Ina Kaplan ( Jentschura; born 14 May 1987) is a German professional pool player. She is an eleven-time German national champion and is the second female player (after

Franziska Stark Franziska Stark (born 4 July 1961) is a German pool player. A winner of 24 Individual German Championships (7 in 8-Ball, 5 in 9-Ball and 12 in 14.1), she has also had considerable international success. Her career highlight so far has been wi ...

) to win three of four disciplines in one event at the championships. In 2010, Kaplan reached the final of the

European Pool Championships European Pool Championship (also called Dynamic European Championships) is a pool competition organized by the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF). The tournament is held annually since 1980. It should not be confused with the series of small ...

ten-ball Ten-ball is a rotation pool game similar to nine-ball, but using ten balls instead of nine, and with the 10 ball instead of the 9 as the "" Although the game has existed for since the early 1960s, its popularity has risen since the early 2000s ...

, finishing as runner-up behind

Jasmin Ouschan Jasmin Ouschan (; born 10 January 1986) is an Austrian professional pool player from Klagenfurt, Carinthia. Her first professional competition occurred in 2002, but she did not officially become a professional member of the Women's Professional ...

. In the Women's Euro Tour, Kaplan won events in 2013, 2014, and 2017 and finished three times as a runner-up. Kaplan is third on the all-time list of winners in the tour, behind Ouschan and

Kristina Tkach Kristina Olegovna Tkach (; born 19 January 1999) is a Russian professional pool player. She became the 2017 WPA World Nine-ball Junior Championship winner, defeating Lee Woo-jin in the final 9–6. Tkach is a four time European champion hav ...

with a total of 12 medals from the events. Kaplan also promotes pool events, usually women's events. She is married to fellow German pool player Jörn Kaplan. They share a professional pool club, where she was the first woman to play in the highest tier of German club pool, the .

Early life

Kaplan began playing

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions of ...

on a family holiday in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

at the age of 12. However, she did not play

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky pool ...

until she was 16, playing at a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

for free on Monday nights. Later, Kaplan was asked to join a pool club; she joined BSV Essen and would later play professionally for the club.

Career

2007–2011

In the 2007 German Championship, Kaplan reached the

eight-ball Eight-ball (also spelled 8-ball or eightball, and sometimes called solids and stripes, spots and stripes or rarely highs and lows) is a discipline of pool played on a billiard table with six pockets, cue sticks, and sixteen billiard balls (a ...

quarter-finals for the first time. The following season, she reached the semi-final of the same event. In 2009, Kaplan won her first national championship with victories against Kim Witzel and Simone Künzl in eight-ball and

nine-ball Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-ball) is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with at each of the four corners and in the middle of e ...

, respectively. In March 2010, Kaplan participated at the

for the first time. She reached the semi-final in the nine-ball event and the final in the

event to face

, where she lost 7–4. At the 2011 European Pool Championships, Kaplan reached the round of 16 in both ten-ball and

straight pool Straight pool, which is also called 14.1 continuous and 14.1 rack, is a cue sport in which two competing players attempt to as many billiard balls as possible without playing a . The game was the primary version of pool played in professional ...

2012–2014

In 2012, Kaplan reached her first final in the Women's Euro Tour, finishing as runner-up at the 2012 Treviso Open in

Guimarães Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga. Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCWorld Heritage Sitesince 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved and a ...

. The following season, Kaplan reached the semi-final of the

2013 Italian Open Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

and entered her first world championship, where she reached the knockout rounds of the 2013 WPA World Nine-ball Championship. In November 2013, Kaplan played at the 2013 WPA Women's World Ten-ball Championship, reaching the round of 32. In the Euro Tour, Kaplan reached the semi-final of the 2013 Austria Open before winning jer first Tour tournament at the 2013 Treviso Open. In the 2014 European Championship, she finished as runner-up in nine-ball, losing to Katarzyna Wesolowska in the final 2–6. In the 2014 German Championship, Kaplan became the second female German player (after

in 1991) to win three disciplines in the same year, with wins in straight pool, nine-ball, and ten-ball, doing so whilst six months pregnant. In addition, she reached the final in eight-ball, losing to Melanie Suessenguth. Since 2011, Kaplan has played at billiards club BC Siegtal 89. She played with the team in the , becoming the first woman to play in the highest German pool league. Kaplan competed in the 1st Bundesliga while pregnant in 2014. In the 2014 Team World Championship, Kaplan represented Germany alongside

Thorsten Hohmann Thorsten Hohmann (born 14 July 1979 in Fulda, West Germany) is a German professional pool player, nicknamed "the Hitman." He is a three-time world champion, winning the WPA World Nine-ball Championship in 2003, and 2013, and winning the WPA Worl ...

Ralf Souquet Ralf Souquet ( ; born 29 November 1968) is a German professional pool player. His nickname is "The Kaiser". Since 1988, he has won more than 200 tournament titles, including 23 Euro Tour titles, 20 European Pool Championship and 12 German Pool C ...

, and Sebastian Staab. The team defeated Austria 4–2 and South Africa 6–0 to finish second in its group, behind Great Britain. In the second round, the team defeated Russia 4–2, tied 3–3 with Japan, and lost 5–7 to Japan on a shootout.

2015–present

Since 2015, Kaplan has played in numerous Euro Tour events. In 2017, her most successful year, she reached the semi-finals in both the

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and Klagenfurt Opens, before winning the Italian Open.

Overall record

Overall, Kaplan is a three-time

Euro Tour The Euro Tour is a series of professional pool events set around Europe, founded in 1992, and created by the European Pocket Billiard Federation. The Tour's first event was the ''Belgium Open'', held on May 29 – 31, 1992. The event was won by M ...

winner, having won the 2013 Treviso Open, 2014 Luxembourg Open, and the 2017 Treviso Open. She also has reached the final on three occasions and reached number one in the rankings on three occasions, first in 2013, and most recently in 2017. , Kaplan is third on the all-time list of winners on the tour, behind

and

. With a total of 11 German national titles, Kaplan is second in all-time winners behind

. By event, she has won nine-ball on five occasions, ten-ball on three, eight-ball twice, and straight pool once.

Personal life

Kaplan works as a research assistant in the Department of German Studies of the

University of Siegen The University of Siegen (german: Universität Siegen) is a public research university located in Siegen, North Rhine-Westphalia and is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, a society of Germany's leading research universities. The Univers ...

. She has also organized her own pool tournaments. In 2014, Kaplan organized the Autohaus Keller Cup, an eight-women tournament played inside the City-Galerie mall in

Siegen Siegen () is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly sho ...

. Kristina Grim won the event, but Kaplan won the second event held the following year. The events notably allowed players to not adhere to the standard WPA dresscode, with players being encouraged to "dress elegantly". In 2012, Kaplan married pool player Jörn Kaplan, with whom she won the 2014 German Mixed Championship. The couple have one child.

Titles

* Women's Euro Tour **2013 Treviso Open **2014 Luxembourg Open **2017 Treviso Open **2022 St. Johann im Pongau Open * **Straight pool (2014) **Eight-ball (2009, 2015) **Nine-ball (2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016) **Ten-ball (2013, 2014, 2015)

References

External links

Profile
on the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Ina 1987 births Sportspeople from Essen German pool players Female pool players Living people