the win. I overjudged the 4 ball when the ball bounced off the short rail for position on the 6. i played safe, he played safe and i played safe :) But that was my last shot he jumped in the 6 ball and position on the 7 . 
Jump cues should be banned!! :) (I mean it)
9th place. Now i go back home to my wife and wait. Iam excited because Vanessa and me are expecting our first little baby in 4 weeks :)
Nick
Eurotour Italy
Posted at 7:48 PM, 10 April 2008 to Online pool
Just won my first match against Willy Wu, France (China)
Tomorrow qualification for the last 32
check up to date scores on www.eurotour.nu
Keep you posted,
Nick
3rd Place
Posted at 8:31 PM, 7 April 2008 to Online pool
Hi
Firts of all, Played very well yesterday
First round against Fabian Hummer if iam not mistaking. Made no mistakes and won 7-1.
2nd round against Urs Furrer and won 8-1
3rd round i had to play Jonathan Fulcher from Switzerland, lost to him on the hill last January in the Paris open. Something really weird happened. When the score was 7-4 in my favour he had ball in hand. He was thinking what to do for about 3 minutes. When he tried to pick up the cue ball he dropped it out of his hand and hit the 9 ball. It rolled to the pocket and stopped right in front of it wih the 2 ball right next to it. Thank you 8-4.
Quarter final: Christian Reimering. Played very well with in total 6 breaks and runs i won 8-5. The cut break was really working well for me and i had teh feeling i could win this tournament if i just kept this rhytm going.
The Semi finals against peach. A few rolls for both of us made the score 7-3. I totally lost my concentration from that point and lost 9-7 
.
3rd place int his tournament, not bad at all but it could have been more. Next tournament will already be on Thursday in Italy. The Eurotour cut for the World championships.
Keep you Posted
Grand Prix Biel, Switzerland
Posted at 8:48 PM, 5 April 2008 to Online pool
Arrived yesterday in Biel, today i had to play 5 matches race to 5 and won them all to qualify for the last 64 on Sunday. You can check the live scoring tomorrow on the following site: Swissbillard siteThe draw is also on there.
Enjoy Nick