Who beats Bernie

The first Austrian Snooker League Grand Prix of the 2006/07 season may have included many surprising rusults - not so the winner of the event. Bernhard Müllner from Vienna, who ended last season by claiming the final ASL Grand Prix title as well as the national championships, took the first main title of the new campaign last weekend in Wels.

For the first time, the monthly ASL Grand Prix staged 24 of Austria's best players, instead of the usual 16, which allows more players from the ASL Challenger circuit to get qualified for this event. The first round is played in eight round-robin groups, with the two best players of each group advancing to the last-16, where the tournamant continues in a knock-out format.

With some of the top players not participating - Hans Nirnberger and Chau Zi Kim withdrew due to personal reasons - the tournament in Wels brought on some remarkable results. Youngster Paul Schopf not only beating fourth-ranked Oliver Doppler in the first round but reaching the quarter-finals as well; early exits for Robert Trinbacher [first round] and Alexander Pichler [last-16]; national senior champion Ebrahim Baghi losing 1-3 to Sebastian Hainzl, who then made it to the final.

Even Bernhard Müllner came close to a shock defeat. In the last-16, he got 0-2 behind in a best-of-five against Alex Trinkl. Müllner took the next two to level the match, and ultimately won the decider on the pink. In the quarter-finals, Müllner had to go all the way again when beating Thomas Auer 3-2.

In the semis, Müllner faced first-ranked Garry Balter, who, until then, had made his way through the tournament quite smoothly. Balter stayed unbeaten in his round-robin group, then celebrated quick victories over Carl-Walter Steiner [3-1] and Dieter Simoncsics [3-0]. However, his run of good results was ended by Müllner, who claimed his place in the final with a fine 4-2 victory.

By the same scoreline, Sebastian Hainzl downed Clausdieter Franschitz in the other semi-final. In the final, however, he wasn't able to make life really difficult for his 15 Reds clubmate Müllner. Hainzl didn't get many chances from Bernie, who played some very solid snooker on his way to a 4-0 whitewash of Hainzl.

So, Bernhard Müllner won yet another title, the second of the brand new season, as he had claimed victory in the non-ranking event ISC National Open in Stadlau last month as well. Who is going to stop him? Next chance for all his competitors to do so, is the October ASL Grand Prix to be played at snooker club Köö 7 in Vienna.

1. ASL GRAND PRIX 2006/07

[Wels, 16/09 - 17/09]

Results:

quarter-finals:
Garry Balter - Dieter Simoncsics 3-0
Bernhard Müllner - Thomas Auer 3-2
Clausdieter Franschitz - Robert Lodjn 3-0
Sebastian Hainzl - Paul Schopf 3-0

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

final:
Müllner - Hainzl 4-0

Break list:

- 64 Garry Balter
- 54, 54 Bernhard Müllner
- 53 Balter
- 52 Oliver Doppler
- 49 Balter
- 46 Müllner
- 44 Sebastian Hainzl, Balter

Click here for full tournament results.

© text: Eric Willemsen [Vienna]  /  picture: 15 Reds Köö Wien Snooker Club