TEKMOVALCI PRIPRAVLJENI

Najboljši z Memoriala 2014.

Dragi igralci (in igralki), prijatelji našega športa,

Z velikim zadovoljstvom vam predstavljamo širok nabor igralske zasedbe na Memorialu 2015. Letos bodo štiri ljubljanske biljardnice gostile biljardiste iz kar 16 držav (vključno s Slovenijo). Hrvaška, Bosna in Hercegovina, Srbija, Makedonija, Kosovo, Grčija, Madžarska, Slovaška, Češka, Romunija, Avstrija, Nemčija, Italija, Portugalska in celo Japonska k nam pošiljajo svoje top igralce, da se preizkusijo v hudi konkurenci. Najprej imenujmo borbenike iz bratskih republik bivše skupne države.

Največja delegacija prihaja s Hrvaške in vse kaže, da imajo resen namen pograbiti najvišja mesta. Tu so: njihov največkrat okronani igralec Ivica Putnik ž, evropski prvak v straight poolu leta 2008 in trenutni vodilni s hrvaške zvezne lestvice, kjer mu na 2. in 3. mestu za ovratnikom dihata Michel Bartol in Marko Lišnić, ki bosta prav tako nastopila na Memorialu. Mir življenja v pokoju bo za nastop prekinil Robert Sudić, prav tako pa k nam prihaja Karlo Dalmatin, ki je trenutno situiran v biljardistični Meki – Nemčiji. Poleg njih pa so tu še izkušeni Božo Primic, Josip Šušnjara, Roberto Bartol, Tomislac Šušić in še mnogo, mnogo drugih. Omenimo vsaj še Zrinko Antonijević, največje lansko presenečenje turnirja. Brez dvoma je v igri za najboljši ženski nastop na letošnjem Memorialu.

Tudi Srbi so se pripravlili na trde dvoboje in na turnir poslali izjemno ekipo. Težko se je odločiti za najboljšega v izboru: Šandor Tot (evropski prvak v osmici 2002, dvakratni zmagovalec ET, trikratni zmagovalec Memoriala in verjetno največkrat nagrajeni igralec širše regije), Martin Martinović, Zoran Svilar (evropski podprvak v osmici 2008 ter devetki 2008 in 2013) in Andreja Klasović ne potrebujejo posebnih opozoril, saj jih tako igralci kot gledalci že dobro poznajo. Vsi igralci najvišjega kova s kilometri izkušenj. Težki nasprotniki brez usmiljenja za mizo.

Sledi jim ekipa iz Bosne in Hercegovine, v tem trenutku ena izmed najbolj vrednih pozornosti. Zasluga gre v prvi vrsti mlademu in obetavnemu Sanjinu Pehlivanoviću, evropskemu U-17 prvaku v devetki 2014 in v osmici 2015. Prav tako z njim prihajata izkušeni mojster Dino Čerimagić, medaljist seniorskih evropskih prvenstev in skriti adut tria Benjamin Mujičić, ki se je v preteklih letih še posebej izkazal na Memorialu in ostalih mednarodnih odprtih turnirjih, kjer je prikazal izjemen temperament tako za mizo kot med navijači. Pridružuje se jim simpatična Hanna Memić, majhno bitje z velikim srcem in veliko strastjo do športa in napredka na dnevni ravni. Tekmovanje za najboljši ženski nastop bo vsekakor vredno pozornosti.

Prihaja tudi četverica iz Makedonije. Najvidnejša predstavnika bosta Žika Mihajlovski in njihov najboljši igralec, ki je že ogrozil slovenske ligaške turnirje, Nove Sarafimoski.

S Kosova prihajata njihova številka 1, Markaj Labinot in obetavni debitant na Memorialu, Bedri Sijarina. Veseli nas, da lahko gostimo vse več novih igralcev.

Tu pa je tudi več nevarnih igralcev iz bratskih držav Evropske unije.

Če sledimo abecedi, omenimo najprej severne sosede iz Avstrije. Na žalost bo letošnji nastop izpustil njihov prvi zvezdnik ta trenutek, Albin Ouschan, ki je zmagal na zadnjih dveh izvedbah Memoriala, letos pa je vzel titulo China Open 2015 ter se zaradi konstantne dobre igre uvrstil v ekipi za Kings Cup in Mosconi Cup. Zahvaljujoč natrpanim koledarjem pa so svoj nastop morali odpovedati tudi nekateri drugi tekmovalci, ki so prejšnja leta ogrožali najboljša mesta: Jürgen Jenisy, Patrick Rieber, Akiya Yoshida in drugi. A vse ni izgubljeno za Avstrijce, saj se Memoriala udeležuje njihov reprezentant iz World Cup of Poola, evropski prvak in dobitnik večih medalj z evropskih prvenstev in Eurotourov, trenutni petouvrščeni z evropske zvezne lestvice, Super Mario He. Eden najresnejših kandidatov za končno zlato na letošnjem turnirju.

