McHugh finally beaten by bravely battling Balter

Bernhard Müllner came pretty close to an upset victory last month as he went 3-0 up in the final of the Austrian Snooker League Grand Prix in Vienna against Richard McHugh. It was actually the first time since his appearance in Austrian snooker that the Innsbruck-based McHugh had looked a bit vulnerable. Until then, the former professional of Ireland had never lost more than one frame in an official match on Austrian soil. He recovered from his three-frames deficit against Bernie just in time to win that final 5-3.

But last weekend, Garry Balter succeeded where Müllner had just failed. The 29-year-old former No. 1 from Vienna finally became the first ever Austrian to beat McHugh. Balter won a tight final of the sixth ASL Grand Prix of the season in Salzburg. He defeated the Irishman 4-3 after bravely battling back from 2-3 down. Balter got 2-0 up, but McHugh looked set for another turnaround as he won three in a row, needing just one more frame for victory. Balter levelled the score again by winning the sixth frame to take the match into a decider. No significant breaks from either player so far, but exactly as it mattered most, Balter hit a great 55 to wrap up an unprecedented victory.

"It was really great to play the final against Richard, as finals most of the time bring out the best of players," the winner said. Balter, who also recorded the highest break [a 61 in his semi-final against Clausdieter Franschitz] has now won two ASL Grand Prix titles this year. That makes him jump to No. 3 in the rankings, keeping a small hope alive to end the season as No. 1 again. McHugh ["I hate losing finals because I hate second places _ I've already had too many of them in my career," he recently told Maximumbreak] has now taken over the lead from Müllner and looks strong favourite to successfully defend that top spot in the final ASL Grand Prix event next month in Stadlau.

McHugh's first defeat in Austria was not the only surprising result at the event in the recently renewed Billardleistungszentrum in Salzburg. Quite the contrary, as national champion Müllner suffered an upset first-round exit. Bernie played in a round-robin group with Alexander Trinkl and Tegshee Nyamaa. Despite the best-of-3 format, it took them no less than seven hours to sort out a winner. All three players recorded a 2-1 victory and, as a consequence, a 1-2 defeat. A shoot-out brought the decision _ with the better ending for Trinkl and Nyamaa. Still, the tournament contained some more surprises. Müllner got good company on his way back to Vienna after the opening day as Hans Jack Nirnberger [1-3 to Alexander Pichler] and Ebrahim Baghi [1-3 to Daniel Potmesil] had to leave the tournament as well after the round of the last 16, much earlier than expected of course.

Pichler, playing at his home club in Salzburg, made a remarkable return to the ASL Grand Prix circuit. In the first round, the president of the ÖSBV lost in two close frames to McHugh, but beat Christian Pleschko convincingly 2-0 to advance to the last 16. Against Nirnberger, Pichler won a couple of very close frames on the way to his 3-1 victory. In the quarter-finals, he made life difficult for Balter, coming back twice from a frame behind but ultimately losing the decider on the final pink, 3-2.

Another positive surprise was the good run of results by Graeme Fish, who has worked his way up the rankings steadily this season and made it to the semi-finals of an ASL Grand Prix event for the first time. There he lost 4-1 to McHugh, und then got beaten 3-2 by ISC clubmate Franschitz in the small final, but Fish will feel good about this tournament. The last surprise of the weekend did not come from Salzburg, but from Innsbruck. In that Tyrolean city, the 14-year-old Kai Klien won an ASL Challenger event, which means he has now qualified for the final ASL Grand Prix tournamant in April, making him the youngest ever player to compete at this highest level in Austria. So, be prepared for some more fascinating surprises coming up towards the end of the snooker season.


[Salzburg, 17/03 - 18/03]

Results:

quarter-finals:
Garry Balter - Alexander Pichler 3-2
Clausdieter Franschitz - Peter Pertiller 3-0
Richard McHugh - Sebastian Hainzl 3-0
Graeme Fish - Daniel Potmesil 3-0

semi-finals:
Balter - Franschitz 4-1
McHugh - Fish 4-1

final:
Balter - McHugh 4-3

Break list:

- 61 Garry Balter
- 58 Richard McHugh
- 55 Balter
- 49, 47 Graeme Fish
- 45 Hans Nirnberger, Sebastian Hainzl
- 42, 40, 40 McHugh

Click here for full tournament results.

© text: Eric Willemsen [Vienna] / picture: ÖSBV News