Szymon Kural, Karl Gnadeberg and Xin Yu Hong are celebrating being crowned World Champions after claiming gold in their respective divisions of the Predator World Juniors 9-Ball Championships at the Puerto Rico Convention Center, San Juan on Monday.
Poland’s Kural defeated Yuma Dorner of Germany 11-6 in the Under-19s final. That was after Gnadeberg of Estonia had won the Under-17s division, beating Lang Yi Li of Hong Kong, China 9-5 in their championship match.
Chinese Taipei’s Xin Yu Hong had the support of reigning World Women’s 10-Ball Champion Chou Chieh-Yu as she beat South Korea’s Kim Hyerim 9-4 to lift the Girls title. It was Kim’s second consecutive final defeat after she also took silver last year, when she lost to Austria’s Lina Primus, a bronze medalist this year.
Kural scored an 11-9 victory over Germany’s Dennis Laszkowski to reach the final, while Dorner was an emphatic 11-1 victor over Chinese Taipei’s Yi Hsuan Sun in his semi-final. At the age of 18, this was Kural’s last chance to win a World Junior title and he was delighted to take home the gold.
“I don’t have any words,” said Kural. “I am very excited and especially happy because last year I lost in the final but now to win in 2022 is super exciting, and I am very happy.
“My family will be really happy and I am looking forward to going back home and celebrating with my friends and family. I want to get better and better and play tournaments around the world.”
Gnadeberg took the Under-17 title with perhaps his best shot reserved for the very end of the final when he jumped the 8 to make the 6 and draw the cue back down for inch-perfect position on the 7.
“Kick wasn’t available, so I decided to bring the jump cue,” said the Estonian. “The only way I could make it was to bring a draw and I never actually did it before, but it came out perfectly and I was amazed.”
Finland’s Juri Narvola and Serbia’s Lazar Kostic took bronze in the Under-17s division, while those medals went to USA’s Bethany Tate and Austria’s 2021 World Girls Champion Lina Primus. The final was won by Hong, who defeated Kim 9-4 having earlier beaten Tate 9-2.
“I am very happy,” said Hong. “It was a warm feeling to have the whole team from Chinese Taipei supporting me. My next goal is to defend the title next year!’
In the Predator World 8-Ball Championship, Shane van Boening crashed out in the last 32 at the hands of Frenchman Alex Montpellier. The World 9-ball Champion had reached single elimination undefeated but struggled against an inspired Montpellier, who won 10-7, only to be eliminated himself in the last 16, losing 10-2 to last week’s Medalla Light Puerto Rico Open finalist Daniel Maciol.
The quarter-final line-up comprises Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz, who has a chance to cap an incredible year with a world title. He’ll face Konrad Juszczyszyn in the last eight, which begins 10am on Tuesday morning. Maciol takes on Mario He, while an all-Polish quarter-final sees World 10-Ball Champion Wojciech Szewczyk up against Wiktor Zielinski.
Seven of the quarter-finalists are European, the exception being Canada’s Alex Pagulayan, who will face Jayson Shaw for a place in the semi-finals. Shaw beat Joshua Filler in a thrilling last 16 clash, having earlier beaten Jeffrey De Luna.
“It feels good to be in the quarter-finals,” said Shaw. “I was down 6-3 against De Luna but came back and played pretty well at the end. I knew against Filler that a couple of mistakes and you can lose real quick. I came with some good shots, some nice breaks and I am delighted to win.
“I’ll get a good sleep, come in tomorrow and if I can break well, 8-ball was my game growing up. I’ll have a good night’s rest and come tomorrow as prepared as I can be.”
The Predator World 8-Ball Championship concludes on Tuesday with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all a race to 10.
Matches from the Predator World 8-Ball Championship are streamed from Table 1 on Billiard TV, the World Billiard TV YouTube channel and at Kozoom.com. Table 2 has full coverage and commentary on the Predator Pro Billiard Series Facebook Page. All tables, including matches from the Predator World Juniors 9-Ball Championships, can be watch live for FREE at Kozoom.com
World No.1 Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz and current World Champions Shane Van Boening and Wojciech Szewczyk are all one win away from the last 32 single-elimination stage of the Predator World 8-Ball Championship at Puerto Rico Convention Center, San Juan.
Chang Jung-Lin, who is defending the title he won ten years ago, also remains on the winners’ side of the draw. The $250,000 event will award $60,000 to the new World Champion at the end of the event, which is part of the first annual Caribbean CueSports International Expo.
