Ko Ping Yi and Ko Ping Chang (Taka Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)
Only 64 players remain after day three of the BetVictor 2024 UK Open Pool Championship at the Telford International Centre with Eklent Kaçi continuing his title defence into the single elimination stage live on broadcasters worldwide, including DAZN, Viaplay, and Sky Sports in the UK.
Kaçi secured his spot by defeating the Danish viking Mickey Krause with a solid 9-6 victory, joining top World Nineball Tour players like Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Shane Van Boening, Fedor Gorst, and Joshua Filler in the last 64.
Tough matches for both Mosconi Cup captains, with Skyler Woodward making a terrific comeback winning 5 racks after being down 8-4. Meanwhile, Jayson Shaw narrowly secured his place, after capitalising on Besar Spanhiu missed a 6-9 combo at 7-7, allowing Shaw to execute a carom to win the rack and take back control.
Ko Pin Yi and Ko Ping Chung delivered dominant 9-3 victories side by side on tables one and two to secure their places, while Ko Ping Han fell short against Petr Urban, losing 8-7 and exiting the tournament.
Kledio Kaçi, brother of the defending champion, maintained his winning momentum with a convincing 9-2 win over Thorsten Hohmann from Germany. Carlo Biado also advanced to the last 64, dominating the table once more with a commanding 9-0 victory over Phuong Nam Pham.
James Aranas and the Austrian Trio Albin Ouschan, Mario He, and Max Lechner fell into the loser brackets but rallied in their ‘second chance’ matches to secure spots in tomorrow’s single elimination stage.
Snooker champion Garry Wilson clinched a tense 9-8 victory over two-time World Pool Masters champion David Alcaide, advancing further in the tournament. Alcaide moved into the losers’ qualification but failed to find redemption, losing to Tobias Bongers. Amongst the casualties on the third day were Ralf Souquet, Pia Filler, Sanjin Pehlivanovic, Moritz Neuhausen, and Karl Boyes.
Last 64 Draw
The Last 64 draw was done at the completion of play with the pick of the round including a tasty encounter between defending champion Eklent Kaçi and Mario He. Other stand out ties include Jayson Shaw against Tobias Bonger and Wiktor Zielinski against Alvin Anggito.
For the full draw and live rack-by-rack scoring will be available throughout the event at www.wntlivescores.com.
Wherever you are in the world, you will be able to catch the action with broadcasters globally and live on the Matchroom Pool and Multi Sport YouTube channels in selected territories and on Matchroom.Live. UK-based fans can see the final two days on Sky Sports with the opening four on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom YouTube. Fans in the USA and Brazil will be able to watch all six days live on DAZN whilst those in Scandinavia, the Baltics, Poland, Netherlands, and Iceland can watch live on Viaplay.
Spectators will be able to catch the action live from the Telford International Centre throughout the week, with day tickets available from £22 and weekend passes for fans to take in the final two days for just £50.
Secure your ticket here
Oscar Dominguez wins loss-side three, three more in double-elimination to finish as runner-up
They call him “The Martian,” which, as best as we can figure, is in reference to his ‘other-worldly’ skills at the table. He’s been demonstrating those skills for a while now (about seven years, according to our records), but when Vietnam’s Duong Quoc Hoang prevented Shane Van Boening from defending his 2022 World Pool Championship title by eliminating him (double hill) in the 2023 event, and then, finished 5th, people started to notice. Though he cashed in a total of eight events, all over the world that year, including a 3rd place finish in last February’s Alfa Las Vegas Open, he didn’t win an event in what turned out to be his best recorded earnings year, to date.
In an international field of 104 that got together this past weekend (May 1-5) at McGoldrick’s Pool & Sports Bar in Glasgow, Scotland, Hoang got off to shaky start, losing his opening match to Taipei’s Ko Ping Han 10-7. He won the next five matches on the loss side to qualify for the event’s single-elimination, final 16 and then won four more to claim the title. This caused quite a stir in Vietnam, where reportedly (by Vietnam media) hundreds of thousands of people watched him win his first international title and the first international title won by a player from Vietnam.
