Joshua Filler vs Chris Melling | Round One | 2022 World Pool Championship

but in contrast to that carl this is one match where if the unseeded player was to win yes it would be an upset but i don't think anyone would be looking at it and feeling particularly shocked no i think on paper you've got to make joshua phil a favorite of course just because first rock obviously he's playing the game a lot chris said in his interview he's not been playing much how much preparations he put in for this event well that's another story we just don't know but one thing that is in chris's favor talking from a pool aspect is the break he's breaking real nice so what that means is as you've just seen he's made two balls at ease on the brake shot so there's going to be less clusters that means cue ball control doesn't have to be as tight and it's basically a rudolph that's going to favor chris more than joshua 43 years of age absolute q sports all-rounder one of the world's most prominent eight-ball players and he's been a professional snooper with a little bit of success there's a great ultimate pop there from chris if there's ever a man who you wanted to make a difficult pot well chris would be at the top of many people's list mentioned his eight ball successes he's had plenty here a nine ball as well former moscone cup mvp so that tells you a lot about his quality it's been a winner of the china open over a decade ago now very lucrative event and you sort of feel he just wants to be involved in something all the time with a q in his hand wherever there's an event to be played he did say he hasn't played a lot recently but he has been busy with good success in recent months on the eight ball circus but this really is the premier form of the game these days this is where you really want to make your biggest impact and in no time at all with the help of two balls off the break chris melling has raced through this opener joshua filler knows he's in a match here he's already one nil down so much importance now and these new 9-ball rankings have been various attempts to get world ranking systems going over the years but hasn't really been a proper structure to back it up so now this is what we have a proper calendar with tournaments some of them promoted by matchroom some of them brought in from the euro tour and other promoters as well and they're building up the points at the moment francisco sanchez where he's the early leader joshua filler in second place there they all have a ranking at the moment that was effectively decided by committee at the start of the year but these points will be piling up throughout 2022 and then come the end of the year the points you've got will determine your ranking and from that stage on that's what the rankings will be based on huge event this year whirlpool championship and the first of the matchroom ranking events that we've seen this season they did of course promote the premier league earlier in the year and i think really nowadays carl there are two types of pool events there are match room events and everything else yeah 100 right that michael and of course sanchez ruiz is topping the right there's a lot of events coming up now lost the cue ball a little bit there but you've seen the wing ball flying very generous and it's another break where he's made two balls and there's no clusters that is going to be i think that story of this championships yeah we'll see a lot of changes in those rankings after each of these really big events with the really big points on offer the numbers you saw there relatively small really in the context of the sort of points you'll need to be at or near the very top of that list come the end of 2022 of course three places on each of the moscone cup teams will be decided by those rankings so chris just playing a thin safety cue ball found the gap and i don't think joshua chris might be tempted with a jump here because the one balls got a little a little close to the corner this day and age a lot of the players really fancy making this type of show extension code can't really guarantee it will cue ball oh that's going to be the worry if he does pop this he got close that's why he stared near that pocket oliver shawnake of hungary semifinalist last year has raced through his opening match nine nil against hassan chaz mohammed kaspar matakin and finland who have seen make an impact on this championship in the past he's on the hill eight five up against sanyon pellivanovic billy thorpe someone who might be touted as a potential outsider to at least go on a good run maybe even win this four one down though against ipong and mieshko fertunsky in the early stages of his match one of the rising stars of the european scene he leads jeff buckley 3-1 so joshua filler 24 years of age already one of the biggest names in the sport winner of the world championship in 2018 followed that up by winning the us open in las vegas the following year there's his wife pierre who played earlier today and was beaten [Music] and off to a fairly fluent start here from both players yeah this is just the reply joshua needed i expect this to be a slow max that's for sure yeah very swiftly we've arrived at filler one milling one joshua filler who went very close in the premier league here in milton keys about six weeks ago we've beaten in the final by coping yi we were talking about him earlier great to see him back on the scene it looks as though he's heading for the hill here there's nine ball for an 8-3 lead over jakob konyara [Applause] former world champion copenhagen good to see him back on the world stage could you see him winning it here given as you say the fact that he is only coming back onto the stage and hasn't