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Kamila Khodjaeva Takes Her First Eurotour Crown

Kamila Khodjaeva

Kamila Khodjaeva won her maiden Predator Ladies Euro Tour title as she overcame Turkey’s Eyllul Kibaroglu in a tense final at the BHR Treviso Hotel in Italy. The Belgian girl, who has been competing on this tour since 2012, had made two finals before, but this time survived a tense battle against the game Kibaroglu to run out a 7-6 winner.

The Belgian Khodjaeva, looked to have the match in her control as she led throughout but a late rally from Kibaroglu, a recent gold medallist in the 10-ball division at the European Championships, saw her reach the hill first with a rare golden break.

Khodjaeva though battled back to take the final two racks for a fantastic victory.

“I was already happy being in the final but this was a chance to beat my own record but now it’s just unbelievable to win and I really hope that it will continue like this,” said the champion.

“My sister (Diana) and I have found a new sponsor and we will be competing throughout next year in Euro Tours, European Championships and other events. I was 12 when I won my first European Championship in the juniors so it’s been a long time coming.

“I’ve been away from the tour for a while for various reasons but I always enjoy playing on the Euro Tour, the atmosphere is always amazing, the competition is great so I’m really looking forward to be playing more,” she added.

The match itself was a tense thriller. Khodjaeva took the opener after Kibaroglu failed to convert her break shot, and then a composed run out from the break made it 2-0. A clumsy escape from a snooker in the next gave Khodjaeva ball in hand and she calmy ran the table for an ominous 3-0 lead

In the next, with the 2-ball unavailable, the Belgian elected to push out. Kibaroglu made the most of her visit by laying a snooker and then running out when the opportunity came. Never looking entirely at ease, the Turkish lady managed to run out from the break to get the score to 2-3 and take some of the pressure off.

However, Khodjaeva increased her lead to two racks in the sixth game as she ran out from the break and then a dry break from Kibaroglu signalled a safety battle before Khodjaeva failed to legally execute a jump shot escape to give ball in hand to Kibaroglu. She made no mistakes to keep herself in the match.

Both ladies had visits in the next rack, but Kibaroglu held her nerve to negotiate the table and level the score at 4-4. Khodjaeva, though, took the next against the break to restore her lead. A dry break though got Kibaroglu back to the table and she came with some terrific shots to clear and level this intriguing final up at 5-5.

A golden break from Kibaroglu got her to the hill first and gave her the lead for the first time in the match. Khodjaeva showed tremendous heart in the penultimate rack as she ran out under pressure to keep the match alive at hill-hill.

Disastrously, Kibaroglu broke dry in the final game. She then laid a difficult snooker which Khodjaeva escaped from with a jump shot to leave her opponent snookered. With the match hinging on this shot, Kibaroglu missed the one rail kick escape to give ball in hand to Khodjaeva. With the balls in some awkward positions the run out was no formality but she held on for victory,

The matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com

Results, live scoring and draw are available at www.epbf.com

Fortunski, Kibaroglu & Larsson Take 10 Ball Golds

Eyllul Kibaroglu, Henrik Larsson and Mieszko Fortunski

There was joy for hosts Turkey as Eyllul Kibaroglu took 10 ball gold in the Ladies’ division while Poland took both gold and silver in the Men’s division as Mieszko Fortunski beat Daniel Maciol 8-4 at the Dynamic Billiards European Championships taking place in Antalya, Turkey. In the Wheelchair division it was Sweden’s Henrik Larsson who took yet another EC gold.

In the men’s final, Fortunski, the 29 year-old from Wroclaw, put in a superb showing as he led throughout to secure a deserved 8-4 victory. Maciol’s break let him down on occasions and Fortunski capitalised on it with some solid play. It proved to be back-to-back 10 ball titles for the Pole following victory in Treviso, Italy in 2019.

There were 115 present in the event including Joshua Filler who was making his debut at this year’s championship. He was knocked out though, at the hands of Roman Hybler (CZE) in a classic 8-7 win. Hybler went onto the quarter-finals where he was beaten by the eventual runner-up.

The semi-finals saw comfortable wins for the two Poles as Maciol beat BCA Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet, who collected yet another EC medal to go into his over-flowing trophy cabinet. Fortunski overcame Marc Bijsterbosch, who claimed a bronze also, to go with the silver he won in the straight pool division.

As is usual at a major final, there was tension in the air and it was Maciol, the 22 year-old from Katowice, who ran out the first rack after winning the lag. Fortunski levelled it in the next rack before a dry break in the third left the door open for Fortunski who completed a great clearance to take one against the break.

However, Fortunski missed the 2 ball in the fourth game, focusing too much on keeping the white out of the corner pocket, and a composed Maciol ran the table for 2-2. Another dry break from Maciol was his sole contribution to the next as Fortunski confidently cleared for a 3-2 lead.