Sacramento, California’s Oscar Dominguez, who (as far as we know) started earning cash payouts during the first term of George W. Bush (2003), didn’t attract as much (streaming) attention here in the US as Hoang did in Vietnam, but he made enough noise in finishing as the runner-up to attract the kind of international notice that accompanied Hoang’s defeat of Shane Van Boening a year ago.
The two of them came into the event ranked 42nd (Dominguez) and 44th (Hoang) on the World 9-Ball Tour rankings. They were playing ‘way above their pay grade,’ at least in World 9-Ball ranking terms, which measures success strictly in terms of finance. And wait’ll you hear the people they beat to get to the finals.
As Hoang was busy at work on the loss side of the double-elimination bracket, Dominguez was working on the winners’ side. For two matches, defeating UK’s Bash Maqsood 10-2 and Italy’s Francesco Candela 10-6. Then he ran into the #1 competitor in the World 9-Ball Tour rankings, Spain’s Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz, who defeated him 10-6.
Sanchez-Ruiz’ winners’ side run ended in the next round, when he was defeated by Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Sanjin Pehlivanovic 10-5.Joining Pehlivanovic in single-elimination from the winners’ side were David Alcaide, Joshua Filler, Thorsten Hohmann, Shane Van Boening, Tyler Styer, Aloysius Yapp and Fedor Gorst. In other words, (in order, as named) World 9-Ball-ranked competitors #19, #8, #6, #34, #2, #32, #10 and #3.
On the loss side, Hoang got his five-match, loss-side streak underway with a shutout over Jake-Dylan Newlove, an 8-2 win over Benji Buckley, an 8-3 win over Elliot Sanderson, and an 8-1 victory over Mustafa Alnar. Then, it started getting interesting when he and Carlo Biado fought to double hill before Hoang closed it out to meet up with the guy that his eventual opponent in the finals had sent over, Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz, who only had to win the single, loss-side match to get himself back on track in single-elimination. Didn’t happen, as #44 took down #1 10-7.
Dominguez had to win three to get back to single elimination. He did so by defeating Ko Ping Han 8-2, Dawud Qadir 8-4 and in the qualifying match, Japan’s Naoyuki Oi 10-6. Joining the two who’d be the last men standing, from the loss side, were Albania’s Eklent Kaci, Spain’s Jonas Souto, UK’s Jayson Shaw (who’d lost his opening match to Liu Ri Teng and defeated Karl Boyes to advance back), Albania’s Albin Ouschan, Taipei’s Ko Pin-Yi and the Netherlands Neils Feijen (last year’s addition to BCA’s Hall of Fame).
While neither Tyler Styer, Eklent Kaci, nor Ko Pin Yi would be considered ‘easy’ draws by any stretch of the imagination, it could be argued that Hoang had the softer, single-elimination path to the finals, because while Hoang was going through that gauntlet, Dominguez had to get through Josh Filler, Thorsten Hohmann and Jayson Shaw, whose ranking numbers, in total (45), are just three over Dominguez’ #42.
Hoang eliminated Styer 10-7, Kaci 10-5 and punched his ticket to the final with a double-hill, semifinal win over Ko Pin-Yi. Dominguez, more than likely taking a huge breath after every step along his path to the same destination, got into a double-hill tussle against Filler right off the bat (breath). Thorsten Hohmann stayed close, until Dominguez edged out in front near the end to win it 10-7 (another breath).
