“美洲豹” 世界女子10號球錦標賽在奧地利克拉根福的 Sportpark 經過四天激烈的賽程過後，Kelly Fisher、周婕妤、Jasmin Ouschan 與魏子茜 從64位參賽選手中脫穎而出進入半決賽。
Jasmin Ouschan 在周四 6-7 敗給 Pia Filler 之後，Ouschan 在周五早上對上了塞爾維亞小將 Bojana Sarac，Sarac 一路緊咬著比分，沒有讓 Ouschan 有機會將比分拉開，直至 4-4 後 Ouschan 連下兩局取得 6-4 聽牌，雖然 Sarac 再追回一局，但最終仍以 5-7 不敵 ， Ouschan 也憑著此場勝利進入最後16強。
Ouschan 在進入16強單敗淘汰賽後接連以 9-6 與 9-3 分別擊敗德國選手 Ina Kaplan 以及 陳禾耘，Kaplan 在本周世錦賽稍早比賽中擊敗衛冕冠軍，菲律賓名將 Rubilen Amit。
Ouschan 在半決賽的對手將是魏子茜。魏子茜在周五的三場比賽中只丟了三局。 先是以 7-1 擊敗 Veronique Menard (加拿大)，隨後又以 9-2 淘汰 Pia Filler；八強戰中更以 9-0 淘汰了加拿大公開賽冠軍陳佳樺。
魏子茜賽後受訪時表示: “我沒想到會是如此的結果! 我們已認識很久，她是一位非常優秀的球員。由於疫情關係我已有三年沒有參加任何國際賽事，我真的很享受在這裡參與這項賽事，而我也試著讓自己享受於比賽之中。”
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第二場半決賽將由 Kelly Fisher 對陣周婕妤。 Fisher 從16強單敗賽開始保持不敗之姿，在單敗淘汰賽中的首場比賽的對手是土耳其的 Eylul Kibaroglu ，兩人在先前的德國公開賽決賽中對陣，該場比賽一路進到點球大戰。但這場比賽並不如德國公開賽決賽那麼接近，最終 Fisher 以 9-3 拿下勝利。再接下來的八強賽再以 9-6 戰勝菲律賓小將 Chezka Centeno 挺進四強。
“很高興贏得了與 Chezka 的比賽。這些年來我已與 Chezka 對戰過很多次，但由於已三年沒有見過面，我知道她會在這場比賽全力以赴，打敗她的唯一方法就是不讓她有機會上場。雖然沒有打出最佳狀態，但結局是美好的；我表現得很不錯 — 我年紀稍長、經歷賽事也更多些，使用了一些戰術，設法佔據上風並保持局面控制。” Fisher 賽後說到。
Fisher 將在四強戰中將迎來周婕妤，周婕妤在擊敗波蘭好手 Oliwia Zalewska 後晉級16強。接著在單敗賽中先以 9-6 力克名人堂球員，英國名將 Allison Fisher，再此 9-3 終結了許久未見的韓國選手林潤美的世錦賽之旅，闖進半決賽。
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Kelly Fisher will meet Chieh-Yu Chou and Jasmin Ouschan will face Wei Tzu Chien in the semi-finals of the Predator World Women’s 10-Ball Championship after the remaining 24 athletes played down to four at Sportpark Klagenfurt, Austria on Friday.
Ouschan faced three matches if she was to qualify for the semi-finals and came through them all to ensure she will feature on the final day of the event in her home city, and which she was a major driving force in the organization of.
After a defeat to Pia Filler on Thursday, Ouschan returned on Friday morning to face Bojana Sarac. The Serbian youngster didn’t allow her opponent to pull too far ahead at any time and twice fought back from behind to have the match level at 4-4. But Ouschan was able to reach the hill at 6-4 up, and though Sarac did pull another rack back, it was the Austrian who went through to the last 16 as 7-5 winner.
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A re-draw took place before the last 16 began, with the tournament now playing to a single elimination format and all remaining matches a race to 9.
Ouschan’s draw pitted her against Germany’s Ina Kaplan, who earlier in the week defeated the reigning champion Rubilen Amit. Kaplan provided another tough match for the Austrian, who won 9-6, before beating Ho-Yun Chen 9-3 in her quarter final.
Awaiting Ouschan in tomorrow’s semi-finals is Wei, who conceded just three racks in three matches on Friday. First, she beat Veronique Menard 7-1, then Pia Filler was eliminated 9-2, and then on the feature table, Canada Open champion Chia Hua Chen was on the receiving end of a 9-0 demolition.
“I didn’t expect it to be like that,” said Wei after her win over Chen. “We have known each other for a really long time and she is a really good player. I am really enjoying playing the event. It has been three years without going to any international tournament because of Covid and lockdowns, so I have just tried to enjoy myself.”
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The second semi-final will pit Fisher against Chieh-Yu Chou. Fisher started the day in the last 16 after coming through to single elimination undefeated. Her first match of Friday’s play was a re-run of the Germany Open final against Eylul Kibaroglu, which went to a shootout. This match wasn’t so close though, with Fisher in fine form in a 9-3 win.
Next up was Filipino Chezka Centeno, and again Fisher delivered a statement performance as she won 9-6 against a tough opponent.
“I am so happy to have won that one,” explained Fisher. “I have played Chezka so many times over the years but haven’t seen each other for three years. I know she fires on all cylinders, the only way to beat her is to keep her in her seat. I haven’t been playing at my best but today was a great day; I performed really well, used a little bit of tactics – I’m a bit older, a bit wiser – and managed to get the upper hand and keep control.”
Fisher’s semi-final opponent Chou began the day with a 7-1 win over Oliwia Zalewska to reach the last 16, when Allison Fisher was defeated 9-6. That set up a quarter-final with South Korea’s Yun Mi Lim, which Chou won 9-3 to guarantee herself a medal.
The semi-finals take place at 10am and 12noon local time on Saturday, before the showpiece final at 3pm. Matches will be streamed live and free on the World Billiard TV YouTube Channel, watchbilliard.tv and on Kozoom.com.
The draw and brackets for the Predator World Women’s 10-Ball Championship can be seen here: https://
The draw and brackets for the Predator World Teams Championship is at https://probilliardseries.
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