World Pool Masters: Fedor Gorst claims glory after longest match in tournament history

Filler won the lag but scratched from the opening break, handing Gorst the chance to clear up, only to find himself hooked after attempting to pot the 8 ball.

The opponents exchanged misses on the 8 ball until the American eventually potted it, but his attempt at a bank shot with the 9 ball failed, allowing Filler to clinch the first rack and kickstart a three-rack winning streak.

Fedor secured his first rack win in the fourth after Filler's dry break, but he gifted the advantage back to Filler with a dry break of his own in the sixth.

Seeking a comeback, Fedor exploited Filler’s miss on the 4 ball in the seventh, following it up with a well-executed safety shot in the eighth, forcing Filler to falter on a 5 ball jump shot. Fedor seized the opportunity to level the score, then cleared the table in the ninth to take the lead.

Filler countered Fedor’s hook of the 6 ball in the tenth with an impressive jump shot into a bank 6-9 combo, levelling the field.

The pair proceeded to battle over the next seven racks, pouncing on any small errors made by their opponent. However, by rack 17, Gorst broke away from the level field to establish a two-rack advantage 10-8

The ‘Killer’ Filler capitalised on Fedor’s failure to pot the 3 ball in the nineteenth, bulldozing his way to the hill.

However, a dry break in rack 23 stopped Filler's momentum, allowing Gorst to take back control of the table to bring it to hill-hill. Following a tense comeback from being 10-12 down, Fedor Gorst gracefully cleared the table in the final rack, securing his first Matchroom Major title.

Gorst said: “It feels unbelievable! Both of us had crazy rolls in this match. I thought it was over for me but somehow it turned around for me. Hats off to Matchroom, this is an unbelievable tournament to win.”

The Jacoby Scottish Open will take place the weekend before the next Matchroom event with the tournament set to be held at McGoldricks Sports Bar in Glasgow with the world's elite set to descend on one of the UK's most historic sporting cities for a vital World Nineball Tour Ranking event and tune-up ahead of the UK Open Pool Championship.

Photo Credit: Matchroom Pool