filler wins 13-1.
European Open 2025, Sarajevo, March 11-16
- Thread starter Bob Jewett
- Start date
Wonder if there's any room left in his trophy case.
Like Sherman through Georgia.
In the post-match interview, Oi said he thinks Josh is the number one player in the world. No kidding!
Josh Filler's 9ball campaign in 2025 looks like this:
Derby City Classic 9ball: 1st place in a field of 500
Eurotour Italian Open: 1st place in a field of 256
European Open: 1st place in a field of 256
Not bad for a guy Matchroom refers to as World #8, LOL!
As far as I know, Josh has lost just one 9ball match this year. I know who beat him. Do you?
Josh Filler's 9ball campaign in 2025 looks like this:
Derby City Classic 9ball: 1st place in a field of 500
Eurotour Italian Open: 1st place in a field of 256
European Open: 1st place in a field of 256
Not bad for a guy Matchroom refers to as World #8, LOL!
As far as I know, Josh has lost just one 9ball match this year. I know who beat him. Do you?
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well spoken by josh
Yes, he was both humble and gracious, praising his rivals and giving a thumbs up to the event itself.
That’s what tiger woods did to golf and it made everyone get better so I call bs on that . Nothing is set up wrong. Filler is just that much better then everyone else right Now.
Some aggregate stats on the Table 1 streamed matches are now available here: https://forums.azbilliards.com/thre...n-pool-championship-9-ball-march-2025.574095/
Bingo! Can Salim beat him at Derby City.
Of course Emily is not happy. She wanted close matches. Instead it was two blowouts and a convincing win in the third match. Not great for her TV partners.
The matches today buttress my view that a MR final and semi are more pressure packed than any other event in pro pool. The lights, the cameras, the stage setting, the playing area, the fans, the announcers and commentators. The knowledge that the event is on TV in some countries.
Maciol wilted under the pressure in the semis and made a few costly mistakes. Oi, after feeling no pressure in his win over Maciol, fell apart in the finals. Even Filler, he just breathed a sign of relief after he won. He made a few big boo-boos in the finals that I hadn't seen all week.
Filler kept his composure most of the way, of course, and kudos to Labutis. He fought hard and did not wilt under the glare.
I have seen plenty of players show their nerves in big MR events. That's part of what makes your eyes draw toward the matches. Or to want to look away. It was painful to see Maciol crumble vs. Oi, and then Oi crumble vs Filler.
The pressure is even worse for foes of Filler (and Gorst). Knowing that just one mistake could kill you. And the winner break format amps up the pressure when a player gets behind.
Maciol wilted under the pressure in the semis and made a few costly mistakes. Oi, after feeling no pressure in his win over Maciol, fell apart in the finals. Even Filler, he just breathed a sign of relief after he won. He made a few big boo-boos in the finals that I hadn't seen all week.
Filler kept his composure most of the way, of course, and kudos to Labutis. He fought hard and did not wilt under the glare.
I have seen plenty of players show their nerves in big MR events. That's part of what makes your eyes draw toward the matches. Or to want to look away. It was painful to see Maciol crumble vs. Oi, and then Oi crumble vs Filler.
The pressure is even worse for foes of Filler (and Gorst). Knowing that just one mistake could kill you. And the winner break format amps up the pressure when a player gets behind.
Good point. Today's matches lacked drama, but great pool sells, too, and Oi offered it in the semis and Filler offered it in the final. This was a great event, and all at Matchroom should be delighted by their fine production.
Well said. As I've often noted, Matchroom is offering us the best professional pool tour since the PBT in the 1990s. May it live on forever! I think part of the pressure comes from the grind that precedes day six. Oddly enough, the two players who avoided any close matches through day five were the ones that made it to the final.
Still, in the end, these players play to make a living, and the pressure comes from the money up for grabs. In December, Maciol played in the final of the Qatar 10ball, $100,000 to the winner and $40,000 to the runner-up. Daniel played brilliantly in a match where $60,000 was on the line, so his ability to deal with the pressure is already proven. Unfortunately, he ran into a buzzsaw in the semifinals today in Oi and had no shot. Labutis is still on the rise and he will get more and more accustomed to the biggest stages and moments.
Filler's secret sauce is that he has played in so many semis and finals in his career. Josh and Fedor regularly find themselves in the last four at the majors and they are used to being in the toughest spots in the biggest events, just as it always was for BCA Hall of Fame legends like Sigel, Varner, Souquet, Appleton and SVB.
Indeed. Big money is big pressure - with one caveat in this case. The 10-ball title was alternate break. Definitely more forgiving than winner's break. You know you will get plenty of chances at the table.
Not so, of course, with winner's break. That's why WNT has a lot more (imo) of what I call cascade failures. Player gets desperate to swing the tide - especially vs someone like Filler - and tries to make something happen. Instead he makes it worse. Happened to Oi in the finals. And Shaw in the quarters.
Maciol's title was impressive, to be sure. Just a somewhat different animal.
yea, as i wrote in the stats thread, the occurrence of one finalist winning 11-1 in the semi only to lose 1-13 in the final must surely be extremely rare. and an anomaly rather than a tendency for WNT.
maybe naoyuki overachieved in the semi, idk. he certainly managed to harness his nervous energy better.
for new, casual viewers watching this, winners break must seem unfair. but we all know maciol and oi had chances, and we all know what they are capable of.
At the UK Open in 2023, Filler demolished Woodward in the semis (I think it was 11-0 but I'm not sure) but then lost the final 13-4 to Kaci. That final, in which Filler attempted to pocket a ball just once in the last nine racks, is eerily similar to yesterday's final, in which Oi was, for the most part, a spectator from 6-1 on.
Yes, a semifinalist coming off a dominating effort is very rarely blown out in the final, but it happens every now and then.
Agreed that Oi and Maciol had early chances, but their failure to capitalize played them right out of the matches that ended their hopes for the title. Still, JBART makes a really good point in noting that winner breaks can amp up the pressure. Fans love seeing pros string a few racks together, but every mistake is magnified when that danger exists.
Very well said. Winner breaks can definitely amp up the pressure. That said, Matchroom has, in many ways, made the break much less important. Nine on the spot with a very small break box (about a diamond wide) has made even the four pack a very endangered species in WNT majors. Per At-Large stats pertaining to the 2025 European Open, break and run was a 23% chance and breaker won the game 59%. Who breaks matters less than it ever has at the Matchroom majors.
As we learn every December, even with alternate break, the pressure is also amped up when the race is to five. It's a big part of why we enjoy the Mosconi Cup so much.
I've often suggested that "winner breaks" format is an example of something the fans want but most players do not. The "winner breaks" format brings more excitement to pool, and Matchroom seems to understand this as well as anyone. That's one of the reasons why the Matchroom majors are pool's best events.
One thing that is undeniable is that Matchroom just produced a first-rate event. In the words of Carly Simon "nobody does it better."
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