Alpina Hotel, St Johann im Pongau, Austria
THE FINAL MATCHES have been determined at the PREDATOR PRO BILLIARD SERIES after a day of high-level semi-final action in Austria. All three finals have a Europe v Asia feel to them and after seven days of high-quality pool, the trophies will be distributed following what promises to be a day of tension and drama.
In the Billard Beckmann Men’s Open, Felix Vogel of Germany will face off against Wu Kun Lin of Chinese Taipei in the championship decider.
Vogel came through a three-setter against Bulgaria’s Georgi Georgiev to stake his claim on the title.
The young German took the first set comfortably and looked poised to close the match out at 3-0 up in the second but a couple of uncharacteristic misses saw the momentum of the match change and with Georgiev in the ascendancy, the match levelled at 1-1. Full credit to Vogel as he got himself together and closed out the decider by 4-1 to progress.
Vogel has reached a couple of Predator Euro Tour finals, despite his tender age, and gets his big chance against Wu on Tuesday.
Commented Vogel, “This match was unbelievable because I took the first set 4-1 and I took the lead in the second set 3-0 and after that I had a lot of chances to close it out but he came back, 3-1, 3-2, 3-3 then a break and run and after that it was one of the hardest situations for a player when the opponent comes back and you have to keep going but I managed well.
“After the second set my mind was really negative and I had a lot of thoughts going through my mind but I stayed calm and made the right decisions. I think it will help me a lot as I lost the two Euro Tour finals and I took a lot of experience out of them and this helped me a lot for the next ones.”
Wu Kun Lin will represent a tough proposition for Vogel as the man from Kaohsiung went past Oliver Szolnoki (HUN) in two sets. The stats from the match show that Fu was superior on the break, balls pocketed, and safety efficiency. In fact, Wu’s Player Overall Performance of 864 compared to his opponent’s 717, told its own story.
He said afterwards. “I hope the next match is same as the semi-final. I think my semi-final was lucky; I broke and finished just once so very lucky. I really want to win tomorrow and take the trophy back to Kaohsiung.”
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In the Carrinho Women’s Open Seo Seoa will face Jasmin Ouschan to determine the destination of the trophy. Seoa put paid to Muyan Zhang’s hopes, winning a hard-fought semi-final 4-2, 1-4, 4-2.
The Korean sharp-shooter was a winner the last time the Pro Billiard Series came to Europe, in Spain, last December but feels she will have to improve for tomorrow’s title match.
She said, “Well, actually in the semi-final I didn’t play well so I’m not really happy but hopefully, I can play better in the final match. My safety is working all the time and it helps me win racks so I think it’s better than other players. The last tournament in St Louis, I lost to Jasmin (in the quarter-finals) so I hope I can revenge her!”
Ouschan defeated Wei Tzu Chien by 2-0 and can look forward to going for back-to-back Pro Billiard Series wins on Tuesday.
She said, “When you win you should be pleased anyway as you must have done something right but of course, it was overall a funky match. There were so many uncomfortable and tough situations and 30 seconds is little time and then you’re running out of time.
“Then it becomes a reaction game so you’re not really playing the game anymore, you’re basically reacting and within that process you sometimes make wrong decisions. But I pulled through and stayed focused and in the end, I potted the important balls so I cannot complain.
“I’ve been around quite a while and I’m happy. I feel like I still have so much to do, I haven’t played my best game yet, I’m still hungry, I love to work on myself and see how I can upgrade my skills and get better overall.
“I’ve put a lot of work into this, especially all those years where I didn’t win and now it feels satisfying that it’s paying off a bit and it calms me down and I realise that I’m enjoying the game much more again than a couple of years back and it makes a big difference,” she concluded.
The Predator Mixed Doubles title match will be contested by Han Yu (CHN) & Wu Kun Lin (TPE) and
Fu Xiaofang (CHN) & Dennis Grabe (EST) as both came through their semi-finals without the need for a deciding set.
Han and Wu looked in control all the way as they got the better of the Japanese duo of Chihiro Kawahara and Naoyuki Oi. They took the well-contested first set by 4-3 before closing it out 4-2 in the second.
The Grabe/Fu axis marched into the final with a 4-3, 4-3 victory over Wang Wan Lin (TPE) & David Alcaide (ESP). It was a close-run match which ultimately could have could have gone either way.
Commented Grabe, “It’s already a dream team and I hope we can produce our best game tomorrow. We played alright today but it was a little bit edgy from both sides, but overall, it was pretty solid.
“I know my capabilities, having already played in a mixed doubles final and Fu was also in the last PBS doubles final with (Justin) Bergman. And she’s a great player so I thought we’d have a chance.
Maybe I even like doubles more because it’s something new, brings more excitement, more misses more tactical play, so it’s a bit like chess and I like a chess game,” he added.
Tuesday is finals day with the Predator Mixed Doubles commencing at 14.00, while the men’s and women’s championship deciders playing out simultaneously at 18.00. The live stream for Tables 1 and 2 can be found on YouTube, via the Pro Billiard TV channel – https://www.youtube.com/@ProBilliardTV
For all results, live scoring and draw visit the events’ homepage https://probilliardseries.com/event/2026-austria/
For live stats on all matches in Austria, visit https://probilliardseries.com/livestats/
Predator Pro Billiard Series Equipment
- Predator ARC 9-Foot Pool Table
- Predator Arcos II Pool Balls
- Predator Aerorack Billiard Triangle
- Predator X Simonis Cloth
Predator Pro Billiard Series Sponsors
- Predator Group
- Little Monster
- Kamui Brand
- Box Billiards
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- Iwan Simonis
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