THERE WERE NO MEDALS determined today at the PREDATOR European Pool Championships as 8-ball wound down to the final eight players in men’s, women’s and under 23’s, as well as the final six in the wheelchair division. All will reconvene tomorrow afternoon when they play off for the medals. In the two team tournaments, more rounds were played, and they both culminate in the final matches on Tuesday 8th April.
Pia Filler, who dominated the European Championships last year, is still on track for a haul of medals as she made her way into the quarter-finals of the 8-ball and stayed on the winner’s side in the team event, accompanied by Ina Kaplan. They defeated France in a match that went to the scotch doubles decider after the two teams shared the 8-ball and 9-ball matches.
In the women’s 8-ball singles, Filler advanced to the final eight, beating Romina Lenk 6-3 and she will play Kristina Zlateva (Bulgaria) tomorrow to see if she can add to the gold medal she won in straight pool.
Filler said, “I enjoy playing 8-ball, and so far, I did OK. The last match wasn’t my best but you know, 8-ball can be funny at times. It’s really dependent on the layouts and then sometimes, if you’re playing on the TV table and have a shot clock if you get a tricky layout and you’re under the rush of the time then it can be funny but I really enjoy playing it. I have a lot of confidence in myself, I’m really having a good time, I’m having fun playing and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.
“Of course, I know I have the ability to beat every player in the field and I’ve just got to deliver my best game every single day and that’s up to me. Pool is a game where you play yourself all the time and it doesn’t matter who sits in the chair. I’m not going to put any pressure on myself. I know I’ve already got a title.
“The teams is fun too. We’ve played two matches and went to the deciding set in the last one and actually it’s fun playing scotch doubles with Ina. I love to play a lot of matches and I hope we can dig in deep there too,” she concluded.
Another German player still on track in both teams and 8-ball is Stefan Kasper. He was beaten into a silver medal by the brilliance of Konrad Juszczyszyn in the 10-ball final, but wins today over Alex Montpelier (France), David Zalman (Czech) and Jose Alberto Delgado (Spain) saw him through to the last eight.
Commented the affable German, “I’m very happy with my performance now. 8-ball isn’t my favourite game so to be honest, I’m not expecting much but I’m trying to get another medal, maybe gold. I’ve enjoyed it though and I’m very happy with performance; I played good and that’s why it feels good. Team is totally different to the singles competition I think there’s more pressure but we’ve got a strong team, for sure. Hopefully I’ll play 10-ball as it’s my best game and I’ve had my biggest successes there.”
Saturday is finals day in the 8-ball in all four divisions with the championship matches scheduled for 19.00 in the four-table main arena. The team events continue at 10.00.
This year sees a new streaming platform for the Predator European Championship events. Tables 1 and 2 will be streamed throughout on YouTube, via the Pro Billiard TV channel – https://www.youtube.com/@ProBilliardTV
In addition, competing players are permitted to stream their own matches on outside tables to their public social media accounts.
For all results, live scoring and draw, visit www.epbf.com/tournaments/european-championships/