Last week, Estonia’s Denis Grabe won the high-level Predator Pro Billiard Series tournament in Las Vegas to claim the biggest title of his career. Now Grabe is back in Estonia and looking forward to the next challenge.
“It was really quite incredible and it hasn’t sunk in yet. There’s been a lot of consistent hard work and it’s started to pay off. It was a really tough match, but I had a bit of luck,” said Grabe, who has now returned home to Estonia from the U.S.
Grabe considers his win in Las Vegas the most important achievement of his career so far. “That’s because it was a tournament involving all the top players in the world and I managed to beat Joshua Filler, a multiple world champion, in the final. To beat him is a feat in itself and so I’m really happy to have won this tournament.”
In the final, Grabe lost the first two sets to Filler 0-4 and 1-4. The Estonian then launched a comeback, claiming the next two sets 4-3 and 4-1. The match was decided in shoot-out, and it was the Estonian who held his nerve to claim victory.
“A shoot-out is a bit like a penalty shoot-out in football. Both players hit four shots, and if one misses and the other hits all four, you win. That’s what happened. Joshua missed the last shot, but I hit all four,” Grabe explained.
“In total, I played in three matches where there was a shoot-out to decide, and I hit all 12 shots. It shows that I’m pretty good in the shoot-out format,” the Estonian said.
On Tuesday, Grabe will fly to the Netherlands to take part in a training camp. “I will train there for three days with Mosconi Cup coach Johan Ruijsink, who is definitely one of the top three coaches in the world. We’ll improve on some things there and see what he has to say to me.”
Grabe now has his eye on the future as he looks to build in his Las Vegas success. Of particular interest are the upcoming EPBF Predator European Championships in Tallinn on March 29 to April 8, followed by the Euro Tour Tallinn on April 10-12.
“The World Championships are still the most important [tournament] but there is also the European Championships, which are at home at the end of March and then the Euro Tour at the Kalev Sports Hall. I’m definitely inviting everyone to come and watch, because the world’s top players will all be there and it’s going to be a tough competition.”
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