After having not played on international level for a long time, Diana Khodjaeva (BEL) came back to the international women’s pool stage and took everyone by surprise. She won her first three matches in a row. First, she took down Kinga Rauk (POL) with 7:4. Then, Khodjaeva went ahead and thrashed Ewa Bak (POL) with 7:2. This victory took her to the winner’s qualification round for a sport in the single elimination. Her opponent was #3 ranked player Marharyta Fefilava (BLR). Both players took their racks in turn and none of them managed to get away from the other. After 12 racks, the score was 6:6. Fefilava broke rack 13 and had a ball down but the break was illegal. So Khodjaeva came in. She decided to play safety and forced Fefilava to commit a foul. With ball in hand, Khodjaeva continued and cleared the table, performing as well and as calm as if she had never stopped playing.
In an earlier match today, Veronika Hubrtova (CZE) defeated Vania Franco (POR) by a whisker with 7:6. At hill-hill, Franco had the break shot. She pocketed the 1-ball but the break was illegal since no ball crossed the head string. A safety battle followed up to a point where Franco missed an easy 4-ball. Hubrtova pocketed the 4-ball cross the whole table and found herself with only the 5-ball, 7-ball and 9-ball on the table. She cleared up and won the match, sending Franco to the loser’s side. Aleksandra Guleikova (RUS) came up with a huge upset, sending favoured Oliwia Czuprynska (POL) to the loser’s side after a fierce fight with 7:6.
Every day, up to two matches will be streamed LIVE over the EPBF Facebook page. Check for updates and announcements.
The Predator St. Johann im Pongau Open will commence tomorrow, June 16th, at 10:00 CET with matches from the last 16 players single elimination.
The Predator St. Johann im Pongau Open are played in the Sporthotel Alpina Alpendorf in St. Johann im Pongau, Austria, on up to 22 tables which are all streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be obtained at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.womeneurotouronline.com or visit us on Facebook for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.