OLIWIA ZALEWSKA (POLAND) claimed her fifth Women’s Euro Tour title in Tallinn today as she came through two hill-hill closing matches and beat Germany’s Veronika Ivanovskaia 7-6 to win the EPBF Estonian Open. It was especially pleasing for Zalewska as she had endured a torrid previous twelve months as she searched for that elusive fifth title.
“I think it was tough because the last couple of Euro Tours I was really, really bad and finished 13th and 17th place, you know, and I was waiting for that moment when I broke through with my game and started to enjoy playing and not be scared,” said Zalewska.
“So, I was really enjoying it and didn’t stress too much of course. It was quite emotional for a few moments. I’m so happy that I played well under pressure in two hill-hill matches.”
With the tournament played down to the final four, Zalewska faced No.1 ranked player, Eyllul Kibaroglu (Turkey) in her semi-final match and dug deep to clinch the match in the deciding rack to move herself into the final.
Oliwia Zalewska (POL)｜©EPBF
There she faced Ivanovskaia who had earlier defeated Melanie Sussenguth 7-4 to book her place in the final two. The German has only played in three of the last six Euro Tour events and with a best placed finish of ninth, a final appearance was a welcome return to form.
Played out in the Kalev Sports Hall, the match was always close and inevitably went to a final rack decider. Understandably, the play went back and forth as both girls tried to keep it tight but in the end, it was Zalewska who prevailed.
She said, ”I think my nerves influenced me in a positive way so I could focus more but sometimes when the emotion is too much it can go in another direction. We practice a lot to keep our nerves on a leash so I tried to be focused and tried to play as best as I could. It’s back to the practice table now and I’m looking forward to the next Euro Tour in April.”
It was Ivanovskaia’s second Euro Tour final and her performances throughout will give her hope that the best is yet to come; “I honestly don’t think nerves cost me – I was actually, throughout the whole match, stable, not too nervous and in the moment. I really enjoyed myself out there and in the end, it didn’t really matter to me if I won or lost because I’m working a lot at the moment on the mental side of my game to truly enjoy what I’m doing.”
All the matches can be viewed live by visiting www.epbf.com/tournaments/eurot
Results, live scoring, and draw are available at www.epbf.com
Veronika Ivanovskaia (GER)｜©EPBF
Zalewska 拿下愛沙尼亞公開賽冠軍
2023年女子歐巡賽首站在愛沙尼亞塔林的 Kalev 體育館圓滿結束。Zalewska 在單敗淘汰階段先是 7-2 與 7-4 接連打敗 Anna Riegler (奧地利) 和 Louise Furberg (瑞典)，接著在半決賽中以 7-6 力克目前歐巡賽排名第一的 Eylül Kibaroğlu (土耳其) 晉級決賽。而她的對手 Ivanovskaia 則在16強中擊敗同胞選手 Yvonne Ullmann-Hybler，緊接在八強與半決賽連過兩關分別淘汰塞爾維亞的 Bojana Šarac 與另一同胞 Melanie Süßenguth 闖進決賽。
決賽在 Oliwia Zalewska (波蘭) 與德國的 Veronika Ivanovskaia 之間展開。Zalewska 在第12局 7號球灌中袋為，讓 Ivanovskaia 回到場上並把握住機會拿下該局將比數扳平 6-6 進入搶尾局；第13局 Zalewska 衝球未有球進袋，Ivanovskaia 上場接手，然而在打進4號球後母球拉桿的走位卻洗了中袋，這也上她將即將到手的勝利給了出去，最終 Zalewska 以 7-6 擊敗對手，拿下個人第5座的歐巡賽冠軍。
Zalewska 說: “最近幾站的歐巡賽我的表現真的都非常不理想，我一直在等待著，等待著當我突破了自己，開始享受比賽而不是害怕它的時候。所以我真的很享受在比賽之中，雖然仍有幾次情緒很激動的時刻，但很高興我在兩場艱苦的比賽中頂住了壓力。我認為緊張情緒對我產生了正面的影響，所以我能更加專注，當然過與不及，有時可能會讓事態朝另一方向發展。對此我們進行了很多訓練，努力集中注意力並發揮自己的最佳水準。我期待著下一站歐巡賽在四月份的到來。”
“老實說我不認為這是因為緊張讓我付出了代價，整場比賽中我的心情很冷靜也穩定，並沒有過多的緊張情緒，而且在那當下的我真的很享受比賽。最後，輸贏對我而言並非最重要，因為現在的我在比賽的心理層面上下了很多功夫，做了很多的努力，以讓自己真正地享受著當下自己正在做的事。” Ivanovskaia 說道。