The 2021 European Pool Championships wrapped up after 11 glorious days of sport at the Venezia Palace Hotel in Antalya, Turkey. 9-ball was the final discipline as four divisions played out and there was plenty of drama, most of it centring on the men’s division as Joshua Filler took the gold in an extraordinary finale.
Margarita Fefilova took women’s gold to add to her silver and bronze medals while Finnish wheelchair legend Jouni Tahti finally got his hands on a trophy after two near-misses this year. In the men’s Under23 tournament, Serbian Aleksa Pecelj won gold to confirm his potential in the game.
There were 97 players competing in the Men’s division, and it was a stacked field with the best in Europe fighting it out for the final gold. Joshua Filler found himself on the one-loss side but came through with his normal relaxed style. He squeezed past Niels Feijen in a decider in the quarter-finals before relegating Poland’s Sebastian Batkowski to a bronze medal in the semi.
His final opponent, Sanjin Pehlivanovic of Bosnia Herzegovina, made the quarter-finals with a string of comfortable wins before beating seasoned Spaniard Francisco Diaz-Pizarro 9-4 to meet Pijus Labutis in the last four. He overcame the Lithuanian to give himself a great shot at the title.
Pehlivanovic dominated the scoring, leading 4-1 in the early stages. Filler got back to level terms at 4-4 before his opponent then kept a one rack lead with his break. With the Bosnian on the hill at 8-7, Filler was running out to tie it up but found himself in an awkward position with three balls left on the table.
Shooting the 7 ball with the 9-ball blocking his path up table to the black 8, Filler made the pot and left himself a long but fine cut on the 8 ball but made a mess of it and left the 8 available for his opponent.
Pehlivanovic took some time and let out a ‘whoop’ and fist pumped as the 8 fell, leaving himself with an elementary 9 ball into the corner pocket for the championship. Incredibly he missed it leaving Filler to knock it in to draw level. The German ‘whooped’ himself when he sat back in his chair, possibly referencing his opponent’s premature celebration but the players shook hands as the deciding rack commenced.
There was more disaster for Pehlivanovic as his well-struck break shot saw the 3-ball into the corner pocket but only one ball made it past the headstring as he fell foul of the three-point rule, returning the table to Filler.
It wasn’t the easiest of lay-outs but the highly-decorated German ran out to take the lead for the first time in the match and seal his second European championship gold.
Filler was understandably shocked at the ending after the match; “I feel amazing! I lost two times before in the 9-ball final already and this third time I was meant to lose as well, but he missed a quite easy 9 and celebrated before and then made an illegal break at 8-8 and I could run it out. On the one hand, I already knew I’d lost and on the other hand I was holding the trophy. Crazy!
“Every match in the whole tournament I think I was down but I just kept fighting and I knew I didn’t want to give up. I knew if I got to the final, I would qualify for the World Games next year and that was my goal. I was just giving everything to win this tournament and it paid off luckily!”
Margarita Fefilova capped a tremendous visit to the 2021 European Championship as she won the final gold in the 9-ball division to add to the silver and bronze won in 8 ball and 10 ball respectively. The Belarusian closed her championship out with a 7-3 win over Germany’s Veronika Ivanovskaia for the gold medal.
For the 24 year-old rising star from Minsk, Belarus it was her first ever EC gold and most likely to be the first of many. Her victory wasn’t without its set-backs as she was relegated to the one-loss side early on following a 7-5 defeat at the hands of Kristina Tkach (Russia) in her second match of the tournament. She fought through to the quarter-finals where she defeated Tina Vogelmann (Germany) 7-2 before beating her compatriot Melanie Sussenguth by the same scoreline.
Her opponent in the final, Veronika Ivanovskaia, an EC 8 ball gold medallist in 2018, beat Dutch star Tamara Rademakers to make the round of 16 and then victories over Louis Furberg (Sweden) and Ina Kaplan got her in the medals.
A potentially tough match against 10 ball champion Eyllul Kibaroglu was well negotiated before an in-form Fefilova put paid to her gold medal hopes.
Commented Fefilova, “To be honest I still can’t believe it. It feels unreal! I’ve been working so hard for this and coming to the tournament I didn’t feel confident at all. Then in the 10-ball and 8-ball I got third and then second and then everyone was joking around saying now you have to come first in the 9-ball.
