Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz ( Taka Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz has won the 2023 Premier League Pool title beating Jayson Shaw in the final 7-4 at the Morningside Arena, Leicester, England live on Matchroom.Live, Viaplay, and networks worldwide.
Sanchez Ruiz reached his fourth final in the last five Matchroom individual tournaments and did so by finishing top of the league by four points with a record 22 points overall before meeting Naoyuki Oi in the semi-finals. Oi maintained his spot in the top six for most of the week going into the final day and made sure of his spot late on with a 5-3 win over Shaw. A year back, Oi missed out on the final four by rack difference but on this occasion, the tables turned as Sushi Boom made it on the number by racks won. When it came to the semi-final, Sanchez Ruiz slayed Oi 7-3 at a canter to set up a tantalising final with either Sanjin Pehlivanovic or Shaw.
Pehlivanovic had led for large parts of this week but fell off the pace over the weekend, but held it together on the final day to face a tough semi-final with Shaw. Shaw meanwhile has played with freedom all week and hadn’t looked too fazed with the job at hand. The Brit lost the opening rack but came good from there to leave Pehlivanovic trailing in his wake at 6-3 before wrapping up victory at 7-4.
Konrad Juszczyszyn’s faint hopes of making the final four were ended abruptly in the afternoon whilst Alex Pagulayan missed out on the final spot by the margin of racks won to Oi. Pagulayan needed a heavy Oi defeat late on and at least register his own win. Pagulayan got the win but the heavy loss he needed Juszczyszyn to inflict on Oi along with Shaw beating him was not forthcoming for Sushi Boom.
Into the final, Shaw won the lag but lost out in the opening rack before Sanchez Ruiz stepped up to make a golden break in the second to lead by two. Shaw came back strong through with a break and run to pull it to 2-1. There was very little to separate the pair as it soon went 3-3 and 4-4. The 4-4 moment was a bruising moment for Shaw’s hopes with a missed cut on the three ball. From there, Sanchez Ruiz by his own admission had the luck of the green for another Matchroom title after in the final rack Shaw was left hooked off the break only to see his safety on the two in firing range for Sanchez Ruiz to deliver the fatal final blow.
Sanchez Ruiz said: “I am so proud but I am sorry for Jayson because I got lucky. I feel so sorry for him, he played good, especially in the final. It’s an unbelievable feeling if I continue playing like this, that would be tough!”
Next up is the World Pool Masters set to take place at the Brentwood Centre, Essex, England from May 10-13 with tickets on sale now from only £10 a session. The format returns to a 16-player field for pool’s most historic tournament with the likes of Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Jayson Shaw, Shane Van Boening, Fedor Gorst, and Joshua Filler all invited. Buy your tickets here.
Premier League Pool - Morningside Arena - March 6 - 13th, 2023 - Results - AZBILLIARDS.COM