Butof and Pleschek reach KO stages of IBSF World Championships

me players had come close before, but Felix Pleschek and Robert Bütof actually did it. On Monday, they finally became the first Austrian snooker players ever to reach the knock-out stages of an IBSF World Championship. They both took fourth place in their respective round-robin groups to qualify for the next round. In other groups of the men's tournament, Bernhard Müllner, Garry Balter, Hans Nirnberger and Robert Burda, as well as Josef Kerschbaumer in the masters' event, all came one victory short for advancing.

...Robert Bütof, like Felix Pleschek, reached the next round of the IBSF World Championships...

Pleschek lost his final match against Sourav Kothari of India, 4-1. Pleschek took the opening frame but scored only 36 points in the next four. However, three previous wins had secured him his place in the KO-stages. Pleschek, a 34-year-old player from Top Snooker Graz who is nicknamed The Steyrian Potting Machine, lost six national championship finals before ultimately clinching the title in 2007 as the first winner from outside the Vienna region. 18 months later, Pleschek celebrated a new highlight in his career. He opened his campaign with a 4-0 routing by Qatar's Ahmed Saif - who would top Group E - but recovered well to win three of his next four matches, including a 4-1 victory over Yusuke Tanaka of Japan, who turned out to be his main challenger for fourth place. On Tuesday, Pleschek is next up against Mohamed Shehab of the United Arab Emirates. Shehab was second in Group L where he saw off reigning Austrian national champion Chau Zi Kim 4-1.

Bütof beat Mohamed Elhamy of Egypt 4-1 in his final Group E match for his fourth victory in seven games. The result earned Bütof a fourth place in the final standings and a next-round berth. Bütof, a 31-year-old 15 Reds player from Vienna, was Austria's national champion in 1997 and 2001. He re-entered competitive snooker just over a year ago and joined the Künstlerbüro Snooker-Team, founded by HSEBC player Robert Burda, to focus on the world championships on home soil. Bütof had started the tournament with a 4-2 loss against England's Ben Hancorn - who went on to win the group - but continued with an impressive 4-2 win over Mohamed Al Joaker of the United Arab Emirates, who would finish second. After two more victories and losses, Bütof needed to win his final match against Elhamy and was soon 2-0 up. The Egyptian leveled the score with two tight frames before Bütof closed out the match by dominating the fifth and sixth frame, 72-14 and 70-1. In the next round on Tuesday, Bütof will play David Donovan. The Welshman finished second in Group M after beating the Austrians Burda 4-3 and Alexander Trinkl 4-0.

Men's event

Well-known former pro's like James Wattana, Kirk Stevens, Peter Francisco and Darren Morgan lived up to expectations and all made it through the qualifying round-robin stage. However, Francisco, a former world No. 14, was almost edged by Poland's Michal Zielinski but advanced thanks to a better frame difference. Austria's twice former champion Bernhard Müllner lost his deciding match in Group B against Henrikas Strolis of Lithuania 4-1, which costed him a ticket into the next round. Garry Balter won two matches in Group J but could have qualified had he won three. Hans Nirnberger did win three, but had also needed an extra victory to survive Group K, as did Robert Burda in Group M. Other Austrian participants included Manuel Urban, Alexander Pichler, Paul Schopf, Markus Sallaberger, Peter Pertiller, Sebastian Hainzl, Robert Trinbacher and Richard Kornberger. 

Women's event

Belgium's Wendy Jans and England's Emma Bonney and Reanne Evans were the outstanding performers in the women's round-robin stage. Austria's national champion Andrea Pihurik beat Russia's Svetlana Kharlova 3-0 for her single victory in Group A, as did Therese Weihs against Hungary's Monica Stenocz (3-1) in Group B, while Sabine Grabler was unlucky and failed to win a frame in Group C. 

Masters' event

Joe Delaney and Dene O'Kane were some of the famous names in the masters' draw, and both went through with ease. Josef Kerschbaumer, who won the last two Austrian Snooker League senior events, came closest to advancing as he had two wins for a fifth place in Group F. Ebrahim Baghi also won twice in Group D, but qualification stayed well out of reach for Austria's national senior champion. Other Austrian participants in this event included Clausdieter Franschitz, Gustav Lodjn and Alexander Krnausek.

For more event information and full results, visit IBSF or Global Snooker Centre.

© text: Eric Willemsen / picture: IBSF