Predator European Seniors Pool Championships
Organised by the European Pocket Billiard Federation
Gandia, Spain
22nd October
10-BALL SET FOR FRIDAY CONCLUSION
THE SEMI-FINALS OF the 10-ball tournaments are set, here at the PREDATOR European Seniors Pool Championships in Gandia, Spain and play out to a conclusion on Friday evening. One of the big guns of the 46-plus category is Portugal’s Jorge Tinoco. With a seniors track record of three gold, two silver and two bronze medals, he will be adding to that tally as he defeated Markus Kamuf (Germany) by 7-3 in their quarter-final match-up.
The Portuguese is the defending champion here and it will be down to Finland’s Sami Karttunen to stop him tomorrow.
Part of a very strong Portuguese squad, Tinoco is focused on getting it done tomorrow; “I don’t think anyone comes here without thinking of winning something of course I have my golds and gold is my main objective but let’s see what happens but I’m now in position for that.
“Experience here gives extra belief but extra pressure too because we have to maintain composure and focus and sometimes, we have to play good and it’s too much pressure sometimes to come here and play good. You saw the (straight pool) final where the guy had two balls to win and that’s very bad for him and he lost in 10-ball and that’s too much pressure. It gets complicated!
“With the team, it’s great; we are all friends and that makes things easier. We are a great team on the table and outside the table. Of course, we have to win and sometimes that’s not what happens but gold is the main objective,” he added.
The other semi-final features another strong Portuguese player as Miguel Silva goes up against Anthony Brabin of Cyprus.
Another defending champion is Sinem Kokten (Türkiye) who made her way comfortably into the ladies’ last-four courtesy of a 5-2 win over Norway’s Mona Lundetræ. Kokten is no stranger to the podium here, having bagged three golds in her previous two visits. She now faces Tiina Nakari (Finland) for a shot at the trophy.
Commented Kokten, “We have two arenas here and it was the first time I played in this one and it’s really different and that’s why it was a little bit harder but I won and I’m happy. It’s getting harder because I want to be a champion again and that’s big pressure and you don’t want to lose and you want to get a gold medal again and many people want me to also that’s why it’s harder.
Kokten, having won both 9 and 10-ball golds in previous championships is looking for 8-ball glory too, “I like 8-ball and this year a medal in 8-ball was my goal so I’m really focused on it but the semi-final is very important for me because I want that trophy.”
The second semi-final will be between Silvia Lopez-Fibla (Spain) and last year’s triple medallist, Yvonne Ullmann-Hybler of Germany.
In the 56-plus division another Portuguese star, Manuel Pereira will be looking to add to his career tally of four gold medals following on from an epic come-from-behind victory over Norway’s Reider Schive-berg. The Norwegian is a latecomer to the sport, having only started his billiards’ journey around six years ago.
He looked all set for a big upset win as he lead Pereira 5-0 and then 6-3 but as the match moved to its conclusion, both players started to feel the pressure as everything became increasingly difficult. It made for a great watch as Pereira clawed the racks back to level it up at 6-6. Schive-berg had a chance for victory with the 9 and 10-balls left but managed to miss, before it fell to Manuel to claim what seemed an unlikely victory.
Portugal and Norway fill the semi-final spots with Pereira taking on Bjorn-Erik Bergh and Henrique Correia facing Geir Holmqvist.
The two Team competitions are well on their way and tomorrow, it’s the start of 8-ball in all three categories for most of the day with the 10-ball semi-finals at 18.15 and the finals at 20.00.
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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