Francisco Sanchez Ruiz has won the 2023 Premier League Pool title beating Jayson Shaw in the final 7-4 at the Morningside Arena, Leicester, England live on Matchroom.Live, Viaplay, and networks worldwide.
Sanchez Ruiz reached his fourth final in the last five Matchroom individual tournaments and did so by finishing top of the league by four points with a record 22 points overall before meeting Naoyuki Oi in the semi-finals. Oi maintained his spot in the top six for most of the week going into the final day and made sure of his spot late on with a 5-3 win over Shaw. A year back, Oi missed out on the final four by rack difference but on this occasion, the tables turned as Sushi Boom made it on the number by racks won. When it came to the semi-final, Sanchez Ruiz slayed Oi 7-3 at a canter to set up a tantalising final with either Sanjin Pehlivanovic or Shaw.
Pehlivanovic had led for large parts of this week but fell off the pace over the weekend, but held it together on the final day to face a tough semi-final with Shaw. Shaw meanwhile has played with freedom all week and hadn’t looked too fazed with the job at hand. The Brit lost the opening rack but came good from there to leave Pehlivanovic trailing in his wake at 6-3 before wrapping up victory at 7-4.
Final: Sanchez Ruiz vs Shaw｜©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Konrad Juszczyszyn‘s faint hopes of making the final four were ended abruptly in the afternoon whilst Alex Pagulayan missed out on the final spot by the margin of racks won to Oi. Pagulayan needed a heavy Oi defeat late on and at least register his own win. Pagulayan got the win but the heavy loss he needed Juszczyszyn to inflict on Oi along with Shaw beating him was not forthcoming for Sushi Boom.
Into the final, Shaw won the lag but lost out in the opening rack before Sanchez Ruiz stepped up to make a golden break in the second to lead by two. Shaw came back strong through with a break and run to pull it to 2-1. There was very little to separate the pair as it soon went 3-3 and 4-4. The 4-4 moment was a bruising moment for Shaw‘s hopes with a missed cut on the three ball. From there, Sanchez Ruiz by his own admission had the luck of the green for another Matchroom title after in the final rack Shaw was left hooked off the break only to see his safety on the two in firing range for Sanchez Ruiz to deliver the fatal final blow.
Sanchez Ruiz said: “I am so proud but I am sorry for Jayson because I got lucky. I feel so sorry for him, he played good, especially in the final. It’s an unbelievable feeling if I continue playing like this, that would be tough!”
©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Prize Money Breakdown
- WINNER – $20,000
- RUNNER-UP – $12,500
- SEMI-FINALISTS – $8,000
- 5TH- $7,000
- 6TH – $6,250
- 7TH – $5,250
- 8TH – $5,000
- 9TH – $4,750
- 10TH – $4,500
- 11TH – $3,750
- 12TH – $3,500
- 13TH – $3,250
- 14TH – $3,000
- 15TH – $2,750
- 16TH – $2,500
Next up is the World Pool Masters set to take place at the Brentwood Centre, Essex, England from May 10-13 with tickets on sale now from only £10 a session. The format returns to a 16-player field for pool’s most historic tournament with the likes of Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Jayson Shaw, Shane Van Boening, Fedor Gorst, and Joshua Filler all invited. Buy your tickets here.
©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
八日激戰 FSR勇奪撞球超級聯賽冠軍
2013 撞球超級聯賽 (Premier League Pool – PLP) 在經過八天的激烈競爭後清晨在英國萊斯特的晨邊體育館圓滿落幕，最後由現任世界9號球冠軍，西班牙好手 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 在決賽中戰勝蘇格蘭名將 “鷹眼” Jayson Shaw 奪冠。
目前世界排名第一的 “FSR” Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 在 Matchroom 過去所主辦的五項個人賽事中四度打入決賽，繳出想當亮眼的表現。FSR 在半決賽中對戰的是去年在撞球超級聯賽中因得失局之差而無緣四強的日本一哥大井直幸，大井直幸在本屆賽事都保持在前六名的位置，並在最後靠著擊敗 Jayson Shaw (5-3) 而確保了自己的晉級之位。大井本次賽事雖彌補去年之憾，然半決賽最終 3-7 不敵狀態火熱的 Sanchez Ruiz 以第三名坐收。
另一場半決賽則由 Sanjin Pehlivanovic 面對 Jayson Shaw，Pehlivanovic 在此次比賽中大部分處在排名領先的位置，但榜首之位在決賽日的前一天被 FSR 反超。Shaw 雖在半決賽中丟了率先衝球權，但自比球之後 Shaw 一路表現出色，終場以 7-4 拿下勝利，晉級冠軍戰。
©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Shaw 在決賽中的比球沒能贏下，Sanchez Ruiz 藉此機會再加上第二局的衝球 9Ball in 取得 2-0 領先，隨後 Shaw 靠著自己的衝球局，開局清台將比數扳回一城 (2-1)。而雙方始終無人能將比分拉開，兩度打成平手 (3-3、4-4)。Shaw 在第九局 3號球沒打進，此也成為比賽中的致命失誤，Sanchez Ruiz 把握住機會，一路到底沒有再讓 Shaw 有機會反擊，最終以 7-4 擊敗對手拿下本屆撞球超級聯賽冠軍。
Sanchez Ruiz 賽後說道: “Jayson 在此次賽事表現地很好，尤其是在決賽中，我為他感到可惜。我為自己而自豪，如果我繼續在比賽之中以這樣的狀態打球，那會是非常驚人的，但那也會是很困難地一直維持在狀態。”
撞球超級聯賽由別於 Matchroom 其他所舉辦的個人賽事，PLP 主要採循環賽事，參賽選手將會與其他所有選手都交手，並在依照積分排名來進行各階段。中華台北此次有 “港都魔獸” 吳坤霖 與 “大眼妹” 周婕妤受邀參賽。
吳坤霖在本屆賽事中，雖首日比賽表現欠佳，但從第二日比賽開始找回狀態慢慢進入正軌，最終以第九名結束首次的撞球超級聯賽之旅；周婕妤雖以3勝12負坐收，然而經歷過此次賽事的洗禮過後，相信無論在接下來將參與賽事，亦或下次再有機會受邀，都能有所突破與再進步。