Anyone who has ever played against him or just watched Jayson Shaw play will tell you that he can be an intimidating opponent. He doesn’t try to throw you off stride by acting particularly aggressive. In fact, at times, he can look as though he’s ready for a nap. What settles into your head more than anything is the quick and decisive ways that he approaches the table, finds the shot he needs to make, gets down on it and pulls the trigger. In less time than it takes him to get onto his feet and get to the table. One shot after another; see it, get down and shoot, faster than you can say 1, 2, 3. Over and over. He’ll make an unforced position error every once in a while, but rarely makes a shot error. And again, if you’ve watched this, as competitor or spectator, you know that a significant or satisfying win will have him roaring like the MGM lion, only louder. And if all that doesn’t rattle your cage a bit, you might want to check yourself for a pulse.
By the same token, it wasn’t Dominguez first rodeo and over the years, he’s squared off against some of the best in the business. Shaw’s ‘routine’ appeared to have little effect, as Dominguez pulled out in front early and joined Hoang in the finals with a 10-5 win over Shaw in the other semifinal (another breath).
And then, the final. After working their way through some of the best competitors on the World 9-Ball Tour stage (they’d both defeated the WNT’s #1-ranked competitor, Sanchez-Ruiz), their match between each other had to offer Dominguez and Hoang a measure of relief. Not underestimating their opponent, but confident enough with their work to that point that they might actually have settled into enjoying themselves a bit. Relaxing, not when it got down to the business of shot-making, but just in the minute-by-minute reality of absorbing all that had gone before and paying attention to what was happening at the table.
It got close. One of those almost double-hill matches, with all the tension of double hill, minus the agonizing fact that after all the work that’s gone into a sizeable tournament, winning or losing has come down to a single game. There was a $6,000+ difference between 1st and 2nd place, so there was a lot at stake in the final match, although given what they’d gone through to get there, I suspect they both figured on ending up as ‘happy campers’ no matter how it turned out.
As he had done in all four of the single-elimination tournaments, Hoang came from behind to claim the final “W.” They traded racks to a 3-3 tie before Dominguez won five of the next six to take an 8-4 lead. Hoang took it over from there, winning it 10-8 to claim his first international title at the Jacoby Scottish Open. According to reports in Vietnamese media, Hoang raised his cue in celebration and later posted on social media “I made it.”
Defending Champion Eklent Kaçi’s title defence kicked off with tough battle against Jose Alberto Delgado on the opening day of the BetVictor 2024 UK Open Pool Championship at the Telford International Centre, with the likes of Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Fedor Gorst, Shane Van Boening, and Duong Quoc Hoang amongst the list of top names to not fumble yet live on broadcasters worldwide, including DAZN, Viaplay, and Sky Sports in the UK.
Kaçi faced a testing start on day one, locked in a neck-and-neck matchup with Spanish player Jose Alberto Delgado. Delgado took an early lead, but Kaçi rallied back after a series of rack wins exchanged between the two. Despite miscuing the 9-ball in rack 16, Kaçi managed to regain control after a scratch from break, securing his first win of the tournament.
Top-ranked players like No.1 WNT Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Shane Van Boening, Fedor Gorst, Joshua Filler, and Mario He had smooth victories in their opening matches. However, the Austrian, Max Lechner faced his first defeat against Cypriot Antonis Brabin, who finished the day with two consecutive wins.
Duong Quoc Hoang continued his winning streak from the Scottish Open, defeating Spencer Oliver from Great Britain and the American Danny Olsen with scores of 9-2 each. Meanwhile, last year’s World Cup of Pool winner, Johann Chua, dominated Vincent Facquet 9-0 and later secured a close 9-7 win against fellow Filipino Bernie Reglario.
The Ko brothers, Pin Yi and Ping Chung, sailed through their initial rounds in the UK Open, while Ko Ping Han made a remarkable comeback against Korean star Seo Seoa. However, Ping Han fell short against the Brit Imran Majid in his second match, losing 9-7.
2023 World Pool Championship finalist, Mohammad Soufi faced off against Lin Tsung Han from Chinese Taipei, narrowly clinching a 9-7 victory. However, Soufi struggled in his following match against the rising star Sam ‘Ryno’ Henderson, who capitalised on Soufi’s errors to secure a well-fought win.
