Chia Hua Chen was sailing along in her second-round match against Rubilen Amit, holding a decisive 5-0 advantage in a race-to-7, when she played a safety on the 2 ball after the break in the sixth game.
Needing some luck to get back into the match, Amit kicked at the ball and watched as it crossed the table twice then fell into the side pocket. The Filipino took full advantage of the fortuitous kick, clearing the table then winning six of the next seven racks to snatch a 7-6 victory and remain on the winner’s side of the Kamui World Women’s 9-Ball Championship at Harrah’s Resort and Casino in Atlantic City.
Amit was both lucky and good throughout the second half of the match, breaking and running four consecutive racks to tie the score, then using a successful safety exchange on the 1 ball to take the lead for the first time in the match, 6-5. Chen was able to tie the match in the following rack when she locked down her opponent with a safety of her own but then failed to pocket a ball on the break in the deciding match. Amit worked her way through the balls and left a mild cut on the 9 ball into the corner pocket for the win which she missed but watched as the ball bounced two rails and dropped into the side pocket, leaving her stunned and also victorious.
Margaret Fefilova Styer was in a similar situation in her opening round match against another Filipino, Chezka Centeno, on Thursday morning.
After the Filipino snagged the first game, she a missed 2 ball in the following rack and her opponent used the opportunity to take control of the match with five straight wins. At the table again with a chance to increase her lead in the seventh rack, Fefilova Styer missed a sharp cut on the 1 ball and the Filipino rallied, rattling off four straight wins to tie the match until a scratch on the break in the 11th game halted her momentum.
After the American used the unforced error to regain the lead, Centeno was able to use a victorious safety exchange to tie the match once more, then tacked on another break-and-run to close out the set and send her opponent to the one one-loss side of the bracket.
Centeno remained in stroke in the second round, defeating Dawn Hopkins, 7-4.
Later in the evening, reigning Predator World 10-Ball champion Chieh-Yu Chou literally jumped into the third round with a 7-3 victory over South Korea’s Seoa Seo.
Thanks to the accuracy of her jump cue abilities, Chou was able to build an early 4-2 advantage but missed a long 2 ball in the seventh game. Seoa cleared the table to cut the deficit to a single game and had a chance to tie the match in the eighth rack but left the 3 ball in the corner pocket’s jaw. With the cue ball blocked by the 5 ball, Chou again picked up her trusty jump cue, pocketed the ball and cleared the table, then used a break-and-run and a safety exchange to secure the victory.
In other notable matches from the first day of play, reigning champion Kelly Fisher trailed early in her second-round match against Germany’s Ina Kaplan but survived, 7-5, and Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famer Karen Corr jumped out to an early leads of 4-0 and 5-1 in her second-round match against Jasmin Ouschan but the Austrian battled back to win the set, 7-6.
Play resumes tomorrow at 9 a.m. local time with the first round of play from the one-loss side, with American Jennifer Barretta taking on Canadian Brittany Bryant and Margaret Fefilova Styer meeting Elise Qiu.
Germany’s Pia Filler is the 2022 Predator Slovenian Open champion following a 7-5 victory over fellow countrywoman Ina Kaplan in Lasko, Slovenia. Filler had come close before, losing the final last time out in Bulgaria but today was her day as she showed resolve and determination to close out a match that could have gone either way.
“It just feels incredible!” she said. “It’s the best feeling to win a tournament. It’s my first Euro Tour title and I’ve been working so hard and it’s always nice when you see that the work that you put in pays off.
“I got close last year and played a good season this year so I always knew that I was at the point where I was capable of winning the tournament but I’d just never done it.”
Earlier, Filler had revenged her final defeat in Petrich to Eyllul Kibaroglu, beating her 7-2 in their semi-final match while Kaplan beat countrywoman Melanie Sussenguth by 7-5 to make the final.
There was a lot of back-and-forth in the opening rack which ultimately went to Kaplan but Filler took the second to level things before a tidy out from Kaplan restored her lead.
