Predator European Seniors Pool Championships
Organised by the European Pocket Billiard Federation
Gandia, Spain
24th October
8-BALL HOTS UP AS EC ENTERS CLOSING STAGES
WITH THREE MORE medal categories to be determined, the PREDATOR European Seniors Pool Championships in Gandia, Spain is hotting up as the three divisions of 8-ball played down the quarter-final stages today. They resume tomorrow late afternoon and play to a finish to determine the destination of the medals.
Portugal currently top the medal table with three golds and two silvers – their nearest rivals, Italy and Turkey, have a single gold each, and the Portuguese squad is well placed to add to their total in the 8-ball. They have three players into the last eight – Miguel Silva in the 46-plus and Henrique Correia and Manuel Pereira in the 56-plus. Who can stop them?
One player with an eye on the gold medal is Germany’s Reiner Wirsbitzki who came through a hill-hill struggle against Christian Johannessen of Norway in the 56-plus division. Wirsbitzki enjoyed a stellar time at this championship last year when he appeared on four podiums, winning gold in straight pool and a bronze in the three other disciplines.
He said, “It was a hard match, a very hard match. I’m very proud to be here as it’s my 17th time at the European Championships so in the quarter-final, I’m very happy and we look forward. I hope for 8-ball and 9-ball and for my team. We play on Sunday morning for the loser qualification for the team and it is a long week and we’re not at the end – I’m starting! I come here to maybe win one competition, I think so and I hope so and I hope I can win 8-ball.”
Norway enjoyed some medal success in the 10-ball division with both bronzes in the 56-plus category. Bjorn-Erik Bergh and Geir Holmqvist were the successful athletes and both players are still on track in the 8-ball and on opposite sides of the draw in the last eight.
Bergh looked good in beating Sweden’s Glenn Andersson 7-2, and he is one win away from another podium finish; “I’m actually a little bit surprised as 8-ball is not my favourite game, but the break went well and I played strong so I’m very happy with that. I can’t describe it (10-ball bronze medal) to finally get a medal in the European Championship is a big honour and I think I played well except for the semi-final but I think I played my best.
“The team are very nice people and we stay strong together and we practiced a lot together also, in Norway, and we compete together all the season and we’re very happy to be together and it makes us strong, all of us. To get a medal is very good for the team and we’re going to go home with some medals this time and we’re very happy for that,” he added.
Through to the quarter-finals in the ladies division is Sweden’s Ulrika Anderson who came back from an opening match defeat to win two matches today. She defeated Ortenzia Hafliger (SUI) on the one-loss side in a game that went to the final rack, and then beat Christine Steinlage 5-3 in the last 16 to progress.
Anderson has a host of medals – a gold, two silver and two bronze – from previous European Seniors, and after a shaky start in the 10-ball, she is in position to add to that tally.
She said, “It was a tough win and I’m still looking for my game as I haven’t found it yet, sometimes it shows its face but mostly not, so far. I come here with some expectations at least and I want to do better than this. Success here is for my pool heart which wants to win and it would be fun to win.”
Sunday sees the start of the 9-ball competitions, the final individual event of the Championships. The 8-ball resumes with the quarter-finals at 16.30, the semis at 18.30, concluding with the three title deciders 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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