Eylul Kibaroglu
EYLLUL KIBAROGLU TODAY claimed her second women’s Euro Tour title, beating Germany’s Veronika Ivanovskaia 7-6 in an exciting encounter at the Exhibition and Sports Centre in Tampere, Finland. Following her win at the Predator Petrich Open in Bulgaria last August and three semi-final spots since then, the Turkish girl has cemented her position at the top of the Euro Tour Women’s rankings. For Ivanovskaia, who won last time out in St Johan im Pongau, Austria, it was a missed opportunity but second place points with none to defend, will see her shoot up the rankings.
For Kibaroglu though, it was a wonderful victory, “I’m so happy to get this second win on the Euro Tour. I’m so excited about the European Championships; I’m playing in the four disciplines and I’m really hopeful going into the event this week.
“I get a lot of support back home and it is always a wonderful feeling to take a European trophy back to the club. The European Championships start on Thursday and this victory will give me some real confidence going into those tournaments.”
Given both players recent Euro Tour form – neither had finished outside of the top four in their last combined seven events – it was always going to be a close run thing. However, it didn’t look that way at the beginning as Ivanovskaia took a drawn out opener and then advanced the score to 3-0 following some mistakes from her opponent.
In the fourth rack, Kibaroglu escaped danger with a couple of well-executed jump shots. The second of which saw the German girl hooked, and her escape failed to make contact with the red 3. With ball in hand, Kibaroglu was able to take her first rack and reduce the deficit to 1-3.
Ivanovskaia fell foul of the three point rule in the next but not liking the layout, Kibaroglu handed the table back. A scratch trying to pot the 1 ball gave ball-in-hand to the Turk; it wasn’t the easiest of tables but she ran it out nicely.
Kibaroglu looked set to take the fifth but a difficult positional shot saw her play safe with just the 8 and 9 balls on the table. Ivanovskaia, though, scratched as she double kissed the black 8 and that handed the rack to her opponent, as she levelled it up at three racks each.
A successful break from the German gave her the opportunity to reassert herself after her three rack lead had evaporated. A bad miss on the 4-ball though handed the initiative back to Kibaroglu but she failed to make a difficult 4. With that 4 blocked by the 9 ball, Ivanovskaia made a superb table length jump shot which set her up for the run out to restore her lead.
A nice pot on the 3 ball gave Kibaroglu a chance to take the eighth game but she lost position and had to play safe with three balls left. Again, a good pot on the 6 ball from Kibaroglu gave her the chance she needed and the scores were once again level.
Some good pocketing gave Ivanovskaia the initiative in the next and she started a safety exchange which ultimately Kibaroglu got the better of. A missed 5 ball though, derailed her and there was more safety as the 5 ran safe. It was Kibaroglu though, who potted the 9 to lead the match for the first time at 5-4.
In the tenth, Kibaroglu lost control of the white from a powerful break and she elected to push out. They exchanged visits before Ivanovskaia fashioned a tidy run out to once again level up this intriguing match at 5-5.
An illegal break from the German gave Kibaroglu a look although the table wasn’t the easiest. Her attempted snooker saw the 2 ball unintentionally drop. In the end, a terrific pot on the 4 ball from Ivanovskaia put her in the driving seat. Seeing the finishing line looming, she played some outstanding shots to run out and reach the hill at 6-5.
Kibaroglu made it a hill-hill affair in the penultimate game and breaking for the match, Ivanovskaia broke off and saw the 3 ball drop. The 1 ball wasn’t available to pot, though and she elected to push out. Kibaroglu then locked her opponent up in a snooker and Ivanovskaia’s jump shot saw the 1 ball run safe behind the 2.
Ivanovskaia made a good pot on the 1 ball but overcut the 2 to miss. That was to be her last contribution to the match as Kibaroglu seized the moment and made a composed runout to take the Tampere Open.
Earlier in the day, Kibaroglu had beaten Germany’s Melanie Sussenguth 7-1 in her semi-final, while Ivanovskaia put paid to Monika Zabek’s (Poland) hopes via a 7-3 scoreline.
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