THE SECOND DAY at the PREDATOR Turkish Open completed this evening as the field whittled down in anticipation of some fierce competition at the weekend, culminating in the championship matches on Sunday night.
King of the 8-ball hill at the recent Predator European Pool Championships was Spain’s Juan Carlos Exposito who also bagged a gold medal in the teams event, winning the first point in the final, courtesy of his 8-ball skills. There’s little doubt that he’s among the fancied chances to claim his first-ever Euro Tour title come Sunday.
He came through on the winners’ side, defeating young Swedish star Walter Laikre 7-6 to take his place in the winners qualification round.
Commented Exposito, “I think it was a perfect match; every game was a runout. I made two dry breaks; he made three dry breaks and that was the difference. It was 5-1 to him because of the two-racks breaking and it was my time to break so I made it 5-3 quickly and then he made a dry break so 5-4 and then he also made a dry break in the hill-hill game so I could take it out.”
On his European Championships success: “I still can’t believe it if I’m honest. 8-ball is my game and I’ve been playing 8-ball since I was a kid. I started with 8-ball on a seven-footer and it’s the game I love and I really appreciate it that they now have 8-ball on the Euro Tour. You never know, anything can happen but I will give it my best and we’ll see.”
The hot favourite in the women’s tournament is Jasmin Ouschan who has progressed with two wins from two but it’s not been plain sailing. She was within three balls of losing to Poland’s Julia Babica in her opening game yesterday before prevailing and then edged past Sara Rocha (POR) by 5-3.
Afterwards, she said, “Well since I’m into the last 16, I can’t complain but looking at my game right now, I am not happy at all. There were so many unforced errors on my side and I know, Florida-Vegas-Türkiye-EC, I mean, at some point you’re running out of fuel, I can tell by my focus. No excuses, I’m still in the tournament but I’ve got to find a way to deal with it. I managed to win though and that’s what matters to me right now.
“She (Julia Babica) almost beat me and I kind of beat myself too, I was so frustrated at some point because I was making so many unforced errors and there was really no reason for that. I get it that sometimes you’re totally out of rhythm, you don’t feel comfortable and you kind of have to power through and I did what I could at that point. Luckily in the end, the rolls were on my side and I manged to win 5-4. Not my proudest moment but it’s part of the game and we all have to fight through that too,” she added.
With 29 Turkish players in the starting line-up of the men’s Euro Tour, the pick of the bunch is Ferdi Ozdemir. He made it through to the winner’s qualification round courtesy of 7-2 and 7-4 wins over Mieszko Fortunski and Ádám-Lóránt Gyaraki respectively. He can look forward to Poland’s Dominik Regieli next. Earlier, Ozdemir was part of the Turkish team that claimed the country’s first-ever men’s European Championship medal when they took the team bronze, an achievement Ozdemir was very proud of.
He said, “Actually it’s a very big moment for Turkey, because it’s the first time we get a medal at in the men’s division, even in teams so it’s a very proud moment for me, my team and my country. I hope it will be the start of new beginnings and new hopes in my country so that is very meaningful for us.
“If someone asked me what is my weakest discipline it’s 8-ball because I’m a good rotation pool player but I’m trying to do my best. 8-ball is a very dangerous game to make all the balls. There’s no way out against professionals if you leave anything on the table so there’s a lot more pressure than rotation games and not too many safety battles.
“It’s enjoyable and we are just trying to do our best. I beat Fortunski in the first round which is quite a surprise for me because these Polish guys are monsters, they’re really good. I got my chance and I managed to beat him.”
Play continues on Saturday at the Losers’ Qualification stage in the women’s event and at the Losers’ Round 5 and Winners’ Qualification rounds in the men’s.
Tables 1, 2 and 3 at the Predator Turkish Opens will be streamed throughout 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/
EPBF Sponsors
▸ Predator Group
▸ Iwan Simonis Billiard Cloth
▸ Aramith Billiard Balls
▸ Longoni Cues
▸ Kamui Brand