FOLLOWING A GROUND-BREAKING partnership between the EPBF and the PREDATOR GROUP, the 2025 Euro Tour season gets underway on Thursday 6th February with the LONGONI Italian Open (Open Division). The event is full with 176 players and can boast an outstanding field as players look to get the year underway with a strong start.
Competing this week is No.1 ranked player, Oliver Szolnoki (Hungary), whose victory in Antalya in the last event of 2024, gave him his maiden Euro Tour win and propelled him to the top of the rankings.
The 27-year-old Hungarian first came to attention in 2018 when he claimed his first podium finish and has been knocking on the door ever since. His win in Turkey – and 8-6 victory over Daniel Maciol – represented a crowning achievement in a year that also saw him take 10-ball gold at the European Championships.
Commented Szolnoki, “It’s nice to come here as No.1 player but it’s been a long off-season and the momentum is gone already so we have to start all over again. We will see how it goes. It’s just one tournament, the same as before. I’m curious about the Predator table and how it plays and of course, there are more top players coming back to the Euro Tour so the field will be stronger. My game is OK so let’s see how I do!”
Play gets underway on Thursday at 9.00 and concludes with the final which takes place on Saturday 8th February at 18.00. It’s races-to-8 in the double elimination phase and then to 10 from the last 32.
The Longoni Italian Open (Women) breaks off on Saturday and is played out over two days with the title game scheduled for 17.00 on Sunday. With Ina Kaplan (Germany) currently dominant in the division, having won the last three events in some style, there is plenty of ground to be made up by her fellow competitors.
Hot on Kaplan’s heels in the No.2 position is her fellow German, Pia Filler, who arrives in Treviso full of determination.
She said, “I’m feeling pretty good coming into the event. I’ve been playing pretty solid these past couple of weeks. I’ve got a little bit of jetlag now but I’m very excited for the new season of the Euro Tour because it’s completely new with Predator on board and I feel good about my game.
“I like to improve every single day and always strive to get better and I feel like need to learn something new every single day which I think I do. We have a pretty good field with some high-quality players which I love because I love competition! I’m always here to win and I’ll try my best.”
Both events are 10-ball.
This year sees a new streaming platform for all Euro Tour and European Championships events.
Table 1 will be streamed throughout on YouTube, via the Pro Billiard TV channel – https://www.youtube.com/@ProBilliardTV
Commented JP Parmentier, Sports Marketing Director of Predator Group, “Predator is delighted to welcome the longest-standing tour in the world to our Pro Billiard media platforms. Our YouTube channel, Facebook and Instagram pages reach in excess of 80 million people every year, so we’re in a great position to significantly boost the viewership of European events over the coming years.”
For all results, live scoring and draw, visit https://www.epbf.com/tournaments/eurotour/information/