The World Juniors 9-Ball Championships will crown new World Champions in its Girls, Under-17s and Under-19s divisions on Monday, with all three finals to be broadcast live on the World Billiard TV YouTube Channel, Billiard TV, Zhibo.tv in China and on Liberty TV in Puerto Rico on Monday.
In the World 8-Ball Championship, Fedor Gorst will take on John Morra for a place in the last 32, with winners’ qualification matches set for 12 noon local time on Monday.
Gorst won 8-4 over Aloysius Yapp to move within one win of a place in the last 32. The pair split the first six racks before a break and run took Yapp ahead for the first time in the match at 4-3. However, he was forced to play safe in the next rack and Gorst was able to take out a 12/11 combo which opened the rack for the former World 9-Ball Champion.
A break and run saw Gorst restore his lead, and that advantage was extended to 6-4 with another runout. The hill was reached when Yapp, with few other options, scratched while attempting to masse on the 3. That meant Gorst was breaking for the match. The 12 went down on the break and he took care of the problem 9-ball early in his clearance, but he missed the 10 long. Yapp, though, then missed the 7 and the match belonged to Gorst.
Elsewhere, World 9-Ball Champion Van Boening earned progression to the winners’ qualification with an 8-3 win over Costa Rica’s Johnny Salas and will now face Wu Kun Lin for a place in the last 32. World 10-Ball Champion Wojciech Szewczyk defeated Hayato Hijikata 8-2 and faces Carlo Biado next, while WPA World No.1 Francisco-Sanchez Ruiz remained unbeaten with an 8-2 success over Max Lechner. Radoslaw Babica awaits the Spaniard on the winners’ side of the draw.
Puerto Rico’s Alan Rolon saw his World 8-Ball run come to an end at the hands of Wiktor Zielinski, despite having a vocal home crowd behind him. Alejandro Rodriguez is the last Puerto Rican standing and faces New Zealander Sullivan Clark tomorrow after banking the 8 for a hill-hill win over Florijan Maric which brought an eruption of joy from the large crowd which had gathered around his table late on Sunday evening.
All three divisions of the Predator World Juniors 9-Ball Championships are down to the semi-finals. In the girls division, Bethany Tate was delighted with her dramatic 9-8 win over Poland’s Dominica Pawelczyk.
“I feel on top of the world right now, especially with that out,” said Tate. “I went wrong on the 7-ball but I came back, it was crazy. I feel so jittery, it is hard to keep the emotions down. There is a lot of pressure when my family is watching me but knowing that they are there pushes me to do better.”
Tate will face Xin Yu Hong of Chinese Taipei for a place in the final, while Lina Primus will take on South Korea’s Kim Hyerim.
“I can’t wait to play the semi-finals,” said Primus, who won last year’s Girls title on home soil in Austria. “I am trying to give my best and of course I want to win it. I am relieved because there is a bit of pressure when you have to defend the title but tomorrow I will do what I do for every match and what I know is good for me and I hope that will work out. I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
In the Under-17s division, Jori Narvola defeated fellow Finnish junior Riku Rompannen 9-6 to set up a semi-final against Lang Yi Li of Hong Kong. Karl Gnadeberg of Estonia will face Serbia’s Lazar Kostic.
In the Under-19s division, Joey Tate was eliminated by Germany’s Yuma Dorner, who will face Yi Hsuan Sun of Chinese Taipei in the last four after the Asian junior defeated Dutchman Yannick Pongers 11-10.
The other semi-final will be contested between Germany’s Dennis Laszkowski and Szymon Kural. Laszkowski defeated Filipino Keane Derek Rota 11-3, while Kural was an 11-4 winner over Saudi Arabian Khalid Alghamdi.
Matches from the Predator World 8-Ball Championship are streamed from Table 1 on Billiard TV, the World Billiard TV YouTube channel and at Kozoom.com. Table 2 has full coverage and commentary on the Predator Pro Billiard Series Facebook Page. All tables, including matches from the Predator World Juniors 9-Ball Championships, can be watch live for FREE at Kozoom.com
Defending champion Chang Jung-Lin made it through the first round of the Predator World 8-Ball Championship with an 8-6 success over Dutchman Tim de Ruyter on the opening day of play at the Puerto Rico Convention Center, San Juan.
There were wins for Americans Shane van Boening and Tyler Styer, Germany’s Joshua Filler and Great Britain’s Jayson Shaw on the TV tables, with the former defeating Puerto Rico’s Alan Rolon.
The eventual winner will collect $60,000 of the $250,000 total prize fund from the event, which is part of the first annual Caribbean CueSports International Expo.