Pojdimo na sever, tudi iz Nemčije prihaja več resnih konkurentov za končno zmago: Lars Kuckherm, ki je dve leti nazaj klonil v finalu proti Ouschanu in večkrat okiteni tekmovalec na evropskih prvenstvih (mladinski evropski prvak 2011); Sascha-Andrej Tege, znan tudi kot Piranja, zmagovalec ET 2010 v Brandenburgu; mladi in nevarni Can Salim ter zkušeni maček Nicolas Baumanns – vsi več kot pripravljeni pokazati, kaj jih je naučila slavna nemška šola.

Letos bo turnir izpustil Mikó Balázs, ki je lani klonil v četrtini finala, zato bo madžarski prapor prevzel Gábor Solymosi, drugi izmed madžarskih velikanov zadnjih nekaj let. Prav tako pa ne spreglejmo preostalih članov obetavne ekipe, ki ji pripadajo mladi perspektivnež Olivér Szolnoki in več mojstrov za mizo, kot so Márton Keidl, Csaba Nagy, Gábor Luca in Zoltan Torocsik. Opremite se z vodo, madžarska paprika bo začinila naš turnir in marsikdo bo odšel opečen.

Prav tako smo počaščeni in ponosni, da lahko po več letih premora ponovno gostimo skoraj vse najboljše igralce in zelo dobre prijatelje iz Romunije. Zavidljivo znanje prihaja v obliki več igralcev prvega nivoja – nacionalni prvaki in zmagovalci več mednarodnih turnirjev – Ioan Ladanyi, Ciprian Gabriel Gindac, Mario Toader, Leonard Dobre in znani romunski filmski igralec (in zelo dober biljardist), Viziru Augustin.

S Slovaške prihaja kvartet igralcev. Na žalost bosta turnir najverjetneje morala izpustiti lanski finalist Jaroslav Polach in njegov prijatelj, evropski prvak Jakub Koniar, nadejamo pa se, da bo pot vseeno uspela Tomášu Krovini in njegovim prijateljem, ki bodo težak nasprotnik slehernemu tekmovalcu na turnirju.

S Češke republike prihaja mladi Calvin Washburn. Tekmovalci, o katerih ne vemo veliko, so ponavadi nevarna in nepredvidljiva mina za marsikaterega nasprotnika, o Calvinu nam je znano le, da je že 6 let nazaj, ko je pri svojih osmih igral na otroškem evropskem prvenstvu, izkazoval obilico talenta.

Iz Italije prihajata zelo dobra prijatelja in igralca, ki sta se zadnje leto dodobra pomešala v slovensko biljardno sceno, Roberto Zogani in Gabriele Sulić, prav tako pa upamo, da se nam pridruži še kateri njun rojak, bila bi prava mala škoda, če bi jubilejni Memorial gostil le dva zahodna soseda.

S Portugalske prihaja večkratni evropski seniorski prvak, letošnji zmagovalec v desetki in devetki ter polfinalist Memoriala v Ljubljani 2013, Henrique »Kiko« Correia. Morda formalno res sodi v kategorijo veteranov, a še vedno strelja smrtonosno kot nova pištola, zato naj ga nihče ne podcenjuje.

Prav tako pa ne pozabimo omeniti najjužnejše države Evrope, Grčije, od koder prihajajo trije resni pretendenti za končno zlato: George Antonakis, George Matheos in vsem še predobro poznan Nick Malaj, zmagovalec Eurotoura in eden od najnevarnejših igralcev turnirja.

Gostili pa bomo tudi enega igralca, ki ne prihaja iz Evrope, Teruhika Sakamota z daljne Japonske.

Za konec pa ne pozabimo še nekaj besed o slovenskih tekmovalcih:

Na čelu skupine stoji Matjaž »Mambo« Erčulj, vodilni slovenski igralec zadnjega desetletja. Ob njem stoji več resnih potegovalcev za najboljša mesta: Matej Šulek (trenutni drugouvrščeni z lestvice in občutno prvi v sezoni 2015), Marko Bakarčič, mednarodno eden najuspešnejših slovenskih igralcev in še kopica vedno boljših igralcev, ki znajo pokazati zobe, ko tega nasprotnik ne pričakuje: Miha Šinkovec, Jože Marinko – lansko leto najuspešnejši na Memorialu, Denis Kragolnik ter Ana Gradišnik, najuspešnejša predstavnica nežnejšega spola v Sloveniji, večkratna dobitnica evropskih kolajn in tretja z evropskega ženskega prvenstva 2013.

