THE TWO TITLE deciders played out on Sunday evening at Alpina Hotel in St Johann as the destination of the trophies at the Predator Austrian Open was determined and it was Albin Ouschan who claimed his third ever Predator Euro title. In the women’s Open, it was an emotional Chen Chieh Hua who claimed the title in her first ever Predator Euro Tour event. Albin defeated Joshua Filler 11-6, while Chen got the better of Jasmin Ouschan by 9-4.
With so many matches in the tournament ending 11-10 or 11-9, it seemed certain that this heavyweight clash between two of European pools greats, would go down to the wire. Filler was chasing his 12th Euro Tour title, while Ouschan was gunning for his third following wins in 2012 and 2015.
The Austrian had an immense start to the match as he came out firing, capitalising on some errors from Filler to open up a 5-0 lead. That was soon to become 8-1 and in the alternate break, two breaks each format, it looked unassailable.
Filler though got it back to 8-3, 9-5 and then 10-6 to give Ouschan something to think about, but the ice-cold Austrian kept himself together to close the tournament out.
“I haven’t been playing a lot of Euro Tours in the past but I was feeling good and I was playing alright in the previous matches. It was long days and many long matches, tough conditions, humidity, and we were already here for two weeks so I’m super happy it ended with winning the tournament.
“He helped me a little bit as his break wasn’t working in the beginning and he missed quite an easy 5-ball I would say, which was unusual for him but he’s still one of the greatest players we’ve ever seen so fair play to him.
“I was up 8-1 and I still knew he could come back and I couldn’t give him any chances and then it was 9-5 and I was like alright he’s got two breaks now so I had to stay ready if I got a chance and take it, otherwise its 9-7. I managed to play a very, very good set and overall, I’m super happy with my performance.
“I got better and better, it was tough conditions especially against Gnadeberg in the second round, it was a tricky match but I was feeling well against Oliver, Wiktor and against Josh, I played my best match of the tournament and I knew I needed my best performance.”
Filling out the semi-finals were Oliver Szolnoki, who lost 11-8 to Ouschan and David Alcaide who went down 11-6 at the hands of Filler.
Chen, who likes to go by her anglicised name of Amber, decided to extend her stay in Austria after competing in the earlier Predator Pro Billiard Series and it proved to be a wise move as she held off Jasmin Ouschan to claim the Predator Austrian Women’s Open. Chen had found herself on the losers side after a defeat to Bojana Sarac, but came through, beating some of the tour’s best players to claim a berth in the final.
The championship match was poised with Chen leading 5-3 at the midpoint but she moved away from Ouschan to take a well-deserved victory. Chen was absolutely thrilled with her win and was still emotional about it all some time after victory.
She said, “I’m really, really happy, I can’t believe it! It’s been a long time since I’ve been a champion and I really enjoyed the tournament; there were so many good players. I’d really like to thank Jasmin as she’s such a nice player and she played really good; it was such a good match!”
Beaten semi-finalists were Sandra Baumgartner – 9-2 at the hands of Chen - and Marion Jude, who lost 9-1 to Jasmin Ouschan.
The Predator Euro Tour returns from 20 to 23 August with the Longoni Open, taking place in Treviso, Italy. As of 2026, WPA World Ranking points are now available on both men’s and women’s Predator Euro Tours.
Action from Tables 1, 2 and 3 at the Predator Austrian Open can be found on YouTube, via the Pro Billiard TV channel - https://www.youtube.com/@ProBilliardTV
For all results, live scoring and draw, visit www.epbf.com
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