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
Team Philippines won it’s second round match in the Predator 10-Ball World Teams Championship, after beating Team England, 3-2 in an exciting showdown at the SportPark in Klagenfurt, Austria on Thursday evening (Philippine Time).
Rubilen “Bingkay” Amit defeated Kelly Fisher, 4-2, then Carlo “The Black Tiger” Biado bested Jayson Shaw, 4-2. However, Team England bounced back and leveled the count at 2-2 after Fisher nipped Amit, 4-2, and Shaw routed Biado, 4-2.
In the finale, the shootout format was used to break the tie.
As per world-renowned blogger Leslie “AnitoKid” Mapugay.
“(Carlo) Biado pockets the 1st, (Jayson) Shaw does the same. (Rubilen) Amit successfully makes it and (Kelly) Fisher misses. Both Johann Chua and Darren Appleton missed their respective shots.
Everyone now is literally on the edge of their seats, and The Black Tiger (Carlo Biado) cometh to finish it off in emphatic form!
Gondo ng laban! One for the books! And I kid you not,” said The AnitoKid.
Meanwhile, Chezka “The Flash” Centeno advanced to the Top 16! Centeno, the inaugural Asian 9-Ball Women’s Champion, routed Japan’s Chihiro Kawahara, 7-4.
However, Amit’s campaign in the Championship came to an end Thursday afternoon (Philippine time) after suffering her second loss. The 40-year-old Amit was beaten by Poland’s Monika Zabek, 7-3. Zabek jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before Amit swept back-to-back racks to move within two, at 2-3. But the Polish player proved steadier and banked smart shots in the next five racks of the race-to-seven affair.
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.
Eylul Kibaroglu of Turkey claimed her first-ever Predator Euro Tour Women’s title as she defeated Pia Filler (Germany) by 7-4 at the Petrich Arena in Bulgaria. It was a close-run thing at 4-4 before the Turkish player found an extra gear and pulled away in the closing stages.
Despite winning gold medals at the European Championships, Kibaroglu had never reached the ultimate goal on the Euro Tour. She had made two finals before but this time she seized the opportunity in what was a close match.
Commented Kibaroglu, “I so happy to win! I’d been in two finals before and this was the third. I played six matches this week and five of them were against the German players, all tough. I think I stepped up a level today compared to the other matches. Some racks I didn’t play that well but I managed to turn it up when it mattered.”
The first three racks of the match were break-and-runs as both players settled very comfortably into the big occasion. Kibaroglu lost the table in the next but an attempted jump shot from Filler with just three balls left on the table saw both the 6 ball and the white fly off the table. With ball in hand, the Turkish girl cleared for 2-2.
The fifth game was the first where the rack didn’t go to the breaking player. Both players had visits but, in the end, it was Kibaroglu who took it to gain the lead for the first time in the match. That didn’t last long as Filler cleared the table following a missed 2 ball from Kibaroglu which once again levelled the scores.
Filler restored her lead in the next rack as a missed 2 ball from Kibaroglu again gave her opponent the opportunity to run the table and restore her previous one-rack lead. A slack containing safety from Filler allowed Kibaroglu to pounce on the error and run the table to level the match at 4-4. It was anyone’s game now and was becoming a test of nerve.
The next rack was the longest of the match as the table went quite messy early on and neither player had a clear path to run out. In the end it was Kibaroglu who pocketed the 9 ball to take the lead for the second time in the match at 5-4.
Sensing her time had come, Kibaroglu sprang into action as she ran out from the break to put herself on the hill at 6-4. Filler needed to deliver a good break shot to stay in it but she fell foul of the three-point rule, returning the table to Kibaroglu. She looked good before she composed herself and ran out for the title.
Kibaroglu, whose previous victory over Filler – 7-5 in the winners’ qualification round – may have given her added confidence going into the final. Following her victory, Kibaroglu was heading straight to the airport from the venue, clutching her trophy, for a flight home to Ankara. There she will head directly to her pool club for a celebration party this evening.
Earlier, Kibaroglu had beaten Spain’s Amalia Matas 7-2 whilst Filler had got the better of Monika Zabek (Poland) by a similar scoreline.
All Predator Euro Tour Women tournaments are 9-ball and this week, the field contest a double-elimination format, playing down to the last eight competitors, and then single elimination until the finish. All matches are a race to 7 racks with alternate break.
The Predator Euro Tour is down to the semi-final stage and the four players concerned will be returning to the Petrich Arena at 10.00 on Monday morning to contest the closing stages. From 29 starters, Eyllul Kibaroglu (Turkey) will play Amalia Matas of Spain and Pia Filler of Germany will go up against Poland’s Monika Zabek.
Matas is the only player in the semi-final line-up who knows the feeling of lifting a Euro Tour trophy but the other three have been making their mark on Tour over the past 12 months.
Monika Zabek made it through to her first ever Predator Euro Tour semi-finals with a 7-4 win over Ukraine’s Darya Siranchuk in a match
where she trailed in the early stages. Understandably, she was delighted with her progress.
“I’ve played six quarter-finals in my life and I lost every one so I’m so happy. I didn’t win in the best style – I potted the 9-ball by luck – but I’m really excited. I’ve been playing very good and I’m happy with my performance. I don’t care who I’m playing tomorrow, I’m just happy that I’m in the semi-finals so I can relax and play my game.”
