Moritz Neuhausen staged a captivating comeback to seal an elusive European Open Pool Championship title in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, overturning a five-rack deficit to beat Mario He 13-7 in the final.
Neuhausen compiled five break and runs on his way to landing the biggest accolade of his career in the Bosnian capital, winning eleven straight racks from 7-2 down to trouser the $40,000 champion’s cheque.
A Peri Open champion, a Hanoi Open runner-up and a Mosconi Cup MVP in European colours at the backend of last year, Neuhausen had his sights fixated on a sought-after open championship title and the German youngster delivered.
Austria’s He had put together three break and runs as he mounted a 7-2 advantage and appeared to be cruising towards a maiden major crown, although a deliberate foul in the tenth rack backfired and gifted Neuhausen a route back into the contest.
Neuhausen obtained the momentum and produced a flawless performance from there onwards, with four break and runs as well as safety expertise when necessary assisting him in completing a tremendous turnaround to reign supreme.
Having also beaten players in the calibre of Eklent Kaci and Robbie Capito, and survived hill-hill affairs against Vietnam’s Duong Quoc Hoang and Phuong Nam Pham, Neuhausen’s triumphant campaign saw him climb into the world’s top eight on the World Nineball Tour rankings for the first time.
It was a brutal defeat for his Austrian opponent in his maiden major final, with He having overcome his semi-final hoodoo by dethroning defending champion Joshua Filler, punishing numerous uncharacteristic mistakes from Filler in a memorable win.
He was fortunate in the last 64 when trailing by three racks against Dean Shields, who notably missed a crucial seven ball on the hill, before responding with impressive wins over the likes of Fedor Gorst’s conquerer in Arseni Sevastyanov and Oliver Szolnoki to break new ground.
The World Nineball Tour now travels onto Ostend for the Belgium Open from March 19-13, while the next major tournament will be the UK Open Championship in Brentwood from May 26-31.