been playing a huge amount in events like this for travel reasons of late yeah i wouldn't be surprised to see him lifting the trophy at the end of the week along with a few others mine but he's a class player he really is i know he's been playing a lot in taiwan just not on the world stage and it's actually a tough match he's got there it was a tough tough draw against jacob cunningham but he seems to be going along nicely keep you updated that's joshua joshua filler to break one wreckage guess this third lap underway oh cue ball looks a little weird at first as if you put a bit of the wrong side on it [Music] so we'll keep an eye on that [Applause] yeah connie are who you mentioned there and what a tough draw he is for copenhagen he of course was part of the slovakia team that stunned austria in the first round of the world cup of pull last year went on to get to the semi-finals [Music] joshua filler was part of the germany who team that title shane vamboni will be playing later doesn't look like he's been doing too much practice this morning because he seems to have been sitting watching on the main table throughout these first couple of matches still looking to win this world title us open has been his happiest playground close in this on a couple of occasions [Music] yeah that's a nice shot decided to play a little harder on the second rail we suspected we could be in for a treat with this first round clash and so far we're getting it joshua filler was one nil down but he now leads chris melling by two [Music] [Music] two high quality players producing high quality fare on the main table which we'll get back to in a moment but this is casper mata kainen of finland we were talking about earlier rounding it out with a 9-5 win and getting through his first match and copenhagen who we were looking at earlier someone who will definitely feel he can take out the title here trying to make up for lost time and all those events he's missed over the last couple of years he's through with a comfortable 9-3 win over jakob kanyar copenhi advances joshua filler formal winner of this title as well he's two one up and he'll be coming to the table to break in a moment against chris marley that's mika who just played a nice back shot on the two joshua phillips break leading by two racks to one he's won this title before of course he's also one pretty much everything else now pay attention to the yellow one more he's gonna try and tee this ball over the corner from where he's breaking they see he's backing over towards it and he's hoping for a shot and well that looks tight that's the break he's purposely trying he's trying to tee the one ball up over near that corner so there's a bit of a window available but it that will be a lot tighter than that camera tells you especially when you play into a blind pocket so is he having a look at this it looks like he is oh he's done a wonderful job of that joshua filler i sort of liking him to the likes of michael van gogh in the dance world i don't know he just just has that air of similarities where just so talented and fluent and he puts a bad performance in yeah it was absolutely fine in the early stages of the premier league here about six weeks ago he's looking like the best player for most of the tournaments just a few errors started to creep in on the final against alvin ocean and he came away without the trophy that is a wonderful positional shot it really is to draw the cue ball out to miss the six what a shot yeah as high quality a positional shot as you'll ever see and i know what you mean about the van when comparison just makes it look so easy and effortless but the winner breaks format momentum can be such a big factor in these matches he's got a chance here to make it consecutive breaking runs if you're not familiar with the nine ball form of the game break and run means when you pot something off the break see it out from there and overall that's three racks in a row now for joshua filler the former champion is off to a flying start here 3-1 up on chris melling just looking at some of the results going through there kaplan credited with a nine-nil win monica webb didn't actually turn up and it was too late to get a replacement so the match wasn't actually played so that's why that comes off as nine nil fsr francisco sanchez ruiz did have to play as much and got through it without losing iraq as did oliver shall not be in his eklan catchy as well a nine-nil winner omar el shaheen though last year's runner-up taken the full distance by jj paul before getting through nine eight real tussle all the way in that one album ocean the defending champion would see going through there and 9-3 winner in the earlier match on the main table against lojo super look very nervous early on but did settle a bit before ocean pulled away again towards the finish there's so much to keep up with over these first few days now he's noticed towards the end of an event like this how it just gets quieter and quieter with fewer and fewer tables in action towards the finish joshua filler no stranger to that stage of big events he's going very well in the early stages of this match just as i say that he goes and scratches carl yeah the cue ball will take another look i think he got kicked in off which was a bit unfortunate yeah there you see the blue two kicked in from an awful angle and all straight in and that's what chris needed what chris could do was sit in his chair and be patient and wait for his opportunity and that opportunity has come and it's another rack where the balls are all sat in the open this is definitely going to be the theme of the week whenever you use the magic wrap you get that perfect rack or the wing