THE 10-BALL MEDALS were decided on Saturday night at the PREDATOR EUROPEAN SENIORS CHAMPIONSHIPS and it was golds for Ferdi Ozdemir in the 45-plus category, Henrique Correia in the 55-plus and Sinem Kokten in the ladies division.
Kokten came through a hard-fought contest, defeating Yvonne Ullmann-Hybler (Germany) in a deciding rack, while Correia coasted past Finland’s Juha Hyyrylainen 7-0. The 45-plus final, Ozdemir overcame an early deficit to find his best form and defeat Valtteri Virtanen (Finland) by 7-5.
Taking place at the De Bonte Weever Hotel in Assen, the Predator European Seniors Championship features 159 players from 24 countries contesting four disciplines of pocket billiards across three categories – men, 45-plus and 55-plus and 45-plus ladies.
In the 45-plus final, Turkey’s Ferdi Ozdemir found himself in a tight spot as he trailed Virtanen 1-4 having taken the opening rack. Feeling that his game was off, he took his time out and came back a different man and he won six of the next seven racks to close out the match and claim his first individual gold medal.
Commented Ferdi, “This is unreal to me. I didn’t understand what was going on here as I was still in the match mode. I think it will take a couple of days for me to understand that I’m a European Champion finally and officially. I’m very proud and it’s a very nice moment. This is something I’m living for and expecting and finally, I get my trophy.
“This is one of my strengths – I’m good at coming back. After 4-1 I took a time-out as something was going wrong with me. But confidence came back and it was a very good recovery. The eighth rack was very tough but when I ran it out, I believed I could make it.
“I am fighting for this for years. I cannot make it in the men’s division but finally recognised that I’m over 45 so why not in the senior division so I was very excited for it and fought hard for it. So, this is an unbelievable moment,” he concluded.
Bronze medals went to Tomasz Bak of Poland and Gianluca Boni of Italy.
The 55-plus final turned out to be a bit of a canter for Portugal’s Henrique Correia as he white-washed Juha Hyrrylainen. The Finn, at 66, was the oldest player in the championships but he proved no match for an in-form Correia. The Portuguese can now add a gold to his straight pool bronze medal.
He said, “I always say that the last one for me is the most special one as it’s a sign that I’m still here. Remember Jose Mourinho? This is the special one! I was extremely focused and every shot felt amazing, so confident, and my pacing was so nice and it really gave me extra motivation to play a good final and make the people happy.
“I really feel I’m playing very good pool and I need to just keep going, playing every ball, enjoying every shot and I think if I can do it good then I have some chances in the other two events.”
Filling out the podium with bronze medals were Reiner Wirsbitzki (Germany) and Turkey’s Adil-Erdem Ozelci.
In the ladies 10-ball decider, Turkey’s Sinem Kokten came back from the dead as she turned a 4-0 deficit into a 5-4 triumph to pip Yvonne Ullmann-Hybler at the post and claim her second individual European Seniors gold medal after success in 9-ball last year.
Small in stature but big in heart, Kokten was thrilled with her success, “It was a really good night for me. When I was 4-0 down, I just thought ‘enjoy the game’ and at 5-4 I’d won and I’m really, really happy. I made two fouls and one easy mistake and my mental game wasn’t going well after that. But in the end, it was perfect for me.
“I’m really proud of myself as I’m 47 years-old and I still love this game. When I came here, of course I have targets but it’s not pressure on me. I just tell myself, ball-to-ball, set-to-set and match-to match and that’s enough for me.”
Alexandra Cunha of Great Britain and Michaela Schorn (Germany) took the bronze medals.
With the 10-ball now completed, Sunday sees the resumption of the 8-ball tournaments as well as a continuation of the two team tournaments in the evening.
Streaming of Tables 1 and 2 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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