JOSHUA FILLER IS the Dynamic Billard St Johann im Pongau Open champion as he defeated Poland’s Daniel Maciol 9-5 in an entertaining match. Filler (Germany) can lay claim to his fifth Euro Tour title from 10 final appearances and with his consistent level of high-quality play, there may be many more in store. For Maciol, it was his first Euro Tour final in an eight-year career mixing it with Europe’s finest. In fact, the quarter-finals were the furthest he’d ventured previously.
For the Pole, a slow start proved to be his downfall as he matched Filler in the latter stages but the gap was always going to be too much as the German put his foot down.
Commented Filler, “Today I felt fresh and came with so much energy and maybe I frightened my opponent with my energy and my break was amazing. There were times when I made three, four balls on the break and had the position and that gives you more confidence, especially when you’re four games up. Super proud and super happy.”
Filler took the opening two racks before Maciol scratched on the break in the third game. The German quickly cleared the table to take an ominous 3-0 lead. Three balls off the break and great position on the lowest numbered ball, the 3, meant that Filler took the fourth game to leave Maciol in a hole.
©EPBF
Maciol needed a great break in next and managed to down three balls but his shot on the 2-ball wasn’t any sort of formality. He played an aggressive cannon onto the 4-ball to stay at the table and from there he ran out to get on the scoreboard as well as give himself some confidence given the task in hand.
An illegal break from Filler gave the table back to Maciol but he declined the shot. It was Joshua who got to the 1-ball first and given a sniff, he cleared the table in no time for a 5-1 lead. Maciol though, looked good to take the seventh game and he composed himself to runout. Joshua though, banged in three balls from the next break and fairly quickly it was 6-2.
Three off the break from Maciol and a shot on the 2-ball saw him run out to keep Joshua in his sights at 6-3. With the alternate break format, though, he needed Joshua to falter. Filler made a good break in the tenth rack, spreading the balls out nicely and from there he ran out to increase his lead.
Another terrific break, this time from Maciol, and he ran through the balls to get to 7-4. They went back and forth on the 2-ball before Joshua accidentally potted it but there was nothing available on the 3-ball. His safety wasn’t tight but it was good enough and Maciol‘s response left it out in the open. It was all Filler needed and he cleared up to reach the hill at 8-4.
Daniel Maciol｜©EPBF
Maciol wasn’t done though and he came with some solid shot-making to secure the 13th game and reduce the deficit to 5-8. Dramatically, Filler scratched directly into the centre pocket in the next to give Maciol some hope. He missed a bank shot on the 5-ball though, and Filler made the same shot to put the winning-line in his sights. He made no mistakes as he downed the final 9-ball for his fifth Euro Tour crown.
Filler continued, “The fifth was amazing but I have to mention that I’ve lost five finals already and I played my fifth or six final in St Johann as well. It’s just amazing and besides that, I’ve made some third-place finishes in St Johann. I feel like it’s the home of Euro Tour for me as every time I’ve come here it’s an amazing feeling because I love the food in the restaurant and the view of the mountains is amazing.
“If I’m feeling pretty good, I play really quick and confident and if I can keep going like that, I can continue winning more but my goal is to find my rhythm and have fun, which I had and if I win in the end, that’s great and if I lose, obviously, I’m angry about it but I just have to look at myself and get better.”
Filler celebrations｜©EPBF
The Dynamic Billard Euro Tour reconvenes in Tampere, Finland with the Tampere Open which runs from 27-29 May.
As well as the prize money, there are Tour ranking points on offer, 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 by visiting www.epbf.com/tournaments/eurot
The semi-finals and final, played out on Monday night, will be live or highlights on the following television stations across Europe;
SportKlub HD – Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia,
Bosnia Herzegovina, Greece
Eyecons – Netherlands
SportKlub – Poland
ORF – Austria
Results, live scoring, and draw are available at www.epbf.com