THE 45th ANNUAL PREDATOR European Pool Championships get underway tomorrow (Saturday) as hundreds of cue-carrying athletes converge on Tallinn, Estonia for the 11-day extravaganza. Contested in four categories – men, women, wheelchair users and under 23 men – there are a total of 15 events being contested from Saturday 29th March to Tuesday 8th April.
In the first year of Predator’s multi-year sponsorship with the EPBF, the Championships are taking place at Kalevi Hall, in the centre of Tallinn, a metropolis designated the 2025 European Capital of Sport.
Arguably, the strongest European Championship line-up in some time, there will be gold-silver and bronze medals being fought for in straight pool, 8-ball, 9-ball, 10-ball as well as men’s and women’s teams.
EPBF Sports Director Tommi Lamminaho gave his view on the forthcoming festival of billiards: “We’re looking forward to world-class pool of course. When you look at Europe and the field that we have here it really strong. We’ve got some athletes that were away for a year or two that are coming back like Albin Ouschan, so it will be interesting to see how it all pans out.
“Tallinn’s status as the Sports Capital of Europe this year means that a lot of events are happening in the city. At the opening ceremony we’ll have people from the Olympic Committee, like the Vice-President as well as the Vice-Mayor of the city so it just shows that the country and the city are very supportive of organised sports events like the European Championships.
“Looking ahead, I can see the likes of Poland and Germany taking medals but I also think that some of the smaller countries will be doing well. I’m sure we’ll see at least one medal going to the Balkan countries, but that remains to be seen.
“The field is also well-represented with the Nordic countries but it’s not so easy now to pick but looking at the rosters the countries are sending here, it’ll be a fierce battle for sure. In addition, the new Predator ARC tables will be in operation, and they’re not the easiest so that certainly adds something exciting to the mix,” he concluded.
With 15 separate tournaments, the start and finish dates of each event is as follows:
Starts Completes
Straight Pool (Men) Sat 29 Mar Sun 30 Mar
Straight Pool (Women) Sat 29 Mar Sun 30 Mar
10-Ball (Men) Mon 31 Mar Weds 2 Apr
10-Ball (Women) Mon 31 Mar Weds 2 Apr
10-Ball (Wheelchair) Mon 31 Mar Weds 2 Apr
8-Ball (Men) Weds 2 Apr Sat 5 Apr
8-Ball (Women) Weds 2 Apr Sat 5 Apr
8-Ball (Wheelchair) Weds 2 Apr Sat 5 Apr
8-Ball (Under 23s) Weds 2 Apr Sat 5 Apr
9-Ball (Men) Sun 6 Apr Tues 8 Apr
9-Ball (Women) Sun 6 Apr Tues 8 Apr
9-Ball (Wheelchair) Sun 6 Apr Tues 8 Apr
9-Ball (Under 23s) Sun 6 Apr Tues 8 Apr
Teams (Men) Thurs 3 Apr Tues 8 Apr
Teams (Women) Thurs 3 Apr Tues 8 Apr
Play gets underway at 9.00 tomorrow (Friday) with both men’s and women’s straight pool. There are 93 competitors in the men’s division, where they play double elimination down to the last 32, and 47 players in the women’s, who move to single elimination at the round of 16.
This year sees a new streaming platform for the Predator European Championship events. Tables 1 and 2 will be streamed throughout on
YouTube, via the Pro Billiard TV channel – https://www.youtube.com/@ProBi
In addition, competing players are permitted to stream their own matches on outside tables to their public social media accounts.
For all results, live scoring and draw, visit
www.epbf.com/tournaments/europ
EPBF Sponsors
▸ Predator Group
▸ Iwan Simonis Billiard Cloth
▸ Aramith Billiard Balls
▸ Longoni Cues
▸ Kamui Brand
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