THE PREDATOR TURKISH Open is down to its final day with just eight players remaining in both men’s and women’s events. The men’s division has been dominated by the Polish contingent who fill six of the quarter-final spots and are guaranteed at least one finalist, having shut-out the bottom half of the draw.
In amongst it is Wojciech Szewczyk, who is on track for his maiden Euro Tour win after coming from behind, reeling off seven consecutive racks, to put paid to Petri Makkonen’s aspirations in the round of 16.
He said, “That was definitely a mood changer because I was feeling good at the table but I just wasn’t getting any chances and my break wasn’t working well and Petri was always making one or two balls to the side pocket.
“So, it looked like it was working in his favour and at that point you feel like you basically have no chance but I tried to wait for what was to come and work on my break, try to figure it out and hope for his mistakes.
“He actually jumped off the table once and then he came up dry so I took all the chances and the break started working in my favour and that’s what changed the tide in the match.”
Suffering from a bug, Szewczyk wasn’t able to make the hoped-for impact at the European Championship but feels he is back on track; “During the EC I got pretty bad flu; no excuses but I wasn’t feeling physically too well and mentally because my heart really wanted to play but it was just too much sometimes with many matches during the day.
“I played decent 9-ball – I lost the quarter-finals – so that was maybe kind of a warm-up before the Euro Tour. I’m feeling much better, I already had some table time so maybe all-in-all that gives me an edge. It’s three tough matches tomorrow so it’s actually a very long way. I’ve won five with three to go so I’m just a little over 50% of the way.”
Into the women’s quarter-finals is Miriam Steiner (Germany) who beat veteran Ine Helvik (NOR) to set up a meeting with compatriot Pia Filler. Steiner has only ever played two Euro Tour events before, in 2018 and 2023, but enjoyed some great success in the recent Predator European Championships where she bagged a team gold in the company of Ina Kaplan.
She said, “Since the end of last year I really started practising again and it’s definitely a confidence boost that I won at the European Championships with Ina in the team event. It really helped me with my game and even though I was feeling a bit shaky at the beginning of the match because it’s hard, if you play just one game a day, to really be there on point.
“Before the European Championship I just hoped to get into the knock-out stages and since I achieved that and felt comfortable on the tables I highered my expectations a little bit to achieve the quarter-finals at least and I did it so I’m really pleased, it’s amazing and I feel the work is really paying off already and I’m looking forward to working harder on my game now.”
Amongst the sea of Polish players in the closing stages is youngster Szymon Kural. A highly accomplished youth player, with European Championship golds as well as 2022 WPA Junior World Champion, Kural is making large strides in the men’s game.
He commented, “It’s really tough, on the European stage, on the world stage. It’s really tough to make some good results but I’m practicing a lot, pool is my life and I’m trying to be better and better, day by day. I’ve had some really good results; I was on the podium on the Euro Tour last year I was second in the Qatar World Cup and that is my biggest achievement in the men’s game so I believe I can do more and I’m just trying my best.”
He can look forward to countryman Radoslaw Babica on Sunday morning.
The final day’s play gets underway at 10.00 with quarter-finals in both tournaments. The semi-finals are at 13.30 and 16.30 followed by the championship deciders at 20.00.
Tables 1, 2 and 3 at the Predator Turkish Opens will be streamed throughout 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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