The PREDATOR DUTCH OPEN got underway today at the De Bonte Weever Hotel in Assen, Netherlands, as 185 competitors went to it, covering three rounds of action, Round 1, and then a round each on the winners and one-loss side.
A player making a welcome return to the Predator Euro Tour is Wiktor Zielinski from Poland. He last played in 2023 and has three Euro Tour titles to his credit including winning as a 16-year-old in Treviso in 2017 and then back-to-back titles 2021/22.
Zielinski got his account underway, beating local Alexander Hulshof and is looking to start where he left off in his quest for the title.
He said, “It’s good to be back and good to start with a solid 9-3 win. I missed the Euro Tour a bit so it’s nice to be back and I hope I’ll enjoy this event. I’m looking forward to lifting another trophy but still, it’s a long way to go and I need to improve a bit but I hope the balls will roll my way and let’s see what happens.”
Like many top players today, Zielinski is a globe-trotter and he claimed a trio of Predator Open events in the United States in his time away from the Euro Tour.
“Lately I’ve played quite well so hopefully I will keep that up but I don’t know. I just want to enjoy it and play my best and hopefully I’ll manage to play my ‘A game’. A lot of old faces here that I’ve known for a long, long time so it’s great to talk with some old friends!” he added.
Also, successful today were a couple of young Dutch players, both with outstanding junior pedigrees, who both stayed on the winners’ side after differing performances.
Firstly, Mika Van Berkel, a 2024 WPA World Junior Champion, won two comfortable matches – 9-1 and 9-2 – to give himself an early night.
He said, “It’s fantastic playing at home in Holland. It’s been a while, like six years since we’ve had the Euro Tour here so it’s good to be here seeing some familiar faces so that’s a plus side and I feel very confident here.
“I’m feeling good and it’s nice to have some rest now as I feel I’m not used to the table. I feel like if I play more, I’ll keep getting better. It was tough for me at first (playing in the adult ranks) and I used to play better in the youth than I did in the men’s competition. But since I got more experience at the moment, I’ve played so many tournaments and I’m getting more used to it and feeling more confident day by day. I’m enjoying it as well,” he added.
Later, fellow Dutchman Yannick Pongers struggled his way through against Pablo Garcia-Lagar (Spain), winning 9-8 when the Spaniard missed with three balls left on the table. Like Van Berkel, Pongers is a former WPA World Junior Champion, and he admitted he will need to improve to make headway.
“It started off really horrible for the both of us, missing easy shots every rack almost and I think we were both struggling with the table and the new conditions again. In the end, though, I got lucky when he missed the easy 5-ball. In my head, I thought he would run out but deep down I was hoping for a chance and I got it but didn’t expect it.”
Pongers also struggled to adjust to the event taking place in his home country; “The Euro Tour here feels different to the usual Euro Tour because you travel a lot and it was just a pretty short drive so it doesn’t really feel like a Euro Tour but I’m trying to boost myself mentally and be ready for it,” he concluded.
Another Euro Tour veteran returning to the fray after a lengthy absence is Croatia’s Ivica Putnik. Making his debut on tour as far back as 1996, Putnik has recently resumed after a near eight-year hiatus. Never a winner on tour, his career highlight was a 14.1 gold medal at the 2008 European Championships.
He said, “I think I played on tour for the first time in Italy, in a small place called Salsomaggiore so it’s 29 years ago! I was out from the game for eight years for some unbelievable reasons but I used the time very well. I was always playing pool but there was no money like there is these days. I opened a pool hall, a very nice place in Zagreb, which was doing really, really good and I got a baby eight months ago too.
“Every time when I have some crisis in the game, I remind myself and look at my European Championship cup and think about those days and think a lot about that title. On coming back, first of all I want to enjoy the game. I hope I will play two or three good years, firstly to enjoy the game and my private hope is that I will make a good result somewhere. The next few months I expect something from myself, I’m getting stronger and stronger and feel like I can still play,” he added.
Action resumes tomorrow morning at 9.00 with Round 2 on the winner’s side of the draw, followed by Round 3 on the one-loss side. 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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