In ne izpustimo niti naših nižje rangiranih igralcev, biljardistov nivojev B, C in celo D, začetnikov, ki so se opogumili in obarvali Memorial po svoje. Tisti, ki lahko od turnirjev takega nivoja pridobijo največ. Tisti, ki igrajo iz čistega užitka in s kristalno vizijo učenja, mojstrenja tehnike. Tisti, ki nikoli ne izgubijo volje, ne glede na to, koliko številke stavnic govorijo proti njim. Le zaradi njih je razvoj katerega koli športa sploh možen. Le zaradi njih je možen pretok znanja in vrednot poštenega dvoboja, in dobronamerne tekmovalnosti. Največje zahvale in spoštovanje torej prav njim. Tudi zvezde ne morejo sijati, če ni nikogar, ki bi jih občudoval.

Prepričan sem, da jim Miško prav sedaj salutira z dvignjeno palico. Prav za njih se trudimo vsako leto ta turnir organizirati na najvišjem možnem nivoju.

V imenu MEMORIALA MATEJA GRABNARJA 2015, »turnirja, ki zna pocrkljati«,

Mitja Gradišnik, predsednik organizacijskega odbira in Biljardne zveze Slovenije

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Dear players/friends of our sport,

it gives us great pleasure to introduce the 2015 MGM playing field. This year we have players coming from 16 countries (including Slovenia), namely (apart from Slovenia) Croatia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republik, Romania, Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and even Japan, and by the looks of it they are sending us their top players!
First let us name out some of the competitors coming from the brotherly former countries of the late Yugoslavia:

The largest delegation is coming from Croatia and they look an ominous team. Leading the pack is their most acclaimed player, Ivica Putnik – the 2008 European Champion (14.1) and the current Nr. 1 ranking player in Croatia. He is in excellent company (just to name a few) of Michel Bartol aka. Cupkin Frcko (Nr. 2 ranking player), Marko Lišnić (Nr. 3 ranking player), Robert Sudić (coming out of retirement!), and last but not least, otherwise situated in »the pool-players' Mecca«, i. e. in Germany, Karlo Dalmatin. And not only that. It seems that more or less the entire 1. division is coming to our tournament with experienced players like Bozo Primic, Josip Šušnjara, Roberto Bartol, Tomislav Šušić and many many more.

From Croatia also comes Zrinka Antonijevic last year’s best tournament surprise. She is on a mission to complicate matters in the best woman competition.

The Serbs are also ready to do some serious damage to the other teams at the tournament. And one can hardly pick the better player; the crew of Tot Sandor (2002 8-Ball European Champion, two time ET winner, three time Memorial Champion and probably the most aclaimed player in the region), Milos Verkic (already a Memorial Champion), Martin Martinovic, Zoran Svilar (the 2008 8-Ball and 9-Ball and 2013 9-ball Champion European Vice Champion) and Andreja Klasović needs no special introduction. All high class and experienced players: tough on the table and a cutthroat attitude personified.

They are followed by the team Bosnia and Herzegovina who are perhaps the most exciting at the moment. The credit goes mainly to the still very young prodigy child, the 2014 European U-17 Nine-Ball and the current 2015 European U-17 Eight-Ball Champion Sanjin Pehlivanovic. Followed he is by the experienced warrior at the table Dino Ćerimagić already a medallist at the senior European Championships and the dark horse of the trio Benjamin Mujičić who has done very well in the past years at the Memorial and other international Opens showing great skill and temperament on and off the table.

With them comes the beautiful Hanna Memic – a young girl with big heart and a strive to improve each day bit by bit. She will make the best woman competition even more exciting.

From Macedonia we have four players. Leading the pack are Zika Mihajlovski and their top player Nove Sarafimoski – a guy with more skills than he is willing to show!

From Kosovo comes their more or less Nr. 1 player Markaj Labinot. He is in good company with Bedri Sijarina. We are glad to have these newcomers to our tournament.

Next let me introduce players coming from our current co-members of the European Union:

The first according to the alphabetical order is Team Austria. Sadly this year we will not host their Nr. 1 player, China Open 2015 Champion, Kings Cup and Mosconi Cup 2015 team member Albin Ouschann. Due to the a fantastic year he will be playing the Kings Cup at the time of our tournament, so he will not be able to defend his double crown here at the Memorial. Also we are sad that some other players from the past will not be able to make it (so it seems). Due to heavy calendar problems we lost a terrific player like Jürgen Jenisy, Patrick Rieber, Akiya Yoshida and many more.

