Joshua Filler has won the inaugural 2022 UK Open Pool Championship at the Copper Box Arena, London beating Francisco Sanchez Ruiz in the final 13-7 live on Sky Sports in the UK, Matchroom Pool Facebook in the USA, Canada, Spain, and Italy, Viaplay in Scandinavia, and the Baltics, as well as Matchroom.Live in selected territories.
Joshua Filler 13-7 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz
Filler won the lag and won the opening rack in a sign of early nerves from Sanchez Ruiz. Sanchez Ruiz was left with a tricky jump over the eight to make the two, he proceeded to foul on the eight, and soon it was 1-0 to Filler. Routine break and runs in the second and third gave Filler a quick 3-0 lead inside 15 minutes. Filler was on the hunt for his second title in as many weeks in the Nineball arena, but he let Sanchez Ruiz back in in the fourth after narrowly missing the middle pocket when jumping to make the seven. El Ferrari rallied from there to win the resulting three racks to level at 3-3.
At 3-3, Filler had an opportunity at the table again on the one but couldn’t do much with an attempted cut. Sanchez Ruiz ran out from there with an exquisite bank on the five ball the pick of the lot as he led for the first time at 4-3. A formulaic break and run in the eighth put El Ferrari ahead by two.
©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
As much as both love the exhibition shot, the game was often deep-rooted in technical safety battles. The pick of it in the ninth as both Filler and Sanchez Ruiz hid the cue ball on multiple occasions away from the two. Sanchez Ruiz blinked first though after Filler played an expert safety that forced to kick the two only for it to meander down towards the bottom pocket and in ample range for Filler to clean up and cut the deficit to one at 5-4.
Filler played smart in the tenth rack to get the better of Sanchez Ruiz despite being hooked on the break. A pinpoint safety of his own left Sanchez Ruiz with work to do which inevitably opened up the table for the German to settle it and go level again at 5-5.
With the break back, Filler scratched in the 11th off it to put Sanchez Ruiz at the table. Sanchez Ruiz has played more matches than any other player this week and the tiredness wasn’t showing through just yet despite the eight-ball rattling in the jaw to the point Filler was ready to get back up to the table. FSR led again at 6-5. Sanchez Ruiz soon built a two rack buffer and it seemed he could go on to run a few after the five pack that led him on his way to beating Shane Van Boening in the semi-finals.
“FSR” Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (Predator)｜©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Sanchez Ruiz was left looking for a lot of ships to align for him to make a two ball along the rail in the following rack at 7-5 and it just didn’t happen. Filler did open the door again for Sanchez Ruiz though after missing the five ball, though that did not happen for the Spaniard as his counterpart got the better of him to be one back. A break and run in the 14th levelled it again at 7-7.
Filler hadn’t led the contest since 3-2 but he took hold of it in the following rack to lead 8-7. The Killer fluked the two ball to set him on his way after his jump shot went wrong, the two hit the bottom of the table before kissing the six ball to wriggle its way in the middle pocket to help him on his way. It was a vintage run out for Filler in the 16th as he asserted a two rack buffer again.
The World Pool Masters champion has a mentality that very few have, and he was well on his way to another major title on his CV as he ran another rack to lead 10-7 with his sixth in a row. Just three away from victory, Filler soon made it two without even blinking. As soon as Filler was on the hill, the inevitable happened as he finished his job in supreme style to clinch the title 13-7 with five racks in a row.
Joshua Filler (Predator/HOW)｜©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Filler‘s victory sees him become the top-ranked European at Nineball World No.2 whilst Sanchez Ruiz‘s runner-up finish sees him move to Nineball World No.3.
Filler said: “I’m not having a too bad of a month. It means the world to me. It was an incredible tournament to me. I was struggling at times. Fran played an awesome tournament. I said before the semis, you deserved to win them. The way you played the final from 7-5, I was waiting to see how I could win this final. The luck went on my side eventually. Fran is one of the best players.”
“It’s the pressure you have as a player. When you come here you just want to win the tournament. Every match is just so tough with so many great players. We’ve seen Fran lose the first match then come here. It’s the pressure. Look at the arena, it is just wonderful.”
NEXT EVENT
The 2022 World Cup of Pool will take place at the Brentwood Centre, Essex this June 14-19 with Efren “Bata” Reyes set to represent the Philippines as 32 countries battle it out for pride and their share of the $250,000 prize fund.
Tickets are available from only £10 right here.
