Pia Filler produced a masterclass in resilience to defeat China’s Shi Tianqi in straight sets and capture the Women’s Saigon 9-Ball Open title in Vietnam.
Twelve months after a disappointing early exit to Muyan Zhang in the previous edition, Germany’s Filler returned to Ho Chi Minh City with laser focus in her eyes.
She swiftly took care of business in the early rounds, defeating Song Nakyung and Su I-Yun in two lopsided contests.
The German star met her first stern test in the winners’ qualification round against 2025 China Open champion Chihiro Kawahara, who took her to distance before succumbing 3-2 in a shootout.
The drama intensified in the round of 16 as Meng-Hsia Hung forced another sudden-death spot shot contest, but Filler held her composure under pressure to get over the hump and punch her ticket to the quarter-finals.
There, she survived an exhaustive three-set war against defending champion Wei Tzu-Chien, gaining a massive momentum boost heading into the final day.
Filler carried that fire into the semi-finals, delivering a ruthless straight sets sweep over Wei’s compatriot Chou Chieh-Yu to secure her championship clash with Shi Tianqi.
The Chinese representative carved through her bracket undefeated en route to the showdown, taking down decorated legends like Rubilen Amit and Han Yu.
This was also a grudge match following their recent meeting in the 2026 China Open qualifiers, where Shi eliminated Filler from single elimination knockout contention with a 7-5 win.
Shi was the first to shift the gears in the final. She punished Filler’s errant shots with accurate pots and showcased magical escapability with her kick shots.
The 24-year-old stormed to an imposing 3-0 lead and stood on the verge of a clean sweep in the opener until a missed off-hand eight ball brought Filler back to life.
That moment proved catastrophic for Shi’s rhythm, as she dropped the next three racks with uncharacteristic misses, while Filler kept pounding on every chance at an open table.
The second set followed a similar script to the first: Shi drew first blood, capitalising on Filler’s scratch on the seven. A back-and-forth second rack went Filler’s way, as Shi’s ambitious bank shot on the nine left the ball hanging at the jaw.
Shi bounced back immediately, delivering one of the highlight clearances of the tournament in rack three and a break and run in rack four to increase the lead to 3-1.
But the pool gods can be extremely cruel, especially to Shi Tianqi in this final. Filler took advantage of Shi’s dry break to narrow the lead before outdueling China’s young star in a safety battle to restore parity.
Hill-hill once again in set two, and the rolls favoured the experienced Filler when the cue ball followed the two ball into the pocket after Shi’s jump shot, hand-gifting the German with an easy out and the set to seal the championship.
An emotional Filler dissolved into tears of joy at the final pot before sharing a long embrace with her husband, Joshua, in the crowning moment.
The trophy and the $25,000 top prize in Ho Chi Minh City cement Filler’s standing as the number one women’s player on the planet.
Filler will surely be the one to beat as the premier women’s cueists head directly to Bali, Indonesia, for the Women’s World 9-Ball Championship, starting on September 28.
