Denis Grabe battled back from two sets behind to stun Joshua Filler and become the Las Vegas Open champion for the first time, scooping the $37,500 jackpot in the famous Sin City after an intense shootout.
Following a semi-final victory over Jeffrey de Luna that saw him showcase his fighting qualities in coming back from 3-1 down in two sets, Estonia’s Grabe staged another remarkable resurgence to land the biggest accolade of his career.
Despite Filler winning 12 of the 21 racks played in a gripping contest that provided a perfect advert for Predator’s set-play format, Grabe added the Vegas title to the Maldives Open that he won last year.
Filler claimed the opening two sets in commanding fashion and was in complete cruise control. However, a safety from Grabe in the seventh rack of the third set proved crucial as he welded Filler behind the three ball.
WPA world number two, Grabe, upped the ante in the fourth to force a shootout, which is used in Predator Pro Billiard Series events to determine the winner, and subsequently capitalised on Filler missing his third spot shot to reign victorious.
His dramatic win over Filler was one of four deciding sets that Grabe had to emerge through on his way to the title, surviving from the brink of defeat against John Morra in the last 16 and also narrowly denying both Norway’s Emil-Andre Gangflot and Singapore’s Sharik Sayed.
Filler had himself experienced a narrow escape during his path, battling through a shootout against Marco Teutscher in the quarter-finals, before ending the hopes of WPA world number one Alex Kazakis at the penultimate hurdle.
Nonetheless, the Las Vegas Open belonged to Estonia’s Grabe and it will live long in his memory as one of his finest hours, following in the footsteps of Lee Van Corteza, Wiktor Zielinski and Wu Kun-Lin in winning the prestigious 10-ball tournament.
