DAY ONE CONCLUDED at the Predator St Johann in Pongau Open as the 43 players in the starting line-up reduced down to 32 after 42 matches completed today (Saturday). Taking place at the resort Alpina Sporthotel, high in the Austrian mountains, the event runs over three days, with the semi-finals and then the final scheduled for Monday morning, the 27thJune.
The first lady into the single elimination round was Sara Rocha (Portugal), who beat Sabrina Cisternino of Switzerland 7-1 to add to her earlier 7-1 win over another Swiss girl, Shirin Volery. Rocha is looking to win her first Predator Euro Tour tournament after losing to Ana Gradisnik in the final last time out in Treviso.
The Portuguese was delighted with her win; ”I feel very good and I’ve been playing well since the last Euro Tour in Treviso. I like the tables here; I’m used to them and I feel comfortable. I was playing the last Predator event but the tables were very difficult and the cloth was very fast.
“I was second in Treviso and I know Ana very well and I know it’s not easy to win the final on the Euro Tour. But now I think differently and I want to play well and if I win it’s OK and if I lose, I’ll try to practice what I didn’t do right so that I can return stronger,” she added.
Kristina Grim｜©EPBF
Gradisnik, ranked No.1 on Tour, suffered a 7-4 defeat at the hands of Germany’s useful Ina Kaplan to find herself on the one-loss side. A 7-4 win over Christine Feldmann sets up a clash with Yvonne Ullman-Hybler on Sunday afternoon, followed by losers’ qualification, should she be successful.
Other players who qualified for the last 16 from the winners’ side of the draw include the aforementioned Kaplan who went to the beat Veronika Hubrtova (Czech) 7-2 and Kristina Grim, who looked highly-impressive despatching Poland’s Monika Zabek by a similar scoreline.
Play continues on Sunday morning at 10.00 with the four remaining Winners’ Qualification matches followed by Loser’s Qualification and then onto the last 16. 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