THE INAUGURAL PREDATOR Pro Billard Series women’s doubles event was won by Kristina Tkach and Chou Chieh Yu as they beat Seo Seoa and Savannah Easton 3-1, 3-1 to lift the Fujifilm Women’s Double Master Showdown title at the Rome Cavalieri Hotel. With many of the matches in the quick-fire tournament being decided by a shoot-out, it a more conventional finish as the winning pair seemed to have the edge throughout.
It was a revenge of sorts for Tkach and Chou as they overturned their Winner’s Qualification defeat by Seo and Easton to carry off the $20,000 winners cheque. For Tkach it was some compensation after being eliminated from the WPA World 10-Ball Championship earlier in day after a gruelling match that ended in a shootout.
Commented Chou, “I can’t believe it, she always had me covered so I really enjoyed this game. I just did my best and focused but I’ve forgot everything now! I really enjoyed it a lot of fun and exciting.”
Tkach managed to put her earlier defeat behind her; “When you play race to three nothing can be comfortable about it so it’s always a rollercoaster of emotions and a little bit of luck. I might take a couple of shots of limoncello as we’re in Itay but this afternoon was really heart-breaking for me. I always give my best and didn’t want to let my partner down so I got myself together and just tried to do get the job done.”
The Banca del Fucino WPA Women’s World 10-Ball Championship is down to the quarter-finals after the round of 16 played out today and it’s Asian players who are dominating. They fill seven of the eight remaining spots – there are two from the Philippines, two from Chinese Taipei and one each from Japan, China and South Korea.
The sole non-Asian is Margareta Fefilova Styer of Belarus and she battled past Jasmin Ouschan, winning 3-1 in a very tight match where the first three sets all ended 4-3. Fefilova Styer has been increasing her stock with a string of high finishes in recent times and her breakthrough win may be around the corner.
She said, “I feel like we both struggled a lot in the match, we didn’t play our ‘A’ games, it was a lot of safety battles and a lot of tricky runouts. She’s always a tough opponent and you know even if you’re up 2-0 in sets, you can expect her to come back and keep grinding.
“We went 4-3, 4-3 in both sets so it could have gone either way and I knew I had to stay focused, stay concentrated and wait for my opportunity. I made a couple of mistakes at the end but was able to close it out when it mattered and that’s most important part.
“There is so much pressure when you get to the final 16. It’s really hard to describe and you have to experience it yourself. This is why, when people watch, they will see more mistakes by the players the closer it gets to the final. It’s just a lot of pressure and everybody wants that title so badly,” she concluded.
A winner via the shoot-out was Amber Chen (TPE) who put the misery on Kristina Tkach, winning 4-3 from the spot after they shared the first four racks and reached a 3-3 impasse in the decider. Only three racks were won by the losing player over the first four sets, which emphasised the huge swings in the game. Chen won on her last visit to Europe, taking down the Carrinho Women’s Open, part of the PBS Austria events in June, and will be fired up for tomorrow.
She said, “Tkach is a strong player so it wasn’t easy. I felt the first set I played really good and the second and third sets she played amazing – very very well. I felt very stressed but I felt if she made some mistakes I could have a chance. It was a really good game. The shoot-out is really hard for everyone but I still believed in myself, didn’t make a mistake so I’m very happy.
“I feel my mind changes a lot because I don’t always believe in myself and when the stress is very big, I cannot hold it but when I won in Austria it helped me believe more in myself and I’m enjoying it again. It gets very nervous now but I still enjoy the game so I’ll keep going.”
With her speedy yet quiet demeanour, defending champion Chezka Centeno moved into the quarters with a commendable 3-1 win over Savanah Easton (USA), conceding just two racks over her three winning sets. Seeing the table quickly, the three-time WPA World Champion wastes little time and it will take someone’s very best game to get past her.
Modestly, she said, “I’ll do my best to become champion again. She made a few mistakes and I was lucky to runout but I’m happy with the way I’m playing.”
Pro Billard Series Rome now focuses on the WPA World 10-Ball Championship. The quarter-finals commence on Wednesday at 11.00 followed by the two semi-finals at 17.00. The championship decider is at 13.30 on Thursday. 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/@
For all results, live scoring and draw visit the events’ homepage https://
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