Players Closing in on Austrian Golry – Alison Chang

Alpina Hotel, St Johann im Pongau, Austria

THE PREDATOR PRO BILLIARD SERIES is moving towards the business end as two tournaments are down to their final eight competitors while the other is at the last 16 stage. The Billard Beckmann Men’s Open saw the last 16 matches complete today as illustrious names such as Fedor Gorst, Joshua Filler and Albin Ouschan departed the competition.

One player cutting a swathe is Bulgaria’s Georgi Georgiev who followed up his victory over Robbie Capito yesterday with another big upset win, this time dumping Joshua Filler out of the tournament by 2-0.

A delighted Georgiev said, “I played good, I was focused 100% and I was waiting for my opportunities. The game was going my way; I had to take the chances and I did. He missed in the first set unexpectedly and I took the opportunity and then I was up 3-0 the second set but he managed to come back with a really good three games. Then at 3-3, I was already thinking about the last set and again he missed an 8-ball. You have to put pressure on your opponent and things like this can happen.

“You work your life for opportunities like this and you want to put yourself in a position like this to play the best players and Joshua is definitely one of the best players in the world. It’s given me huge confidence and all I was thinking was that it’s gong to be a real fight and what if? Why not me? That was always what I was telling myself and I had the opportunities and I took them,” he concluded.

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Georgiev’s quarter-final opponent is another dark horse in Poland’s Mateusz Sniegocki, who was another shoot-out winner, this time ending the Alpine dreams of Alex Kazakis. Sniegocki is a four-time Euro Tour winner so his pedigree speaks for itself, and the self-belief is strong.

He said, “I feel like a roller coaster of emotion, We both played a pretty good match the first set for sure, Alex played perfect and I didn’t get too many chances so he won easily. In the second, I was already losing 2-0 but finally I found a way to come back and I won the second set. In the shoot-out Alex missed the last one and I knew that I needed one ball to qualify for last eight so I’m very happy.

On being in contention for the title, “I think it’s something we all love, it’s why we’re competing so without it pool wouldn’t be the same. I’m playing to compete, not to participate and that’s the reason I’m here.”

2026 PBS Austria Mens Open - D5_Mateusz Sniegocki

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Oliver Szolnoki whose previous best PBS finish was at the last 16 stage, has gone one better as he battled into the quarter-finals with a shoot-out win over Fedor Gorst. A mixed doubles champion in Spain last year, the Hungarian has a great opportunity to make his mark in the individual event.

He said, “I think we both played a pretty good match; the first set he made some mistakes and I managed to capitalise on them to win 4-1 but the next set I never made a ball on the break and he found one good break. It was 3-1 for him in the next and I thought, OK, it might be over but luckily, he broke dry and I managed to run that.

“Because my break didn’t really work in the match – I was breaking from left side, right side and middle, I just put it in the middle and smashed it as hard as I could. Luckily, I made something and had position and managed to run out for a shoot-out. It was crazy as he started and always made the first ball. Finally, after the first four, he missed and I had a chance and luckily, I made it.”

2026 PBS Austria Mens Open - D5_Oliver Szolnoki

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The Carrinho Women’s Open is down to the last 16 and of the battery of top players who made the long-haul journey across to Europe from Asia, 13 are still in contention for the title, which will be determined on Tuesday 23^rd June.

Flying the flag for Europe are Kristina Tkatch, Pia Filler and Jasmin Ouschan but with the sheer strength of the field, the eventual champion will need to be at their very best in the run-in. The round of 16 will be contested at 10.00 on Sunday morning.

To emphasise the explosive cue power coming from Asia, five of the remaining representation – Seo Seoa (KOR), Chou Chieh Yu (TPE), Yu Han (CHN), Liu Shasha (CHN) and Fu Xiaofang (CHN) – have won WPA World Championships.

It would be very difficult to pick out any stand-out matches given the concentration of talent remaining in the field. There are no easy draws and no clear favourites and drama, quality and excitement can be expected.

The Predator Mixed Doubles also played down to the final eight pairs. Packed with tremendous quality from both Europe and Asia, one of the first teams onto the quarter-final draw sheet were Joshua and Pia Filler who overcame Jayson Shaw and Savannah Easton in an at times contentious encounter.

Commented Joshua, “We complement each other pretty well in the doubles and I think that’s why we did so well in the past. Doubles is always for me super tough because when you have to give control away, it’s always tough for me. But to have the wife on your side is different because we know each other pretty good, I’d say, but all in all I’m glad to find someone you feel comfortable with so I’m super happy about it.”

Pia gave her thoughts on the events itself, “I think Predator started it three years ago when we had the first showdown in Vegas with eight invited teams but you could just tell that the crowd loved to watch the doubles and from there, they just picked it up at every tour stop. It really became a big thing to play in and there are so many strong teams and I think it’s good for both men and women and we really enjoy playing it.”

The event is back on Sunday morning with the women starting at 10.00 with the round of 16. The men’s quarter-finals go off at 13.00, while the mixed doubles quarter-finals at commence at 19.00.

The live stream for Tables 1, 2 and 3 can be found on YouTube, via the Pro Billiard TV channel – https://www.youtube.com/@ProBilliardTV

For all results, live scoring and draw visit the events’ homepage https://probilliardseries.com/event/2026-austria/

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