AFTER THE 11-day extravaganza that was the Predator European Pool Championships, the action in Tallinn continued today with the start of the Predator Euro Tour ARC ESTONIAN OPEN in open and women’s divisions. It’s the second event of six in the 2025 Predator Euro Tour series and got underway on Thursday morning, with the two championship matches scheduled for Saturday evening at 19.00.
In the open event, Hungary’s Oliver Szolnoki is on the hunt for his second Predator Euro Tour title after a highly-successful 2024 which saw him win in Antalya in November, reach the semi-finals in Treviso in August as well as carry off the 10-ball gold at the European Championships.
Earlier, he emerged victorious in a thrilling match against Casper Matikainen (Finland) who became Predator European 9-Ball Champion just two days ago. The match went hill-hill before Matikainen left all 15 balls on the table following the final break shot to leave Szolnoki to run out for the win.
He said, “It was a tough draw for the first round – I’m the number two seed so I would have expected something easier. It was nice though as I felt good on the table, even yesterday at practice, I felt the speed quite good. There were so many break and runs and the match came down to one or two mistakes. It was very shaky and at hill-hill it was his break and I made a big mistake at 7-6 up so mentally I already thought it’s over as I thought he would run out for sure. Luckily, he broke dry and I could take my last chance.
“I’ve been playing these tournaments for a long time and I had to wait for my first win and I hope the second one comes faster. I like 8-ball because most of the time we play 10-ball and 9-ball, so I’m happy that it gets a bit more exposure but as a player it’s tough because the game itself is a bit easy on the pro level so I think a lot of matches are 50/50 so it’s not easy. But all-in-all, it’s strategy so it fits my style,” he added.
Looking for her maiden Predator Euro Tour win is Monika Zabek (Poland) who enjoyed an excellent 6-4 over Pia Filler, who came into the event as the definite form player, following some huge European Championship successes. It all came down to a pressure 3 with the score at 5-4, that sealed the victory for the Pole.
Commented Zabek, “It was a very tough match as Pia is a great player but it’s easier to focus with those kind of players as you cannot make mistakes. On that 3-ball, I knew that it was everything or nothing so it was important. I was a little bit shaky but said to myself that it’s all or nothing.
“This is why I’m practicing and that’s why I’m coming to tournaments as I believe in myself and I believe that I can go all the way. I’m not practicing as much as I want, three times a week, as I also have a full-time job so it’s pretty hard for people who work and play pool but I always try my best,” she concluded.
The man to beat here in Tallinn is Joshua Filler, who having sat out the Predator European Championships, started his ARC Estonian Open campaign with a solid win over Piotr Likowski (Poland).
He said, “I missed a fairly easy ball and I made the cue ball twice on the break and that definitely didn’t help but he fought hard in the beginning and missed one or two easy balls. Then I broke and ran a couple of games. I felt good on the table, and obviously when the tournament starts, I’m always right there and I’m going to give it all.
“From my perspective, it doesn’t matter what game I play. I have to figure out how to play my best but 8-ball makes other players play much better because if you have a good pattern, the shots are easier because you have more options unlike 9-ball or 10-ball. I try and break well and put pressure on my opponents.
“Wherever I go I always try to win, I’ve played five big events this year, won four of them and one final that I lost so I’ve got a good record which puts a little more pressure on myself but I just try to enjoy it,” he concluded.
This year sees a new streaming platform for all Euro Tour and European Championships events.
Table 1 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 https://www.epbf.com/tournaments/eurotour/information/
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