Eylul Kibaroglu
Eylul Kibaroglu of Turkey claimed her first-ever Predator Euro Tour Women’s title as she defeated Pia Filler (Germany) by 7-4 at the Petrich Arena in Bulgaria. It was a close-run thing at 4-4 before the Turkish player found an extra gear and pulled away in the closing stages.
Despite winning gold medals at the European Championships, Kibaroglu had never reached the ultimate goal on the Euro Tour. She had made two finals before but this time she seized the opportunity in what was a close match.
Commented Kibaroglu, “I so happy to win! I’d been in two finals before and this was the third. I played six matches this week and five of them were against the German players, all tough. I think I stepped up a level today compared to the other matches. Some racks I didn’t play that well but I managed to turn it up when it mattered.”
The first three racks of the match were break-and-runs as both players settled very comfortably into the big occasion. Kibaroglu lost the table in the next but an attempted jump shot from Filler with just three balls left on the table saw both the 6 ball and the white fly off the table. With ball in hand, the Turkish girl cleared for 2-2.
The fifth game was the first where the rack didn’t go to the breaking player. Both players had visits but, in the end, it was Kibaroglu who took it to gain the lead for the first time in the match. That didn’t last long as Filler cleared the table following a missed 2 ball from Kibaroglu which once again levelled the scores.
Filler restored her lead in the next rack as a missed 2 ball from Kibaroglu again gave her opponent the opportunity to run the table and restore her previous one-rack lead. A slack containing safety from Filler allowed Kibaroglu to pounce on the error and run the table to level the match at 4-4. It was anyone’s game now and was becoming a test of nerve.
The next rack was the longest of the match as the table went quite messy early on and neither player had a clear path to run out. In the end it was Kibaroglu who pocketed the 9 ball to take the lead for the second time in the match at 5-4.
Sensing her time had come, Kibaroglu sprang into action as she ran out from the break to put herself on the hill at 6-4. Filler needed to deliver a good break shot to stay in it but she fell foul of the three-point rule, returning the table to Kibaroglu. She looked good before she composed herself and ran out for the title.
Kibaroglu, whose previous victory over Filler – 7-5 in the winners’ qualification round – may have given her added confidence going into the final. Following her victory, Kibaroglu was heading straight to the airport from the venue, clutching her trophy, for a flight home to Ankara. There she will head directly to her pool club for a celebration party this evening.
Earlier, Kibaroglu had beaten Spain’s Amalia Matas 7-2 whilst Filler had got the better of Monika Zabek (Poland) by a similar scoreline.
All Predator Euro Tour Women tournaments are 9-ball and this week, the field contest a double-elimination format, playing down to the last eight competitors, and then single elimination until the finish. All matches are a race to 7 racks with alternate break.
All the matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com
Results, live scoring and draw are available at
www.epbf.com/tournaments/eurot
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