A dry break from Filler in the fourth game yielded no balls but it was also illegal so Kaplan, with the 1 ball blocked, handed the table back to her opponent. A safety from Kaplan forced Filler to jump and but with the table looking nice and open, Kaplan overran going from 4 to 5 and her safety attempt left the 5-ball on. Filler did well to clear the remaining five balls to level once again.
Filler edged the next to take the lead for the first time. Despite a good break in the next, she couldn’t get it going and the opportunity fell to Kaplan. She composed herself well to run out and draw level at 3-3. Filler though, restored her lead in the next.
That soon became 5-3 as Filler, sensing that her time had come, stepped up for a focused run out. Kaplan wasn’t done though as she picked up the pace in the next with a fine break and run. A tight snooker from Filler in the next put Kaplan in a heap of trouble and she scratched with her escape attempt. Further snookers with ball-in-hand won Filler the rack on the three-foul rule and open up a two-rack lead and put her on the hill.
The pair exchanged safeties as the blue 2 seemed to have a mind of its own. Kaplan finally potted it and held herself together to clear the table and keep the match alive. A great break from Filler, her best of the match, saw two balls drop and the 1-ball available. With the winning line in sight, Filler held herself together superbly to run out and claim her first ever Predator Ladies Euro Tour title.
Filler added, “The first one is always the toughest and this time I felt great; I won all my matches quite clearly so I felt confident and that today was going to be my day.
“I want to win every possible tournament I play in but instead of looking at my results, I’m more looking at my development of my game and my improvement as that’s much more important because if I keep on working hard the results will come.”
Kaplan commented, “We both made some mistakes and it was back-and-forth for both of us. The break didn’t work out at all for both of us. But in the end, Pia got good breaks and she played really good so it’s OK to lose, kind of!”
All Predator Euro Tour Women tournaments are 9-ball and the field contest a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 16
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
Eylul Kibaroglu
Ina Kaplan
Melanie Sessenguth
Pia Filler
Eylul Kibaroglu
Ana Gradisnik
Pia Filler
Pia Filler
Pia Filler
Joshua and Pia Filler
Pia Filler
Ina Kaplan and Pia Filler
Pia Filler with Luke Riches
Pia Filler is congratulated by Joshua
Pia Filler
Pia Filler
Pia Filler
Ina Kaplan
Pia Filler
Ina Kaplan
Pia Filler
Ina Kaplan
Pia Filler and Ina Kaplan
Pia Filler and Ina Kaplan
Melanie Suessenguth
Ina Kaplan
Pia Filler
Eylul Kibaroglu
Pia Filler
Eylul Kibaroglu
Pia Filler
Melanie Suessenguth
Ina Kaplan
Pia Filler
Ina Kaplan
Ina Kaplan and Melanie Suessenguth
Eylul Kibaroglu and Pia Filler
Ina Kaplan and Melanie Suessenguth
Pia Filler and Eylul Kibaroglu
Pia Filler, Eylul Kibaroglu, Ina Kaplan and Melanie Suessenguth
From 37 players, the Predator Slovenian Open is now down to the final four as three further rounds were completed today (Sunday). The tournament reconvenes on Monday morning with the two semi-finals set to start at 10.00 with the final starting at 12.00 midday.
Eyllul Kibaroglu, the No.1 ranked player on tour, is still in with a shout of winning back-to-back Euro Tour titles as she leads the field going into day three. A winner last time out in Petrich, Bulgaria, where she beat Pia Filler 7-4 for the title, Kibaroglu will be up against the rising young German talent once again.
Kibaroglu, like Filler, is undefeated in the event this far and today she enjoyed wins over young Norwegian, Nina Torvund by 7-2 and then took a 7-4 victory over Hannan Memic (BIH) in the quarter-finals.
Filler, who is looking for her maiden Euro Tour title, beat a brace of youngsters today to cement her spot in the final four. First, she despatched Alara Ghaffari (TNC) who had grabbed a silver and a pair of bronze medals at the recent European Junior Championships. Then she beat Austria’s talented Lena Primus by 7-2 in the last eight.
