Hotel Esperanto Fulda
Esperantopl. 1
36037
Fulda
Germany
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www.hotel-esperanto.de
Tuesday - Sunday 9-14 August 2022
All photography courtesy of ©Taka G.Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport.
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European Open Day 5 | Filler Falls In Fulda As Four Remain
Joshua Filler crashed out of the inaugural European Open Pool Championship as only four remain at Hotel Esperanto, Fulda in Germany live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland as well as on Viaplay in Scandinavia, Poland, and the Baltics and various other broadcasters worldwide including Matchroom.Live in relevant countries.
Joshua Filler 5-11 Mario He
Mieszko Fortunski 10-11 Jose Alberto Delgado
Shane Van Boening 11-7 Matuesz Sniegocki
Albin Ouschan 11-5 Konrad Juszczyszyn
Filler came into the quarter-finals off the back of a dominant display over Jayson Shaw and the home country favourite was looking to get the better of Mario He, someone who had flew under the radar so far this week. He let Filler make the mistakes to let him in early doors and he lead 2-1 after three racks. The Austrian was strolling around the table with ease leading 5-1 when he opened up a chance for Filler after a miss on the one ball brought the Mosconi Cup star his chance to get back on the board at 5-2.
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It seemed that Filler would pull back into the contest at this stage but Filler wasn't at his best and He was back in during the eigth rack after a dry break. He was relentless and playing almost perfect pool as he ran the racks up to leave Filler in a perilous position at 9-2 down needing only two more to book a maiden semi-final appearance in a Matchroom singles event.
The 12th rack saw He break well but leave no potting angle on the one, he opted to push out only for Filler to force him back in, with that He left it open for Filler to get back in at 9-3. A quick break and run in the resulting rack put the difference to only five racks, something Filler wouldn't be too fazed by. Filler was struggling at times with the table and a cut on the five illustrated just that to bring He back to the table who took full advantage to get on the hill at 10-4.
He broke dry in the 15th rack to bring Filler back to the table. Filler laid a brutal hook on the six which opened up the table for the German to get another rack on the scores and gather some momentum once again. Both have won the World Cup of Pool in recent times and the drama wasn't done just yet, Filler looked to be clear through to take another rack off He only to rattle both sides of the middle pocket on the six leaving a simple table for He to book his spot in the semi-finals against former World Cup of Pool winning partner Albin Ouschan.
"I am very happy. I know it would be tough to beat Filler. I played him three or four times and it's so hard to beat him. I had some lucky shots which helped me get off my feet. I felt like he was coming back, he always does that but then he missed the six ball and he gave me two games and let's say, it was an easier win than it could've been. I was kicking good. The balls went for me. It could've gone the other way. I am happy I played good and the luck was on my side." He said.
With He and Filler doing battle, another story was unfolding on Table 2 where Spain's Jose Alberto Delgado was making his intentions clear against Poland's Mieszko Fortunski. The pair traded blow after blow as the contest got heated and Fortunski took control for the first time at 4-3. Fortunski came into the competition looking to go on better than his best performance in a Matchroom event to date at the World Pool Masters where he reached the semi-finals earlier this year. The Butcher had the full length of the table to deal with to make the eight on the bottom rail at 4-4 and he couldn't do that as Delgado came back to the table to soon establish a two rack lead at 6-4 for the first time.
Fortunski wasn't going away that easy though as it went 6-6, 7-7, 8-8, and 9-9 before Delgado seized his change to reach the hill and be one away from his first-ever Matchroom semi-final. Delgado came up dry in the penultimate rack for Fortunski to level and force a hill-hill finish. With Fortunski breaking in the last rack, he had his chance to steal it only to be caught up in a safety battle on the four which Delgado made him pay for to seal victory to shouts of 'VAMOS!' in the arena.
World Champion Shane Van Boening came up against a spirited Mateusz Sniegocki who was looking to cause an upset on the main table. Van Boening struggled early on despite leading 4-0 after the opening exchanges. Sniegocki breathed a sigh of relief as he got on the board at 4-1 and soon 4-2 to be closing in on the American. The South Dakota kid though already has one huge title to his name this year and he soon lead 6-2. Sniegocki had chances on a plate to keep on Van Boening's tail and a major one came when he aimed to kick the seven ball only to scratch and put Van Boening back in to be 7-4 up.
Van Boening's break is usually the pièce de résistance of his game but it was causing him a heap of problems as he scratched in the resulting rack. It was his second scratch of the match so far with five dry breaks, much to the USA hero's bemusement. Sniegocki cut the deficit to two at this stage at 7-5.
SVB has been pushed hard already in this tournament and he wasn't going to let Sniegocki get the better of him as he broke and run for the second time to make it 9-5 and be two away from the magic 11 racks. The work of Van Boening wasn't done yet though after reaching the hill, Sniegocki pounced on another Van Boening dry break to be four away and with the break in his favour.
At 10-7, Sniegocki was left to rue bad time management that left him to rush the one ball and let the table open for Van Boening to seal his passage to the final day.