©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Filler 問鼎首屆英國公開賽冠軍
Joshua Filler 在決賽中以13-7戰勝西班牙好手 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz ，在倫敦 Copper Box Arena 贏得了首屆英國公開賽冠軍。
Filler 通過比球取得衝球機會但苦於沒有下球只得轉而防守，而 Sanchez Ruiz 在比賽初始階段手感頗緊，在跳球過程中母球碰到8號球進而犯規，將球權交還給 Filler。Filler 順勢清台贏下決賽首局，而在第二局和第三局中 Filler 衝球後實現連續得分，十五分鐘內就取得了3-0的領先。第四局中，Filler 在試圖跳球將7號球打中袋時出現失誤，留給對手進攻機會，而 Sanchez Ruiz 將台面剩下的3顆球打進拿下個人在決賽的首局。取得第四局勝利的 Sanchez Ruiz 憑藉勝衝，將決賽大比分扳至3-3平。
比賽來到第七局，Sanchez Ruiz 衝球後轉為防守，Filler 面對位置尷尬的1號球出現了防守失誤，Sanchez Ruiz 隨即將1號球打進。同樣在第七局中，Sanchez Ruiz 以一杆精妙的翻袋打進5號球，贏下第七局後他首次實現決賽中的領先。第八局中的衝球清台使得 Sanchez Ruiz 將比分領先拉大到5-3。
儘管兩人都喜歡炫技型的擊球，但由於連續出現的防守局面使得精妙的擊球並不多。第九局中 Filler 和 Sanchez Ruiz 輪流做安全球。在 Filler 的一杆防守後母球驚險停在袋口，Sanchez Ruiz 率先犯錯將2號球留出機會而 Filler 也借此打進2號球後清台將分差縮小到4-5。
©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Filler 在第十局發揮出極高的個人技戰術水準，儘管開局不利但 Filler 仍舊通過安全球迫使 Sanchez Ruiz 解球出現失誤，Filler 也由此打開局面將比分追至5-5。
隨著衝球手感的回升，Filler 想要實現速戰速決但卻給 Sanchez Ruiz 送上了機會。由於雙敗首輪輸球後落入敗部， Sanchez Ruiz 本周比其他選手打了更多場的比賽才得以晉級決賽。儘管如此，Sanchez Ruiz 卻沒有顯示出太多的疲態，反而是憑藉良好的手感以6-5再次取得領先。拿下第12局後，看起來 Sanchez Ruiz 似乎可以像半決賽迎戰 Shane Van Boening 一樣有著連下5局的機會。
在比賽第13局中，Sanchez Ruiz 一直在尋找機會，貼邊庫的一杆傳球並沒有讓他實現連續得分。雖然 Filler 在打丟5號球後再次將球權讓給 Sanchez Ruiz ，然而 Sanchez Ruiz 卻沒有抓住機會。Filler 還是憑藉個人優勢將比分拉近，一番爭奪之後雙方打成7-7平。
Filler 從比賽初期3-0領先被扳平後一直處於落後狀態，但他在接下來的比賽中把握住了機會以8-7領先。Filler 在跳球失誤後幸運打進2號球並帶開6號球。第16局可以說是 Filler 的經典表演，他再次取得了兩局的領先。
MD of Matchroom Sport, Emily Frazer & Joshua Filler ｜©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
不久前奪得大師賽冠軍的 Filler 擁有著沉穩的心態，他又完成了一杆清台並以10-7領先。連續拿下6局的他距離最終的勝利只差2局，而 Filler 以迅雷不及掩耳之勢再下一局。距離冠軍只有一步之遙的 Filler 以無比強悍的技術水準和沉著冷靜的心態衝向了終點以13-7奪冠。
Filler 的奪冠使得他排名上升成為世界第二，同時也是現排名第一的歐洲選手，而亞軍 Sanchez Ruiz 也憑藉亞軍獎金上升到世界第三位。
Filler 說；“我這個月過得並不壞。能夠奪冠對我來說意義重大。這對我來說是一場不可思議的比賽。我時不時的總有些掙扎。Francisco 打了一場很棒的比賽。我在半決賽前說過，他配得上比賽的勝利。儘管在決賽中一度以5-7落後，但我仍然對自己贏下比賽抱有期待。最終運氣還是站在我這邊。Francisco 是最優秀的球員之一。”
“作為一名職業球員，壓力總是如影隨形。當你來到這裡，你只想贏得比賽。有那麼多優秀球員齊聚於此，每場比賽都是如此艱難。我們看到 Francisco 在雙敗首輪輸球後進入到敗部，一路艱難求勝至此。這就是我們所面對的壓力。看看這個場館，這裡實在是太棒了。”
Joshua with his wife Pia｜©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
不要走開 精彩繼續
2022年雙打世界盃將於今年6月14日至19日在埃塞克斯的布倫特伍德中心 (Brentwood Centre, Essex) 舉辦，傳奇球星 Efren Reyes 將代表菲律賓參賽，32個國家和地區的64名球員將齊聚英格蘭為榮譽和獎金而戰。