182 PLAYERS HAVE gathered from across Europe for the 46th annual PREDATOR EPBF European Pool Championships which got underway today in the men’s and women’s straight pool divisions. The championships are contested in three distinct categories – men, women and under 23 men - with a total of 12 events playing out.
Running from Saturday 28th February to Tuesday 10th March, there are a total of 127 men and 55 women competing across straight pool, 8-ball, 9-ball, 10-ball and two team competitions. This is the main European Championships’ second visit to Turkey. Both times the event has taken place in Antalya and for 2026 the venue is the sumptuous Miracle Resort Hotel.
Tommi Lamminaho, who has worked as the EPBF Sports Director for the past four years, is in attendance to help his successor Gino de Ruyter, who is the Tournament Director (and Sports Director) for his first EPBF event. He commented, “It's great to be back here in Antalya for the second time having the "Big EC" of the EPBF within the last six years. The facilities are simply perfect!
Last year's European Championship showed what a great opportunity this event is for our athletes to reach the world level.
“Take Casper Matikainen, who won the 9-ball last year. He played basically all events through the year and is now ranked #30 in the WPA World Rankings and does get automatic invitations from here on. I expect a great battle for the spots in all categories. This year we expect to receive even more spots to the World Championships so there's a lot that comes along with the medals.
“Last year I mentioned the Balkan countries to show their talent but that didn't happen then, maybe this year? Of course, the clear favourites Germany and Poland are here with strong teams but European talent is so widely spread it's going to be an interesting battle with the medal table. Athletes have now had a full year to get used to the new Predator ARC tables and I'm sure that shows during the next two weeks!"
From a Turkish perspective, Ferdi Ozdemir, a double gold medal winner at last year’s Predator European Seniors Championships, said, “It’s a privilege for all the Turkish pool community to be here and to have all the best European players in our arena so we’re very happy to welcome them. I hope they are satisfied with our hospitality because the conditions and atmosphere in Türkiye, to be objective, is one of the best in the world to compete in.
“In Türkiye, three-cushion billiards is the most popular but the pool community is growing, young kids are coming and we’re very motivated to get them on the field so it’s a big privilege for us and I hope it will be a very successful tournament in all aspects.
“To be honest I’ll do my best and I feel ready but it’s not easy to compete here compared to the seniors so I’m just trying to survive but my rotation game play is better than last year so I can assure you that anyone who may beat me would have to play their best,” he concluded.
The start and finish dates of each event is:
Starts Completes
Straight Pool (Men & Women) Sat 28 Feb Sun 1 Mar
10-Ball (Men & Women) Mon 2 Mar Weds 4 Mar
8-Ball (Men, Women & Under 23s) Weds 4 Mar Sat 7 Mar
9-Ball (Men, Women & Under 23s) Sun 8 Mar Tues 10 Mar
Teams (Men & Women) Thurs 5 Mar Tues 10 Mar
With the straight pool concluding on Sunday evening, there are 97 competitors in the men’s division, where they play double elimination down to the last 64, and 46 players in the women’s, who move to single elimination at the round of 16.
Tables 1 and 2 at all Predator European Championship events will be streamed throughout on YouTube, via the Pro Billiard TV channel - https://www.youtube.com/@ProBilliardTV
In addition, competing players are permitted to stream their own matches on outside tables to their public social media accounts.
For all results, live scoring and draw, visit www.epbf.com/tournaments/european-championships/
EPBF Sponsors
▸ Predator Group
▸ Iwan Simonis Billiard Cloth
▸ Aramith Billiard Balls
▸ Longoni Cues
▸ Kamui Brandv