A 13 DAY FESTIVAL of pool gets underway this Thursday, 25th September, with the start of the PREDATOR DUTCH OPEN, taking place at the De Bonte Weever Hotel in Assen, Netherlands. There are 185 competitors doing battle over three days of play, with the final scheduled for 21.00 on Saturday evening.
The PREDATOR DUTCH WOMEN’S OPEN gets underway on Saturday, concluding Sunday and on Tuesday 30th September, the annual PREDATOR EUROPEAN SENIORS POOL CHAMPIONSHIPS, organised by the European Pocket Billiard Federation starts. Running for nine days, the Seniors features three categories – plus-45s, plus-55s and ladies competing across four disciplines.
With various European stars currently competing in the Predator WPA 10-Ball World Championship in Vietnam, the top-ranked player here in Assen, at No.5, is Euro Tour stalwart Roman Hybler. Competing among Europe’s elite players for well over 20 years, Hybler, 47, has one Euro Tour win to his name, claiming the top spot in Willingen, Germany back in 2002.
He said, “It feels nice but although ‘top-ranked player’ is good, everyone can play here. So, I’ll play match-by-match and we’ll see what happens. It gives me a good chance but it’s the momentum in pool-billiards and you need luck in the tournament and if you have both you can win.
“I’ve felt the last two or three times that I can win it but at the end, I’ve had a really good opponent, they’ve played good and it’s given me a lot of pressure and it’s the same here. You can’t make any mistakes and you can lose without making any mistakes but I hope I can win my second Euro Tour.
“My goal is one more Euro Tour for sure and my goal is also to be first on the Euro Tour ranking. Also, a world pool championship has also been a goal from my youth until now and last month I won the European Championship in Heyball which was a surprise for me which gave me a lot of confidence.”
Hybler’s wife Yvonne competes on the women’s circuit here and his son Alessio is a promising junior and a medallist at previous European Youth Championships.
“As a family, we speak a lot about billiards! My son lives with my ex-wife, my wife also plays and is here for the women’s division and also plays in the European Seniors, and my son is really good and I hope he can go far in his next events. We will see. I play with my son in the Bundesliga together in a team and yes, that is really nice for me,” he concluded.
Another player looking to make a big impact this week is Norway’s Emil Andre Gangflot. The 22-year-old has been making his way in the professional ranks after a highly successful time as a junior that saw him claim four golds, a silver and five bronze medals at EPBF European Youth Championships over the years.
Now fully integrated into the professional ranks, Gangflot is looking ahead to this week’s challenges as well as playing in the Netherlands once again; “I’ve played here three times before; two European Championships in 2019 and 2021 and I played one Euro Tour in Leende. It’s nice here, a lot of people with knowledge of pool and it’s good crowds and Holland is a good country so yes, I like it here.
“Obviously, a lot of players are at the World 10-Ball but it’s still the Euro Tour where it’s always tough with so many good players, I still have to bring out my A game to do good. I’ve had a good summer though.
“I played well in the USA and did my best result in a Matchroom major when I made the quarter-final in the Florida Open and also made it to last 32 in the US Open so I’m really happy with that. This year, I feel a lot more consistent in all the tournaments I’ve played. All my more recent Euro Tours, I’ve made the last 32 or better, and at the Las Vegas Open, I made the last 32 also, so I feel I’m playing more consistent but still more to go,” he added.
Action starts at 9.00 on Thursday morning and streaming of Tables 1 and 2 for all Euro Tour and European Championships 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 https://www.epbf.com/tournaments/eurotour/information/
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