9-Ball
In a more than thrilling final match, David Alcaide (ESP) won the Dynamic Billard Treviso Open against Joshua Filler (GER) with 9:6.
The final match was as high class as expected. Alcaide and Filler came up with a great performance and delivered some high class pool action. However, due to the pressure also some mistakes have been committed by both players. The fact that the final match and the semi-finals are played with a shot clock does its share to even raise the pressure. Alcaide had the better start in the final. He ran away with 3:0 before Filler got started. But the young German hung in there. He used his chances whenever given and kept the match a close and thrilling affair. After nine racks, the scoreboard displayed a 5:4 lead for Alcaide with Filler to break. The rack turned into a safety battle and actually it looked like Filler would be able to force Alcaide to commit a foul. Alcaide answered this by playing a deliberate foul and putting the 2-ball and the 6-ball together. The rack was dominated by tactical play. In the end, Alcaide pocketed the deciding ball and got to a 6:4 lead. That was one important point in the final match. Instead of Filler levelling the score at 5:5, Alcaide was now 6:4 up with his own break shot to come. He had an illegal break and Filler cleared to stay close with 5:6. The next break was Filler’s and he was really unlucky. He had three balls down but the cue ball got kicked and scratched in the corner pocket. Again, Alcaide got away with a 2-point-lead with his own break shot coming up. This time, he capitalised from his break shot. He almost ran out of position on the 3-ball but Lady Luck was on his side. Alcaide got on the hill with an 8:5 lead over Filler. Filler won the next rack before Alcaide got to the table with his own break, leading 8:6. Alcaide missed the 2-ball but left the cue ball very close to another object ball for Filler. The German kid used a rest but touched the 3-ball while pocketing the 2-ball. With ball in hand, Alcaide conquered the table, took the match with 9:6 and won his second Euro-Tour after 2009.
In the first semi-final, David Alcaide encountered Mieszko Fortunski (POL). The Spaniard had the far better start and got a quick 6:3 lead over Fortunski. The Polish struggled a bit with his break shot. Either he had no ball down or he played an illegal break. This problem was the reason for Alcaide to gain his early advantage. But after a while, Fortunski got in better shape and pulled some racks from Alcaide since he committed several mistakes. The match was hill-hill with Fortunski breaking the balls in rack 17. Again, his luck left him and he had no ball pocketed, leaving a good position for Alcaide. Alcaide seemed to be ice-cold, getting to the table and clearing the rack ball after ball, winning the semi-final to take him into the final match. In the second semi-final, Joshua Filler had to deal with „The Terminator“ Niels Feijen (NED). Filler got into the match better and won some early racks taking a 6:3 lead over Feijen. But then Feijen shifted into overdrive and even overtook Filler with 7:6. The players took racks in turn and again, the match had a hill-hill situation after 16 racks played. Rack 17 was opened by Feijen. He had no ball down on his break shot but left nothing for Filler. A few safety shots were exchanged. Filler started shooting first, pocketing an extremely hard jump shot on the 1-ball. The audience was shocked when he missed the 2-ball right after it. However, another tough position for Feijen. The Dutch tried to pocket the 2-ball along the long rail but he missed. Filler had nerves of steel, got to the table and ran the rack for his 9:8 victory over Feijen.
Earlier today, some real heartbreakers occurred among the matches. In the quarter-finals, three out of four matches ended 9:8 and one was 9:7. Drama was on among the last eight players. Albin Ouschan (AUT) went hill-hill with Joshua Filler. At 8:8, Ouschan had the break shot. He broke the balls and had a nice layout with a good first shot. However, he got a bit weird position on the 4-ball and the consequently found himself with a tough but makable 7-ball. Whether it was the pressure, his nerves or something else will probably remain Ouschan’s secret. For a fact, he dogged the 7-ball and gave Filler an early Christmas present. The young German got to the table and only needed to pocket three easy shots to win the quarter-final over the reigning World 9-ball Champion with 9:8. Feijen and Fortunski were the other two players who just got over the finish line with 9:8. Feijen ousted Sebastian Ludwig (GER) and Fortunski pipped Marco Teutscher (NED) to the post. David Alcaide achieved a 9:7 over Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) which took him into the semi-final match against Fortunski.
Top Eight Dynamic Billard Treviso Open
1. David Alcaide (ESP)
2. Joshua Filler (GER)
3. Niels Feijen (NED)
Mieszko Fortunski (POL)
5. Marco Teutscher (NED)
Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL)
Albin Ouschan (AUT)
Sebastian Ludwig (GER)
In the Dynamic Women Open, probably the biggest upset of the day was Kristina Tkach (RUS) handing a 7:3 defeat to Austria’s top star Jasmin Ouschan in the winner’s qualification round. In the same round, Katarzyna Wesolowska (POL) managed to get the better of her German opponent Kristina Grim by a whisker with 7:6. Wesolowska’s teammate Monika Zabek (POL) had a good start, defeating Sara Rocha (POR) 7:5 and then Veronika Ivanovskaia (GER) 7:6.
Tomorrow, the Treviso Women Open will continue with the round of the final 8 players at 10:00 local time.
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