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Saturday 30 April - Monday 2 May 2022
Joshua Filler - Germany
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Dynamic Billard Treviso Open - Fabulous Filler Claims Third ET Crown
Reporter: Luke Riches on behalf of the EPBF
Photography: ©EPBF
JOSHUA FILLER is the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open champion following a hard-fought 9-5 victory over Klenti Kaci at the BHR Treviso Hotel in the northern Italian city. It was the 24-year-old German’s third Euro Tour victory in a meteoric career that seems to have no limits.
The final was not the break and run fest that was anticipated; rather it turned into a tactical battle predicated on some supreme skill from both players. Kaci (Albania) didn’t do much wrong but was edged out in the safety play that dominated many of the racks.
An excited Joshua was analytical in victory; “The break was just not working for us and mostly we had to play a push out after the break which makes it more tactical and more often, I had the better ending. He played unbelievable though; neither of us missed an open shot which showed how great we played this final.
“We both deserved something but that’s how it is in sports – you only have one winner in the end and luckily this time it was me and I’m just delighted to have won it for the third time.”
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With an enthusiastic crowd in the house, Kaci won the lag but had a disastrous first shot of the match as he scratched on the break, which his opponent took full advantage of to take the early lead. The second rack was cagey before Filler broke the deadlock to take a 2-0 lead.
A big break from Kaci left him snookered on the blue 2 and he elected to push out; it was the start of a pattern of unfortunate breaks. The pair exchanged some high-quality safeties and Kaci played a tight snooker on the 4 ball which Filler kicked out of but left it on. The tall Albanian took his chance to get to 2-1.
A dry break from Joshua left the 1 ball blocked and Kaci pushed out to a jump shot. Filler gave it back and Kaci made it and then potted the 3 ball with a great kick shot. From that position he cleared the table to level the score at 2-2.
There were more breaking woes in the next as an illegal one shot from Kaci got Filler back in and he wasted no time restoring his lead. Filler, though, scratched on the next break and Kaci immediately levelled with an elementary 2/9 combo.
Yet another unlucky break shot saw the 2-ball blocked by the 7 and Kaci pushed out to a jump shot. Ultimately, Joshua flashed in a long 2-ball and then whizzed through the table for a 4-3 lead and then completed the first break and run in the eighth game to open up a two-rack lead.
It was essential that Kaci stay in touch and he carefully cleared the balls in the next to get the score to 5-4. Another fruitless break, this time from Filler, saw the 2-ball blocked by the 9 so he pushed out to a long 2 with the white on the rail. Kaci put him back in and he played a difficult snooker. Kaci left the 2 ball available and Filler took the chance to restore his two-rack lead at 6-4.
A good break by Kaci saw a ball drop and the remainder in the clear. Under pressure, he ran out to stay on Joshua's coat tails. Joshua then broke the back of the match as he followed suit with a terrific break and run and then won the next to move to the hill at 8-5. With the break off posing so many questions, Filler played it well and gave himself the golden opportunity to close out the championship.
The champion added, “I’m super, super happy! Tomorrow (Monday) we’re going to leave for the World Pool Masters so I have to strike it out of my head that I won because I have to focus on the next event because I want to win this one. Tonight, I’m going to have some drinks maybe and enjoy it but tomorrow I’m off to Gibraltar and need to get focused there. “
Earlier in the semi-finals, Filler had thwarted Wiktor Zielinski’s attempt to become the first man since 1994 to win three consecutive Euro Tour titles, defeating him 9-4. Kaci meanwhile, got the better of Tomasz Kaplan by a 9-3 scoreline.
All Euro Tour tournaments are 9-ball and players compete in a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 32 competitors, and then single elimination until the finish. All matches are races to 9 racks with alternate break.
All the matches can be viewed at www.kozoom.com
Results, live scoring and draw are available at www.epbf.com
Finalists: Joshua Filler - Germany, and Klenti Kaci - Albania.
Joshua Filler - Germany
Dynamic Billard Treviso Open - 16 Players Remain
Reporter: Luke Riches on behalf of the EPBF
Photography: ©EPBF
THERE ARE NOW just 16 players left in the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open as a further 118 competitors were eliminated following an intensive day’s play at the BHR Treviso Hotel. Wiktor Zielinski (Poland) is still on track for his third successive Euro Tour title as he beat Besar Spahiu of Albania 9-6 to give himself a match against the Netherlands’ Marc Bijsterbosch tomorrow morning (Monday).
Euro Tour legend Ralf Souquet defines the term ‘fighting spirit’. Having gone to the losers’ side early on at the hands of young Spaniard Jonas Souto, he battled through and avenged that defeat, beating Souto 9-3 before coming from behind to defeat Thorsten Hohmann 9-8 and set up a last 16 clash with in-form Alexander Kazakis of Greece.
The feature match on Table 1 was between the 3 and 4 ranked players on the Euro Tour; Germany's Joshua Filler and David Alcaide (Spain). It was great while it lasted as Filler, who seems to enjoy complete freedom when he is at the table, took a large 6-1 lead as he raced through the racks, seizing any opportunity that came his way.
Alcaide, with the match in danger of running away from him, fired back, taking the next two to reduce the deficit to 6-3. The German star though, steamed through the next rack to take a 7-3 lead. Filler broke and ran the next, coming with some great shots on a messy table to reach the hill at 8-3.
Alcaide took no time in winning the next to get to 8-4 but with the alternate break format, his chances were slim. An illegal break from Filler – two balls were potted but the third never made it past the headstring – gave Alcaide an opportunity. A safety battle ensued before Alcaide came out on top and cleared to get to 8-5 with the break.
The Spaniard took the next for 8-6 before Filler broke off in the next. It wasn’t all easy but he made no errors to close the match out 9-6. He can now look forward to facing Poland’s Konrad Juszczyszyn in the round of 16 tomorrow.
