THE FIRST BATCH of gold medals were dished out today at the 2026 PREDATOR EUROPEAN SENIORS CHAMPIONSHIPS and it was Henrique Correia (Portugal) and Italy’s Fabio Petroni who came through tough title deciders to get their hands on the ultimate prize. In the 56-plus division Correia defeated top class German Reiner Wirsbitzki by 75-50, while the 46-plus final was a thriller as Petroni got the better of Jim Telfer (Netherlands) 75-74.
Telfer, the transplanted Scotsman, lead 74-29, spurning two difficult chances to seal the win, before Petroni mounted an epic comeback. His penultimate break was perfect – allowing him to run the table, but his final effort fell a little more awkwardly. He reached parity with Telfer but with little available, his two-way shot missed the pocket but left him safe.
With nothing out, Telfer tried to make the 1-ball into the side pocket out of a cluster but fell short, leaving an open ball for the Italian who made it to claim what was an unlikely victory.
Commented Petroni, “I’m feeling very well and very happy. I’m surprised that I won because I’d thought I’d lost the match – Jim was in front and needed just one ball and after I get some luck and some good rolls and I finally won and I never expected to win. It’s a nice surprise, lovely!
“Yesterday I didn’t play well but today I played very good and I hope tomorrow to play good but every day it’s changing. I’m in good shape but you need to have concentration on every shot and never get nervous but we will see but I hope to play like that again.
“I’m so proud and very happy. I’ve practiced a lot at home and now my confidence gets higher, but me under pressure, I don’t play well but we will see!” he added.
Bronze medals went to Francisco Rafael Barcelo of Spain and Norway’s Roger Lysholm.
In the 56-plus division it was a battle between two players who had a welter of experience in the seniors as well as bulging trophy cabinets to back it up. Wirsbitzki took the early initiative with a 27-ball run before Correia got himself right back in it as he rattled off a 44 to lead 54-29. The prolific German wasn’t done as he reeled off 21 points to trail by 4.
That was to be his final contribution to the scoreboard as the ebullient Correia pocketed the remaining 21 points for victory.
Correia said, “It’s crazy, I’m still doing it, being on the top. The most amazing feeling and this last one is always the best one because it means that you’re still capable of doing it. So, I feel great! I was all in with a crazy shot at the end and I did it so I’m very proud that I could do it.
“Reiner is the best player of straight pool in the whole championships and you can include the 46 and 56, this is really true. But a final is a final and if you’re not at your best you can be surprised and I did it again.
“In total it’s 15 individual golds at the seniors and five in the teams so 20 in total and it’s a beautiful number. I’m here to compete and I’m here to honour my family, my friends and especially my country and my city, and my sponsors so I have to do my best and go all in again,” he concluded.
Correia is back to defend his 10-ball title tomorrow morning as the ladies join the action with an afternoon start.
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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