“I built confidence and peaked my game at the semi-finals and final at exactly the moment I needed it. It’s very tough because in this tournament you’ve got to have it all. Good run-outs, confidence, a little bit of luck and everything goes against you sometimes even when you’re so prepared. I’m happy that finally the hard work paid off and it’s really special.”
Fefilova also booked her spot at next year’s World Games taking place at Birmingham, Alabama. USA.
It was gold at last for Finland’s Jouni Tahti, 53, as he recovered from two final defeats to bounce back and claim the title in the final discipline of the championship. It’s fair to say that the veteran Finn has been the dominant force in wheelchair pool over the past 20 years and this was his incredible 27th gold medal at the European Championships.
With his nemesis this week, Henrik Larsson, eliminated earlier in the proceedings, Tahti was on song throughout, only dropping five racks on his way to the final. His opponent in the championship match was Slovenia’s Matej Brajkovic, who in contrast to Tahti, was in his first ever final.
He gave it a go and was well-placed in the closing stages but Tahti, drawing on his wealth of experience pulled away for a terrific 7-5 win.
Tahti said, “I’m running out of room in the house for trophies, they’re in every room! My goal now is to train very hard and try and get three gold medals next year in Slovenia but I really want to be there and competing at the 2023 European Championships in Tampere in my home country”
Medals – Wheelchair
Gold – Jouni Tahti (FIN);
Silver – Matej Brajkovic (SLO)
Bronze – Kim-Ronny Nygard (NOR)
David Slacek (SLO)
Young Serbian Aleksa Pecelj ended a fabulous stay in Turkey as he closed out the championships with the gold medal in the Men’s Under 23 division. He defeated Turkish Cypriot Osman Sanlisoy 9-4 in the championship match. Earlier he had claimed bronze in the 8-ball division and prior to that, had come from nowhere to take runner-up spot on the Euro Tour in the same venue two weeks ago.
There were 20 players competing at the end of a long, hard week but it was Pecelj who had the energy and will to see it home and win Serbia’s first ever European Championship gold medal.
Turkish Northern Cyprus took another medal, this time silver in the shape of Sanlisoy and it will be interesting to see if they can build on these successes in future years.
Pecelj was ecstatic post-match; “Im thrilled, to be honest. I was playing at a high level the whole tournament. I played the Euro Tour final and didn’t manage to win it. Then I was fighting back, losing all the time, making comebacks and finally at the end I got a trophy so I’m really happy about it.
“The young players here are all very hungry so I think the established players need a lot of motivation and if you lose focus and concentration for just a second, the young guys are there chasing you like lions.
“This is the first gold medal for Serbia in the history of European Championships and I’m very happy to be the first one. There will be a big celebration when I get home starting at the airport!”
Medals – Men’s U23
Gold – Aleksa Pecelj (SRB)
Silver – Osman Sanlisoy (TNC)
Bronze – Mark Magi (EST)
Jere Virtaranta (FIN)
Roberto Gomez defeated Albin Ouschan 9-7 to advance to the last 64 of the World Pool Championship at Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes, but only after a brilliant fightback from the Austrian, who had been 8-0 down.
Ouschan is still alive in the double elimination event and will now face a sudden-death play-off to qualify for the straight-knockout stage. After getting on the board at 8-0 down, Ouschan would have thought his fightback was brief until Gomez missed an 8, and from then the 2016 World Champion set to work on winning six consecutive racks before a missed 6 at just one behind gave his Filipino opponent the chance to win.
Also on the TV table on Sunday evening was US No.1 Shane van Boening, who got his tournament off with a 9-3 win over Petr Urban. He’ll now face fellow American Oscar Dominguez for a place in the last 64.
Germany’s Veronika Ivanovskaia shocked Greece’s Nick Malai with a 9-7 victory, the first win for one of the tournament’s eight female entrants. Ivanovskaia’s compatriot Joshua Filler also got off to a winning start, beating Belarsus’ Margarite Fefilova.
American female April Larson gave Chris Melling a scare before the Brit closed out a 9-7 victory, while Darren Appleton booked his place in the last 64 with a 9-2 success over Germany’s Christof Reintjes, who was on the winning side when the pair were on opposing teams in the World Cup of Pool final last month.
Defending champion Fedor Gorst is safely through to the last 64 after wins over Mark Magi and Mark Gray. Team USA’s Mosconi Cup star Billy Thorpe has also won through the groups stage, as had former World Champion Thorsten Hohmann.