She will, in fact be playing Pia Filler, who is also seeking her maiden title on tour. She battled through beating Melanie Sussenguth 7-5 and came with a tidy run-out to seal the deal.
However, Filler knows she will need to be at her best; “I’m struggling with my game to be honest. It was a good run-out at the end and the same in the match before where I made a pretty tough run-out on 6-6.
“The pressure is there because my expectations are quite high. Joshua (Filler) is happy with my game so that means it must be alright but there are just some stupid mistakes towards the end of the racks. I know I’m going to have some good sleep and get my head right so I’ll be ready tomorrow,” she added.
The semi-finals commence at 10.00 on Monday morning with the final breaking off at 12.00 midday. All Predator Euro Tour Women tournaments are 9-ball and this week, the field contest a double-elimination format, playing down to the last eight competitors, and then single elimination until the finish. All matches are a race to 7 racks with alternate break.
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.
Sanjin Pehlivanovic, a former World Junior 9-Ball Champion, become European 10-Ball Champion earlier this year and has proved those credentials so far at the Predator Germany Open where he has reached the single elimination stage with two straight-sets victories.
After defeating Hajo Meier of Germany on the opening day Pehlivanovic, of Bosnia and Herzegovina, faced Swiss player Michael Schneider during Wednesday’s action. The 20-year-old European champion broke well, save for a scratch at 3-0 up, to take the first set 4-1. Schneider won the opening game of the second set but left his opponent straight on the 1 ball after a failed jump at the start of the second game. Another chance went in the third game when he missed position on the 9 and was unable to execute his jump under shot-clock pressure. That awarded Pehlivanovic a 2-1 lead and the European Champion took the next two games for a 4-1, 4-1 win to move to the last 32.
Austria’s Mario He, a US Pro Billiard Series winner at the FargoRate Ohio Open last fall, is also into the single elimination phase of the competition. He closed out day three on the TV table against South Africa’s Muhummad Daydat and scored a 4-1, 4-0 victory to progress from the winners’ side.
Ralf Souquet has also won through to the last 32 without defeat. The German defeated Turkey’s Melih Dagas 4-1, 4-1. “When you look at the score it seems like an easy one but with the short race and winner breaks, anything can happen. I missed an easy one at the beginning of the match but he didn’t capitalize, and in the second set when I was leading 3-0 I made an easy mistake on the 6 ball which could have changed the match. He had a great break right afterwards but luckily he couldn’t win the game,” said Souquet.
The Open division continues with three rounds on the losers’ side on Thursday, culminating in the qualification rounds for Friday’s single elimination stage of the tournament.
In the Women’s Division, Jasmin Ouschan had been sent to the losers’ side after a shootout defeat to Hong Kong’s Ka Kai Wan and on Wednesday faced another shootout to remain in the tournament. Facing Poland’s Monika Zabek, the Austrian lost the first set but fought back for victory.
Ouschan said: “You always want to win in two sets but I have played so many shootouts lately that I guess I practice it well. In this match I felt more calm than yesterday and after losing the first set, which I really shouldn’t have because I was up 3-0, I just tried whatever was possible, was calm and made all the balls.”
Canada’s Brittany Bryant, who finished second at the Alfa Las Vegas Women’s Open in April, stayed alive on the losers-side with consecutive wins. She defeated Portugal’s Vania Franco at the Sudden Death stage of a shootout and followed it with her second shootout win of the day, against Anna Riegler. She now faces potentially three matches on Thursday to make it through to single elimination stage. Kelly Fisher will face Melanie Sussenguth of Germany in the Women’s Qualification round as she continues her quest to make it three in three on the Pro Billiard Series.
One of the most striking and surprising athletes today was Lena Primus (AUT). The young Austrian already attracted attention last night with her eagerness to train. Today, when it got serious, she showed no nerves and convinced with a good performance in all three games. Yvonne Ullmann-Hybler (GER) was the first to go. Primus prevailed at the end of a hard-fought match with 7:5. The next victim of the young Austrian was Pia Filler (GER). The wife of the exceptional German player Joshua Filler did not have enough to offer Primus today and the match ended 7:5 in favour of Primus. In the qualifying round of the winners, Primus finally defeated Nathalie Rohmer (FRA) and booked her place in the single knockout of the last 16 women.
The draw did not go well for the two Polish friends. In a field of 40 women from over a dozen European nations, Monika Zabek and Ewa Bak (both POL) had the misfortune to meet directly in the first round. Of course, they have known each other for ages and train together regularly. Today they had to find out which of the two would go via the winners’ round and who would have to be sent to the left side of the roster. After a really intense match, Zabek won 7:6 against Bak. In the following match, the Pole met Diana Stateczny (GER). She was also victorious in the end and marched undeterred into the round of the last 16 women.
Another rather unknown player is Chantal Stadler (GER). She eliminated her compatriot Christine Steinlage clearly in the first round with 7:2. After that she won just as clearly with 7:3 against Vania Franco (POR). Her next opponent Lynn Pijpers (NED) made life a bit more difficult for her. Nevertheless, Stadler won 7:5 against Pijpers in the end and reached the round of the last 16 players.
