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3rd Cyprus Backgammon Open and EBGT Grand Finale ResultsThe 3rd Cyprus Backgammon Open and closing event of the WBA's European Backgammon Tour were held, one after another, last December at the Golden Tulip Casino & Hotel in Lefkosa, North Cyprus. Forty-four players, including several backgammon giants, have attended the Masters event, which was finally won by a local player, Haluk Oral, a mathematics professor of Istanbul. The EBGT Grand Finale was won by American Stepan Nuniyants, the winner of the French Backgammon Open held last November in Enghien les Bains near Paris.
The Cyprus Backgammon Open tournament was initiated only two years ago, a collaboration of the Turkish Istanbul tavla association and the international World Backgammon Association. In its third year, the backgammon event drew a record of 91 including world no. 1, Masayuki Mochizuki of Japan, world no. 2, Falafel, 2nd Cyprus Open winner, Eli Roymi, both of Israel, 1st Cyprus Open winner, Juergen Orlowsk and Bob Wachtel, who came from Los Angeles through Frankfurt and Istanbul in one day.
Sasan Taherzadeh, winner of the double consultation event
Nevertheless, Haluk Oral, a mathematic professor at the Koc University in Istanbul who specializes in combinatorics theory, had defeated last year's world champion Mochy at the semi finals and moved forward to beat his country fellow Oguz User at the finals. At the 26-team doubles consultation event, it was Sasan Taherzadeh of Iran who played by himself who won the event, besting even the Masayuki Mochizuki and Belgian Walter Meuwis couple at the final.
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