Defending World Pool Masters champion Joshua Filler has been knocked out in the opening round of the 2023 edition at the Brentwood Centre in Essex, England live on Sky Sports to two-time winner Niels Feijen in an action-packed opening evening.
Filler came into the tournament looking to become only the second player in the tournament’s history to defend one of the sport’s most historic crowns and the German did some of the early running to take advantage of a Feijen scratch to canter into a 5-1 lead with 9 the magic number for a quarter-final clash. Feijen was warned early on by the referee for soft breaks but that only seemed to spur him on more to turn things around as the Terminator found another gear to produce his best 9-ball and go level pegging at 5-5 and soon 6-5.
Momentum was key to Feijen‘s showing with the break on lock, the Dutchman continued to bulldoze his way Filler in a way that very few have seen in recent time with no reply. Feijen continued on his way and pounced late when a costly push out from Filler was punished by the former to come through 9-5 in an impressive showing to meet either Max Lechner or Mohammad Soufi next up on Friday, 12 May.
Feijen said: “I ran the first rack then I am not at the table until 4-1. I was trying to feel the table out. I made an error at 4-1 and soon it was 5-1. From there, I played well, I got a warning for soft breaking, debatable in my opinion! I thought I was just hitting them a bit thin and off but then, that extra speed on the break and I got some opportunities and I played some nice shots. It’s sometimes what you need!”
Niels Feijen｜©Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Lechner will be next up for Feijen after the US Open finalist came good against Soufi 9-4. Soufi fresh off the back of a run to the final of the World Pool Championship underlined just how important the World Nineball Tour Rankings are in qualifying on merit due to that run. It was a finely poised match when it came to the betting odds pre-match but Lechner made the early movements in this bout to lead 5-1, no small part down to three golden breaks including back-to-back in the fifth and sixth racks.
The Austrian seemed to have the break sussed and left Soufi with very little room for error. Soufi got to the table to pull things back at 6-3 courtesy of his own golden break and it wouldn’t be the last opportunity he was afforded by Lechner after a horrific miscue from him with only the nine left on the table put Soufi to 7-4 but in truth, that was as close as Soufi was to get as Lechner came through 9-4.
Lechner: “It was a crazy match but I had a good start. In the end, I wasn’t shaky but I didn’t play so well. Every player’s goal is to make a ball off the break and the second is to make the nine. I’ve never done that before though! I know I can go and do better than this match. The first match is always tough, I want to go all the way.”
Lechner v Soufi｜©Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Evening action was wrapped up by two-time Mosconi Cup champion Jayson Shaw who came up against an imperious Ko Pin Yi who proved to be in red-hot form. Ko was barely breaking a sweat as he moved into a 5-0 lead with Shaw yet to pot a ball. The coldness of being in the chair for Shaw was always going to be troublesome from that point on but he made some ground up to pull it back to 5-1 but that was short-lived optimism as Ko put on arguably the performance of the night to wrap up a 9-1 victory. The winner of Shane Van Boening and David Alcaide awaits the former world champion next.
The remaining Round 1 matches get underway from midday UK time tomorrow as WNT No.1 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz meets James Aranas before Wiktor Zielinski of Poland takes on Zheng Xiao Huai of China. A meeting of two Mosconi Cup titans in Albin Ouschan and Eklent Kaci wrap up the afternoon action. The evening sees 2021 champion Alexander Kazakis take on Mario He ahead of Van Boening and Alcaide who wrap up the Round 1 action.
Shaw vs Ko｜©Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Watch live on Sky Sports in the UK, DAZN in the USA, Spain, Italy, and Brazil as well as on Viaplay in the Netherlands, Poland, Scandinavia and the Baltics. If no broadcaster is available in your country, watch the action on Matchroom.Live. See where to watch in your country here.
The World Pool Masters returns to the UK for the first time since 2015 with a fresh look as the field reverts back to 16 players with 14 of the 16 automatically earning their place from the World Nineball Tour Rankings with two wild cards completing the field. Round 1 matches are Race to 9 with quarter and semi-final encounters Race to 11 before the final stretches to a Race to 13 for the first time. The prize fund has also been bolstered to $125,000 with the winner taking home $40,000.
Joshua Filler｜©Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
柯秉逸大師賽首戰大勝蘇格蘭名將 Jayson Shaw
2023 世界撞球大師賽昨日於在英國埃塞克斯的布倫特伍德中心拉開序幕。開幕戰由衛冕冠軍 Joshua Filler (約書亞·菲勒) 對上兩屆大師賽冠軍荷蘭 “終結者” Niels Feijen (尼爾斯·費恩)，Feijen 在一度 1:5 落後的情況下上演絕地打反攻，最終連拿八局以 9:5 戰勝 Filler 晉級八強，同時也粉碎了 Filler 希望成為大師賽史上第二位衛冕的球員。Feijen 的對手將是 Lechner 與 Soufi 之間的勝者。
Feijen 說道: “在我拿下首局後，再次回到場上已是 4-1，我嘗試著去感受球台，我在比分 4-1 之時出現失誤以至很快地比分形成 5-1。從那之後我的表現很不錯，我也收到了鳥鳥衝 (soft break) 的警告，然而在我看來是存有爭議的! 在後來我獲得了一些機會，也打出了些漂亮的球。有時這就是你所需要的!”
Max Lechner｜©Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
第二場比賽由奧地利的 Max Lechner 面對敘利亞選手 Mohammad Soufi，Soufi 因打進世界撞球錦標賽決賽而嶄露頭角，並且憑藉著世界9號球巡迴賽的排名而取得大師賽參賽門票，這也顯現出了世界9號球巡迴賽排名的重要性。
開賽後 Lechner 很快取得 5-1 領先，其中很大程度歸功於三次的衝球 9-ball in，包括了第五局和第六局接連的 9-ball in。Soufi 憑藉自己的 9-ball in 將比分追至 6-3，隨後 Lechner 的一嚴重失誤讓在 Soufi 打進球桌上僅存9號球，將比分在拉近一局 (7:4)，但 Soufi 仍無力回天，最終 Lechner 以 9:4 擊敗 Soufi 成為比賽首日第二位晉級八強的選手。
Lechner: “從未在自己的比賽中有過三次的 9-ball in，這真是場瘋狂的比賽；我的開局不錯，但我的表現並不好。每個球員的目標都是在衝球後能有一顆球落袋，接著就是打進最後的9號球。我知道我能表現得比這場比賽更好，第一場比賽總是艱難的，我想繼續地走下去。”
Ko Ping-Yi｜©Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
晚場比賽有兩屆莫斯考尼盃冠軍 “鷹眼” Jayson Shaw 對戰 “撞球王子” 柯秉逸。開賽後柯秉逸很快地取得 5-0 領先，本應為一場強強對決的比賽，誰能想到第六局竟是 Shaw 在比賽中贏下的唯一一局，柯秉逸最後以打進 4-9組合球結束掉比賽，最終柯秉逸以 9:1 的懸殊比分擊敗蘇格蘭名將 Jayson Shaw。柯秉逸下一輪的對手將是 Shane Van Boening 和 David Alcaide 之間的勝者。