Still for some consolation the Memorial will be honoured to guest for the first time a brilliant player from Austria. Already a European Champion and holder of many EC and ET medals, the current Nr. 5 of the EPBF rankings Mario He – the Super Mario! Surely one of the top contenders for the memorial Title.

But let's hold up our horses – there's plenty of worthy competition, starting with our German friends, heavy calibers indeed: Lars Kuckherm, the 2013 year's finalist here in Ljubljana and the holder of many EC medals including one gold from the 2011 junior EC in Luxembourg; Sascha-Andrej Tege aka. the Pirania – already a 2010 ET Champion (Brandenburg, Germany), the young prodigy child Can Salim, and the experienced Nicolas Baumanns – all ready to show the field what German pool school is all about.

Mikó Balázs is sadly missing from this years edition. So the Hungarian expedition is led by Gábor Solymosii one of their top players for many years, if not decades. And although we lost Miko the team grew in numbers and force. With them, also for the first time, comes Olivér Szolnoki – the young whizzkid from Hungary, and many of their top players like Márton Keidl, Csaba Nagy, Gábor Luca and Zoltan Torocsik.

They will definitely spice up the action like the Magyar paprika. Make sure to have a lot of water by your side to cool down as they intend to bring fire to the house.

We are extremely honoured and proud to guest yet again (after many long years) our dear friends and top players from Romania. A formidable company consists of A class players – national Champions and winners of many international tournaments – like Ioan Ladanyi, Ciprian Gabriel Gindac, Mario Toader, Leonard Dobre and also a famous Romanian movie star (and a very good player too) Viziru Augustin.

From Slovakia we have a group of four players. Unfortunately last year’s finalist Jaroslav Polach and his friend, the EC Champion, Kuboo Koník Koniar will probably not be able to make it to the tournament, but still we believe that the likes of Tomáš Krovina and his friends will make life difficult for many players at the tournament.

From Czech Republic comes the young Calvin Washburn – not much we know of this kid, only that I have seen him play 6 years ago (aged 8) at the pupils EC and he looked like a boy with talent in abundance. We will see what came of him.

From Italy comes Roberto Zogani and Gabry Sulič – we are happy to have our good neighbours at our tournament and hope to see some other players too. With the force Italy has to offer, it would be a shame not to have them here at our Memorial – let’s wait and see, if we can find some more Italian players for our jubilee Open.

From Portugal comes the many times European senior champion, the reigning European Senior Ten-ball and Nine-Ball Champion and already a semifinalist here in Ljubljana (2013), »Kiko« Henrique Correia. He's a veteran contender but shoots as quickly and deadly as any young gun, so beware of the pistolero from Lisboa!

And last but definitely not least, from the cradle of democracy, three gladiators and heavy weight title contenders, Greece’s George Antonakis, George Matheos and the fierce Nick Malaj – already an ET Champion and silver medalist – one of the A+ players of the tournament!

And there is also a non-European contender, Teruhiko Sakamoto, son of the rising sun - Japan.

Let me say a few words about our home players:

Slovenia is headed by Matjaž Erčulj Mambo, our top player for the last couple of decades. He will have a good support in Matej Šulek (current Nr. 2 ), Marko Bakarčič – one of Slovenia internationally finest players in history and Miha Sinxovec. Among other strong contenders, Jože Marinko and the young Denis Kragolnik will be present. Let's also not forget Ana Križan Gradišnik, the holder of many European Girls medals, the bronze of the 2013 European Women Championship.

But what about players like yours truly – what about the B, C or D level players, the beginners and the rest of the »also-rans«?

It is only because of them, of their pure joy in learning the skills, of having fun playing, of not losing heart against the odds, that any sport is possible at all. Their resolve and determination to compete even if their road is strewn with bumps and set-backs, is what makes the sport what it is really supposed to be – the sharing of values of fair play, goodwill and sportsmanship.

Our biggest thanks and respect goes to them. Without them no sport would be possible, without them no star would be able to shine.

I'm sure our Miško salutes them with a raised cue right now from his star-studded heavenly nine-footer!

It is for them and for this reasons that we try our best to be the all player friendly tournament!

In the name of the MATEJ GRABNAR MEMORIAL, the all player friendly tournament,

Mitja Gradišnik, president of the OC and of the BFS

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