TAKING PLACE OVER the weekend is the PREDATOR DUTCH WOMEN’S OPEN, the fifth event out of six on the 2025 Women’s Predator Euro Tour Series. The event starts at 9.00 tomorrow, Saturday and there is a full field of 64 players and with 15 of the top 20 ranked players in attendance, a fierce battle is anticipated.
Of the four events so far this year, Jasmin Ouschan has won two, and Pia Filler and Ina Kaplan one each. With Ouschan and Filler on Predator Pro Billiard Series duties in Asia, that presents a greater opportunity for Kaplan to add to the four titles from her last six Euro Tour starts and cement her position at the top of the rankings, a position she has held for some time.
Whilst it’s possibly a position that could pile on the pressure, Kaplan was having none of it, “No, I don’t think I have more pressure being on the top of the Euro Tour ranking, I think it’s the opposite; the other players have the pressure to win against me and I’m feeling quite comfortable in the matches.”
Kaplan puts her success down to regular competition, although accepts that if the women’s schedule undergoes a revamp next year, it may present some logistical issues to her.
She said, “Mostly it’s the consistency of playing every Euro Tour I can. I don’t play the Euro Tour after the European Championships because of my family and my work. I can’t be away from them for so long. But every other Euro Tour I play if I can.
“I’m a little bit scared about next season because I see the schedule has changed to three or four days for one Euro Tour. I must say it’s really complicated for me to play then so I don’t know if I can play the Euro Tour next season. I think it’s great that we have Predator as a sponsor putting more money into the tournaments. But for every woman who plays the ET and also has to work or has kids, it’s really complicated and a little bit different than the men, I think.
“I think I don’t consider my opponents as rivals. We’re playing against each other of course and everyone wants to win but we just play the game and we do our best. They’re just the other player in the chair and that’s my favourite spot for my opponent, in the chair!
“So, I don’t expect to win, I just want to play. The Euro Tour stops are my way to play the love of my life, to play pool. So, I’m really grateful that the Euro Tour is existing and when I can play a tournament, I just want to play and give my best and hopefully that’s enough for the win,” she added.
French teenager Rachelle Enfroy is just starting out on the road and she enjoyed a career-best success when she took gold in the 8-ball division at the Predator European Youth Pool Championships back in July in Slovenia.
Playing in the Open event to get some table time ahead of the Predator Dutch Women’s Open, Enfroy won one of her three matches but her main focus will be the Dutch Women’s Open starting tomorrow. It will be Enfroy’s fifth Women’s Euro Tour start, having recorded a best finish of 17th so far.
She said, “Of course winning a gold at the Youth ECs means I’m much more confident going into the women’s Euro Tour. I think it’s given me a boost and I’m practicing for hours every day. A 16th finish would be good for me here and anything after that would be a bonus.”
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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