Also won my second match agains Tom Parisian 100-27 in 4 innings. 63 and out.

Have to play 3 matches tomorrow

I’ll put the report of my 2 matches here today.

Nick

For the first time in the history of Dutch pool there was national television broadcasting the finals of the 9ball
tournament.

I knew this meant that i had to give everything if i wanted some tv time :)  We played a format that
doesnt come up at many tournaments. Best of 2 sets with race to 4 and a deciding game if the sets were tied.
This made it much more spectaculair for the spectators. And more tense for the players.
I didnt play very well to reach the last 16 on Saturday where the races changed to 5. But then i caught a gear and won my match against Richard Eijmberts
to qualify for the last 8. There i had to play Aziz Moussati who i beat in 2 sets.
The thriller would be against Niels Feijen in the semis. We shared the first 2 sets. So a sudden death game would
bring the decision. A real sudden death game it was with many safeties and some tough misses.
I was able to run out after a tough shot on the 2 ball.

Finals against Norman Bakker. I played really well in front of the dutch cameras. and won 5-1, 5-1 to take home the crown
I have put a nice picture in the photo section of a proud winner (and father) 

Nick

Last Sunday there was the Griningen open. And i dont know how they do it but it is always nice weather on the final day of the tournament.

64 players single elimination and first 3 rounds a race to 7. So you better hit them goos straight ahead or else you could be out without doing much wrong. First 4 rounds i won pretty easy against Michel Drenth 7-2, Don Dubois 7-2, Johan Koops 7-4 and inthe Quarters 8-2.

In the semis i played the only 18 year old Ramazan Dincer from Germany. He played very well on me and on hill hill he had a tough shot on the 1 ball which he missed. I ran out for the win but some credit for him and his game. In the Finals against Christian Reimering. My break wasnt working at all. Made a ball only once. He made some tough shots. I lost 10-6, so a nice 2nd place this time.

I would like to thank Zandrie Bolks the owner of Cue Action Groningen for putting up this event every year. Many poolroomowners have cancelled there open tournaments due to a lack of players. Zandrie wasnt one of them, Thanks and see you next year.

Nick

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