Fortunski ran out the next to take a two-rack lead. Under some pressure now, Maciol finally came good on the break and cleared well to reduce arrears and hope for a mistake from his opponent.

Fortunski lost the cue ball in the eighth game and could only play a difficult containing safety which left a tricky long pot on the 1 ball. Sensing that offence was his only route to regaining parity, Maciol took it on and missed. Worse still, it left an easy pot on the 1 ball, and Fortunski took full advantage and ran out for 5-3.

Maciol was thrown a life-line in the next as his opponent broke dry and he made the clearance to stay in the game. He gave it back in the next when he missed the 2-ball following a dry break. Fortunski missed it himself but was handed the table back following a poor shot and ran out to reach the hill at 7-4

With three balls between Fortunski and the title, he missed a horror 7-ball as he seemed to twitch on the shot. It was a golden opportunity for Maciol but his speedy cut on the 7-ball saw the white collide with the 10 ball and drop into the corner pocket. With ball in hand, Fortunski made no mistakes to secure the European Men’s 10 Ball Championship.

After the match, Fortunski was relieved to have come through such a strong field, “For sure it wasn’t easy for me, I had a lot of tough matches. I played against Mario He, Schjetne, Bijsterbosch, Gorst, and in the final with Maciol so my road to the title was really hard and I’m really happy.

“It’s my second in a row so I’m double happy! 10 ball for sure is my best game. There were no lucky shots, well not too much, but I believed and was confident for the final.”

Medals – Men

Gold –          Mieszko Fortunski (POL)
Silver –        Daniel Maciol (POL)
Bronze –        Marc Bijsterbosch (NED)
Ralf Souquet (GER)

There was arguably the loudest cheer of the week at the Venezia Palace Hotel as local star Eyllul Kibaroglu deposited the 10-ball to claim the gold medal in the Ladies’ 10 Ball event.  The 33 year-old from Ankara defeated Tamara Rademakers 6-2. It was her second European Championship gold and you would have to go all the way back to 2007 in Liberec, Czech Republic when she took the top spot in the 9 ball division.

It was sweet revenge for Kibaroglu who had been sent to the one-loss side in her second match of the tournament by Rademakers. However, she battled on defeating Spanish straight pool silver medallist Amalia Matas, and fancied Ana Gradisnik 6-3 in the quarter-finals.

Rademakers ran through the winners’ side and beat Margaret Fefilova 6-2 in the semi-finals to meet Kibaroglu, who had defeated Bojana Sarac 6-5 at the same stage. The final wasn’t perhaps the classic hoped for as the Turkish girl romped home 6-2 to secure the gold.

“I’m so excited to get the second title after 14 years. I’ve waited for it too long and too many times. I’ve made too many quarter-finals on the Euro Tour and European Championships but this is the right time and the right moment in my home country. I’m proud and more than happy and excited.

“I’m very thankful to the Turkish Federation who have been supporting me a long time and I’m very appreciative of the EPBF for putting on this beautiful tournament.”

Medals – Ladies

Gold –          Eyllul Kibaroglu (TUR)
Silver –        Tamara Rademakers (NED)
Bronze –        Bojana Sarac (SRB)
Margarita Fefilova (BLR)

Playing out at the same time as the men’s and ladies’ finals, was the final of the Wheelchair division and it was veteran Henrik Larsson who grabbed a brilliant 14th European Championship gold medal. He defeated Finland’s Jouni Tahti 5-4 in the championship match to successfully defend the title he won in Italy two years ago.

It was a thriller with the destination of the gold medal determined in the final rack, and it was Larsson who came through to deny European wheelchair pool legend Tahti and incredible 26th gold medal.

Larsson was delighted post-match; “I’m tickled! I’m going to practice extremely hard in 2022 and play the Euro Tour and all that and see what is my potential and when I find that out, I don’t know what I’m going to do!

“I’m really happy to see all the improvements and the sport growing. You see so many guys now in wheelchairs shooting and I’m really looking forward to what we can expect for the sport in the following couple of years,” he added.

Medals – Wheelchair

Gold –          Henrik Larsson (SWE)
Silver –        Jouni Tahti (FIN)
Bronze –        David Slacek (SLO)
Matej Brajkovic (SLO)

All the matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com

Results, live scoring and draw are available at www.epbf.com

Fisher vs Fefilova In VG 9-Ball Finals

Kelly Fisher will face Margaret Fefilova in the finals of the Women’s Poison VG 9-Ball Championship on Thursday. Both players had decisive wins on Wednesday to earn their spots in the final. 

First up on Wednesday was Fisher taking on Japan’s Yuki Hiraguchi. Hiraguchi had won day two of the events round-robin stage, while Fisher had finished as a runner-up on day three, which was enough to earn her a wildcard spot in the final stage. 

