WE’RE DOWN TO the final four at the Predator St Johann in Pongau Open as the quarter-final matches played out at the Alpina Sporthotel in the Austrian Alps. From 43 starters, Ina Kaplan, Tina Vogelmann (both Germany), Eyllul Kibaroglu (Turkey) and Serbia’s Bojana Sarac are the four ladies left standing and they will reconvene on Monday morning to determine the destination of the trophy.
Former Predator Euro Tour Women winner Ina Kaplan looked back to her best as she defeated compatriot Kristina Grim 7-2 to cement a semi-final spot, “I played really good against Oliwia (Zalewska) in our last 16 match but was a little bit shaky as I’d lost three times in a row in the last 16. But now I finally managed to get through so I was relieved and was able to play really well against Kristina this evening.
“I’ve got a good chance but every match stands on its own and you have to just focus on the game and the ball – it’s one step at a time. I’ve won three Euro Tours but the last one was in 2017; it’s been a while but I had another child and then corona but I’m feeling good that I’m back!”
Ina Kaplan｜©EPBF
Eyllul Kibaroglu ended Ana Gradisnik’s quest to win back-to-back Euro Tour titles as she ran out a comfortable 7-3 winner in their quarter-final match. The Turkish lady is always a dangerous prospect and will be looking to go one better than the 2021 Predator Treviso Open when she finished runner-up to Kamilla Khodjaeva. She plays Kaplan in her semi-final match.
The other semi features Bojana Sarac who closed out the evening’s play with a hard-fought come-from-behind victory over Pia Filler. She will face Tina Vogelmann who came through in a deciding rack against Polish hope Monika Zabek.
With none of the present top four on the ranking featuring in the last four, it looks like Slovenia’s Ana Gradisnik will hang onto her No.1 spot.
Eyllul Kibaroglu｜©EPBF
Play concludes on Monday morning with the two semi-finals scheduled for 10.00 with the final set to take place at midday. All Predator Euro Tour Women tournaments are 9-ball and the field contest a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 16 competitors, and then single elimination until the finish. All matches are a race to 7 racks with alternate break.
All the matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com
Results, live scoring and draw are available at www.epbf.com