The second semi-final is an all-German affair, giving that nation three of the four semi-final players. Melanie Sussenguth, currently ranked No.11, will face Ina Kaplan (No.14) for a place in the final. Kaplan, who won on the Ladies’ Euro Tour in Austria in June, went to the one-loss side earlier in the tournament following a defeat to Chantal Stadler in the winners’ qualification round.
She bounced back though with wins over Anna Riegler (AUT), Bojana Sarac of Serbia and then local hero Ana Gradisnik in her quarter-final match. Sussenguth, who has already made her best finish of the year here in Slovenia will be hoping to carry today’s form into tomorrow.
She beat Poland’s Monika Zabek by 7-5 and then followed that up with a 7-3 win over Kristina Zlateva of Bulgaria. Both matches are played simultaneously at 10.00 with Eyllul Kibaroglu v Pia Filler a Facebook Live presentation. Melanie Sussenguth against Ina Kaplan will be available to Kozoom subscribers.
All Predator Euro Tour Women tournaments are 9-ball and the field contest a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 16 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
Eylul Kibaroglu
Ina Kaplan
Melanie Sessenguth
Pia Filler
Eylul Kibaroglu
Ana Gradisnik
Pia Filler
Pia Filler
Pia Filler
Joshua and Pia Filler
Pia Filler
Ina Kaplan and Pia Filler
Pia Filler with Luke Riches
Pia Filler is congratulated by Joshua
Pia Filler
Pia Filler
Pia Filler
Ina Kaplan
Pia Filler
Ina Kaplan
Pia Filler
Ina Kaplan
Pia Filler and Ina Kaplan
Pia Filler and Ina Kaplan
Melanie Suessenguth
Ina Kaplan
Pia Filler
Eylul Kibaroglu
Pia Filler
Eylul Kibaroglu
Pia Filler
Melanie Suessenguth
Ina Kaplan
Pia Filler
Ina Kaplan
Ina Kaplan and Melanie Suessenguth
Eylul Kibaroglu and Pia Filler
Ina Kaplan and Melanie Suessenguth
Pia Filler and Eylul Kibaroglu
Pia Filler, Eylul Kibaroglu, Ina Kaplan and Melanie Suessenguth
The Predator Euro Tour Women is back in Lasko, Slovenia as 37 players from across Europe ready themselves to do battle in the fifth event of a six-tournament season. In total, 17 countries are represented and the lady to beat this week is No.1 ranked player Eyllul Kibaroglu of Turkey, a winner last time out in Petrich, Bulgaria where she took her maiden Predator Euro Tour title.
The Turkish star, who celebrated her 34th birthday yesterday, had a little too much for Germany’s Pia Filler in Bulgaria as she ran out a 7-4 winner in the final. That propelled her to No.1 in the standing following a run of form that saw her ascend the rankings.
Six players are within 300 ranking points of Kibaroglu, including Slovenia’s Ana Gradisnik who is just 50 points behind, so a high finish here in Lasko is essential for the Turkish girl. Gradisnik heads a contingent of three players representing the host nation, so they will all be hoping to still be competing on Monday in the closing stages.
We caught up with Ine Helvik (Norway), a veteran of the Tour, having played in its earlier incarnation as well as being a part of its latter revival.
“I’ve been playing the tour in two parts really. I played in the first one in the beginning of the 2000s and then myself and Ina Kaplan started this tour going now many years ago and I’ve been playing almost every tournament.
“I still enjoy it and I always want to win my matches and to perform as best as I can. I would like to win but some of these girls do nothing but play pool and I have a day-time job and stuff so it’s not that easy but I always go into a match with the aim to win it.
“Looking at the players here, Eyllul Kibaroglu has become very stable. She’s always been good and a very good shot-maker but the last year or two she’s been more stable and she performs on that level almost all the time.
