Denis Grabe has reflected on becoming the Las Vegas Open champion earlier this month, where he defeated Joshua Filler in the final to secure the biggest title of his life.
Having won three titles on the Euro Tour in his career, achieved Maldives Open success and reached the World 10-Ball Championship semi-finals last year, Estonia’s Grabe added the $37,500 accolade to his accomplishments
“I’m feeling great as I have been playing well and working for very long with my pool game,” Grabe told absolute-pool.com. “I’ve been constantly playing big events and trying my best and preparing better than before.
“I’ve always been in top places, top 16, top eight, top four, so knocking on the door of many events. It’s great to win such a big event and beating Filler is extra sweet!”
Grabe’s battling qualities were evident on his way to tasting success as he needed to emerge through four shootouts, which entails both players taking aim at spot shots on the 10 ball to determine the winner.
His gripping contest against Filler in the championship match provided a perfect advert for Predator’s set-play format, with Grabe prevailing despite being two sets behind and his opponent winning 12 of the 21 racks played.
“For me personally, I like the sets format. It’s more playing time and more chance, even if you miss a few balls,” Grabe added, having successfully potted 12 out of 12 spot shot attempts across the week.
“With races to nine, maybe you miss one ball and are down 8-2 and not much you can do about that. Shootouts seem to be working good also for me, although it’s little bit more luck involved.”
Having beaten Aloysius Yapp and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz on his way to the World 10-Ball Championship semi-finals at the same venue 12 months earlier and claimed the scalps of Fedor Gorst and Alex Kazakis in the Maldives, his Las Vegas triumph capped off a sensational year.
Grabe’s first outing as Las Vegas Open champion was a trip to the European Open Championship, his first World Nineball Tour major since August amidst the ongoing saga between Matchroom and the WPA, something he hopes can come to an end.
“I just hope it ends and all players can play all events,” said Grabe, the current WPA world number two. “I’ve just been playing where there is more tournaments, more money to be won and a better chance for myself to do good.”
Having been a professional for more than a decade, Grabe has been the sole flag bearer for the blue, white and black of Estonia, although he believes that the future of pool in his country is extremely promising.
“It’s going pretty good for a small country. We have two junior world champions in Revo Maimre and Karl Gnadeberg,” added Grabe, who resides in the Estonian capital of Tallinn.
“If Karl Gnadeberg, Revo Maimre, Sander Tamm and Sander Kont keep working hard, I feel like they have a bright future ahead.
“We have the European Championships coming and the Euro Tour at the start of April. We also have the Predator Academy and we will have a Matchroom tournament 23-25 May in Hill-Hill Billiard Club.
“So I think it’s really blooming and plus I’m making great results and getting media coverage from sports news and so on.”
