JOSHUA FILLER IS the Dynamic Billard Slovenian Open Champion as he defeated Francisco Sanchez Ruiz by 9-5 to claim his fourth Euro Tour crown Lasko. It was a high-quality match but Filler just had a little too much for Sanchez Ruiz as one or two mistakes crept into the Spaniard’s game. Joshua went into an early 3-1 lead and never relinquished that advantage as he motored to the finishing line.
It was a massive day for the Fillers as Joshua’s wife Pia had earlier claimed her first Predator Ladies Euro Tour title in the same venue.
Commented Filler, “Myself and Pia winning was so special; it never happened before and making history is just unbelievable. Now we’re driving six hours home so not much time to celebrate tonight. Then we have three days so that will be good and then we’re flying to the US so not much time. We both enjoyed it and luckily, we both won which is amazing!”
Joshua Filler (Predator/Gabriels/Andy Cloth/HOW)｜©EPBF
There was expectation in the air as two of the world’s finest pool proponents faced off. In the semi-final matches, Filler put an end to Ralf Souquet’s wonderful run here with a 9-4 victory, while Sanchez Ruiz put paid to Mario He’s hopes by a similar scoreline.
A good break and run from Joshua opened the proceedings. He also took the next before a missed 4-ball got Sanchez Ruiz back in with a rack-scoring opportunity, from where he made no mistakes to get on the board at 2-1.
With two balls down off the break Francisco elected to push and Joshua followed with a nice safety. They then traded safeties and escapes before Sanchez Ruiz left the 1-ball out in the open and Joshua cleared the table nicely for a 3-1 lead.
Sanchez Ruiz took the next against the break to keep in touch but in the sixth game, the cueball got snagged up with the 1-ball and he pushed out. Filler put him back in and disastrously, he scratched into the centre pocket. It was a heaven-sent chance for Filler and he ran out for a 4-2 lead.
A miss on the red 3 from the Spaniard got Filler back to the table but he could only play safe. Both then missed difficult pots on the 3-ball before it fell clearly for Filler. He ran through the balls to establish a three-rack lead at 5-2.
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (Predator)｜©EPBF
Sanchez Ruiz needed to strike back in the next and he did so to get the score to 5-3. Filler though, ran out from the break to restore his three-rack lead. Both players had visits in the next before Sanchez Ruiz took the chance to clear the table for 6-4.
A rock-hard snooker from Filler gave himself ball-in-hand when Sanchez Ruiz‘s two-rail escape failed to make contact with the 2-ball. With a cluster of balls around the spot, Filler laid another snooker that had his opponent reaching for his jump stick. He made contact with the four ball but it left it out in the open for Filler. It wasn’t the easiest layout but the German star found a way and the score moved to 7-4.
The Euro Tour No.1 wasn’t done as he knuckled down and ran the next rack but with alternate break, it was Filler‘s match to lose. The 2-ball wasn’t available to pot in the next so Filler laid a safety. The escape was an easy one but with the balls clustered, the outcome was not.
Filler had the table and another snooker, this time on the 4-ball, saw Sanchez Ruiz scratch. It was a comfortable ball in-hand opportunity for Filler and he took it to reach the hill at 8-5. A good break from the Spaniard spread the balls nicely and he nudged the 2-ball in off the 3 to keep himself at the table.
Joshua Filler (Predator/Gabriels/Andy Cloth/HOW)｜©EPBF
Calamitously, he snookered himself unnecessarily to end his visit. Filler came to the table with a difficult long cut on the 4 and he missed it. With nothing clear, Sanchez Ruiz had a bit of a hit-and-hope as he sent the pink 4 flying up and down the table. He left it on and Filler needed no second chances as he dished up for glory.
Added Filler, “The table was playing much, much better today but in the first match against Ralf today I made a few mistakes because I wasn’t really used to the table but in the final, I felt more comfortable because I’d had one match already on the table. My break wasn’t really that good in the whole tournament, but I won, surprisingly. I’m just over the moon that I won!”