“No.2 Ana Gradisnik likes playing at home as she has her family here and has all the support of the locals who are very good at coming out and supporting her. Of course, there’s always pressure playing on home ground but she enjoys it. The pandemic did Pia Filler very well as she could focus only on playing pool and practice and that shows. Put the hours in and you get the reward.
“Of the younger players, we have my Norwegian team mate Nina Torvund. She’s going to be really good in a couple of years. She’s now getting all the tournaments in and practicing and she’s definitely a future top European player. Also, Bojana Sarac and Hanna Memic are both playing really well. There’s definitely a future here!” she added.
The ranking is calculated on a rolling six event series with each player dropping the event which yielded them the least points. Once an event is concluded, the first event from the six is dropped to be replaced by points from the current tournament.
Play gets underway at 9.00am local time tomorrow. All Predator Euro Tour Women tournaments are 9-ball and the field contest a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 16 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
Kelly Fisher will meet Chieh-Yu Chou and Jasmin Ouschan will face Wei Tzu Chien in the semi-finals of the Predator World Women’s 10-Ball Championship after the remaining 24 athletes played down to four at Sportpark Klagenfurt, Austria on Friday.
Ouschan faced three matches if she was to qualify for the semi-finals and came through them all to ensure she will feature on the final day of the event in her home city, and which she was a major driving force in the organization of.
After a defeat to Pia Filler on Thursday, Ouschan returned on Friday morning to face Bojana Sarac. The Serbian youngster didn’t allow her opponent to pull too far ahead at any time and twice fought back from behind to have the match level at 4-4. But Ouschan was able to reach the hill at 6-4 up, and though Sarac did pull another rack back, it was the Austrian who went through to the last 16 as 7-5 winner.
A re-draw took place before the last 16 began, with the tournament now playing to a single elimination format and all remaining matches a race to 9.
Ouschan’s draw pitted her against Germany’s Ina Kaplan, who earlier in the week defeated the reigning champion Rubilen Amit. Kaplan provided another tough match for the Austrian, who won 9-6, before beating Ho-Yun Chen 9-3 in her quarter final.
Awaiting Ouschan in tomorrow’s semi-finals is Wei, who conceded just three racks in three matches on Friday. First, she beat Veronique Menard 7-1, then Pia Filler was eliminated 9-2, and then on the feature table, Canada Open champion Chia Hua Chen was on the receiving end of a 9-0 demolition.
“I didn’t expect it to be like that,” said Wei after her win over Chen. “We have known each other for a really long time and she is a really good player. I am really enjoying playing the event. It has been three years without going to any international tournament because of Covid and lockdowns, so I have just tried to enjoy myself.”
The second semi-final will pit Fisher against Chieh-Yu Chou. Fisher started the day in the last 16 after coming through to single elimination undefeated. Her first match of Friday’s play was a re-run of the Germany Open final against Eylul Kibaroglu, which went to a shootout. This match wasn’t so close though, with Fisher in fine form in a 9-3 win.
Next up was Filipino Chezka Centeno, and again Fisher delivered a statement performance as she won 9-6 against a tough opponent.
“I am so happy to have won that one,” explained Fisher. “I have played Chezka so many times over the years but haven’t seen each other for three years. I know she fires on all cylinders, the only way to beat her is to keep her in her seat. I haven’t been playing at my best but today was a great day; I performed really well, used a little bit of tactics – I’m a bit older, a bit wiser – and managed to get the upper hand and keep control.”
Fisher’s semi-final opponent Chou began the day with a 7-1 win over Oliwia Zalewska to reach the last 16, when Allison Fisher was defeated 9-6. That set up a quarter-final with South Korea’s Yun Mi Lim, which Chou won 9-3 to guarantee herself a medal.
The semi-finals take place at 10am and 12noon local time on Saturday, before the showpiece final at 3pm. Matches will be streamed live and free on the World Billiard TV YouTube Channel, watchbilliard.tv and on Kozoom.com.
Rubilen Amit is out of the Predator World Women’s 10-Ball Championship, while Jasmin Ouschan suffered her first defeat of the event at the hands of Germany’s Pia Filler.
