Oliwia Czuprynska (POL) has won the Predator Klagenfurt Open 2019 with a 7:5 victory over Marharyta Fefilava (BLR) in the final match.
Probably the biggest surprise of the day were the results of the semi-final matches. Both favourites have not lived up to their expectations and were eliminated by their respective opponents. Ranking leader Kristina Tkach (RUS) lost 3:7 to Fefilava while hometown hero Jasmin Ouschan (AUT) was defeated with 6:7 by Czuprynska after the fell out of position on the 7-ball in the deciding rack. So the final match between Czuprynska and Fefilava was everything but expected. Czuprynska started very strong in the final match. She forced a foul shot on Fefilava and cleared the rack to get to a 1:0 lead. Rack 2 was then taken by Fefilava after Czuprynska came up with a poor safety shot. The next rack went almost alike but with the better outcome for Czuprynska this time. after three racks played, Czuprynska had a 2:1 lead over Fefilava. In rack 4, Czuprynska committed the first mistake which was used by Fefilava to snatch the rack again to get to 2:2. Both contestants performed at a very high level in that stage of the match. In rack five however, Czuprynska again committed an unforced error which indicated that her focus was not 100% perfect anymore.
Maybe the victory over Ouschan one round earlier took too much power out of her. While Czuprynska showed some weakness, Fefilava stayed in the zone and got a slight advantage over the Polish. But she could not capitalise from Czuprynska’s mistakes and consequently, Czuprynska took another point into her account and led the match with 3:2. In rack six, Czuprynska was almost there when she dogged the 7-ball and gave the rock away to Fefilava. Instead of leading 4:2 the match was now again tied at 3:3. Whatever happened after that rack, it was not to Fefilava’s liking. The Polish dominated the match completely and ran away with 6:3 after nine racks, being on the hill. But Fefilava did not want to let go her chance to win this event. She pulled two racks back from Czuprynska to get to 5:6 and then went for her time-out. After that, Czuprynska still stood tall and won the next rack which brought her the match and the victory of the tournament. „I just got married last week“, stated Czuprynska after the final, „maybe that gave me extra strength and made me play better“ Czuprynska added with a smile.
Left to Right: Marharyta Fefilava, Predator CEO Karim Belhaj and Oliwia Czuprynska
Top Eight Finishers
1. Oliwia Czuprynska POL
2. Marharyta Fefilava BLR
3. Kristina Tkach RUS
Jasmin Ouschan AUT
5. Louise Furberg SWE
Ana Gradisnik SLO
Kristina Zlateva BUL
Melanie Suessenguth GER
That concludes the coverage of the Predator Klagenfurt Open 2019.
The Predator Klagenfurt Open were played in the Sportpark Klagenfurt Arena in Klagenfurt, Austria, 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 organised 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 [email protected].