SWEDEN’S HENRIK LARSSON claimed the first title of the Predator Pro Billard Series’ Roman stay as he took down the Predator Wheelchair Open, defeating Matej Barjkovic in a third set decider in front of an appreciative crowd at the Rome Cavalieri Hotel.
Elsewhere, the Fujifilm Women’s Double Master Showdown played down to the semi-finals which take place tomorrow afternoon with the final scheduled for the evening, and the Banca del Fucino WPA Women’s 10-Ball World Championships is into the single elimination with the last 16 first out on Tuesday morning.
There was a single round of play – the Loser’s Qualification round – at the Women’s World 10-Ball and two WPA champions played their way through to the single elimination. South Korea’s Seo Seoa, who lifted the World 9-Ball title last year, defeated Wei Tzu-Chien (Chinese Taipei) 4-2, 4-2.
Seo, who beat Kristina Tkach last December in Jacksonville, Florida for her maiden World Championship, found herself on the one-loss side here in Rome. After going down in her opening match of the tournament to Mayte Ropero, she battled back on the wrong side of the draw, recording four straight wins to progress.
She said, “I lost the first one so that made me better because I went to the losers side and my draw is tough. Actually, I feel happy about that last match as I played well and hopefully, I’ll play like this tomorrow too. I’m just trying to improve and I never changed my mindset (after World 9-Ball win) because I’m still thinking my skill is not enough and I’m just trying to get better and better.”
2009 & 2013 WPA World 10-Ball winner as well as 2024 World 9-Ball champion is the Philippines’ Rubilen Amit who defeated Soledad Ayala (Argentina) 4-0, 4-2 to take her place in the last 16. Like Seo, Amit lost early to compatriot Chezka Centeno, who also defeated her in the final of this tournament last year, but took a ride through the losers’ bracket to progress.
Commented Amit, “I think at this stage everyone is dangerous and I just tried to focus on my game, one ball at a time and tried to lessen my errors and I was just lucky enough to pull through. I try not to think about last year as it just pressures me to do the same thing this year or better it by winning the title but I’m just trying to enjoy every match.
“I think the experience comes when it’s crunch time, when I can’t handle the nerves but know what to do, somehow, which is I go into prayer. So, when it comes to that point in the game where I know I can’t handle it alone, I go into prayer and that experience has helped me in the previous world championships where I’ve played in the finals,” she added.
The quarter-finals of the Fujifilm Women’s Double Master Showdown were played which produced the four pairings for tomorrow morning’s semi-finals. To emphasise the tightness of the games, three of the four were decided via the shoot-out which put nerves and bravery on full display. Only Savannah Easton and Seo Seoa went the conventional route as they eliminated Wang Wan-Ling and Sofia Mast 3-1, 3-0.
Pia Filler and Jasmin Ouschan went out to Silviana Lu and Sakura Muramatsu via spot shots as did Rubilen Amit and Chezka Centeno at the hands of Yuki Hiraguchi and Chihiro Kawahara. Finally, Kristina Tkach and Chou Chieh-Yu won in overtime, defeating Liu Shasha and Yu Han.
The shorter sets and quality of player makes the women’s doubles hugely entertaining a welcome addition to the Pro Billiard Series cannon.
The Predator Wheelchair Open was won by parasport great Henrik Larsson who defeated Matej Brajkovic in a match that might have ended early before going to a deciding set. Larsson looked in total control as he took the first set 3-0 and held a 2-1 lead in the second, effectively on the hill.
The Slovenian player had other ideas as he stole the set to set up a decider but it was Larsson who put his foot down to take it 3-0 and with it the title and $10,000 winner’s purse. As a showcase final for the wheelchair game, it couldn’t have gone much better as both players showed their skills in a highly competitive encounter that was greatly appreciated by the attendant crowd.
Larsson was understandably ecstatic in victory; “I’m just a little bit excited right now. Many shots were very solid but a couple of crucial ones cost me in the second set. But I’m as happy as I can be! You’ve just got to hang in there and I’m kind of used to hanging in there. I have 35 to 40 years in my backbone and I’ve been here before and I’ve lost before in these situations.
“Even though you have your heart racing you just have to keep on doing what needs to be done. I looked solid and I started off solid in the third and that was sending a message too. I’ve been working with Predator for 15 years and this is the first parasport event so I felt a little extra nerve as I really wanted to win this for Predator. It’s just amazing and I hope we can see other actors integrate parasport with able-bodied and do these kind of fantastic events,” he added.
With two events left to complete, the show is back again on Tuesday with the last 16 of the WPA World 10-Ball Championship at 10.00. That is followed by the semi-finals and then final of the Women’s Doubles at 15.00 and 18.30 respectively. Live streaming of Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4 for all 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 the events’ homepage https://probilliardseries.com/event/2026-rome/
Predator Pro Billiard Series Equipment
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