Albin Ouschan became the last player into the semi-finals minutes after Van Boening thanks to an 11-5 win over Poland's Konrad Juszczyszyn. Ouschan took the opening few racks and after five he led 3-2. The Austrian's pedigree can't be understated and he was running racks for fun to lead 7-2 and seemingly already put the contest past Juszczyszyn in no part thanks to a 98% pot success rate at that stage.
Juszczyszyn had his moments but Ouschan was too strong and was two away from victory after 12 racks. The contest looked done for the most part as Juszczyszyn come back at 9-5 only for safety on the four to be in ample range for an Ouschan bank which aided him to the hill. A routine break and run gave Ouschan his victory to meet He in the first semi-final tomorrow.
All photography courtesy of ©Taka G.Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport.
Click the image to view the full size photograph (use "back" to return here).
All photography courtesy of ©Taka G.Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport.
Click the image to view the full size photograph (use "back" to return here).
European Open Day 5 | Filler And Van Boening Through To Quarters
Nineball World Numbers One and Two in Shane Van Boening and Joshua Filler both made it through to the quarter-finals of the inaugural European Open Pool Championship at Hotel Esperanto, Fulda in Germany live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland as well as on Viaplay in Scandinavia and the Baltics and various other broadcasters worldwide including Matchroom.Live in relevant countries.
Schedule / Scores
Filler came up against Mosconi Cup teammate Jayson Shaw in the opening contest on Table 1 with the Killer looking to make it through to the next stage on home soil whilst his opponent was looking for their first taste of singles glory in a Matchroom event since 2017. Shaw took an early lead with a golden break in the first rack but Filler came back including a golden break of his own to lead 3-1 and set early pace.
There were some tetchy moments from both players and after five racks Filler edged it 3-2 and took control from then on opening up an assertive lead at 8-2 to put him only two away from a clash with either Mario He of Austria or Besar Spahiu of Albania for a spot in the semi-finals tomorrow. Shaw played a full-length bank to make the one in the 11th rack and from there ran out to cut the deficit but it was short-lived as Filler came true appeasing the home fans with a break and run in the final rack which included an inch-perfect jump shot on the one.
Van Boening's task to reach the quarter-finals was one of trials and tribulation against Bosnia and Herzegovina's Sanjin Pehlivanović. The pair couldn't be split after four racks in a high-quality encounter in a meeting of generations. Pehlivanović trailed 4-2 when Van Boening had seemingly left the youngster hooked but he had other ideas playing a full-length bank of his own whilst jumping the six ball only for SVB to get back to the table and establish a three-rack lead at 5-1. The performance from Van Boening wasn't what he would describe as clinical and it's something that Pehlivanović bayed on to level matters back up swiftly at 5-5 and sending a warning sign to the World Champion.
Pehlivanović had his chances to take the game to Van Boening and establish a lead of his own but a scratch on the break from the former Junior World Champion put him under the cosh and Van Boening in the commanding position to run out and amass an 8-5 lead. Van Boening broke dry in the next rack to allow Pehlivanović a chance to get back in it again at 8-6. Another scratch on the break later from Pehlivanović and Van Boening was on the hill.
On the hill, Van Boening and Pehlivanović faltered with varying degrees of opportunity to take it one way or another only for the former to have the final say on things and book a quarter-final date with Mateusz Sniegocki tonight. Sniegocki was rampant at times against Jonas Souto Comino who was playing in his first Matchroom Last 16 tie but the experience of Sniegocki made Souto Comino head home before the evening session.
Elsewhere, Mieszko Fortunski got the better of fellow Pole Tomasz Kaplan on Table 2 10-4 to meet Jose Alberto Delgado in the last eight who had overcome Ronald Regli in a spirited fightback where it looked like it would be Regli who would face Fortunski next only for Delgado to dig deep from behind to defeat the Swiss cueist 10-7. Mario He meanwhile made lightwork of Besar Spahiu of Albania to meet Filler next whilst Konrad Juszczyszyn became the third Polish player into the quarter-finals with a win against Canada's John Morra.
Albin Ouschan became the final name into the quarter-finals after the two-time World Champion got the better of Denis Grabe in a hill-hill thriller that saw him from behind on several occasions to dispatch the Estonian. Ouschan got to the hill first but it was Grabe who was breaking for the match only to scratch and leave the Austrian with a routine run out for victory.
Quarter-Finals from 18:00 (CEST)
Table 1
Joshua Filler (GER) vs Mario He (AUT)
Shane Van Boening (USA) vs Mateusz Sniegocki (POL)
Table 2 – Matchroom Pool YouTube / Matchroom.Live
Mieszko Fortunski (POL) vs José Alberto Delgado (ESP)
Albin Ouschan (AUT) vs Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL)
This evening and Sunday, Table 1 action is available on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland as well as on Viaplay in Scandinavia and the Baltics and various other broadcasters worldwide including Matchroom.Live in relevant countries. Table 2 will be on the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel this evening.
All photography courtesy of ©Taka G.Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport.