Adding to the excitement, Kledio Kaçi, the younger brother of the defending UK Open champion, made a memorable impression on day one, with a decisive 9-1 victory against Ali Asgar Merchant, followed by a 9-5 win against the Estonian, Denis Grabe.
Pia Filler, the first signed woman WNT professional, delivered a strong performance against Chris Wattanawonna, winning 9-5 against the Thai player. However, Filler faced a challenging match against Dutch cueist, Marc Bijsterbosch, losing in a tense hill-hill battle.
Commentating duo Jeremy Jones and Karl Boyes had mixed results on day one; Jones lost to Babken Melkonyan in a hill-hill match, while ‘Box Office’ Boyes defeated Konrad Juszczyszyn with a commendable 9-6 win. However, Boyes failed to maintain his momentum against the Indonesian Alvin Anggito, who showcased his skill with a dominant 9-2 victory in the pair’s second match.
Live rack-by-rack scoring will be available throughout the event at www.wntlivescores.com.
Wherever you are in the world, you will be able to catch the action with broadcasters globally and live on the Matchroom Pool and Multi Sport YouTube channels in selected territories and on Matchroom.Live. UK-based fans can see the final two days on Sky Sports with the opening four on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom YouTube. Fans in the USA and Brazil will be able to watch all six days live on DAZN whilst those in Scandinavia, the Baltics, Poland, Netherlands, and Iceland can watch live on Viaplay.
Spectators will be able to catch the action live from the Telford International Centre throughout the week, with day tickets available from £22 and weekend passes for fans to take in the final two days for just £50.
Secure your ticket here
Joshua Filler survived being knocked to the loser’s side by Alex Pagulayan on day two of the World Pool Championship 2023 in Kielce, Poland as only 64 remain after two days of action live on Sky Sports, Viaplay, DAZN, Matchroom.Live and TV networks worldwide.
Filler faced Pagulayan early on for a spot in the Last 64 to avoid an extra match in Losers’ Qualification round this evening. The Killer fell to a 9-7 defeat, his second defeat to the Canadian in a matter of days after a loss at the Derby City Classic. It left Filler having to beat Daniele Corrieri to ensure his hunt for a second world title would continue and he did so in emphatic fashion in a 9-1 dismantling. Crucially, defeat to Pagulayan meant Filler lost his seeded position in the bracket ahead of the Last 64 redraw.
Last year’s semi-finalist Abdullah Alyousef suffered a 9-3 defeat to USA hotshot Shane Wolford to be sent home at the first major hurdle whilst Oliver Szolnoki suffered the same fate in a hill-hill finish against Ajdin Piknjac. 2021 runner-up Omar Al-Shaheen struggled for his groove against Denis Grabe as the Estonian came good to knock the 2021 runner-up out the competition. There was frustration for 1996 champion Ralf Souquet also, the Kaiser well beaten by Pole Daniel Maciol in Winners’ Qualification before defeat at the hands of Dimitri Jungo. Home favourite Mieszko Fortunski was also knocked out with the World Pool Masters semi-finalist knocked out by Lars Kuckherm.
The 32 players who qualified through Winners’ Qualification were seeded in the Last 64 redraw against an unseeded player who came through the Losers Qualification matches with Karl Boyes completing the draw with Rachel Casey on the Matchroom Pool YouTube page. Pagulayan and Filler will have to dance again after being drawn against each other whilst defending champion Van Boening will come up against Uski.
Action returns from midday local time tomorrow on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia, the Baltics, and the Netherlands, DAZN in the USA and Italy as well as on Matchroom.Live and broadcasters worldwide. Table 2 and Table 3 are on the Matchroom Pool and Multi Sport YouTube Channels respectively and Viaplay in above listed territories. See where to watch here.