Sanchez Ruiz was circumspect in defeat; “I’m not that disappointed because I think I played good these last couple of days but today I didn’t play so good. Against Mario in the semi-final, I got so lucky, that’s why I won but in the final, I didn’t feel so confident but Filler always plays good. For me, he’s the best right now.”
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (Predator)｜©EPBF
All the matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com as well as selected matches on Facebook Live on the EPBF page. In addition, 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
B1B Box – Bulgaria
Results, live scoring and draw are available at www.epbf.com
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.
Joshua Filler (Predator/Gabriels/Andy Cloth/HOW)｜©EPBF
2022 歐巡賽-斯洛維尼亞公開賽同樣於Lasko落下帷幕，終場 Joshua Filler 以 9-4 打敗西班牙好少 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 收穫個人第四個歐巡賽冠軍。
決賽在 Joshua Filler 與 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 兩位優秀的選手之中展開；Filler 在半決賽中以 9-4 終結了德國名將 Ralf Souquet 的斯洛維尼亞之旅，而他的對手 Sanchez Ruiz 則也以相同比分斬斷了奧地利好手 Mario He 的奪冠希望。
開賽後 Filler 很快地取得 2-0 領先，而第三局4號球的失誤，則是讓 Sanchez Ruiz 回到場上並把握機會扳回一 局 (2-1)。第六局 Sanchez Ruiz 衝球後 1號球被3號求遮擋無法直接進攻，Sanchez Ruiz 選擇 push-out，Filler 選擇不接手，球權回到 Sanchez Ruiz 手上。Sanchez Ruiz 嘗試做安全球，然後母球在走位過程中落入中袋，Filler 把握自由球機會拿下該局，以4-2領先。
Sanchez Ruiz 在第七局3號球上切球未進，讓 Filler 重新回到球台，然而 Filler 上場僅能採取防守，雙方在3號球上進行攻防，最終由 Filler 突破僵局並再下一城，使得比數形成 5-2，也將領先拉開到三局。
The Fillers, KillerFillers｜©EPBF
第十一局 Sanchez Ruiz 在1號球的防守留下一記遠距離跳球，Filler 跳到1號球後，1號球一顆星的灌進底袋，緊接 2號球雖灌球未進，但幸運地形成吊球。Sanchez Ruiz 解球犯規，Filler 獲自由球。緊接著 Filler 4號球成功的防守讓 Sanchez Ruiz 跳球後留下可進攻的4號球，Filler 接手清光球台，比數再次回到三局領先 (7-4)
第十三局，Filler 2號球的防守讓 Sanchez Ruiz 解球後留下進攻機會，Filler 打進2號球後，3號球的位置不盡理想，再一次的防守。Sanchez Ruiz 解到3號球後母球不幸落進底袋，Filler 上場接手清台並讓自己取得 8-5 聽牌。Sanchez Ruiz 在第十四局打進3號球後，母球拉桿走位形成自吊而無法繼續進攻。Filler 薄4號球雖未進留下一記長距離，Sanchez Ruiz 重新回到場上，4號球灌底袋未進，留下了開放球局的機會，最終 Filler 回到球台解決剩餘6顆球，Filler 終場就以 9-5 擊敗西班牙好手 Sanchez Ruiz 拿下個人第四座歐巡賽冠軍。
今天對於 Filler 來說絕對是重要且特別地一天，早前先試 Joshua 的妻子 Pia 拿下個人首座女子歐巡賽冠軍，幾個小時後 Joshua 在同一場地也拿下冠軍。
Filler 賽後評論到: “我和 Pia 同時拿下冠軍是多麼特別的時刻；這還從未發生過，實在難以置信地我們創早了歷史。然而，現在我們將開六小時的車回家，所以今晚並沒有太多時間慶祝。但返家後我們有三天的時間能好好慶祝一番。緊接著我們將飛往美國參加接下來的比賽。我們都很享受比賽，並且幸運地是我們都贏了，那感覺太棒了!”