Balter back to his best

Thinking of the Grand Prix circuit in the past 2005/06 season, only one name comes into mind: Garry Balter. In seven tournaments, the Viennese player appeared in six finals, winning three of them. His dominance earned him the No. 1 spot in the Austrian snooker rankings by the end of the season.

Since then, it has been a different story. The 29-year-old Balter reached the semis of the first ASL Grand Prix of the new season in Wels, but suffered an early exit in the second in Vienna and was not able to take part in the third in Innsbruck. So, all eyes turned to another player, former Irish pro Richard McHugh, who won both ASL Grand Prix events he had entered so far, leaving an unbeatable impression.

But in the absence of McHugh _ who had to leave for Ireland unexpectedly due to family reasons _ and the rising Irish star Dermot Nulty, Balter got back in front. Last weekend, he won the season's fourth ASL Grand Prix, staged at the Inter Snooker Club [ISC] in Stadlau, Vienna.

...Garry Balter won his first ASL Grand Prix title this season...

In his round-robin group, Balter got upset by youngstar Paul Schopf [2-3], but he recorded quite easy victories otherwise on his way to the title. He beat Christian Kröll, Felix Pleschek and Markus Sallaberger without dropping a single frame, before defeating all-time rival Hans Nirnberger by 4-2 in the semi-finals.

In the other half of the draw, Clausdieter Franschitz was the big surprise. At his home club, the ISC-player made it all the way through to the final. In the group stages he lost to Nirnberger, but wins over Manfred Anton, Sebastian Hainzl, Dieter Simoncsics and reigning national champion Bernhard Müllner earned him an unexpected, but well-deserved place in the final.

Only there, Franschitz saw his good run of results come to an end. Balter, however, struggled in the beginning and needed a 15-minutes pause after breaking the tip of his cue in the second frame. Franschitz got his chances, but missed a decisive pink to a middle pocket, allowing Balter to go 2-0 in front. From then on, Balter dominated the match and won the next two frames as well to secure a clear victory, 4-0.

Nirnberger, who once again had the best break of the tournament with a 74, finished third by beating Müllner in the small final, 3-2. Müllner recaptured the solo lead in the ASL Rankings as co-leader McHugh collected no points this time. But due to his fourth place, Müllner did not make the gap as big as it could have been, leaving the battle for the No. 1 spot by the end of the season all open yet.

4. ASL GRAND PRIX 2006/07

[Stadlau, 20/01 - 21/01]

Results:

quarter-finals:
Garry Balter - Markus Sallaberger 3-0
Hans Nirnberger - Ulrich Dominik 3-0
Clausdieter Franschitz - Dieter Simoncsics 3-0
Bernhard Müllner - Ebrahim Baghi 3-1

semi-finals:
Balter - Nirnberger 4-2
Franschitz - Müllner 4-2

final:
Balter - Franschitz 4-0

Break list:

- 74 Hans Nirnberger
- 73 Sebastian Hainzl
- 65, 53 Nirnberger
- 52 Garry Balter, Nirnberger
- 47 Balter
- 41 Markus Sallaberger
- 40 Paul Schopf, Nirnberger

Click here for full tournament results.

© text: Eric Willemsen [Vienna] / picture: Black Seven