It means Ouschan will now face Bojana Sarac, the runner-up of last year’s Austrian Open, in the losers’ qualification round on Friday. Allison Fisher will also have to return on Friday morning having lost to ‘Amber’ Chia Hua Chen for the third time in the last four weeks.
Amit won the World Women’s 10-Ball last time it was staged – in 2013 – but her long-awaited title defense came to an end at the hands of Poland’s Monika Zabek, who won 7-3 against the Filipino but was later eliminated herself when she lost 7-3 to Norway’s Line Kjorsvik.
After Amit’s defeat to Zabek, a re-run of the recent Canada Open final between Allison Fisher and Chen took center stage on one of the two feature tables. Chen had also faced Fisher in the opening round in Canada, and both matches in that event went to shootouts won by Chen. There was no chance of a shootout in this tournament though, but it was another very close match. It nipped and tucked with neither player able to establish more than a one-rack advantage at any time, but Chen pulled away at the end to win 7-5.
The session’s final match on the main table saw Ouschan take on Filler. Ouschan had registered two 7-2 wins to remain in the winners’ side of the draw, but things wouldn’t be so easy against her German opponent in the qualification round. Filler is European 8-ball champion and stayed neck and neck with Ouschan, treating the spectators to a hill-hill thriller.
Filler’s break left a layout which promised a dramatic final rack and it delivered some nail-biting drama. Ouschan twice missed the 5 but was first to get an opening on the 6, which had been tied on the side rail with the 8, however, in the end, it was Filler who landed the victory, and with it a place in the last 16. For Ouschan, she’ll return tomorrow with another chance to qualify against Bojana Sarac.
Play continues from 9am on Friday.
The draw and brackets for the Predator World Women’s 10-Ball Championship can be seen here: https://probilliardseries.com/event/1677/. Play continues at 9am on Wednesday.
The event is broadcasting two tables with full live coverage and commentary every day. One will be available on the World Billiard TV YouTube Channel and another will be at watchbilliard.tv. All tables can be viewed live at Kozoom.com.
Follow @probilliardseries on Facebook, @probilliardseries on Instagram or @PBilliardSeries on Twitter to follow the next events.
Predator Canada Open champion Amber Chen remained undefeated in the Predator World Women’s 10-Ball Championship to move to the winners’ qualification round, but the current champion Rubilen Amit was sent to the losers’ side in a 7-5 defeat to Ina Kaplan.
Jasmin Ouschan scored her second consecutive 7-2 win as she defeated Szu Ting Kuo, while Kelly Fisher, Chieh-Yu Chou and Eylul Kibaroglu were among those who remained on the winners’ side heading into Thursday’s qualification round.
Allison Fisher was pushed all the way to hill-hill by Claudia von Rohr before completing a 7-6 win, but there was no such drama for tournament host Ouschan, who put in an assured performance for her second win.
Kuo won the lag but a dry break brough Ouschan immediately to the table, and she cleared it for an early lead. Kuo was able to respond straight away but Ouschan made it 2-1 with a brilliant jump on the 6, and it was soon 3-1 when Kuo left herself too much to do on the 10 and gifted Ouschan a simple finish.
Fortune wasn’t with Kuo who then scratched on her break and could only sit and watch as Ouschan extended her lead. Kuo was able to pull it back to 5-2, but a hit-and-hope attempt to double bank the four didn’t come off in the next rack, and to make things worse for the player from Chinese Taipei, position was left perfect for Ouschan who made it 6-2.
Kuo followed her next break with a smart jump shot but her subsequent safety knocked in an uncalled 5. Another chance came when Ouschan missed and scratched on the 4, but she failed with a 9-ball jump which became her last action of the match.
“I think my performance was even better than yesterday,” said Ouschan. “Playing against a top Taiwanese player is always tough. Kuo is one of the best ones in the world, so definitely not the easiest second match. But so far I’m happy with my performance; I think the safety game and stuff kicking could be better, but it’s fine.
