(Credit: Alexander Trinkl – David Causier and Dhruv Sitwala before the Austrian Open final, with referee Christian Fock)
Austrian Open:
Champion: David Causier
Runner Up: Dhruv Sitwala
David Causier continued his impressive start to the year by defeating Dhruv Sitwala 719-246 to lift the 2024 Austrian Open title at the BLZ National Training Academy in Vienna.
Success in the fifth edition of the Austrian Open means that Causier has won both World Billiards ranking event titles in 2024 so far, following his victory in the Scottish Open in Kirkcaldy back in January.
The 50-year-old Englishman was utterly dominant in the opening round of play, which saw 35 cueists from eight nations divided into groups, as he stormed through this phase with a remarkable aggregate points score of 3,145-226 across four matches, including a notable 932-23 win against Canada’s Fraser Durham in a one-hour contest.
Four breaks over 100 saw Causier comfortably sweep aside Chris Taylor in the last 16, before a more closely-fought quarter-final contest against Jonathan Marwood was eventually won by a scoreline of 613-351.
In the last four, a stunning run of 706 points helped the multiple world champion book his place in the final by a winning margin of over 1,000 points against fellow countryman Darren Clark.
There, he would meet former World Championship runner-up Sitwala.
The Indian had topped his group with a clean sweep of victories before defeating Ian Whiting and Kenny Campbell by comfortable margins to reach the semi-finals, where he would face Northern Ireland’s Christian Kirk.
Breaks of 247 and 151 helped the Indian player on his way to a comfortable victory by 500 points to set up a final meeting with Causier, but Sitwala proved no match in the title contest as the Englishman stormed to a 719-246 win to secure his second ranking title of the year.
Report courtesy of WPBSA.