The second full day of The Festival in Bratislava featured another three tournaments that count towards the Player of the Series rankings. The Heads Up tournament, as a capped field event, does not count towards the scores. With five ranking events now consigned to the results pages, a new leader has emerged.
Lithuanian Jonas Jurksaitis had been in joint third place after the first day of the series, thanks to his runner-up finish in the Razz. On Wednesday he made the final table of the H.O.R.S.E, finishing 5th, to net himself a further 23.85, taking his score up to 55 points, a full 15 points clear of the rest of the pack. Jonas is already a Festival Series winner, as he won the 8-Game title earlier this year at The Festival in Rozvadov. He's clearly still in good form, with two strong finishes so far in Bratislava.
In joint second place, on 40 points each are Matteo Crapanzano and Yuri Overhand, who both won titles at The Festival on Wednesday. Crapanzano’s victory came in the H.O.R.S.E, cashing for €1,925, securing 38.75 points towards the POS race. Yuri Overhand won the Half n Half, taking €2,735 for the win and the same points total.
Boost for Joost
Apologies, there was a mistake in yesterday’s top 25, as it came to light after being published that there has been a saver in one of Tuesday’s events and a deal in the other. As a result of this, the bonus points awarded to Wouter Schuurbiers have now been removed, as he was the player who benefitted from the saver in the Razz.
The deal was a heads up one, made between Ylva Thorsrud and William Meeuwisse in the Tuesday Knockout, which means that both players receive 2nd place points. Ylva was therefore awarded 7.5 points too many and these have now been deducted from her total. It means that actually, she wasn’t the overnight leader after day 1, as that honour has now been re-assigned to Dutchman Joost Melkert, winner of the Razz.
Joost didn’t cash again on Wednesday and has now slipped down to fourth place, tied with Vitalii Shcherba, champion of the Win the Button event on Wednesday.
But there’s still a long way to go before the true identity of the Player of the Series is revealed. Are those near the top imposters, or genuine contenders for the title? The story will develop further on Thursday, when a further five ranking events will be concluded, including the Mixed Games Main Event final day and the Open Face Chinese.
Could this be the day that Franke begins his challenge to defend the title he won in Malta? Stay tuned to the Festival in Bratislava blog to find out the answer to this question and many more, that we haven’t even asked yet!
The Top 50 After Wednesday
| Position | Player | Points | Events Played |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonas Jurksaitis | 55 | 2 |
| 2 | Matteo Crapanzano | 40 | 2 |
| 2 | Yuri Overhand | 40 | 2 |
| 4 | Joost Melkert | 38.75 | 1 |
| 4 | Vitalii Shcherba | 38.75 | 1 |
| 6 | Ylva Thorsrud | 35 | 4 |
| 7 | Daniel Stossl | 31.25 | 1 |
| 7 | Julius Kettunen | 31.25 | 1 |
| 7 | Krystian Nalepka | 31.25 | 1 |
| 7 | William Meeuwisse | 31.25 | 1 |
| 11 | Aaron Thiel | 29.5 | 2 |
| 11 | Halvor Lindrupsen | 29.5 | 2 |
| 11 | John Clarkson | 29.5 | 2 |
| 11 | Ove Nilsson | 29.5 | 2 |
| 15 | Magnus Nilsen | 28.25 | 1 |
| 16 | Ville Hakala | 27.25 | 5 |
| 17 | Giorgi Mevlupishvili | 26.5 | 2 |
| 17 | Lars Hole | 26.5 | 2 |
| 17 | Thomas Lechner | 26.5 | 2 |
| 20 | Karl Rosen | 25.25 | 1 |
| 20 | Ville Keraenen | 25.25 | 1 |
| 22 | Lee Horton | 24.75 | 3 |
| 23 | Christopher Heidelbacher | 23.75 | 1 |
| 23 | Jascha Wieck | 23.75 | 1 |
| 23 | Tomasz Sumek | 23.75 | 1 |
| 23 | Vijar Tejapaibul | 23.75 | 1 |
| 27 | Julius Stroehlein | 23.5 | 2 |
| 28 | Roar Sandvik | 23.25 | 3 |
| 28 | James Rooney | 22.25 | 1 |
| 28 | Maximilian Feix | 22.25 | 1 |
| 31 | Craig Mcluckie | 22 | 2 |
| 31 | William Lynch | 22 | 2 |
| 33 | Andreas Grobmayr | 20.75 | 1 |
| 33 | Dag Nilsen | 20.75 | 1 |
| 35 | Andre Berg | 19.25 | 1 |
| 35 | Bengt Loof | 19.25 | 1 |
| 35 | Mikael Friberg | 19.25 | 1 |
| 35 | Risto Ponnio | 19.25 | 1 |
| 39 | Ole Karlsen | 19 | 2 |
| 40 | Mattia Ruebenstrunk | 17.75 | 1 |
| 40 | Sebastian Kotowicz | 17.75 | 1 |
| 40 | Tomasz Walkowiak | 17.75 | 1 |
| 43 | Nils Doverklint | 17.5 | 2 |
| 43 | Rogillio Reijme | 17.5 | 2 |
| 43 | Wilhelmus Schaerlaeckens | 17.5 | 2 |
| 46 | Simon Keating | 16.25 | 1 |
| 47 | Jari Maehoenen | 14.75 | 1 |
| 47 | Kristin Flataker | 14.75 | 1 |
| 47 | Kyros Kyrou | 14.75 | 1 |
| 47 | Mateusz Dabkowski | 14.75 | 1 |