ball it should pretty much go in the pocket every time and just as i was talking about momentum and how filler was starting to build us no matter how much of it you've got just have that little bit of misfortune suddenly all that momentum is gone [Applause] we're talking about how easy filler can make the game look sometimes but mailing so blessed with talent as well talk about what a q sports all-rounder he is and he certainly gets on with it as well seems like only a moment ago that he was handed the chance unexpectedly and he's already taken it to the full mellon closest to one behind at 3-2 17 tables in action start this event off 128 players just see jason shaw warming up there he's about to get his match underway that's available up the pool youtube channel he's gonna be playing south africa's vincent holiday so vincent's no stranger to the 95 pool table so jason's gotta treat that match with a bit of respect alex pangolian he's a former world champion many many moons ago you can just see him playing his match yeah we were talking at the premier league about our tips for the title jason shaw was actually the man who was picked by uh phil yates our commentary colleague david arcadia there may be checking his stocks and bonds trailing by three rocks to two looks very focused on whatever he's doing he's another player who could certainly win this title without causing too much of a surprise chris melling three two down yeah chris has tried the same break as joshua just from the other side cut break that's what we call it where you cut across the one ball and you try and set the one ball up near the corner pocket just lost the cue ball you try to keep the cue ball in the center of the table so that was just a little bit too much spin there for chris now can you get the cue ball onto the fourth that's what he's playing he's playing a carom playing off the edge to pocket the four yeah job well done that was teed up nicely for chris there i loved his belief and his confidence in that little interview we heard with him before the match saying it's his dream to win the world nine ball title even though he's not been playing much recently he's always got so much belief he won't be phased by anything okay we're a long way away from talking about getting close to winning it but if he gets close to winning this match even though it will be a huge scalp that will be no problem at all to him in terms of the mental hurdle to be cleared well that's a generous fluke he hasn't got a shot on the seven an easy shot but he can still put it in the right side or play a bank yeah i think as you were just talking about this is interview and he wants to win that is a tall order but what he will need to do is start putting a few balls but what i was gonna say is he would need to get off to a nice start in this tournament because unlike joshua's playing a lot and he's put a lot of time in chris has played been playing the reds and yellows so his cue ball is not going to be as tight and as controlled as he once was he almost seemed a bit preoccupied with the embarrassment of the fluke it had on the previous shot there now this is a thin one oh look at that right in the center of the pocket looks in good form joshua i know it's very early stages we've only played six racks but he looks in good condition out there yeah no complaints whatsoever about the way he's played so far chris malin had the chance to make it three all [Music] welcome back well into the action now on the first day of the whirlpool championship here in milton keynes joshua filler who's won this title before and many people feel could well win it again this year is playing very nicely he's leading 4-2 against chris melling and he's got the break in rack 7. cue ball was going close to the top right pocket there you could see joshua having a little look but it stayed on the table he's actually made the one ball in the side as well so that means he's hit the brake shot a little fuller but all in all he has to show the three yeah we were talking earlier when we were discussing alban ocean's match carl how he tends not to be the fastest of starters and events he plays his way into it finds his way as the tournament goes on which is perhaps where those league formats seem to suit him so well but joshua filler is the complete opposite he's very good at actually finding his best game right from the go yeah i think that's just his style of play i think when you're playing more fluid you'll see it a little easier a little quicker but joshua you know he puts a lot of hours in back home he's always got a an academy with two tables in he plays on one table his wife plays on the other and they go every single day michael they are relentless relentless and inseparable never really see a match that joshua fuller plays in that isn't there supporting them even though she's got her own pool career as well yeah she's a tidy player herself his peers she actually won the european eight-ball pool championships somewhat three to four weeks ago joshua joshua also won the title there and that is three breaking runs already in this match joshua filler starting to pull away he now leads chris melling by five racks to two he looked a couple of years ago was that we might be about to start dominating the game won the world championship and the us open within a few months of each other although he's continued to have success and remains one of the top players he hasn't quite built on that so he'll be determined to reassert himself he knows other players most notably alban ocean just overtaken him a bit still so young joshua filler hard to believe he's only 24 years of age he's been around for quite a while already on the china