Rolon’s home crowd came out in force to support their local favorite, putting Van Boening in the rare spot of being the player less favored by those spectating. The Puerto Rican, who reached the knockout stages of the Medallla Light Puerto Rico Open during the week, took down the first rack and despite conceding the second, moved ahead again at 2-1 to a loud roar inside the arena.
But Van Boening’s quality ultimately showed. Rolon fouled by moving the 5 ball as he bridged over it and the American was able to level. A great break opened up the fifth rack for Van Boening, and before Rolon knew it he was 6-2 down in the race to eight.
A dry break afforded Rolon an opportunity to claw back the deficit. He found trouble with four balls left but made the 12 with position on the 15 to bring the match to 6-3. However, his next break shot was his final visit as he came up dry, turning the table to Van Boening.
The five-time US Open champion had a straight shot on the 14 which set him up for the rack. Breaking at 7-3 ahead, Van Boening had the 12 down but opted to shoot the 2 owing to the layout of the table. A runout followed for the South Dakota Kid, who returns on Sunday to face Johnny Salas.
While Van Boening was winning on Table 1, on Table 2 a battle was heating up between two member’s of USA’s World Teams Championship roster from September.
Joey Tate and Tyler Styer are close friends off the table and with neither player able to build a substantial lead throughout the match it was Styer who arrived first on the hill before just a second dry break of the match by Styer allowed Tate to the table. The 17-year-old, who is also competing in Under-19 division of the Predator World Juniors 9-Ball Championships this week, played the 15 brilliantly to bring the 10 away from the side rail and from there had no problems in reaching the hill.
A dry break came at the worst possible time for Tate but when Styer missed a 4 he’d usually expect to make, the younger of the two Americans was back at the table. However, he missed the 9 to the middle pocket with three balls and the 8 remaining.
Styer showed he was feeling the pressure when the cue clipped the 10 as he looked for position on the 4. He played the shot well but again the cue kicked another ball, this time the 11, as it came through for position on the 7. The former Kremlin Cup winner held his nerve, though, and made a testy shot up table to come back and make the match-winning 8.
“I’d rather play Shane or Jayson, anybody else but Joey,” said Styer. “I have helped him out a lot and taken him under my wing, so to draw him in the first round sucked. I believe in him but I have to forget about that when I play him because he is like a little brother to me.”
Later in the day, Tate advanced to the quarter-finals of the Predator World Juniors 9-Ball Championship. Playing in the Under-19 division, he defeated Germany’s Dennis Laszkowski 9-5 to progress from the winners’ side. His sister Bethany is through to the last eight of the Girls division, along with Savannah Easton, Lena Primus and Alara Ghaffari. The other Under-19 quarter-finalists are Keane Derek Rota, Szymon Kural and Yannick Pongers.
Riku Romppanen, Mika van Berkel, Felix Vogel and Lazar Kostic made it four Europeans in the last eight of the Under 17s. The losers’ qualification matches of all three divisions take place on Sunday, followed by the quarter-finals. All matches are broadcast live on Kozoom.com and all three Junior finals will be on World Billiard TV YouTube Channel and watchbilliard.tv on Monday.
Predator World 8-Ball Championship reigning champion Chang Jung-Lin has waited ten years to defend his title and was given a tough examination by Tim de Ruyter before eventually winning 8-6. There was a hill-hill win for Jayson Shaw against Dimitris Loukatos while former World 8-Ball Champion Ralf Souquet will face Konrad Juszczyszyn on Sunday after beating Juan Carlos Exposito of Spain in his opening match.
Table 2 has full coverage and commentary on the Predator Pro Billiard Series Facebook Page. All tables, including matches from the Predator World Juniors 9-Ball Championships, can be watch live for FREE at Kozoom.com
THE 2022 PREDATOR World Junior Youth Championships broke off today at the Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan, and the European squad competing in the three events – Boys Under 19s and Under 17s and Girls Under19s – enjoyed a relatively drama-free opening day. With 17 athletes representing Europe and the European Pocket Billiards Federation, there were only five defeats suffered in the 54 matches completed thus far.
In the 24-player Under-19 event, the four competing European players went undefeated over the first day. Poland’s Szymon Kural and Yannick Pongers (Netherlands) enjoyed two wins apiece, having started earlier in the competition than the German duo of Yuma Dorner and Dennis Laszkowski, who both negotiated their respective opening matches.
All four are now into the Winners’ Qualification round of the bracket, playing off for a spot in the single-elimination quarter-finals. All four have avoided dangerous Saudi player Khalid Alghamdi, as Pongers faces off against Dorner while Laszkowski looks forward to a clash against rated American Joey Tate, while Kural will take on Fu Huan of Hong Kong.