Alex Lely has announced his decision to step down as European captain for the annual Mosconi Cup after an undefeated three years in the role.
Lely took over from predecessor Marcus Chamat almost three years ago following two successive wins for the American team, with the Dutchman restoring the European dominance during his tenure.
He has now taken the decision to step aside and allow someone else to take up the illustrious role, revealing his intentions to continue his coaching in the USA as well as commentary on both pool and snooker.
The 1999 World Pool Masters winner and former European champion posted on social media: “It’s been a great run, finished with an amazing edition in Las Vegas.
“The intensity I experienced in this one, I will probably never go through again. It was the best one for me. But it ends now. A three-year run is good I feel, the fans get to see a new face, the players get a new input.
“I am happy to have had this chance from Matchroom and feel honoured how these champions have trusted me with their technique and other challenges.”
A new captain will take over the helm for the 2023 edition held on home soil, with former vice-captain Karl Boyes and three-time MVP Niels Feijen amongst the rumoured candidates.
Team Europe took day two of the 2022 Mosconi Cup against the USA to level up at 4-4 at Bally’s Las Vegas live Sky Sports in the UK, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Italy, and Spain, Viaplay in the Baltics, Scandinavia and Poland and networks worldwide.
Day two began with the Fans’ Choice Singles Match with Earl Strickland and Jayson Shaw, respectively picked. Strickland was looking to roll back the years and he was doing more than that as he rallied into an initial 3-0 lead to leave Shaw quiet in his chair. Shaw found his rhythm again in the fourth and a costly scratch from Strickland in rack five put him within one. Another scratch from Strickland in the sixth when trying to cut the eight in gave Shaw the most accessible opportunity to level things back. The comeback was soon complete for two-time MVP Shaw who riled the crowd up to pull Team Europe within one overall at 3-2.
An all-star match-up for the first singles contest between Shane Van Boening and Joshua Filler was never going to disappoint and it didn’t. Van Boening broke dry in the third rack and left an easy 1-9 combo on for Filler to lead 2-1. There was plenty of life in the contest and it was soon 3-3 after an untimely scratch from Filler much to the USA fan’s delight. Filler lost position in the seventh but went airborne in an incredible runout to reach the hill first. A brilliant break and run later and Europe was level overall at 3-3.
The USA needed to stem the European tide from somewhere and it was left up to Tyler Styer and Oscar Dominguez to do that against Filler and Albin Ouschan in match seven of the cup. Nothing could separate them up until 3-3 when an uncharacteristic miss from Styer on the six into the middle pocket brought Filler and Ouschan back to the fold to reach the hill first when it did look like an easy USA runout. Dominguez went airborne on the five in the following rack and it proved to be costly as the Europeans did the rest to get their third point of the day.
In what proved to be the final action of the day, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz got his first taste of singles action against USA vice-captain Skyler Woodward. The crowd was rocking but soon silenced as Sanchez Ruiz moved into a 2-0 lead to put the cat amongst the pigeons. Woodward found a moment of fortune when banking the six ball the full length of the table before finding a plum position on the seven to cut the deficit. Expectations were high from the home faithful as Woodward soon turned it around to a 3-2 and 4-2 advantage.
Play was halted as Woodward reached the hill due to a global broadcast outage meaning players were taken off whilst a fix was actioned to continue live coverage for those at home. Upon return, Sanchez Ruiz broke dry and Woodward ensured the USA would head into day three level overall at 4-4 sealing a vital point with an expert runout that included an exquisite jump on the one as Europe took day two 3-1.