“I’m going to analyze it and try it better tomorrow. Now it’s time for the team, so I am happy so far and taking all that energy now with me to the team match.
“I got given flowers from a spectator here and she came up to me and said, thank you for giving me so many magic moments. I thought that was such a sweet feedback. And, you know, that gives me energy and motivation. That is so sweet that, with what I do, I can actually touch people and reach out to people.”
While Ouschan was winning on one feature table, April Larson and Chia Hua ‘Amber’ Chen were in action on the other. A luggage delay meant Larson was borrowing cues from Tyler Styer but it didn’t seem to effect her as she put in an impressive display for USA in the Teams Championship on Tuesday evening.
Chen is fresh from winning the Predator Canada Open, the first time she had travelled internationally since the pandemic, and she again showed her quality and class, pulling clear of Larson from 2-2 to eventually win 7-3.
Rubilen Amit won the last staged World 10-Ball Championship – in the Philippines in 2013 – but will now have to qualify for the last 16 from the losers’ side after a 7-5 defeat to Kaplan of Germany.
Play continues from 9am on Thursday with three more rounds including winners’ qualification.
The draw and brackets for the Predator World Women’s 10-Ball Championship can be seen here: https://probilliardseries.com/event/1677/. Play continues at 9am on Wednesday.
The event is broadcasting two tables with full live coverage and commentary every day. One will be available on the World Billiard TV YouTube Channel and another will be at watchbilliard.tv. All tables can be viewed live at Kozoom.com.
Follow @probilliardseries on Facebook, @probilliardseries on Instagram or @PBilliardSeries on Twitter to follow the next events.
The Predator Euro Tour Women got underway today with the first rounds of matches at the Petrich Open. In attendance are 29 players representing 15 countries battling out over three days for the premier title in the European women’s game. Taking place in the Petrich Arena, there are eight left on the winners’ side of the draw and of those eight, four will make it straight through to the quarter-finals.
On the losers’ bracket, there are potentially four more matches to negotiate before the last eight single elimination. Germany’s Ina Kaplan, defending the title she won in Austria in June, fell at the first hurdle as she went down 7-5 to Alara Ghaffari (Northern Cyprus). Ghaffari entered the event off the back of a great week at the European Youth Championships where she collected three medals.
She now faces Melanie Sussenguth in a winners’ qualification match. Also through to the winners’ qualification with a single victory is Pia Filler (Germany) who came from behind to defeat Oliwia Zalewska of Poland. Filler faces the ever-dangerous Eyllul Kibaroglu of Turkey for a quarter-final spot.
Home hope Kristina Zlateva has it all to do after visiting the one-loss side courtesy of a defeat from the aforementioned Sussenguth. She squares off against Ana Gradisnik (SLO) and only a win will do. Other names still going on the winners’ side include Amalia Matas (Spain), Poland’s Monika Zabek and Tina Vogelmann (Germany)
Play gets underway at 9.00am local time tomorrow and plays down to the last four players who will return on Monday for the semi-finals and final which get underway at 10.00am. All Predator Euro Tour Women tournaments are 9-ball and the field contest a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 16 competitors, and then single elimination until the finish. All matches are a race to 7 racks with alternate break.
The Predator Euro Tour Women reconvenes this weekend in Petrich, Bulgaria with the Petrich Open which gets underway on Saturday 6th August. It is the fourth tournament of the year on the Predator Tour and 29 players representing 15 countries will be competing over the weekend with the semi-finals and final set to take place on Monday afternoon.
Last time out in St Johann im Pongau, Germany’s Ina Kaplan surprised the field with a series of superb performances culminating in a 7-1 victory over Bojana Sarac (Serbia) to lift the title. It was Kaplan’s first Euro Tour triumph in over five years and she will be brimming with new-found confidence when play gets underway on Saturday.
