JOSHUA FILLER IS the Dynamic Billard Lasko Open champion as he hammered Oliver Szolnoki 9-1 to claim his fourth Euro Tour win in four starts as well as seventh career ET title. The 26-year-old German star had been feeling decidedly under the weather throughout the tournament but his unrelenting pursuit of victory and sublime shot-making skills were no match for the out-of-sorts Hungarian.
Commented a delighted Filler, “The way I played today was just unbelievable I must say! I think compared to the other events I've won, I don't think my break was as good but my overall play, what with the jump shots and tactical parts, I just took advantage of them and the will to win is always there. It doesn't matter how bad I feel, I always want to win and I think this always makes me dangerous.”
Szolnoki had struggled with his break throughout the day and never quite got to grips with the table speed and against a player of Filler’s rampant talent, it was a handicap too big to overcome.
Filler got things underway as he ran out to take the opener. Szolnoki ran out of position travelling from the 5 to the 6-ball and his safety shot didn't work out as anticipated. Filler though made a positional error from 6 to 7 but saved himself with a short jump over the 9-ball and it was soon 2-0.
Filler made a couple of positional errors in the third game but his matchless shot-making abilities saw him over the line, as he moved into an ominous 3-0 lead. The Hungarian put his breaking woes behind him in the fourth but he too lost position and found himself blocked out on the 4-ball. An attempted kick failed to drop and left it on for Filler who took full advantage as he ran the table to increase his lead.
Szolnoki got back to the table after Filler's break shot but he missed a tight cut on the 2-ball. Filler then played a great safety and Szolnoki's escape left the 2-ball in a potting position. The German made it and dished up for a 5-0 lead.
A dry and illegal break from Oliver was the last thing he needed and he was put back in by Filler. They both had visits to a messy table but it was Szolnoki who wilted first, missing the 1 ball to give Filler the opportunity to run out. He ran short on the 9-ball but a tidy bank shot into the corner pocket made it 6-0.
Again, there were more safeties after Filler's break and again, it was Szolnoki who left the chance on. Filler's 3/4 carom set him on a path to a run out and take his lead to seven. Another fruitless break from Szolnoki allowed Filler to lock him up but it was an easy escape. Filler though, came with an outstanding low jump to cut the 1-ball into the top right pocket. Not hanging about, he whizzed through the table to take himself to the hill.
An illegal break threw Oliver a life-line and he got himself on the score sheet albeit with an Everest-sized mountain ahead of him to climb. A dry break came from Szolnoki, but with nothing to his advantage, Filler elected the push-out.
He was put back in and came once again with a superbly creative shot to pocket the 1-ball. They swapped safeties on the 2-ball before the German maestro slammed a bank shot into the centre pocket. The 4-ball ran safe following a carom and Filler's safety left it in the open for Szolnoki to pot. They both missed on the 5-ball as the rack became scrappy. A miss on the 6-ball by Szolnoki was the final nail in his coffin and Filler let out a 'Yes!' as he sealed yet another Euro Tour title.
7th title
Filler added, “When I'm at the table I want to win as big as I can. I know in alternate break format I'm not supposed to win nine-nothing against a player of Oliver's calibre who it's always going to be a tough fight against. But when I was 8-0 up, I didn’t want to give him a chance because funny things can still happen. In the end though, I made a nice bank shot in the last, took the win and I'm just over the moon. Four times in a row is just unbelievable, it's a milestone, and I can't wait for the fifth one.”
Szolnoki had beaten Hunter Lombardo, Yannick Pongers, Tomasz Kaplan, Mateusz Sniegocki Ajdin Piknjac en route to the semi-final. Filler went through Bartosz Rozwadowski, Ajdin Piknjac, Ramazan Akdag, Dennis Laszkowski and Wojciech Szewczyk to reach the last four.
In the semi-finals, Szolnoki defeated the Netherlands’ Quinten Pongers, the elder of the two sharp-shooting brothers. Quinten has had a very solid junior career but has never reached such lofty heights before in the men’s game and he will have plenty to build on following his outstanding efforts this week. Filler got the better of seasoned Euro Tour veteran Radoslaw Babica (Poland) who led in the early stages but couldn’t sustain his challenge.
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.
The Women’s Euro Tour Lasko Open is underway and reconvenes on Sunday morning at 10.00 when there will be four quarter-finalists on the winners’ side and eight players doing battle in the losers’ qualification round. The final takes place at 14.30 in the afternoon.
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