Can’t make it to the 2022 Mosconi Cup? Watch the action wherever you are in the world. Broadcasters below. If you do not see a broadcaster in your country, you can watch on Matchroom.Live
Sky Sports UK & Ireland
AMC Network Hungary
Dazn Brazil, Canada, Italy, Spain, USA
Fox Sports Australia
Mena SSC
Nova Czech Republic and Slovakia
Saran Sport Turkey
Singtel Singapore
Sportklub Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia
Ko Pin Yi has moved inside the world’s top ten on the Live Nineball World Rankings after claiming The APF Asian 9-Ball Open title beating James Aranas in the final 13-11 in Singapore live on the Matchroom Pool social channels as well as on the APF feeds, Matchroom.Live and broadcasters across Asia.
The 2015 World Champion knocked out US Open runner-up Aloysius Yapp, Masato Yoshioka, and Johann Chua on the way to a memorable victory that sees Ko rise inside the top ten on the Live Nineball World Rankings thanks to the 10,000 Singapore Dollars first place prize.
Aranas showed guile and guts throughout as he reminded the world what he is capable of but in the end, it proved not to be enough to pip an imperious Ko who came from behind meaning the Filipino settled for 5,000 Singapore Dollars and second spot.
Ko has been back playing in Europe this year and acknowledged it made a difference playing closer to home: “The difference between Asian and European style in play is very different but despite that, I still had to be performing at my very best to win the tournament. I felt less pressure with less travel and being able to communicate with people in Mandarin so I felt a lot more relaxed and confident.”
The Chinese Taipei star was happy to move inside the top ten to increase his chances of getting into the biggest tournaments on the calendar next year: “In Asia, if there are more rankings events, I will make more of a point of taking part. I feel more pressure when I travel abroad. Winning the tournament will boost my confidence to play well in the US Open Pool Championship. I hope all Matchroom events will come to Asia!.”
Naoyuki Oi‘s run to the semi-finals before defeat to Aranas sees the Japanese star move up from World No. 27 to No.22 whilst Chua enters the rankings for the first time at No. 100. Oi now sits just outside the World’s Top 20 by less than $500. Hong Kong, China’s Lo Ho Sum, and Robbie Capito both move inside the Top 50 after runs to the Last 16 and Quarter-Finals respectively.
Over 15 new players enter the Live Nineball Rankings after the first-ever Nineball Ranking Event to take place in Asia. Ko’s win could prove vital for him ahead of the US Open Pool Championship where the top 128 off the 2022 and Live Nineball World Rankings will be seeded. As it stands, it would mean Ko would be on the same side of the bracket as Nineball World No.2 Joshua Filler.
The tournament was live streamed across the world on the Matchroom Pool Facebook and YouTube as well as OTT platform Matchroom.Live to become the first tournament outside of Matchroom events to be broadcast on those feeds. Matchroom provided support to the APF on site with Karl Boyes lead commentator throughout the coverage live from Singapore.
Matchroom Multi Sport Managing Director Emily Frazer was also on-site in Singapore: “I am delighted with how the inaugural APF Asian 9-Ball Open has gone. I want to take the chance to thank the APF’s team for putting together such a professional set-up and working with us on this Nineball first. I am excited to see where our partnership can head and I hope it’s the first of many Nineball Ranking tournaments to take place in the Southern Hemisphere. It has opened my eyes to further the Nineball schedule globally.”
Focus now turns to Europe and Zaragoza in Spain for the PRP Nineball Open that is set to take place from September 14-19.
Matchroom Pool and the Asian Pool Federation will collaborate to broadcast the federation’s Asian 9-Ball Open worldwide live. This Nineball World Ranking Event will be shown live across APF’s Asian network partners and for the rest of the world via Matchroom Pool Youtube channel hosting over 172,000 subscribers and 70 million views and OTT platform Matchroom.Live; the coverage will boast some of Asia’s biggest pool stars as they head to Singapore from August 24th chasing the 10,000 Singapore Dollars and Nineball ranking points.
Following the launch of the Nineball World Rankings this year, the Asian Pool Federation’s tournament will become the first third-party tournament to be broadcast via Matchroom platforms with the likes of home favourite Aloysius Yapp, US Open champion Carlo Biado, Nineball Top 10 player Naoyuki Oi, former World Champion Ko Pin Yi and more set to compete over the five-day event.