The World Pool Championship continues at 12pm (UK) time on Monday, June 7 and is broadcast live on Sky Sports, DAZN and Matchroom.Live. Live scoring as well as complete tournament results and match schedule can be found at www.matchroompool.com.
ROUND 1
USA 7-2 Australia Great Britain C 7-5 South Africa Great Britain 7-4 Belarus
Great Britain A survived a huge first round scare against Belarus to advance to the second round of the World Cup of Pool, while Great Britain C and USA also progressed on Tuesday evening.
Mosconi Cup MVP Jayson Shaw was joined by Chris Melling on Great Britain A but they found themselves struggling against Belarus’ all-female pairing of Margarita Fefilova and Yana Halliday, whose husband Richard had represented South Africa earlier in the evening.
Belarus showed early in the match that they certainly weren’t here to make up the numbers, taking two of the first four racks. The hosts looked set to regain the lead in the fifth but Melling left Shaw poor position on the 9, and his attempted thin cut barely moved the 9 and Belarus took the lead.
Great Britain levelled but with the chance to lead it was Melling who missed the 9, Shaw guilty of poor position on that occasion. Belarus then missed one of their own; 5-3 looked on the cards until Halliday missed the 6, allowing Shaw and Melling off the hook, and GB levelled again.
That was the end of Belarus’ hopes, though, as Shaw and Melling ran the next rack to finally lead again for the first time since 1-0, and they ran the next two racks too to complete a 7-4 victory after an almighty scare served up by Halliday and Fefilova.
Great Britain C, late entrants after Canada suffered travel issues, were hoping to roll back the years as Darren Appleton and Karl Boyes looked to recreate the partnership which made them so formidable at the Mosconi Cup and saw them lift the World Cup in 2014.
They were up against South Africa, who had Richard Halliday alongside JJ Faul, a late-replacement for Richard’s brother Vincent. Both teams struggled under the arena lights. Appleton and Boyes got themselves 5-3 ahead but with a chance to reach the hill, ‘Dynamite’ missed an 8 to the middle. GB took the next to reach the hill, but South Africa got a chance again in the 11th rack.
Faul looked certain to close the gap and pile the pressure on the Brits but missed the 9 off the spot. With head in hands certain he’d given away the match, the South African earned a reprieve as the 9 sailed up table and fluked into the top left pocket.
South Africa were then breaking to level, but didn’t have a shot despite making the 1 on the break. Boyes got a chance when he had sight of the 2 and when he landed it, the 2014 champions were able to clear the table to meet Greece in round two on Wednesday.
The session had opened with American pairing Skyler Woodward and Billy Thorpe easing to victory over Australia’s Justin Sajich and Ivan Li.
After a shaky start including a missed 9 by Woodward at 3-1, USA settled. Australia couldn’t take advantage of the break at 3-2 down and from there the American pair were able to pull away. Having gone 4-2 up they ran the next two racks, a trademark Thorpe bank on the 2 the highlight of the eighth rack.
USA lost control of the table in the ninth but Australia could only play a hopeful jump on the 2, however Sajich left it open and Woodward and Thorpe, already on the hill, ran out to set up a mouth-watering clash with the Philippines in round two.
The World Cup of Pool continues on Wednesday with second round matches including Japan vs. Russia and Germany vs. Kuwait in the afternoon, before both remaining Great Britain teams feature in the evening session.
The World Cup of Pool is broadcast live globally including on Sky Sports, DAZN and Matchroom.Live. Full broadcast details can be found at matchroompool.com.
Kelly Fisher will face Yuki Hariguchi on Wednesday
What an AMAZING final match of the Poison Cues Women’s VG9 event!
Congratulations to Kelly Fisher for your 6-1, 7-8, 6-3 win over Margaret Fefilova in the finals of the Kamui Brand Playoffs!!
Margaret Fefilova came out struggling only succeeding on 1 of her first 7 racks while Kelly made 6 of her 7 in the first set. Kelly wins the first set 6-1. From there, it looked like more of the same when Margaret failed in her first rack of the second set and Kelly succeeded. From there, Margaret ran 8 straight racks and Kelly missed a straight in 6 ball for the win on the second set when the score was 5-5. Margaret wins the second set 8-7 in sudden death.
In the deciding set, it started off strong for both players in their first rack, but after that, Margaret missed her next 2 racks and Kelly ran a 6 pack for the final win.
Kelly played extremely strong from start to finish and earned the win and the $2,000 first prize for first place!! Margaret had a great tournament as well and earned herself a $1,200 second prize as well as $100 bonus for the most racks ran in the qualifiers.
