Predator European Seniors Pool Championships
Organised by the European Pocket Billiard Federation
Gandia, Spain
21st October
10-BALL UNDERWAY AT SENIORS IN SPAIN
AFTER THE DRAMA of the opening straight pool finals on Tuesday evening, the 10-ball commenced today as the ladies joined the competition with the 46-plus and 56-plus men. All three tournaments played down to one side of the last 16 draw with play set to resume on Thursday morning at 9.00.
Over the past few years, Portugal has been a dominant force at the European Seniors. Top of the medal table in 2024 with six golds among a total of 11 and second last year with four golds in a total of 14, a reliable squad of Henrique Correia, Jorge Tinoco, Manuel Pereira and Miguel Silva has consistently delivered the goods.
He sat out last year’s tournament but in ’24, Miguel Silva enjoyed a headline year winning golds at 8-ball and 9-ball and a silver at 10-ball. He’s back this time around and safely negotiated his opening day of 10-ball matches as he defeated straight pool medallist Francisco-Rafael Barcelo by 7-1, then followed that up defeating Finn Sasu Raudas by the same scoreline before beating Laurent Bourdelles 7-4.
Commented Silva, “I feel that I’m playing good but in straight pool – we don’t play that game in Portugal – but I feel very good for the 10, 8 and 9-ball and teams so let’s see. I think I’m at the same level as 2024 or even a little bit better and I’ve practiced very well and I think I’m playing good.
“We have a lot of good players for 20 years now and they play this event and the Euro Tour events for a lot of years and we have good teachers like Manuel Pereira and Henrique Correia and Tinoco is a good player also so we’re older and have a lot of experience and feel good as a team.”
Yvonne Ullmann-Hybler made her seniors debut last year and enjoy some great success winning the full set of medals - gold in 8-ball, silver in 10-ball and a bronze in the team tournament. She won her opening game in the ladies’ 10-ball to advance to the last 16, beating Murielle Vauthier of France by 5-3.
By her own admission it wasn’t her best performance but she closed out the match with some quality shot-making, “The great shots in the end were the only big shots I made! I honestly struggled at the beginning of the match; I made some mistakes and when she didn’t make the ball in the pocket, every time it went safe so I had no chance to come into the match. So the last rack was very good for me.
“I didn’t have much opportunity to practice here and so the first match for me was tough and I was struggling. Last year, I enjoyed it; I practiced a lot in the month before and it was great to go home with a first place and second place. To focus here is really easy as it’s nice weather here and there is beach and sun so you can enjoy the time when you’re not playing.”
One of the stars of last year’s championships was Germany’s Martin Steinlage who claimed a gold in 8-ball and silver in 14.1 in the 56-plus division. He got his 10-ball campaign off to a flyer, winning three matches to advance to the last 16, conceding just four racks in the process.
Commented Martin, “I’m very pleased and liked it. Perhaps I can play a little bit better? Sure, but I’m very happy with my performance, so let’s look how it is tomorrow. With last year, I’m not the good player who will expect something like that so I was a little bit surprised. Sure, you come here and you want to win gold but I was surprised but very happy with my medals.
“Because of the season I’ve had this year, not playing good in the league and some tournaments, but then I come here and see all the people here, and you know them and you like them, they’re good people and I get a little bit of self-confidence and feel good about playing here. I enjoy this very much; it’s a good tournament and so much fun for all of us and the German team, we’re all together and help each other.”
Play continues tomorrow with the 10-ball which plays to a conclusion on Friday evening.
Played over nine days, the Championships conclude on Tuesday 27th with the finals of the three 9-ball tournaments and the two team competitions. Following on from that is the final Predator Euro Tour event of the year – the Revora Spanish Open which starts on Thursday 29th and concludes on Sunday 1st November.
Streaming of Tables 1, 2 and 3 for the duration of the Predator European Seniors Championships can be found on YouTube, via the Pro Billiard TV channel - https://www.youtube.com/@ProBilliardTV
For all results, live scoring and draw, visit www.epbf.com/tournaments/european-championships/
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