Good old Bernie hits the Jackpot

The final Grand Prix tournament of the 2005/06 season should have been a serious warning to all his opponents. Last April, Bernhard Müllner won the monthly event for Austria’s snooker elite in Wels, beating current number one Garry Balter 4-3 in a tense final. But Müllner still was only seen as an outsider for the national title. In an online poll at the ÖBSV website, only 12 % of the snooker fans predicted 32-year-old Bernie as the new champion of Austria.

In fact, the other 88 % got it all wrong. Not defending champion Hans Nirnberger nor top-ranked Balter, who dominated this season’s Grand Prix series, put their hands on the trophy. It was Müllner who showed the most consistent performance at the two-day national championships, last Saturday and Sunday in Salzburg.

Müllner, a 15 Reds player from Vienna, dropped only one single frame in his three group matches against Ebrahim Baghi, Gustav Lodjin and Robert Trinbacher. He then marched on to beat John Dangerfield in the quarters and Chau Zi Kim in the semis, both by the same scoreline 4-2.

In the final, Müllner, number five on the seasonal rankings, had to take on fellow clubmate and defending champion Nirnberger. Jack had won the championships for four years in a row and was hot favourite to add another title to his palmares. Nirnberger started off well with some nice breakbuilding, but Müllner also took his chances when they came along. So, the first four frames were shared. The next two developed into a rather tactical battle, with Müllner both times coming out on top to wrap up an upset 4-2 victory. A bit of cold comfort for Nirnberger as he topped the list of big breaks with a great 92.

So, Müllner became Österreichischer Meister again. It was the second time he got his name on the trophy after his first success back in 1998. It was in that same year, that his favourite pro John Higgins captured his world title, and that good-old Bernie himself finished on top of the Austrian snooker rankings. It can hardly get any better than that...

In the next report on Austria’s snooker scene, we play a rerack as we review some remarkable highlights of the past season.

AUSTRIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2006

[Salzburg, 20/05 - 21/05]

Results:

quarter-finals:
Chau Zi Kim - Alexander Pichler 4-3
Bernhard Müllner - John Dangerfield 4-2
Oliver Doppler - Garry Balter 4-1
Hans Nirnberger - Ebrahim Baghi 4-2

semi-finals:
Müllner - Kim 4-2
Nirnberger - Doppler 4-3

final:
Müllner - Nirnberger 4-2

Break list:

- 92, 69 Hans Nirnberger
- 60 Bernhard Müllner
- 58 Ebrahim Baghi
- 55 Nirnberger
- 54, 53 Oliver Doppler
- 52, 50 Chau Zi Kim

Click here for full tournament results.

©  text: Eric Willemsen [Vienna]