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.
Round robin play is complete at the Women’s Poison VG 9-Ball Championship, and the players in the final single elimination bracket are now known.
Belarus’ Margaret Fefilova was the winner of the final day of round robin play, with an overall 2-1 record. Fefilova’s one loss was to Japanese champion Chihiro Kawahara, but Kawahara finished with the same 2-1 record after losing to German Pia Filler. Fefilova’s record of fifteen racks ran was enough to earn her the top position in the group.
Filler entered the final match of the day against USA’s Mary Rakin and found herself with her back up against the wall late in the match. Needing to run three of her last five racks against the ghost, Filler was able to navigate two of four to leave a final rack to determine if she would earn one of the two wildcard spots in the final bracket. The pool gods turned their back on Filler in that final rack though, as she had back to back fouls on the break for not getting three balls past the headstring, Those fouls left Filler and Rakin tied and since the final outcome of their match would not play into the roster for the final bracket, both ladies agreed to call it a day.
The final bracket will see Bulgaria’s Kristina Zlateva face wildcard Kelly Fisher and Germany’s Ina Kaplan taking on Turkey’s Eylul Kibaroglu. The winners of those two matches will face Japan’s Yuki Hariguchi and Fefilova respectively.
The single elimination matches will see each lady playing the ghost in a match against an opponent doing the same thing. Those matches will be races to four, best two out of three sets.
Each competitor is guaranteed $300 in prize money for making the final bracket, with first place earning $2000 in prize money.
Play will begin at 10:00 AM EST on Tuesday. Watch the online coverage at https://www.facebook.com/CueItUpPodcast for all of the details and the streaming coverage of the matches.
Day three of round robin play is complete at the Women’s Poison VG 9-Ball Championship, and day three saw another surprise as World Champion Kelly Fisher dropped her match against Germany’s Ina Kaplan 5-3. Kaplan played her best 9-ball when facing Fisher, running 52 balls in eight rounds of play, while Fisher only managed 40 balls total.
Kaplan is now guaranteed a spot in Sunday’s single elimination bracket, joining day one winner Kristina Zlateva and day two winner Yuki Hiraguchi. The top two runner-up finishers from the round robin stages will also make the single elimination bracket and Fisher’s record of fourteen racks ran on day three keeps her in contention for one of those wildcard spots.
Day two’s runner-up Wei Tzu Chien only ran twelve racks in round robin play and she is now eliminated from wildcard contention. Turkey’s Eylul Kibaroglu ran fifteen racks as the runner-up on day one and is now locked into one of the wildcard spots. Fisher will now have to sweat the final day of round robin play, hoping that the day’s runner-up doesn’t run more than fourteen racks.
Day four of this event will feature another all-star field of players with Margaret Fefilova from Belarus, America’s Mary Rakin, Japanese Champion Chihiro Kawahara and Germany’s Pia Filler.
All of the ladies will be competing in 8 racks of 9-ball against the ghost, hoping to run more balls than their opponent. The top finisher in the four player group will earn her place in the final bracket, with two wildcards who don’t win their groups also making the final bracket.
Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) secured her first victory in 2020 by winning the final match 7:1 over Aleksandra Guleikova (RUS).
The whole tournament was a demonstration of Ouschan’s superiority. She defeated all opponents with very clear results. Her first victim was Hannan Memic (BIH) who got beat 7:2. Then, Vania Franco (POR) received a 7:2 lesson from Ouschan in the winner’s qualification round. Yini Gaspar (SUI) and Kristina Zlateva (BUL) were next on the list. they both managed to win 4 racks before Ouschan closed the book on them. In the semi-final. Ouschan met Franco for the second time. This time, the Portuguese only got one rack from Ouschan to leave the event with 7:1, coming in third place. Franco had played a good event so far, defeating high class players like Oliwia Zalewska (POL) and Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR). But Ouschan was in her own class. She went into the final match, having won all these matches with more than clear results. Her opponent, Aleksandra Guleikova, was not necessarily expected to be in the final match. But her decent performance throughout the tournament paid off and she has rightfully booked her seat in the final match against Ouschan. However, the final turned into a nightmare for Guleikova. The only player who was seen at the table was Ouschan. After 8 racks, the Austrian closed the book on the final match with an impressive 7:1 victory over Guleikova.