As a further addition to develop third-party promoters, five-time Mosconi Cup winner and Sky Sports pundit Karl Boyes will be out in Singapore providing commentary and reporting on the live coverage with other Matchroom personnel set to join Boyes in the Garden City to provide support, knowledge, and engagement for the ranking event.
The tournament is the first ranking event on the Nineball World Rankings in Asia and it opens the door for other tournament organisers globally to benefit from Matchroom’s global reach on social media to live stream matches worldwide to millions.
Emily Frazer Matchroom Multi Sport Managing Director said: “When we first saw the Asian Pool Federation launch the Asian 9-Ball Open we knew it would be a perfect fit for our Nineball World Rankings; and now we’re so excited to further that partnership which sees the APF’s live coverage go global thanks to our huge following on social media, our in-house OTT platform Matchroom.Live and the level professionalism shown from the APF team. It opens the door to other eventsaround the world to join the rankings but also benefit from the exposure that comes with working with the leading promoter in the sport. This collaboration has always been one of our many goal’s associated with the Nineball World Rankings that we set for the future but with the Multi Sport team as ambitious as ever it looks like we’re ahead of schedule.”
“APF is thrilled by this exciting partnership with Matchroom which will bring pool sports to even greater heights in this region . The support by Matchroom has made it possible to enhance the coverage and quality of the event and this in turn will undoubtedly raise the visibility and profile of the event and place Asia firmly on the global map of pool sports. “ – Christopher Chuah, President of the APF
The addition of the tournament marks a major moment in the inaugural year of the Nineball World Rankings with the eventual winner of the APF 9-Ball Asian Open set to take home 10,000 Singapore Dollars in a maximum field of 96 with the field full.
Albin Ouschan, Ko Ping Chung, Alexander Kazakis, and home favourite Jayson Shaw all went out of the inaugural UK Open Pool Championship at the Copper Box Arena, London. Only 16 remain as the $200,000 tournament heads into single elimination live on Sky Sports Action in the UK and Ireland, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Italy, Spain, Viaplay in Scandinavia, Poland, and the Baltics as well as Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide.
It was a grueling day of action in one of London’s most iconic venues as the tournament went through three stages of Losers Round action and a further two rounds of Winners to get the final 16 who will now compete over three tables in Races to 11 to make Saturday evening’s quarterfinals.
One player who won’t be there is Ouschan who has been battling to keep his impeccable record at Matchroom events going. It started in the best possible way with a win over veteran Ralf Souquet but he came up against a resurged Robbie Capito of Hong Kong, China who played one of the matches of his career to knock out the two-time World Champion 9-0. Shaw headed into the day knowing he needed to win three ties to keep hopes of making the final two days on home soil, but it wasn’t to be as young Jonas Souto Comino of Spain came good in a hill-hill finish early on live on the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel. Souto Comino’s hopes of his best performance to date in a Matchroom event ended at the hands of Mika Immonen 9-3 swiftly after.
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz was dumped onto the Losers’ Side of the tournament on the opening day and has since then battled away to make the Last 16. The Derby City Classic 9-Ball winner sidestepped past USA Mosconi Cup hopeful Nicholas De Leon 9-3 before wins over Ping Chung and Wojciech Szewczyk to make it two Spaniards in the final stage. The ever-present David Alcaide has stayed on the winners’ side with relative ease all week but had his sternest tests of the week beating both Immonen and World Pool Masters semi-finalist Mieszko Fortunski 9-7 to be right in the picture.
World Champion Shane Van Boening continues to steamroller his way through the tournament beating Daniel Maciol 9-3 to be in the hat whilst Mario He’s remarkable week continued to defeat Thorsten Hohmann 9-3 after beating Ko Ping Chung 9-1 earlier on. World Pool Masters winner Joshua Filler breezed past one of the last remaining Brits Luke Rollison 9-2 with a golden break along the way to join He and Van Boening in the draw.