Fisher was her usual dominating self in the match with Hiraguchi. The match saw players facing off in races to five racks against the ghost in a “two out of three” format. It took Fisher just six racks in both sets to eliminate Hiraguchi. The third rack in both sets was what caused Fisher problems, as she ran out in all of the other racks. Hiraguchi had three misses across both sets on shots she might have let her attention lapse on. The misses led to Fisher with back to back 5-3 wins. 

The second set of the day saw Margaret Fefilova with an even more dominating win over Turkey’s Eylul Kibaroglu. In the first set, Fefilova ran the first four racks before finally missing a 4-ball in the fifth rack. Even with that miss, Fefilova led the set 4-2 and would put it away on rack six with another break and run. 

Kibaroglu came out and took a quick 1-0 lead in the second set, but failed to finish in her next four straight racks. By that time, Fefilova held a 3-1 lead that would prove to be insurmountable. Both players ran out in rack six for a 4-2 Fefilova lead and she expanded on that lead in the next rack with a table run for another 5-2 win. 

Hiraguchi and Kibaroglu both earned $600 for their 3rd place finishes. Fisher and Fefilova will be playing for a $2000 first prize and $1200 second place prize. 

The match will expand to races to six on Thursday and will kick off at 11:00 AM Eastern Time. Fans can catch the final match online at https://www.facebook.com/CueItUpPodcast.

Women’s VG 9-Ball Final Four Set For Wednesday

Kelly Fisher will face Yuki Hiraguchi on Wednesday

The first round of play in the single elimination final bracket of the Women’s Poison VG 9-Ball Championship is complete, and the final four players for Wednesday’s second round is now known. 

The first match of the day was between Germany’s Ina Kaplan, who won day three of the round robin stage, and Turkey’s Eylul Kibaroglu, who was the runner-up on day one of round robin play. The single elimination matches were a different format with players facing the ghost in alternating racks, racing to four racks ran. They played a best two out of three format match to determine winners. 

The first set saw Kaplan and Kibaroglu tied at 3-3, both needing one rack to win the set. Neither player saw success in their first tries, but Kaplan missed a 7-ball in the next rack and Kibaroglu ran out for the 4-3 win. 

Kaplan took an early 3-1 lead in the second set and then stalled, eventually holding on for 4-3 win. Kaplan still had issues in the third set and it was Kibaroglu scoring a 4-2 win to move on. 

The second match of the day was between day one winner Kristina Zlateva from Bulgaria, facing day three runner-up Kelly Fisher. 

This match was a true battle with both players tied at 4-4 in the first set. They then took turns breaking and trying to run racks to determine a set winner. They were both successful in their next attempts and were tied at 5-5. The next round went the same way for a 6-6 tie and then again in the next round for 7-7. One thing that the commentators Neight Mindham and Mark White both noticed in these racks was that Fisher appeared much more confident and was running racks with a lot more ease than Zlateva. That finally caught up with Zlateva in the next sets of racks as Fisher ran her rack but Zlateva was unable to get out and lost the set 8-7. 

The second set went a lot like the first, with both players tied at 4-4 and alternating to see who would fail to hold serve. This time, it was Fisher unable to get out and dropping the set 7-6. 

With the first two sets so close, fans in the stream were expecting another close set to determine the day’s final winner, but it turned out to be anti-climactic as Zlateva could not match Fisher’s run at 2-2, losing any control in the set. With the 4-3 lead, Fisher just had to break and run the next rack for the win and she calmly did just that for the 4-2 win. 

Wednesday play will see Fisher facing day two winner, Japan’s Yuki Hiraguchi and Kibaroglu taking on day four winner Margaret Fefilova. Those matches will see the ladies facing off in races to five racks against the ghost in the same “two out of three” format. 

Play begins at 9:00 AM Eastern Time and can be followed online at https://www.facebook.com/CueItUpPodcast

Woman’s Poison VG 9-Ball Championship This Week

Neight Mindham, with the Cue It Up Network, is at it again this week. After the success of his VG 10-Ball Championship 2.0, Mindham is back and he is bringing the ladies with him for the Woman’s Poison VG 9-Ball Championship. 

A star studded field of sixteen professional female players will compete against the ghost in four groups of four players with the top player from each group, joined by two wildcard finishers, facing off in a single elimination bracket for over $5000 in prize money. 

The field of players is a who’s who of top 9-ball talent, including World Champion Kelly Fisher, Monica Webb, Wei Tzu Chien, Pia Filler, Margaret Fefilova, Chihiro Kawahara and more. 

Plays kicks off at 1:00 PM Eastern Time on Thursday with Monica Webb, Eugenia Gyftopoulos, Turkey’s Eylul Kibaroglu, and Bulgaria’s Kristina Zlateva competing. 

All of the action will be online at https://www.facebook.com/CueItUpPodcast.