Click the image to view the full size photograph (use "back" to return here).
All photography courtesy of ©Taka G.Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport.
Click the image to view the full size photograph (use "back" to return here).
2022 European Open Day 4 | Only 16 Remain With Filler Through
Joshua Filler passed the test of Mosconi Cup teammate Eklent Kaçi and the USA's Oscar Dominguez to reach the Last 16 of the inaugural European Open Pool Championship at Hotel Esperanto, Fulda, Germany live on the Matchroom Pool Facebook/YouTube and Matchroom.Live.
Schedule / Scores
Filler had a good day of it coming from behind to defeat Kaçi 9-8 when his goose had looked cooked when Kaçi had a 5-9 combo to seal victory at 8-7 only for the Albanian to offer the gift that the Killer needed to get back into it. Kaçi didn't get a look in from then on as Filler broke in the final rack but it was far from easy with the 7, 8 and 9 all glued together and the rack penned underneath it. Filler kept his cool in the moment though despite the glaring problem to complete victory and set up a Last 32 tie with Oscar Dominguez of the USA.
Dominguez had came from 4-1 down against Tyler Styer to peg him back at 5-5 and 6-6 before pulling through to meet his old Mosconi Cup rival to reach the Last 16.
Filler came into the contest on the back of two hill-hill showings in his last three matches in the tournament and he was in no mood for a similar scenario. Filler hit the front early on but Dominguez was playing freely and causing the German a whole heap of problems. The home crowd were out for their star man and he delivered a 10-7 victory to book his spot in the Last 16 in what proved to be a successful day that also saw him become the first player on Team Europe for the 2022 Mosconi Cup off the Live Nineball World Rankings.
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz was the only player who could beat Filler to the first Mosconi Cup spot with $14,000 separating the pair heading into the tournament but his hopes were ended in the Last 32 at the hands of Albania's Besar Spahiu who mounted an impressive comeback to steal it 10-8 and confirm Filler's spot on Team Europe for the 2022 Mosconi Cup at Bally's Las Vegas from November 30 to December 3.
Jayson Shaw is next up for Filler after the two-time Mosconi Cup MVP saw off Petri Makkonen earlier on in the day before a grueling battle with Italy's Daniele Corrieri to book his place in the Last 16. Corrieri took the game to Shaw and had the better of the opening exchanges with a 1-9 combo the pick of the bunch as he found his rhythm early doors with Shaw not doing too much wrong.
Eagle Eye found his mojo at the midway stage and he didn't do too much wrong from then on as he led for the first time in the match at 7-6. Shaw from there was imperious as he set up a mouthwatering clash on Table 1 with Filler next.
Team USA's charge for glory on home soil will be led by Nineball World No.1 Shane Van Boening who came through his own tests against Germany's Sebastian Staab in the Last 64 before Wojciech Szewczyk stood in his way of a weekend appearance. Szewczyk took the early initiative to lead 2-0 before Van Boening pulled back to 2-2. The pair were entertaining the crowd with some of the best safety play witnessed all week as Van Boening came back to lead only for Szewczyk to soon lead 5-4 and be at the halfway point. Van Boening was dominant to lead 9-5 only to break dry in the next and Szewczyk to bite back. The Pole was struggling for position on the 1 ball. and had to play safe and from there Van Boening played a kick and stick that would rival any in history to leave Szewczyk in knots. A short safety battled ensued for Van Boening to come on top and meet Sanjin Pehlivanovic in the Last 16 tomorrow.
Alexander Kazakis defeated David Alcaide 9-2 to reach the Last 32 and meet John Morra. The Greek had a battle on his hands against Morra who lead at various points and most importantly was 8-6 up in the Race to 10. The Canadian looked to have control but Kazakis has demonstrated in recent times his steely nature with some clutch pots to pull it back and looked to be in to level at 9-9. Kazakis lost position on the penultimate ball to leave it over the pocket and give Morra the easiest route into the Last 16 to meet Konrad Juszczyszyn next.
All photography courtesy of ©Taka G.Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport.
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Session 1 from 12pm (CEST)
Table 1 – Sky Sports / DAZN / Viaplay / Matchroom.Live
Joshua Filler (GER) vs Jayson Shaw (GBR)
Shane Van Boening (USA) vs Sanjin Pehlivanović (BOS)
Table 2 – Matchroom Pool YouTube / Matchroom.Live
Mieszko Fortunski (POL) vs Tomasz Kaplan (POL)
Jonas Souto Comino (ESP) vs Mateusz Sniegocki (POL)
Albin Ouschan (ESP) vs Denis Grabe (EST)
Table 3
Ronald Regli (SUI) vs Jose Alberto Delgado (ESP)
John Morra (CAN) Vs Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL)
Mario He (AUT) vs Besar Spahiu (ALB)
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Tomorrow and Sunday, Table 1 action is available on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland as well as on Viaplay in Scandinavia and the Baltics and various other broadcasters worldwide including Matchroom.Live in relevant countries. Table 2 will be on the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel.
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