Another World Pool Masters winner in Karol Skowerski rolled back the years to beat Skyler Woodward 9-1 for his Last 16 spot after defeating compatriot Wiktor Zielinski in a hill-hill finish. Woodward did join Van Boening in the single-elimination stage though after fighting off a resilient Capito in Losers’ Qualification.
There will be one Brit flying the flag this weekend though as Imran Majid battled through a hardy day on the Losers Half beating Marco Teutscher in a hill-hill finish before overcoming Jose Alberto Delgado and Thorsten Hohmann 9-5 and 9-3 respectively. Majid faces Filler for a spot in the quarterfinals.
The Last 16 draw was completed by Karl Boyes and Matchroom Multi Sport Managing Director Emily Frazer. The eight winners from the winners’ half kept their seedings and were randomly drawn against the eight players from Losers’ Qualification.
The final two days are available on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland as well as on Viaplay in Scandinavia and the Baltics and various other broadcasters worldwide including Matchroom.Live in relevant countries. See the full where to watch list here.
Tickets start from £15 for the day using the code UKOPEN at checkout. Secure yours here
Accu-Stats Video Productions has released their MAY schedule of YouTube Premiere matches. They focus on the 2022 Derby City Classic and the 2015 US Open 9-Ball Championships. Fans can enjoy the world’s greatest players including Shane Van Boening, Fedor Gorst, Jayson Shaw, Joshua Filler, Ko Ping Chung, Earl Strickland, Mike Dechaine, and many, many more.
Accu-Stats premieres a new match from their immense archive of New and Historic content three times a week: Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday nights at 8pm EST. There is a lively chat during each premiere. Pat Fleming will host most nights in May. Viewers can find the Accu-Stats YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/AccuStatsVideoProductionsTV
May Premiere Schedule:
May 1st – 2022 Derby City Classic One Pocket – John Gabriel vs Alex Pagulayan
May 3rd – 2015 US Open 9-Ball Championship – Earl Strickland vs Scott Frost
May 5th – 2022 Derby City Classic Big Foot Challenge – Jayson Shaw vs Omar Al-Shaheen
May 8th – 2022 Derby City Classic One Pocket – Josh Roberts vs Darren Appleton
May 10th – 2015 US Open 9-Ball Championship – Shane Van Boening vs Roberto Gomez
May 12th – 2022 Derby City Classic Big Foot Challenge – Joshua Filler vs Alex Kazakis
May 15th – 2022 Derby City Classic One Pocket – Jayson Shaw vs Anthony Meglino
May 17th – 2015 US Open 9-Ball Championship – Ivica Putnik vs Ko Ping Chung
May 19th – 2022 Derby City Classic Big Foot Challenge – Shane Van Boening vs Lee Vann Corteza
May 22nd – 2022 Derby City Classic One Pocket – Fedor Gorst vs Darren Appleton
May 24th – 2015 US Open 9-Ball Championship – Kai-Lun Hsu vs Mike Dechaine
May 26th – 2022 Derby City Classic Big Foot Challenge – Roberto Gomez vs John Morra
May 29th – 2022 Derby City Classic One Pocket Finals – Fedor Gorst vs Joshua Roberts
May 31st – 2015 US Open 9-Ball Championship – Karl Boyes vs Liu Hai-Tao
For over 30 years, Accu-Stats has been the leader in Professional Tournament Match Videos. The entire collection is available on DVD at http://www.accu-stats.com.
You can also watch more than 400 Accu-Stats matches from the 2018 and 2019 INTL 9-BALL OPEN; 2016-2020 Derby City Classic; 2015-2017 US Open 9-Ball Championships, as well as the Accu-Stats “Make It Happen” Invitationals via the Accu-Stats’ Vimeo Subscription service: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/asvod/
