FOLLOWING A HIGHLY entertaining and at times dramatic European Championships, the action continues in Slovenia starting this Thursday with the DYNAMIC BILLARD Podčetrtek Open on the men’s Euro Tour and the PREDATOR Women’s Podčetrtek Open. Both events get underway at 9.00 on Thursday 18th July with the men’s final scheduled for 17.00 on Saturday, while the women’s decider breaks off at 19.00. Both events are 10-ball.
The men’s event has a starting line-up of 156 players and can boast a very strong field. All of the top ten ranked players are present and the ace in the pack is tour’s No.1, Joshua Filler, who’s winning record on the Euro Tour is unparalleled.
With more and more Polish players filling up the top spots, they have a full contingent competing including Nos. 2 and 3 ranked players Daniel Maciol and Mieszko Fortunski as well as the likes of Wojciech Szewczyk who, amazingly, given his achievements, has yet to record a Euro Tour victory.
If the recent Dynamic Billard European Championships can be used as a form guide then look out for Austria’s Mario He, who hit his stride winning the 9-ball gold and Oliver Szolnoki (Hungary), the 10-ball champion. In addition, Dennis Laszkowski (Germany) is certainly in the ascendancy, having picked up the Under 23 gold medal earlier in the week.
A slew of junior champions are also in the field as they look to make their way in the men’s game. Former WPA World Junior Champion Szymon Kural has made the most headway, sitting 12th in the rankings following a string of top finishes and he is closely followed by Felix Vogel, who narrowly missed out on being a teenaged Euro Tour winner in Tallinn earlier in the year.
The Predator Ladies Euro Tour gets underway tomorrow with a field of 46 players and given her heroics at the European Championships, Pia Filler (Germany) must start as a strong favourite despite the stellar field. Having recently won gold medals in straight pool, 10-ball and 9-ball Filler is in the type of form to cement her position at the top of the rankings.
She will have to beat a packed field though as recent winners such as Veronika Ivanovskaia (Germany) and Serbia’s Bojana Sarac are both in the field as well as the regular contingent of Euro Tour contenders.
For viewers at home, Tables 1 & 2 will be streamed throughout on YouTube. Table 1 will be on the Kozoom channel, while Table 2 will be available throughout on the EPBF platform. All other tables can be viewed on the Kozoom.com website, where there are a variety of subscription options.
Table 1 link = https://www.youtube.com/@Kozoo
Table 2 link = https://www.youtube.com/@theep
Tables 1-20 = https://home.kozoom.com/en/all
As well as the prize money, there are Tour ranking points on offer. This week’s Euro Tour tournaments are 10-ball and players compete in a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 32 competitors for the men and last 16 for the women. From there it is single elimination until the finish. The men’s matches are races-to-8 racks with alternate break, while the women play a race-to-6.
Results, live scoring, and draw are available at www.epbf.com