Joshua Filler (David Thomson – Medium Pool)
Diamond Derby City Classic XXIII, January 21-29, 2022
Caesars Southern Indiana, Elizabeth, IN
David Thomson
The Diamond BIG Foot Challenge FINAL DAY
LIVE from the Accu-Stats TV Arena
Format: Race to 11, single-elimination, alternate break, foul on all balls, no jump cues. 10-Ball caroms and combos win. Mosconi Cup captains Jeremy Jones and Mark Wilson are in the Accu-Stats’ commentary booth: Enjoy and learn.
Two World Champions entered the Accu-Stats TV Arena to decide who would capture the 2022 Diamond BIG Foot 10-Ball Challenge title:
Cuetec’s, 21-year-old Muscovite Fedor Gorst and, from the town of Bonen, the 24-year-old German-born Joshua Filler.
The future of Pro Pool lies in these two young guns hands.
Their most common denominator is that they get out when they are supposed to get out…more than most.
With the alternate break format, there is little room for error.
The difference in their games is speed; Filler fast, never furious, versus Fedor, measured, rarely ruffled.
Filler was first to break formula, and that allowed Fedor to lead 6-4.
A fluke offered opportunity until Gorst missed a seemingly simple combo.
Joshua punished to jump ahead 7-6.
He held that lead until Fedor’s fought back to tie the match at 9. Breaking, his cue ball lobbed into the air to arc into the side pocket.
BIG Foot has a new champion.
And Joshua is $16,000 richer.
The Semi-Finals #1:
The match most were referencing as dawn broke was Shaw versus Gorst. Then everyone went to bed.
At 2 pm, the rejuvenated night owls straggled into the Accu-Stats TV Arena.
Let’s not forget how grueling the Derby schedule is, and not just for the diehard fans who refuse to miss a match, especially of this caliber.
Fedor Gorst and Jayson Shaw were still battling in the Banks division. In fact, their play was delayed while Fedor finished his Banks bout in the outer regions of the main tournament arena.
Not that that stalled him: with little respite from the storm, Gorst soon had Shaw trailing 3-6.
When in doubt, step out. It was Shaw’s inning; take a walk; recompose.
On his return a fan quietly reminded him, not to worry, you’ve been here before.
Jayson responded positively, ”I was just telling myself that in the bathroom.”
Shaw, no doubt, had summoned the memory from being seemingly insurmountably down 3-9 in the 13-10 comeback against Fedor to steal his 7th Turning Stone title.
Could Jayson rejoice in a 4th BIG Foot title now?
Fedor wasn’t having any of it. His lead was soon 8-5, then 10-6.
But wait: 10-8! Fedor, at-bat, with the finish line in sight allowed insight to a possible “tell.”
When the pressure mounts, which is rare, he clears his throat.
Tell or not. Fedor was not to be deprived of the opportunity of revenge. Careful and controlled, he calmly ran out the rack.,
The Semi-Finals #2:
Filler always fast, never furious, soon had a 3 zero lead. Mika, undaunted, caught a couple, then, 4-2.
Joshua had set the tone by his approach to openly exposing his path of recovery.
He failed to draw his ball and left a thin, missable cut on the 3 for the side. He placed his cue tip on the landing place of a 4 rail path to position.
The red orb slipped into the side pocket while the cue ball sped round the cushions to land precisely where he had pointed.
The gap widened: The intimidation continued.
Filler would slam home a Mika roll-out to close out that rack.
Immonen’s demise was imminent.
Down 7-4, Mika caught a gear. He scrambled back to retrieve 4 more games.
Unfortunately, so had Filler. At 11-8, he was in the Finals.
See for yourself: With the Accu-Stats PPV OnDemand service, you can watch all of the above, no matter what your timezone.
Diamond BANK POOL CHAMPIONSHIP
Short Rack. Race to 3.
From 457, 7 remain.
Two Americans are left in the fray: Tony Chohan will face Evan Lunda
Mieszko Fortunski, from Poland, will oppose BIG Foot runner-up, Russia’s Fedor Gorst.
Finally, MEZZ Cues player rep, Lithuanian Pijus Labutis will joust with Canada’s John Morra.
Jayson Shaw, from Scotland, drew the bye.
None has the comfort of a buy-back. So, it’s do or bye, bye.
The surviving 3 will redraw with Shaw.
Those 4 will, again, redraw and be presented as the Semis and Finals on the live-streamed, Accu-Stats PPV OnDemand on Tuesday evening.
Don’t miss a stroke: Visit accu-stats.com. Enjoy and learn.
DIAMOND ONE-POCKET CHAMPIONSHIP
RACE to 3.
370 competitors who specialize in pool’s most cerebral discipline: Chess with balls.
No upsets to report…as yet.
Diamond Derby City Classic BANK POOL Championship: Fri. Jan. 21 – Sun. Jan. 23. 2022. Semis and Finals in the Accu-Stats TV Arena: Tuesday evening, Jan 25.
Diamond Derby City Classic ONE-POCKET Championship: Sun Jan. 23 -Wed. Jan. 26. Semis and Finals in the Accu-Stats TV Arena, Thursday evening, Jan 27.
Diamond Derby City Classic 9-BALL Championship: Wed. Jan 26 – Sat. 29.
Accu-Stats PPV OnDemand service
The cream of the match-ups is presented via the Accu-Stats Pay-Per-View OnDemand, 4-camera HD production.
Approximately, 60 action-packed hours of pro-pool are projected, PLUS reruns. After each match concludes, it is uploaded and available to you.
With PPV OnDemand, you choose when you view, no matter what you’re timezone.
