Joshua Filler (GER) has just ended Austria’s hopes to receive another Gold Medal in the men’s 9-ball division at the Dynamic Billard European Championships in St. Johann i.Pg., Austria, by eliminating Albin Ouschan (AUT) 9:3.
It seems to be a tough day for Austrian pool today. The national TV station is here and they will broadcast six hours LIVE today on ORF SPORT+. Of course, the Austrian Federation wanted be represented in the semifinals with at least one player. And this morning things looked quite promising for Austria since they were represented in the men’s division with Albin Ouschan and they even had two promising athletes in the women’s division, Jasmin Ouschan and Sandra Baumgartner. Surprisingly for everyone, Jasmin Ouschan lost her match in the round of the last 16 players against Germany’s Vivien Schade (GER). That was a huge upset for the event. Ouschan was definitely highly favored in the match but she did not play her best game today. To the contrary, Schade played excellent and did not commit any mistakes in order to win with 7:2 over Ouschan. In the quarter-finals, Schade then lost 6:7 to Sara Rocha (POR).
Albin Ouschan had a very tough draw in the round of the last 16 men. He encountered „The Terminator“ Niels Feijen (NED). That match was really exciting and thrilling. Feijen went up 6:3 over Ouschan but then he started committing several mistakes. He either ran out of position or missed shots. That gave Albin Ouschan the chance to come back and even take an 8:7 lead over Feijen. It was Feijen’s turn at the table at 8:7 for Ouschan. He was clearing up the table when he played the 6-ball but missed it since it hit the jaw of the pocket. Ouschan got a shot and went for it. He ran the last remaining balls and won that match with 9:7 over strong Dutch Feijen. In the quarterfinal round, Ouschan met Joshua Filler (GER). The young German had just eliminated Andreas Gerwen (SWE) 9:6. That match turned out to be a disaster for Ouschan. His breakshot did not work, he ran out of position and the balls did not roll in his favor. Filler however was blessed with two lucky shots in the match. Additionally, he played well and came up with good break shots. So in the end the final result of 9:3 over Ouschan is a real display of the performances in that match.
Sandra Baumgartner (AUT) was the last remaining Austrian hope for a representation in the semifinals today. In the round of the last 16 players, Baumgartner defeated Zrinka Antonijevic (CRO) 7:5. In the quarterfinal, she was up against Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL). Khodjaeva ousted Anna Mazhirina (RUS) 7:5 in the round before. The quarterfinal started pretty comfortably for Baumgartner. After four racks, the scoreboard displayed a 4:0 lead for Baumgartner. Khodjaeva was not even on the scoreboard yet. But then things completely changed in the match. Khodjaeva pulled back rack after rack and she managed to win seven racks in a row, winning the match 7:4 over Baumgartner.
Semifinal matches:
Men
Denis Grabe (EST) v Joshua Filler (GER)
Russland Chinakhov (RUS) v Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP)
Women
Sara Rocha (POR) v Ina Kaplan (GER)
Kristina Grim (GER) v Kamila Khodjaeva (BEL)
Wheelchair
Henrik Larsson (SWE) v Fred Dinsmore (IRL)
Kurt Deklerck (BEL) v Jouni Tahti (FIN)
Today, the semifinal matches will begin at 16:00 with the final matches scheduled for 19:00 CET.
The Championships are played on 24 tables which will all be streamed LIVE throughout the whole event. In order to be able to follow all the action LIVE, premium membership can be purchased at www.kozoom.com. Once a premium membership is held, all events for the respective period of time can be viewed LIVE. Additionally, a huge video gallery is contained in the website.
The event is hosted by the European Governing Body for Pool, the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF) and organized by International Billiard Promotion (IBP). For further information and reference please go to the federation website www.epconline.eu, visit us on Facebook or check out our youtube channel for regular news clips or contact our press office press@epbf.com.