Joshua Filler has been crowned the European Open champion for the first time in his career following an emphatic 11-1 victory over Naoyuki Oi in the final in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Filler was relentless throughout as he compiled six break and runs in the most one-sided final in World Nineball Tour history, scooping $40,000 and securing his first WNT major title since the 2022 UK Open Championship in London.
Oi had won the lag and opened the final with a break and run, only for his cue ball to unfortunately follow the one into the pocket when jumping in the second rack. Filler cleared the table to level at one apiece, before putting together a break and run of his own for a slender lead.
Filler compiled his second break and run to extend his lead to 4-1, thanks to an outrageous fluke on the two ball to lead. Despite an incredible two-rail kick and a clean bank in the sixth rack, Japan’s Oi crucially missed the six ball and gifted Filler a four-rack buffer.
A dramatic seventh rack witnessed the German hook himself after a one-two combination and he was then unable to hit the one ball, which was left hanging over the pocket. Oi returned to the table twice but a positional error followed by a missed long seven ball proved extra costly, with Filler executing a seven-nine combination to lead by five racks.
Twice a World 10-Ball Championship runner-up, Oi received countless opportunities during the early exchanges but that was the polar opposite for the remaining racks. His frustrations were evident as Filler extended his lead to 7-1 and that was the beginning of the end for the Japanese sensation.
Filler compiled four break and runs in the next five racks to move onto the hill, where a dry break allowed Oi one last hurrah as he entertained the crowd, before a brilliant table-length bank one-two combination opened up the table for Filler as he hoisted the trophy.
It was a case of roles reversed for Japan’s Oi as he had produced a breaking masterclass and five break and runs in an 11-1 rout of Daniel Maciol in the semi-finals, with Maciol having beaten both Ko Pin-Yi and Shane van Boening earlier in the week.
Eventual champion Filler, meanwhile, had put together five break and runs in beating Pijus Labutis in the semi-finals, having already swept aside the likes of Wojciech Szewczyk, Jayson Shaw and Dimitris Loukatos during a rampant campaign.
Attentions now immediately turn to Premier League Pool, which takes place at the same venue in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, although European Open champion Filler did not receive a spot for that invitational event.
