GERMANY’S JOSHUA FILLER won his third consecutive DYNAMIC BILLARD Euro Tour title, and fifth in a row of events he has entered, as he coasted past Radoslaw Babica (Poland) by 9-3 to take the final event of the year, the Treviso Open. The German star’s winning run started in Slovenia last October and has taken in victories in Austria, twice again in Slovenia and now Italy. Despite having missed three events in the seven-tournament ranking cycle, his incredible run still sees him sit at
No.2 in the rankings, a situation that could well be remedied soon.
Babica, a stalwart of the Euro Tour and the longest-serving member of the high-quality Polish squad, had only ever reached the one final before and that was back in 2007 where he lost to Bruno Muratore in Spain.
It was a big ask for the Pole and Filler took the opener before Babica snookered himself going from the 1-ball to the 2 in the next. His escape left the ball on for Filler who snapped up the opportunity to move into a 2-0 lead.
Babica took the next after Filler missed with a difficult attempt on the blue 2 but a dry and illegal break from the Pole lost the initiative. An uncharacteristic miss from Filler saw Babica blocked out and his two-rail escape failed to make contact with the 1-ball. The 1/9 combination was on and Filler speared it home for a 3-1 lead.
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Filler had a nice open table after his break shot and before long, he had increased his lead to three racks. In the next, Babica saw two balls down, but he over-cut a difficult pot on the 1-ball and it set Filler up for another runout and a 5-1 lead.
Babica had a chance in the next following an illegal Filler break but missed a speculative 1/8 combination but he took second prize as the 9-ball stuck to the cue ball. A banked carom was marvellous executed by Filler but his safe on the 1-ball left it on for Babica. He went through the table to get his second rack at 5-2 and just about keep him in the match.
It was another illegal break, this time from Babica, and it gave Filler a good look at the table but he hooked himself and could only play a one-rail safe on the 2-ball. It left a difficult 2/9 carom for Babica but he dug into the cueball and made it to stay in it at 5-3 down.
Babica got to the table in the next but he scratched pocketing the 3-ball and Filler proceeded to clear the remainder to move it to 6-3.
Babica could feel unfortunate in the next as he downed three balls from his break shot but was only left with a push out. In the end, a Babica safety wasn’t his best and it left the 1-ball sitting for Filler. He took advantage to take the rack and increase his lead to 7-3.
A well-placed snooker from Filler forced the error from Babica to give a ball-in-hand visit and he took no time to reach the hill at 8-3.
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Babica’s last shot of the game was yet another disappointing break from as it came up dry and that was all Filler needed as he ran out to take yet another Euro Tour title.
Naturally Filler was delighted with his achievement, “I always felt comfortable as I know I’ve got the break now – I get good positioning, make the balls and don’t have to deal with many illegal breaks and push-outs. I always had the match under control, the whole Euro Tour actually, and if you’re feeling that confident it helps a lot.
“The last five I’ve entered, I’ve won and it feels amazing to be honest.
I’m just going to enjoy the moment as three in a row and five of the last five I’ve entered is amazing. I always look at this in a positive way. I always come to play good and if you do that and win that’s something to enjoy. My opponents didn’t take the chances they had and I punished them and I’m over the moon that I’ve won again and it’s just amazing!”
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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/eurotour/ and clicking on the ‘LIVE’ button. This will take you through to viewing options. In addition, selected matches will be streamed on Facebook Live on the EPBF page.
Results, live scoring, and draw are available at www.epbf.com