Predator European Seniors Pool Championships

Organised by the European Pocket Billiard Federation

Gandia, Spain

25th October

LOPEZ-FIBLA, CORREIA & SILVA RULE SENIORS 8-BALL

THERE WAS MORE Portuguese joy as Henrique Correia and Miguel Silva once again carried off the gold medals, this time in the 8-ball division at the PREDATOR European Seniors Pool Championships in Gandia, Spain. In the ladies’ final, Silvia Lopez Fibla made up for her heart-break loss in the 10-ball title match to lift the 8-ball trophy for Spain.

Correia made it three out of three, having won both 10-ball and straight pool as he beat Robin Heber (Germany) by 7-2. Silva collected another gold in his thrilling 7-6 win over Austria’s Raoul Reichegger, after winning the 10-ball title earlier in the event. For Lopez Fibla, it was redemption as she defeated Ulrika Andersson (Sweden) by 5-3.

Henrique Correia is on track for an unprecedented four European Seniors Championships out of four as he marched through the 8-ball tournament undefeated. With 9-ball to come it seems the unstoppable dynamo from Viana do Castelo has every chance of creating Seniors history.

He said, “It’s insane to win three in a row, it’s a dream. For so long here I never did it so for me it’s an amazing achievement, and I’m really very proud about it. They all want to kill me; they’re waiting outside because someone else wants the 9-ball! But I still want it and I will try my best and I keep enjoying the game because I really love this game so let’s see what I can do in the 9-ball.

“I spend more time giving classes because I’m a pool and snooker instructor too. I don’t really have that much time to practice but I’m always on the table and always in the game. Also, I love to miss the game so if I don’t practice too much it’s not a big deal so when I come here, I come with the thirst to try and play the game that I really love,” he added.

The two bronze medallists were Reiner Wirsbitzki of Germany and Samuel Fasel (Switzerland).

When Silva Lopez Fibla lost out to Sinem Kokten in a final rack decider in the 10-ball final, it hit her hard but she bounced back in the best possible way. The Spaniard fought hard on the one-loss side winning some 5-4 matches as her grit and determination got her to the gold medal.

Commented Silvia, “Well, I’m very happy because two days ago I lost the 10-ball final and I was very disappointed. And yesterday was a hard day, and I don’t play good but today I feel very well and I’m very happy and I’m proud of me!

“Yesterday, I was thinking about the 10-ball but today was another day and I felt better, more comfortable on the table. I couldn’t find the break but I did it! I like 9-ball but I think the race is short, small sets but we will see. Some mistakes will make the difference.”

Completing the podium with bronze medal finishes were Sinem Kokten (Türkiye) and Germany’s Veronika Kordian.

Anything Henrique Correia can do, so can Miguel Silva as the Portuguese carried off his second trophy, winning a high-quality final against Reichegger in match that went to the final rack. Earlier, Silva had won a similar nail-biter in the semi-final as he defeated Ferdi Ozdemir 7-6.

He said, “It feels very good as it was very difficult to win this championship this time. I was a little more nervous than in the other one (10-ball) because the results were very tight and it wasn’t very easy. I tried to control my nerves and it worked.”

Completing the medals with bronzes were Anthony Brabin of Cyprus and Türkiye’s Ferdi Ozdemir.

Monday sees the resumption of the 9-ball competitions, which conclude on Tuesday morning. There are more Teams matches as those two tournaments head towards the Tuesday afternoon finals.

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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