No.1 ranked player Ana Gradisnik of Slovenia, will be looking to defend her position against a smaller field. She is will need to come with her best as her lead at the top is a slender 80 points ahead of second placed Oliwia Zalewska (Poland) and 150 points ahead of Spain’s Amalia Matas in third spot
The ranking is calculated on a rolling six event series with each player dropping the event which yielded them the least points. Once an event is concluded, the first event from the six is dropped to be replaced by points from the current tournament.
Elsewhere, there are plenty of strong contenders in attendance, all of whom have it within them to go all the way here in Petrich. With two semi-final appearances to her name, Pia Filler (Germany) will be hoping to go one better and reach the championship match. Also from Germany is Veronika Ivanovskaia who was the best placed Euro Tour player in the recent World Games. Sitting at a lowly 37th on the rankings, she can fire herself up the order of merit with a strong showing in Petrich.
Finally, Bulgarian hopes are carried by 10th ranked Kristina Zlateva. With a best finish of 3rd in the past 12 months, how dearly she would like to achieve her maiden Predator Euro Tour win on home soil.
Play gets underway at 9.00am local time tomorrow. All Predator Euro Tour Women tournaments are 9-ball and the field contest a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 16 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
Ina Kaplan is the 2022 Predator St Johann im Pongau Women’s Open champion following a dominating performance in the final match as she beat Bojana Sarac (Serbia) 7-1 to lift the trophy. It is the German lady’s third Predator Euro Tour victory and following a hiatus due to Covid and giving birth to her second child, she returned stronger than ever as she finished the tournament undefeated, having never looked in danger throughout.
“I just had the feeling that I could do it and that I just had to calm down and just play my game and be focused. I really feel that when I can get this game all the time, then I can beat everybody!” said a delighted Kaplan.
The German won the lag and took the first rack in the race-to-7 final. Both had visits in the next before Kaplan ran out of position travelling to the 6 ball and her safety attempt allowed Sarac to run the table to level at 1-1. A great break from Kaplan in the next saw three balls disappear and she worked hard to complete an excellent run out and a 2-1 lead.
An unsuccessful break from Sarac allowed her opponent back to the table and Kaplan took the rack to open up a two-game lead. That soon became a three-game lead before Sarac looked on track in the next but missed a relatively easy 7 ball and Kaplan made no mistakes to increase her lead to 4-1.
Looking supremely confident and in total control of her game, Kaplan ran the next game to put herself within two of victory at 5-1. A solid break from Kaplan gave her a good look at the lowest numbered ball. She came unstuck though, missing the 6 ball but left it safe. Both players went back and forth before it was left to Kaplan to finish it off and reach the hill at 6-1.
Looking calm and composed, Kaplan completed what would be the final rack of the final as she planted the 9 ball to secure a marvellous 7-1 victory.
Commented Kaplan, “I finally got to the knowledge that I don’t have to push myself all the time and to be so intense. Just be calm and play my game as I’m excited enough and have enough adrenaline in this situation. I have to mention Niels Feijen‘s Terminator College and the mental programme I took; I finally got the rewards and it’s great!”
For Sarac it was a disappointing ending after she battled hard throughout the tournament after going to the one-loss side at the first opportunity. “I lost my first match 7-6 and felt really bad but I honestly thought I could come back and play really good which I did of course.
“I was also losing in a few matches – the quarter-finals I was losing 5-1 and I came back and I thought I could do the same but she played really great. I do feel like I can win a Euro Tour; this is about my fifth or sixth Euro Tour so I’m still at the beginning.”
Earlier, Ina Kaplan had defeated Turkey’s Eyllul Kibaroglu 7-3 on the main table to book her place in the final. Meanwhile, Sarac got the better of Tina Vogelmann, this time by 7-3.
All Predator Euro Tour Women tournaments are 9-ball and the field contest a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 16 competitors, and then single elimination until the finish. All matches are a race to 7 racks with alternate break. The next event on the Tour is the Predator Petrich Women’s Open which runs from 6th to 8th August in Bulgaria.
All the matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com
Results, live scoring and draw are available at www.epbf.com
