Queen Ina Rules in Turkey

Ina Kaplan

INA KAPLAN CEMENTED her position at the top of the PREDATOR Ladies Euro Tour ranking as she completed three championship victories out of three, beating Switzerland’s Claudia Von Rohr 8-0 to seal the Predator Ladies Antalya Open.  It’s been a stellar year for the German lady with victories in Slovenia in July, Italy in August and now Turkey. Already leading the rankings, she now has an unassailable lead as the season draws to a close.

In well over a decade paying on the Euro Tour, Von Rohr had previously managed a quarter-final appearance on several occasions and she started a big outsider against an in-form Kaplan. And so it transpired. It was Kaplan’s seventh Euro Tour title in her career.

Von Rohr won her semi-final match by a draining 6-5 scoreline over Slovenia’s Ana Gradisnik while Kaplan triumphed 6-3 over Jolien Schuurman (NED).

Commented a jubilant Kaplan, “It’s just awesome and I’m over the moon! I can focus now a little bit better and I’ve made some adjustments to my mental game and that was key.”

The final got underway promptly and the German No.1 took the opener against the break and looked set to take the second before a missed 8/9 combination gifted a great opportunity to Von Ruhr. She left herself a real tester on the 10-ball, though, which went wide of the pocket. Kaplan duly potted it to move to 2-0.

A dry break from Von Rohr left a difficult table but with an open shot on the 1-ball, Kaplan set about it. A two-way shot on the 2-ball missed but left it nicely covered by a group of balls mid-table. The escape was an easy one and they traded shots until Kaplan downed the 2-ball to give herself a chance. She then missed the 4-ball into the centre pocket – it fell into the opposite bag – to lose the table. Von Rohr had a chance but a miss on the 7-ball effectively handed the rack to Kaplan.

A dry break from Kaplan left the 1-ball hooked and Von Ruhr’s push-out allowed the German lady to tuck the cue ball up nicely. Von Rohr’s miss gave Kaplan a ball-in-hand opportunity and she confidently went through the table to make it 4-0.

With nothing down from Von Rohr and a shot on the 1-ball, Kaplan was in another strong position and she laid another tight snooker for her opponent. She managed to escape but left the 2-ball on but Kaplan missed it. Von Rohr couldn’t make a telling shot to gain any advantage, and Kaplan ran through the table to reach the hill at 5-0.

A dry break brought in their respective safety games and with zero margin for error, Von Rohr needed something to go her way. After multiple visits, Von Rohr finally pocketed the 1-ball but snookered herself on the 2-ball, fouling as she tried to make contact. The three-foul was a definite possibility as Kaplan once again tucked the cue ball away to elicit a second miss from Von Rohr.

However, with the balls open, Kaplan elected to pocket the 2 but hooked herself behind the 5-ball. She missed the pink 4 with a one-rail escape and with ball-in-hand, the Swiss lady had a chance to open her account. She failed on the brown 7 which just about summed up the match for her. It wasn’t done yet though as Kaplan wobbled the 8-ball in the jaws of the pocket. Von Rohr missed the 9-ball though and that was that as Kaplan wrapped it up for the win.

Kaplan said, “I’ve known Claudia for over ten years; we’ve played each other and played World Championships together and we’re friends. I was really happy for her that she got in the final and was happy to play her in the final, which was cool for me and I really focused on that feeling.

“Of course, I knew that her battle against Ana (Gradisnik) was hard so the chances were good for me, I think.  Next is Christmas, so it’s family now but next week is the German Championships so I will play there so I’ll bring my kids with me. Of course, I’ll do my best in the New Year and try and keep this going,” she added.

As well as the prize money, there are Tour ranking points on offer. This week’s Euro Tour tournaments are 10-ball and players compete in a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 32 competitors for the men and last 16 for the women. From there it is single elimination until the finish. The men’s matches are races-to-8 racks with alternate break, while the women play a race-to-6.

There is plenty more pool in Antalya as the Dynamic Billard European Seniors Championships get underway tomorrow with the men’s 45+ and 55+ 14.1 events.

Results, live scoring, and draw are available at www.epbf.com

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