open in shanghai when he was only 19 years of age [Music] such an established moscone cup player already clinched the winning point again just before christmas and alexandra palace that win over shane van boning he'd previously done that on his debut back in 2017 when he was also mvp and the youngest player ever to feature on a winning team so he's achieved so much already in the sport he's achieved quite a bit in this match he leads 5-2 [Music] there's a little gap that joshua can get through to this two ball yeah there you can see so he's he's got a couple of options safety looks like it's going to be the obvious one maybe he could back into the left center so he's just looking up there could he play a bank into the opposite center pocket get the cue ball near the bottom rail to play the red three in the top left pocket that's what he's played well he's gone full blooded for it i think he was trying to play for the red three in the other side pocket now does he go past this four he's having a good look well milk in this one josh you can clearly see that does go i'm not saying it goes in a full pocket and he's right to take his time because whenever there's a ball sort of blocking your eyeliner makes a little funny you could see where the three went in it went in that left side of the pocket absolutely perfect extension code 2018 was his year to win this world championship beat the defending champion carlo beato in the final 13-10 the fourth german winner of the title oliver ortman ralph sukay torsten homan the other three [Applause] when we saw this match in the draw we expected a close contest and early on it looked like we were going to get it not so now joshua filler is really starting to pull away here another very competent rack he's four clear at 6-2 and it just shows particularly with the winner breaks for carl how one shot can make all the difference melanie had that chance to make it three or missed the seven and basically it's been one-way traffic since then yeah as indeed whenever you miss them sort of opening pops you know getting punished severely but if there's ever a pool player in this room that is going to punish you it's going to be joshua phillip this is the way it's going to be for the next few days just the sound of poor balls being squished around the table everywhere and the one thing you always notice when you come to an event like this carl is just how international the field is and players from virtually every corner of the world this man though is from a very established pool nation joshua fill at the break wonderfully well here needs three more for a place in the next round [Applause] again playing the cup break and i think the pink four has blocked the pathway for this yellow one so that's good news for chris and chris melling fans this is all you can do you can just sit in your chair and just wait for your turn now how adventurous he's just gonna get on this shot playing the combo the one to the four there's a good angle that is super difficult just because of the distance between both balls and the fall from the pocket so on your tv screens you might be thinking why is he not playing a combo or a plant if you just call it that just offers very little percentage [Music] well he didn't need to hit the floor he was trying to miss the cent one ball round and the cue ball up onto the top rail just flicked the four didn't that was unusual [Music] we were talking earlier about how it feels like joshua filler has been around for a really long time as we see that shot again alex pageline is a man who has been around for a very long time but he's struggling at the moment his opponent sebastian parkovsky on the hill leading 8-3 billy thorpe one of the leading american hopes six three down against hip tong pong that's a real tidy shot like you have to play dead weight he had to use that ball to get the keyboard over to that side of the table because that was the only place where he could leave himself in pot they could see glanced off the green six that was a beautiful shot he's gonna need another good one here though because the five looks blocked in a few pockets oh he's missed the pot though he has missed the pot from one good pot to one poor shot yeah and you have to say carl we've seen a few of those he's missed a lot of balls you might normally expect him to have a high percentage chance of potting already in this match the last player in the world you can afford to do that against is joshua filler yeah if there is a savings whenever the ball's jammed in the pocket getting position especially where this five is well he's gonna need a little bit of [Music] that's the one thing where if i was having a chat to somebody like yourself michael you would think chris has got a real good genuine chance of doing well in this tournament i think for me personally when you're trying to mix different q sport games but at some point you're going to come up against one of the elite players who played this game full time that's where you're going to get caught out now i'm not saying this match because it's still early days chris needs a few matches under his belt he wins and he can play himself into the event we saw that with judd trump at the us open didn't we he went over there as perhaps the best snooker player in the world and people thinking he could really show the pool players a thing or two but as soon as he came up against one of the biggest names he got well beaten really underlining your point well that was a good attempt he was trying to kick it in the top left pocket and it wasn't far away but at least he's not left joshua an easy layout mika imminent is through 9-1 he's beaten anna gradushnik could play kelly fisher