Spanish Open Day 3: Szolnoki's Defence Ends; Quarter-Finals Set

GANDIA, Spain — Day three at the Revora Spanish Open is done, and the last-16 rounds in both events have set the quarter-final line-ups for Sunday morning. The headlines: defending champion Oliver Szolnoki is out, home favourite David Alcaide never made it to the evening session, and Wojciech Szewczyk and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz carry the biggest surviving names into the last eight.

Juszczyszyn Exits in Morning Losers' Qualification

Saturday's 09:00 session settled the final 16 places in the last 32 — and produced the day's first big casualty. Qatar World Cup quarter-finalist Konrad Juszczyszyn fell 9-8 to Jonas Souto on the deciding rack, ending the Pole's week one step short of the knockout.

Also through from the losers' side: Mateusz Sniegocki (9-8 over Pawel Blachowski), Mieszko Fortunski (a 9-0 whitewash of Mykola Moroz), 2025 World Championship runner-up Szymon Kural, Roman Hybler, Ramazan Dincer, Hubert Lopotko, Iker Andoni Echeverria, Mika van Berkel, Marc Bijsterbosch, Dmytro Skorokhodov, Yannick Pongers, Dzmitry Hryb, Kristian Mrva, Alvaro Lamapereira Lage and Gabriel Aspholm.

Last 32: Alcaide and Macioł Sent Home

Single elimination began at noon with races to 11 — and the damage was immediate. Sniegocki backed up his morning win by ending Alcaide's home run 11-8, while Sweden's Gabriel Aspholm added the scalp of Qatar semi-finalist Daniel Macioł, 11-7.

Pongers won the round's hill-hill epic 11-10 over Tomasz Kaplan, and Szolnoki survived a decider of his own against Hybler by the same score. Sanchez Ruiz moved on without completing a match when Bijsterbosch forfeited (recorded 7-FF). Elsewhere Szewczyk beat Souto 11-7, Germany's Felix Vogel edged Kural 11-9, and France's Fabio Rizzi demolished Skorokhodov 11-3.

Last 16: Rizzi Ends the Title Defence

The evening session removed the champion. Rizzi controlled his tie with Szolnoki and closed it out 11-8 — the Frenchman's second emphatic knockout win of the day.

Fortunski produced the round's most ruthless display, whitewashing Sniegocki 11-0 — his second bagel of the day, having conceded just six racks across three matches. Sanchez Ruiz matched the margin, sweeping Aspholm 11-0 to silence the giant-killer's run.

Elsewhere: Szewczyk took the all-Polish tie 11-9 over Wiktor Zielinski; Vogel beat Pongers 11-8; Germany's Luca Menn defeated Kristian Mrva 11-4; Spain's Echeverria beat Dincer 11-7 to keep two home players alive; and the Netherlands' Mika van Berkel ended Eric Mattern's run 11-9.

Women's Last 16: Filler Untroubled, Ropero Last Home Hope

Top seed Pia Filler swept the Netherlands' Jolien Schuurman 9-1 in the race-to-9 round. Fellow German Ina Kaplan beat Poland's Oktawia Brodecka 9-4, Poland's Oliwia Zalewska downed Spain's Silvia Lopez Fibla 9-4, and Ukraine's Daria Siranchuk beat China's Li Yongxi 9-4.

Maria-Teresa Ropero — the last Spanish woman standing — saw off Germany's Miriam Steiner 9-6. Sweden's Linnéa Hjalmarström beat Poland's Monika Zabek 9-6 and Slovenia's Ana Gradišnik beat France's Marion Jude 9-4. China's Jiang Teng needed the only deciding rack of the women's round, edging Austria's Sandra Baumgartner 9-8.

Sunday's Quarter-Finals

Both last-eight rounds start at 10:00 local (09:00 UTC) — the men racing to 11, the women to 9.

Men: Wojciech Szewczyk v Iker Andoni Echeverria · Mieszko Fortunski v Felix Vogel · Luca Menn v Francisco Sanchez Ruiz · Mika van Berkel v Fabio Rizzi.

Women: Pia Filler v Ina Kaplan · Oliwia Zalewska v Daria Siranchuk · Maria-Teresa Ropero v Linnéa Hjalmarström · Ana Gradišnik v Jiang Teng.

The semi-finals follow at 13:00 and 17:00, with the finals at 20:00. Tables 1, 2 and 3 stream live on the Pro Billiard TV YouTube channel.

Verified results via the EPBF draw & results and the women's draw, cross-checked with Pro Pool Tour's tracker; full coverage hub at NCUE Media.