"I used this tournament as a preparation for my next events", Ouschan stated after the final match. "I was in the middle of preparations and this success shows me that I’m on a good way. My upcoming events are men’s tournaments. I will play Matchroom’s World Pool Masters and then I’ll go to Las Vegas for more tournaments", Ouschan added.
This victory puts Ouschan on top of the Women’ Euro-Tour rankings.
That concludes the coverage of the Predator Treviso Open 2020.
The Predator Treviso Open 2020 were played in the Best Western Premier BHR Treviso Hotel in Treviso, Italy, on up to 21 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be obtained at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.
The event was hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epbf.com or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Oliwia Zalewska (POL) wins the Predator Antalya Open 2019 with a fortunate victory over Tina Vogelmann (GER) in the final match.
Zalewska, before she married known as Czuprynska, took her second Euro-Tour title in a row since her marriage in October this year. After her impressive performance in Klagenfurt, she was back to Antalya so she could take her good from up and see who would be able to stop her here. In fact, she lost her first match against Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR) with 4:7. Being sent to the loser’s side, she defeated Elise Qiu (NED) 7:2 and Yvonne Ullmann-Hybler (GER) 7:3 to get back to the single elimination stage. There, Zalewska took revenge of Kateryna Polovinchuk and won 7:5 to oust her Ukrainian opponent. The next victim was Melanie Suessenguth (GER) who fell 7:4 to Zalewska. In the semi-final, Zalewska eliminated favoured Kristina Tkach (RUS) with 7:5. That booked her a seat in the final match where she met Tina Vogelmann. The German was playing her first final match and also showed some strong performance here in Antalya. Among others, she overcame Tamara Peeters (NED) 7:6, Marharyta Fefilava (BLR) 7:4 and Christine Steinlage (GER) 7:3. The odds in the final match were clearly in favour of Zalewska. But Vogelmann clung to her chance. In the early stage of the match, Vogelmann even took a lead over Zalewska. After six racks, Vogelmann was 4:2 up. Then Zalewska took three racks in a row to take a 5:4 lead herself. It came to 6:6 with rack #13 having to be the decider. Here, Vogelmann opened the rack and had no ball pocketed. Zalewska played a push-out which was answered by Vogelmann with a nice safety shot. Zalewska had no straight shot on the 1-ball. She went rail first and fortunately made the 1-ball in the side pocket of the opposite rail. Then, Zalewska attempted to pocket the 2-ball in the other side pocket but also missed it. However, the 2-ball went into the corner pocket, leaving an open layout for Zalewska. The Polish ran the table and won the match with the help of lady luck with 7:6 over unlucky Tina Vogelmann.
This concludes the coverage from the Predator Antalya Open 2019.
The Predator Antalya Open were played in the Limak Atlantis Resort in Belek, Turkey, on up to 20 tables which were all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be obtained at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.
The event was hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.womeneurotouronline.com or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
Kateryna Polovinchuk, Ana Gradisnik and Kristina Tkach
The four top seeded athletes at the Predator Antalya Open 2019 presented themselves today in top form.
Kristina Tkach (RUS), the #1 seeded player has shown no mercy with her opponents today so far. First, she overpowered Aleksandra Guleikova (RUS) 7:1, then she defeated Sinem Kokten (TUR) 7:3. None of her opponents had a realistic chance during their respective matches. Tkach has booked her seat in the single elimination stage of the last 16 player which will be played tomorrow morning at 10:00 local time.
Tkach is joined by #2 seed Marharyta Fefilava (BLR). The Belarussian stormed off today to a 7:0 victory over Lynn Pijpers (NED) and 7:2 over birthday girl Yvonne Ullmann-Hybler (GER). Ana Gradisnik (SLO) and Kateryna Polovinchuk (UKR) were the next two seeded players who also took clear victories today. A remarkable fact is that out of the eight players who made it to the single elimination over the winner’s round, four are from Germany. Pia Filler, Melanie Suessenguth, Tina Vogelmann and Diana Stateczny (all GER) complete the list of the contestants who booked their seat in the round of the last 16 over the winner’s side.
The Predator Antalya Open 2019 will continue tomorrow morning at 10:00 local time.
Every day, up to two matches will be streamed LIVE over the EPBF Facebook page and on the EPBF YouTube channel. Check for updates and announcements.
The Predator Antalya Open are played in the Limak Atlantis Resort in Belek, Turkey, on up to 20 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be obtained at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.womeneurotouronline.com or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.