In what was always likely to be a close-run thing, Francisco Sanchez Diaz, the European No.1, beat Oliver Szolnoki (Hungary) 9-8 to keep his potential hold on the number one spot intact. Make no mistake, the Hungarian youngster is one of the fastest rising stars in world pool, and his scalp will give Sanchez a load of confidence for his last 16 match against Tomasz Kaplan on Monday.
The tournament continues at 10.00 local time on Monday morning with the last 16 round. The tournament concludes on Monday evening with the televised final stages.
All Euro Tour tournaments are 9-ball and players compete in a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 32 competitors, and then single elimination until the finish. All matches are races to 9 racks with alternate break.
All the matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com
Results, live scoring and draw are available at www.epbf.com
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz - Spain
Wojciech Szewczyki - Poland
Dynamic Billard Treviso Open - Day One Completes
Reporter: Luke Riches on behalf of the EPBF
Photography: ©EPBF
FOLLOWING A LENGTHY day’s play at the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open at the BHR Treviso Hotel in the northern Italian town, some of the field has been whittled down after upwards of 15 hours of intense play. Of a starting line-up of 204 players, 70 were eliminated from the competition, leaving 134 left to battle on day two, Sunday.
Wojciech Szewczyk, hot off a crowning victory at the recent World 10 Ball Championship, was one of the few big names to succumb in their opening match. He lost out 9-1 to a fired-up Elliot Sanderson, one of the five British players in the field. The Polish star recovered though, beating Sweden’s Kai Kraft by a similar scoreline to keep his hopes alive.
Germany’s Ralf Souquet, a recent European Championship gold medallist, fell to Jonas Souto, the young Spaniard and former WPA World Junior Champion. 9-7 was the scoreline. Like Szewczyk, Souquet followed it up with a 9-2 victory over Antonio Colucci (Italy).
Another German veteran, Oliver Ortmann, made a welcome return to the Euro Tour. A previous winner on 14 occasions, Ortmann went down in a hill-hill opening match at the hands of Admir Muho (Albania). However, he bounced back with a confident 9-1 win over Italian Valerio Castellano to take his place in Sunday’s line-up.
Elsewhere, the youngest competitor in the event, 12-year-old Maks Benko (Slovenia) survived a a great day to stay alive in the event. After losing his first match, he enjoyed a fine 9-2 win over France’s Stephane Herman to set up a game against highly experienced Finn, Petri Makkonen, on Sunday. Despite his age, the youngster looks a marvellous prospect for the future as he exuded confidence and exhibited some quality shot-making.
The tournament continues at 9.00 on Sunday morning with the remainder of the Losers Round 2 matches as well as Losers Round 3 and Winners’ Round 2 games. The tournament concludes on Monday evening with the televised final stages.
All Euro Tour tournaments are 9-ball and players compete in a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 32 competitors, and then single elimination until the finish. All matches are races to 9 racks with alternate break.
All the matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com Results, live scoring and draw are available at www.epbf.com
Ralf Souquet - Germany
Oliver Ortmann - Germany
Szewczyk in action Lasko Open
Dynamic Billard Treviso Open Presented by BHR Treviso Hotel & 5M Games
Reporter: Luke Riches on behalf of the EPBF
Photography: ©EPBF
THE CREAM OF European pool is gathered in the Northern Italian city of Treviso this weekend for the second event on the 2022 Dynamic Billard Euro Tour roster, the Treviso Open. Presented by BHR Treviso Hotel, who are hosting the event, as well as 5M Games, over 200 players will be in action, all chasing an elusive Euro Tour title over three days of compelling 9 ball action.
The tournament commences on Saturday 30th April, and concludes on the evening of Monday 2nd May. This is a new time slot for the 2022 season, as the Tour looks to consolidate its new live television broadcast which currently shows the closing stages of each tournament to a host of countries across the continent.
It's fair to say that in the last six months, European pool has belonged to the Poles as both Wiktor Zielinski and Wojciech Szewczyk have swept all before them in a bonanza of world-class competitions. The 21-year-old Zielinski started his run in November when he won this title in Treviso and then followed that up by winning the next Euro Tour event, the Lasko Open in February. Shortly after, Wiktor bested a strong international field to claim the Las Vegas Open, a Predator 10 Ball event.
For countryman Szewczyk, the reward for a life-time of hard work and perseverance paid off on 1st of April when he was crowned World 10-Ball Champion in Las Vegas, beating Christopher Tevez in the final to lift the title.
Commented Szewczyk, “It was the biggest achievement of my life, pool-wise and overall, I’d say and this can only improve my confidence here in Treviso. A Euro Tour tournament is something I’ve wanted to win for a long time already. I did the math and I’ve played over 50 Euro Tours in my life and haven’t come out on top yet.
“I know the World Championship is the biggest event, but the Euro Tour is still the one I really want to win. Las Vegas showed me that the work I’m putting in over the last months and years is in the right direction. I don’t think I made a big mental jump, rather the win was proof that my continuous work has been beneficial.
As to his prospects this week in Italy, he said, “It's very important here to start strong and if you go through the first two rounds as a seeded player then you’re already in the winners’ qualification. If you lose quickly, though, then you have five matches ahead and there is a very good chance that if the draw is unlucky then you’re going to have to beat three great players just to qualify for the last 32 so if you have an early hiccup then it can cost you.”
As well as the prize money, there are Tour ranking points on offer as well as world ranking points, so there is everything to play for. All Euro Tour tournaments are 9-ball and players compete in a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 32 competitors, and then single elimination until the finish. All matches are races to 9 racks with alternate break.
All the matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com Results, live scoring and draw are available at www.epbf.com
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