Pia Filler
THE FILLER NAME was once again on a Euro Tour trophies as this time it was Pia who was victorious to take the PREDATOR Women’s Tallinn Open, outlasting Ina Kaplan 7-5 in an absorbing final at the Kalevi Sports Hall. It was Filler’s second Predator Women’s Euro Tour title, following her win in Slovenia in October 2022, and she came through one of the biggest fields assembled on the Tour in recent times.
The match was hard-fought and of high quality but it was Filler who had the extra resolve down the final stretch. “I expected it to be a close match because I know Ina and she’s a good player she’s won multiple Euro Tours and European Championships. At the end of day, I just wanted to focus on myself because I knew I was playing well and breaking well. Actually, I never doubted that I could snap it off this time so I just did what I had to do.”
It was Filler who won the lag and delivered a nice break that saw two balls drop, leaving her a good look on the 1-ball. She duly ran through the balls but missed a difficult 9, cueing off the rail to gift Kaplan the rack and the early lead.
Kaplan made a legal break in the next but needed to push out with the 1-ball blocked. Filler got the initiative with a bold pot on the 1 and her snooker, playing the 4-ball, caused Kaplan to foul trying a one-rail escape. With ball-in-hand Filler levelled the score. She then crunched home her break shot in the third game and it paid dividends, leaving her a makeable 2/9 combination which she executed to take the lead at 2-1.
Kaplan pushed out once again, leaving a short jump shot for her opponent. Filler though, missed the 1-ball completely to present a great opportunity to Kaplan. She ran the table to once again level the match. A dry break from Filler got Kaplan back to the table and she kept her focus to come up with some big shots as she ran through the balls for a 3-2 lead.
Filler got to the table early in the next and put Kaplan in a table length snooker but she jumped the 2-ball in with some aplomb. That allowed her to keep the pressure on Filler with a good snooker but Filler was equal to it with the jump stick to leave Kaplan in trouble. With the initiative, Filler went on to take the rack and level the scores up.
Another great break shot from Filler left a nice shot on the 1-ball and a great opportunity to clear the table. She held it together very well to take the lead at 4-3. Kaplan though, was having none of it as she too glided through the next rack to return the scores to parity. In the ninth, a great break saw two balls drop and a very nice layout emerge for Filler and she comfortably ran the table to regain the lead at 5-4 in the race-to-seven final.
Kaplan’s first poor break sent Filler to the table and she looked composed and confident as she moved into a 6-4 lead and to find herself breaking for the match.
With 2-balls down and the 1-ball sitting awkwardly, she pushed out into the 2-ball. Both ladies had multiple visits before Filler left the 1-ball hanging over the centre pocket for Kaplan. With zero room for error, Kaplan ran out to get within one of Filler.
Unfortunately for Kaplan, she came up dry at the most inopportune of moments . However, the 2-ball was locked up to give her some breathing space. Filler botched her safety attempt and was subsequently snookered tight behind the green 7. Filler played the intentional foul to give herself some breathing space but Kaplan though, played a three-ball combo to set herself up but she missed the 5 ball, leaving it for Filler to play safe.
Kaplan played another tight snooker on the 5 but Filler, banking table-length played the perfect shot to tie the cueball up behind the 8-ball. Kaplan missed to give ball-in-hand and Filler potted the remaining balls to take her second Predator Women’s Euro Tour title.
Fillers efforts in Tallinn have also seen her move into pole position in the Tour rankings. She said, “I think Joshua did some calculations before the final and said that the No.1 spot was already secured so that’s amazing. It was one of my goals a couple of years ago to reach No.1 and now I’m there. But I’m not going to stop working because I want to keep that position – I don’t want to leave it,” she added.
The beaten semi-finalists were Oliwia Zalewska (Poland) and Sweden’s Monika Margeta, who’s 3rd place finish was her best effort since 2014.
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