Kural, Gnadeberg, Hong Take Home Predator World Junior Titles – 中華台北小將青少年世錦賽奪金摘銅

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中華台北小將青少年世錦賽奪金摘銅

2022 “美洲豹” 青少年世界9號球錦標賽在波多黎各-聖胡安的會展中心圓滿落幕，最終分別由 Szymon Kural (波蘭)、Karl Gnadeberg (愛沙尼亞)、與洪欣妤 (中華台北) 分別拿下 U19、U17 以及青少女組金牌。另一位小將孫翌軒在半決賽中敗給德國選手 Yuma Dörner，收穫銅牌。

U19組，現年18歲的波蘭小將 Szymon Kural 今年是他最後一次贏得世青賽冠軍的機會，Kural 去年在決賽中鎩羽而歸，今年捲土重來再次憑藉青少年歐錦賽取得參賽資格。Kural 在半決賽中 11-9 戰勝德國的 Dennis Laszkowski 挺進決賽，而他的對手則是另一位德國選手 Yuma Dörner，Dörner 再以 11-1 大勝中華台北小將孫翌軒後，與 Kural 會師冠軍戰。

Kural 表示: “我特別高興，因為去年我在決賽中敗北，能在2022年獲勝感到非常興奮。我的家人也會非常高興，我期待著返家後與家人朋友們一同慶祝。我想變得越來越強大，前往世界各地參賽。”

U17 方面，愛沙尼亞的 Karl Gnadeberg 四強戰中 9-6 力克塞爾維亞的 Lazar Kostić 晉級決賽，對手香港小將李朗逸則是擊敗芬蘭的 Jori Narvola (9-5)。

Gnadeberg 在決賽的最後階段中，跳進 6號球後，並母球拉桿回到了個完美位置做到 7號球。最終 Gnadeberg 9-5 擊敗對手，拿下優勝。

“無法直接擊球，所以我決定帶著跳桿。那一球我唯一能做到的方法就是拉桿，而我以前還從未做到過，但結果很完美，我也感到驚訝。” Gnadeberg 賽後說道。

最後在青少女組方面，美國小將 Bethany Tate 與衛冕冠軍 Lina Primus (奧地利) 分別敗給中華台北小將洪欣妤與韓國的 Kim Hyerim。 最終洪欣妤 以 9-4 擊敗韓國選手，奪下金牌。

洪欣妤: “我很高興! 有著來自中華台北整個團隊的支持，感到特別溫暖。我的下一個目標是明年衛冕冠軍!”

Szymon Kural, Karl Gnadeberg and Xin Yu Hong are celebrating being crowned World Champions after claiming gold in their respective divisions of the Predator World Juniors 9-Ball Championships at the Puerto Rico Convention Center, San Juan on Monday.

Poland’s Kural defeated Yuma Dorner of Germany 11-6 in the Under-19s final. That was after Gnadeberg of Estonia had won the Under-17s division, beating Lang Yi Li of Hong Kong, China 9-5 in their championship match. 

Chinese Taipei’s Xin Yu Hong had the support of reigning World Women’s 10-Ball Champion Chou Chieh-Yu as she beat South Korea’s Kim Hyerim 9-4 to lift the Girls title. It was Kim’s second consecutive final defeat after she also took silver last year, when she lost to Austria’s Lina Primus, a bronze medalist this year.

Kural scored an 11-9 victory over Germany’s Dennis Laszkowski to reach the final, while Dorner was an emphatic 11-1 victor over Chinese Taipei’s Yi Hsuan Sun in his semi-final. At the age of 18, this was Kural’s last chance to win a World Junior title and he was delighted to take home the gold.

“I don’t have any words,” said Kural. “I am very excited and especially happy because last year I lost in the final but now to win in 2022 is super exciting, and I am very happy.

“My family will be really happy and I am looking forward to going back home and celebrating with my friends and family. I want to get better and better and play tournaments around the world.”

Gnadeberg took the Under-17 title with perhaps his best shot reserved for the very end of the final when he jumped the 8 to make the 6 and draw the cue back down for inch-perfect position on the 7. 

“Kick wasn’t available, so I decided to bring the jump cue,” said the Estonian. “The only way I could make it was to bring a draw and I never actually did it before, but it came out perfectly and I was amazed.”

Finland’s Juri Narvola and Serbia’s Lazar Kostic took bronze in the Under-17s division, while those medals went to USA’s Bethany Tate and Austria’s 2021 World Girls Champion Lina Primus. The final was won by Hong, who defeated Kim 9-4 having earlier beaten Tate 9-2. 

“I am very happy,” said Hong. “It was a warm feeling to have the whole team from Chinese Taipei supporting me. My next goal is to defend the title next year!’

In the Predator World 8-Ball Championship, Shane van Boening crashed out in the last 32 at the hands of Frenchman Alex Montpellier. The World 9-ball Champion had reached single elimination undefeated but struggled against an inspired Montpellier, who won 10-7, only to be eliminated himself in the last 16, losing 10-2 to last week’s Medalla Light Puerto Rico Open finalist Daniel Maciol.

The quarter-final line-up comprises Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz, who has a chance to cap an incredible year with a world title. He’ll face Konrad Juszczyszyn in the last eight, which begins 10am on Tuesday morning. Maciol takes on Mario He, while an all-Polish quarter-final sees World 10-Ball Champion Wojciech Szewczyk up against Wiktor Zielinski.

Seven of the quarter-finalists are European, the exception being Canada’s Alex Pagulayan, who will face Jayson Shaw for a place in the semi-finals. Shaw beat Joshua Filler in a thrilling last 16 clash, having earlier beaten Jeffrey De Luna.

“It feels good to be in the quarter-finals,” said Shaw. “I was down 6-3 against De Luna but came back and played pretty well at the end. I knew against Filler that a couple of mistakes and you can lose real quick. I came with some good shots, some nice breaks and I am delighted to win.

“I’ll get a good sleep, come in tomorrow and if I can break well, 8-ball was my game growing up. I’ll have a good night’s rest and come tomorrow as prepared as I can be.”

The Predator World 8-Ball Championship concludes on Tuesday with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all a race to 10.

Matches from the Predator World 8-Ball Championship will be streamed from Table 1 on Billiard TV,  the World Billiard TV YouTube channel and at Kozoom.com. Table 2 has full coverage and commentary on the Predator Pro Billiard Series Facebook Page. All tables, including matches from the Predator World Juniors 9-Ball Championships, can be watch live for FREE at Kozoom.com

Brackets and scores can be found at www.probilliardseries.com

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