THERE WAS FURTHER action in both the 2026 Banca del Fucino WPA Women’s 10-Ball World Championships as well as the Predator Wheelchair Open. In addition, the Fujifilm Women’s Double Master Showdown got underway this afternoon. It’s the Predator Pro Billiard Series’ first visit to Italy as the luxurious Rome Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria Hotel plays host to the week of premium billiard tournaments.
A victor on the winner’s side of the draw today was Chinese Taipei’s Chou Chieh-Yu who defeated China’s Han Yu in straight sets. Chou is gunning for her third WPA World Championship, having won this title in 2022, and then the World 9-Ball the following year. She now faces Margareta Fefilova-Styer for a spot in the last 16.
She said, “In this match, my concentration was really good. When I’m focusing on how to make the next ball, my focus and concentration was maintained pretty good. Han Yu is an outstanding player and she has received many big awards so when competing against her I need to be careful, but this time, I think I played well and hope I can continue to play like this.”
Another player with two wins from two is Kristina Tkach, who carried off this very title two years ago. After defeating the dangerous Argentinian Soledad Ayala yesterday, she beat Chiang Shui-Ching (TPE) to advance to a match against Savannah Easton for a spot in the single elimination.
Tkach has been suffering with an unpleasant bout of jetlag but battled on, “I’ve been struggling big time with my game; I’ve been struggling with jet lag the whole tournament. Last night I had the first night of actual sleep and two nights before I had three hours the whole night so I felt extremely tired and sleepy the whole match.
“Somehow, I managed to stay in the match and pull through and do my best with what I have right now. Luckily my opponent was struggling with jet lag also. Whenever you pull such a big win (in 2024), it always puts so much confidence in you that I’m capable of doing this because once you experience winning, it’s not as hard to win the second and third time,” she concluded.
Underway today was the Fujifilm Women’s Double Master Showdown, which features 16 pairs playing the best of three sets with each set a race to three. Early winners were the duo of Savannah Easton (USA) and Seo Seoa (KOR) who defeated Kennedy Meyman and Kaylee McIntosh 2-0 in their opener.
Commented Easton, “I think our chemistry is very good around the table and hopefully we can keep it up. Her all-around game is good; pocketing, table control but I like her composure at the table the most.“
Seoa added, “Everything about her is good and she’s improving more and more and I love her game. We can do everything on the table and hopefully we will play better and better. Yesterday I practiced with her and actually we played really really good so we are the best team here and have a chance to be champions!”
Another winning duo was Jasmin Ouschan and Pia Filler who added a second win, defeating Chou Chia-Chia and Hong Xin-You 2-0 to advance to the last eight. Both players appeared to be having tremendous fun as they took the rough with the smooth en route to the win.
Commented Ouschan, “ I was struggling with the table, the speed, much faster than the other tables, so I was having a hard time adjusting but enjoying it with her. We were always staying positive which is easy with Pia because whenever there’s a mistake, she always talks that that’s passed and we’re moving on and we’re having fun, so for sure we had a good time and I’m glad it worked out.
Filler added, “From the beginning I knew that we were such a strong team together but there’s only strong pairings here. We didn’t play our best but we always stayed positive so let’s see tomorrow. It doesn’t matter what game I play; I always want to enjoy life and enjoy playing and try to always have fun whatever pressure situation comes up. “
The Predator Wheelchair Open continued today with four matches on the one-loss side. With four of the quarter-finalists already set, play resumes tomorrow with the Loser’s Qualifications round followed by the last eight. The semi-finals and final play out on Monday evening when the destination of the $10,000 top prize is determined.
The players are back at it on Sunday morning at 10.00 with Loser’s Round 2, followed by Winner’s Qualification, and live streaming of Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4 for all events can be found on YouTube, via the Pro Billiard TV channel – https://www.youtube.com/@ProBilliardTV
For all results, live scoring and draw visit the events’ homepage https://probilliardseries.com/event/2026-rome/
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