in the next round but she's 4-1 up at the moment against justin toy of the united states and max lightner problems for him early on ranked number four but he's five four down against yani uski of finland needs his five ball to keep traveling because i think he might have left chris a pot here he's having a look so that means he's tattle well there you can see he can't quite get there as he rushes around for his jump cue he's got 15 seconds left to play it because he's used his extension he's got 10 seconds needs a little bit lucky needs this five ball to keep rolling could have been worse but it could have been better and in contrast to the relaxed demeanor we saw earlier chris melling [Music] starting to show signs of anxiety here which you wouldn't expect from such an experienced player it's a nice shot we'd like this to bounce off this last rail that will make position easier on the seven and it has done so it's worked out really nice for josh myself and michael were sat quite high up kind of behind where you would wrap the balls on the tv table we've got a good view of the full arena so we're getting a feel of the atmosphere i actually flew over wimbledon yesterday on my way in here and it's very reminiscent isn't it of the early days of a big tennis event like that just something going on everywhere you look every moment of the day yeah the stories are unfolded right beneath our eyes well chris melling did of a glimmer of hope a slight window that maybe he could stem the tide here but it hasn't worked out for him instead joshua filler extends his lead he's only two away from victory now he leads chris melling 7-2 [Music] if you're a fan of 9 ball pool these are wonderful scenes we have here in milton keynes today players from all over the world battling that out on the opening day of the world championship 2022. there are the practice tables up on the balcony we're looking at down here though on the main floor this is where it's all happening this is where the title will be decided between now and sunday night joshua filler has won it before if he keeps playing like this he'll have every chance to do it again he leads chris melling 7-2 and needs just two more for a place in the next round does the two ball pass the three in the left center if he doesn't he does go into the top left corner and kind of sat right behind that angle so i can see he passes the nine but he'd love to play it in this left side wouldn't it because he's milking it again michael that goes yeah no doubt about about us i think he's teasing chris he's making chris thinks he's got a chance well we all like to tease chris a bit one way or another i think i'd have fancied my chances on that two ball jason shaw he'll fancy his chances of winning this title very similar player to joshua filler and he's in a similar sort of position four nil up now against vincent holliday of south africa just wants his cue ball to slope a little bit and it has done so that's okay really it feels like it's taken no time at all for joshua filler to arrive at this position even he must be feeling a little surprised at just how comfortable this is turning out to be he is playing a former moscone cup mvp here in chris merlin but he's giving him quite a beating at the moment joshua filler gets to the hill then at 8-2 looks a bit shell-shocked there carl does chris marley yeah he's not done a great deal wrong gazi as you said before michael and he missed the seven in the side after missing the three and fluking it it's all gone downhill from there now if he does go on to lose this match which is looking likely especially the way joshua's playing he's gonna have to win his last two matches to qualify for the 64. that just gives you an idea how this works if you lose two you are out the double elimination format is such a tradition and pool and i think with an event like this in particular we've got players coming from all over the world for them to travel to just play one match and lose would be pretty harsh alex paglian will have to go into the loser side of the draw he's been cleared by nine racks before we told you that he was struggling in that match against sebastian barkovsky who could now play your mate darren appleton carl in the next round appleton has an all-british clash against craig osborne to negotiate first yeah he's an unknown polish player skipper brought a lot of players to this year's event and they have been doing well up late joshua well there you could see straight shot on the three needs this cue ball to slow down a little now you might have to float over to the left side just where he's pointed his q this is the uh match shot coming up you feel if he gets good on this five well you feel like this match is over yeah and if he can have five break and runs from his nine winning racks what a performance that would be we said he's a player who tends to be a fast starter in tournaments he's really underlined that here you won't see many players if any perform better in this opening round and joshua filler has here seems a long time now since chris melling had a break and run in the opening rack big moment for him was when he had his chance to make it three all didn't take it and he hasn't won another rack since such an accomplished performance from the german joshua filler sending a real warning to all his world title rivals great display he's beaten chris melling by nine ranks to two [Music]

Channel: Matchroom Pool

Views: 154,433

Keywords: Mosconi Cup, Pool, Sport, Matchroom, World cup of pool, world pool championship, us open pool championship, world pool masters, 9 ball

Id: 5RFBj7ZLKdQ

Length: 43min 6sec (2586 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 06 2023