Meet the champions of Austrian snooker!

> overall champion: SEBASTIAN HAINZL [15 Reds]
In January, Sebastian Hainzl of Vienna was yet to win an ASL Grand Prix tournament. Five months later, the 24-year-old 15 Reds player has won two Grand Prix events, ended top of the rankings, and crowned a fantastic season with the national Staatsmeister title. At the event at KSC in Gerasdorf, Hainzl had to come back from 2-0 down to beat youngster Alexander Stadler [Snooker Bulls] 3-2 in the group stage, but dropped only three frames in his remaining five matches to reach the final for a second time since 2007. In the semis, Hainzl saw off clubmate Georg Schlager 4-0, who had not lost a single frame up to then. In the other half of the draw, defending champion Chau Zi Kim, also a 15 Reds player, beat former champions Bernhard Müllner [15 Reds] and Hans Nirnberger [HSEBC] - who had the tournament’s top break with a 79 - to reach the final. Close friends Hainzl and Kim played a tense best-of-7 final. There was never more than one frame between them. Kim led 1-0 and 2-1 before Hainzl took the next two, and Kim leveled the score again at 3-3. Hainzl had a 36 in the decider to claim his first national title. “A personal highlight for me was playing Kimitsch in the final, who learned me how to play the game. It was the first time we played each other in a final,” Hainzl said.

... Sebastian Hainzl, a well-deserved winner of the 2009 overall Austrian championships...

> under-16 champion: MAXIMILIAN PFLEGER [Snooker Bulls]
Last year’s runner-up Maximilian Pfleger went one step further in 2009. The Snooker Bulls player from Salzburg, who ended top of the U16 rankings, lost 2-1 to Mateusz Piorkowski [HSEBC] in the round-robin group, but used a 46 break to beat the same player 3-1 in the final of the event at Köö 5 in Vienna. Pfleger defeated Andreas Ploner [CSC], who became the youngest player to win an ASL Grand Prix this season, in the semifinals. Ploner hit a 69 for the event’s best break.

> under-21 champion: MANUEL URBAN [1. LSV]
Manuel Urban continued his string of national titles. The player from 1. LSV in Linz had won consecutive championships in the U16 for the past three seasons, and now claimed the title in the U21 as well. In the five-player round-robin event, held at Köö 5 in Vienna, Urban won all his matches, most notably a 3-2 victory over Paul Schopf [1. UWBC]. Urban was in the driving seat going 2-0 up, but Schopf leveled the score before Urban had a 30 break to win the decider.

> women's champion: STEPHANIE DOLEZAL [HSEBC]
Stephanie Dolezal lost the 2008 final to Andrea Pihurik [15 Reds] but captured her first national title this year by winning the four-players event at Köö7 in Vienna. The SEBC player won all three matches against 15 Reds members; she conceded one frame against Therese Weihs but whitewashed Sigrid Riedl and - in what turned out to be a real final - Hanna Schneider, who had ended the season atop the ASL women’s rankings and won the silver medal. Weihs took third for a second straight year.

> masters' champion: ALEXANDER TRINKL [15 Reds]
After four consecutive titles for Ebrahim Baghi, this year’s championship at 1. UWBC in Wels went to his 15 Reds clubmate Alexander Trinkl. Baghi was eliminated in the group phase, where he lost to both Trinkl and Christian Kasparek [ISC]. Clausdieter Franschitz [Snooker Bulls] also made his way to the final. He went 2-0 up, but Trinkl leveled the score and added the tense fifth frame after a lengthy safety battle to win 3-2. Trinkl also produced the event’s best break, a 53.

> doubles' champions: SEBASTIAN HAINZL / CHAU ZI KIM [15 Reds]
Sebastian Hainzl became the first player in Austrian snooker to finish No. 1 in the rankings and win the national championships in both the singles and doubles. Hainzl teamed up with 15 Reds clubmate Chau Zi Kim, who he beat in the singles final. They faced a real scare when they dropped 2-1 behind against Thomas Dostal / Maximilian Pfleger [Snooker Bulls] in the semis, but finally wrapped up victory with a convincing 3-1 final win over Michael Kreuziger / Hans Nirnberger [FBC/HSEBC].

For complete results of the 2009 Austrian national championships, visit the homepage of the national association ÖSBV here.

© text: Eric Willemsen [Vienna] / picture: Peter Mann