In the girl’s tournament there are 32 competitors including a European contingent of six top-level players. Three of them – Domenica Pawelczyk (Poland, with two wins), Alara Ghaffari (Turkish North Cyprus) and Austria’s Lina Primus (one win each) – are moving smoothly through the winners’ side. However, Jolien Schuurman (Netherlands), Shirin Volery (Switzerland) and Sweden’s Linnea Hjalmarstrom fell into the one-loss side and will have no margin for error when play recommences on Saturday.
Finally, in the boy’s Under 17 championship, Lazar Kostic (Serbia), Felix Vogel (Germany), Mika Van Berkel (Netherlands), Karl Gnadeberg (Estonia) and Riku Romppanen (Finland) all enjoyed two victories each to leave themselves one win away from a spot in the last eight single-elimination. Michael Wiech of Poland and Finland’s Jori Narvola both succumbed to a defeat and will need to be on their toes as they look to battle their way through the other half of the bracket.
Nonetheless, the Team Leader of the EPBF squad, Tommi Lamminaho, was delighted at the progress of the European players on the opening day of the Predator World Junior 9-Ball Championships; “All in all it was a very good day for our players. We suffered a few defeats but I’m confident that players can bounce back tomorrow from the one-loss side,” he said.
“Obviously as play continues, we will see more and more do-or-die matches involving European players against each other but that is the nature of the event. I really hope that all the European players can build on their experience from the opening day and bring their strongest games possible as they all play down to the closing stages on Sunday and Monday,” he added.
Play continues on Saturday at 10.00am local time (14,00 GMT) as each event plays down to the final 12 players. The WPA Predator World Junior Championships are part of a series of top-level tournaments being staged at the Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan through November, culminating in the Predator WPA World 8-Ball Championships.
Further event details including live scoring can be found at the tournament’s Official Site: https://probilliardseries.com/
Germany are the Dynamic Billard European Pool Championships for Youth Under 19 Team winners following a 2-0 win over Austria at the Petrich Arena. Wins for Yuma Dorner and Dennis Laszkowski completed the victory for a strong German side. Under the format of the competition, each team puts forward three players from their squad who compete in single games of 8, 9 and 10 ball in races to 7, 8 and 7 racks respectively. The first team to secure two victories wins the match.
The German side needed to battle back after losing to Poland in the Winners’ Qualification round and they secured a spot in the title match with wins over Switzerland and then Slovakia in the semi-final. Their four-man squad consisted of Dorner, Laszkowski, Finn Boge and Eric Mattern who all contributed in their quest for the gold.
For 18-year-old Yuma Dorner, it was a sweet ending to a day that had seen him lose the final of the 9-ball event to rampaging Yannick Pongers. Having already won gold in the straight pool event, it was a testimony to his fortitude that he came with such a strong performance having suffered a tough set-back earlier.
He said, “It was a tough loss but I was already qualified for the World Championship and Yannick is a great guy so I wasn’t that angry that I lost and I was still motivated for the team event. In the singles disciplines, you’re only playing for yourself but in the team match you have the other guys and also the coaches that rely on you and your performance but it’s also a bit more fun with the team spirit so I really enjoy the team event and it was a great win for us.”
Dennis Laszkowski added team gold to his 10-ball gold as well as straight pool bronze to crown a very productive championships for him; “I’m extremely delighted that I’ve won the 10-ball event and I also wanted to win with a great team.
“We had a bad loss against Poland where we struggled a lot but then we managed to come back on the losers’ qualification side. But we played really good and we had a lot of motivation in our team so I’m really happy that we won. We’re definitely having a party!” he added.
Three of the four German squad – Mattern, Dorner and Laszkowski – are all playing the Dynamic Billard Petrich Open which starts this Saturday 6th August and it will be interesting to see how they progress, riding the crest of a wave.
Austria 0 – 2 Germany
Simon Astl 3 – 7 Yuma Dorner (8)
Florian Heel – – – Finn Boge (9)
Tobias Musil 4 – 7 Dennis Laszkowski (10)
Bronze medals in the competition went to Slovakia and Poland. The 2022 Dynamic Billards European Championship Youth comprises 14
separate events across four disciplines – 8, 9 and 10 ball as well as straight pool – plus the male and female team competitions. In total there are three divisions; male U19, male U17 and female U19. In total, there are 111 competitors in attendance – 19 girls, 57 boys in the U17 division and 35 boys in the U19.
All matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com as well as selected matches on the EPBF’s Facebook page.
