Friday night’s match between Germany’s Joshua Filler and Filipino Jeffrey De Luna had a little bit of everything.
You had De Luna winning a game by forcing his opponent to commit three fouls in a single rack and you had Filler stealing a game back when the Filipino managed to jump over his object ball not once, but twice.
In the end, the undefeated Filler was able to capitalize on De Luna’s breaking struggles and pull out a three-set victory, advancing to the round-of-32 on the third day of play at the Alfa Las Vegas Open at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino. The German will now face reigning World 10-Ball champion Wojciech Szewczyk Saturday morning for a chance to reach the final 16 of the 192-player event.
After Filler staked out an early 2-1 lead in the opening set, De Luna had a chance to tie the match but left the 5 ball in the corner pocket’s jaws. Now Trailing by two racks, the Filipino used a jump shot and two banks to pull to within a game and had a chance to tie but came up short trying to secure position on the 2 ball, then missed a kick shot that allowed Filler to take the opening frame, 4-2.
De Luna opened the second set by forcing that three-foul on Filler, snagged the third rack when his opponent failed to pocket a ball on the break then used a safety exchange to climb onto the hill. He finished off the set and tied the match when Filler missed a sharp cut on the 3 ball and left a wide-open table.
The former China Open champion used safeties to win the first three racks — including the one that forced that double missed jump shot by De Luna. The Filipino wasn’t finished, using a safety of his own and a positional error by his opponent to tack on two straight victories. He had a chance to tie the match and send it to a shootout but failed to pocket a ball on the break, handing Filler a spaced out table and the win.
On a nearby table, former World Pool champion Shane Van Boening was authoring an escape of his own, climbing back from a deficit in the third set to defeat fellow American Jeremy Seaman.
Van Boening was in total control of the first set as he blanked his opponent, 4-0, but lost momentum in the next frame, with Seaman jumping out to a commanding 3-0 advantage. The South Dakotan clawed his way back into the match, winning three straight racks to tie the set but scratched on the break in the deciding game, handing Seaman a 4-3 victory.
After splitting the first four games of the deciding match, Seaman took a 3-2 lead when his opponent missed a jump shot and left an open table. With a change to close out the match and clinch the upset, he misplayed his safety attempt into a scratch, slapping the table in disgust as he walked back to his seat. The three-time U.S. Open 10-Ball champion cleared the table to force a shootout, then pocketed four straight stop shots in the extra frame while Seaman missed his opening attempt to hand his opponent the victory.
As the men worked through the single-elimination portion of their event, the women’s division of the Alfa Las Vegas Open began play Friday afternoon in dramatic fashion, as Allison Fisher overcame some early struggles to defeat Vang Bui Xuan of Vietnam.
Fisher was plagued by errors throughout the first set, as Xuan sailed to a 4-1 win, then continued to struggle with the speed of the table, allowing her opponent to capitalize and build a 3-1 second set lead. The Women’s Professional Billiards Tour Hall of Famer took advantage of a couple of unforced errors by her opponent in the middle stages of the set to tie the match, then used a safety exchange and a one rail kick in of the 7 ball to win the frame, 4-3, and force a shootout.
Each player was perfect in the extra frame through the first three innings but missed in their fourth attempt, sending the set to sudden death and moving the cue ball back a diamond on the table. After Fisher and Xuan rattled home their first three shots, the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famer secured the win when she landed one more while her opponent missed.
Saturday will be pivotal in the men’s division, as 32 players compete for four spots in Sunday’s semifinals. Competition is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. local time, with notable matches including Albin Ouschan taking on Jung-Lin Chang, Fedor Gorst facing Ko Pin-Yi and Wiktor Zielinski matching up against fellow countryman Mieszko Fortunski.
For the past five years or so, competitors from Poland had been going deep in large professional pocket billiards tournaments and challenging the world’s best.
Polish competitors like Mieszko Fortunski, Wiktor Zielinski and Konrad Juszczyszyn would routinely reach the final 16 or quarterfinals of a major tournament or world championship – like in 2021, when eight Poles qualified for the 64-player, single-elimination phase of a world championship.
“Everyone is chasing after each other here and working on their game and it makes it very difficult for anyone to stand out,” said Wojciech Szewczyk. “We have a lot of passion for the game and we take it very seriously.”
Despite this passion, no one from the European nation had managed to earn a major victory –until last year, when Zielinski took home first place at Predator’s Pro Billiard Series Alfa Las Vegas Open and Szewczyk came from behind to win the Predator World 10-Ball Championship six days later. Both players along with women’s Alfa Las Vegas Open champion Kelly Fisher will be back to defend their titles beginning this week, with the Cue Sports International Expo kicking off this week. The 11-day event, which also includes the 3-Cushion World Cup, will begin Wednesday with the men’s Alfa Las Vegas Open and the women’s Open starting on Friday.
As Predator and CSI work to produce the toughest and fairest tests in professional pool, this year’s Pro Billiard Series events will see a format change. The single-elimination final stage of the Open tournaments will expand to three sets of a race-to-four from the two sets that it was previously. If the third set finishes in a 3-3 tie, a sudden-death shootout will occur. Competition in the double-elimination opening stage will remain a two-set race-to-four with ties decided by a shootout.
The format for the 128-player World 10-Ball Championship will remain unchanged, with players competing in race-to-eight double-elimination during the first half of the event before expanding to a race-to-10 during the single-elimination portion of the competition.
Zielinski survived a rollercoaster of a final day in last year’s Alfa Open, defeating Dimitri Jungo and Mika Immonen in shootouts to reach the finals where he took down Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp in straight sets. Six days later, Szewczyk trailed Edgie Geronimo 9-6 in the quarterfinals of the World 10-Ball Championships before taking advantage of a pair of open opportunities to come from behind and defeat his opponent. He then took down Albania’s Eklent Kaci and Christopher Tevez of Peru to earn Poland’s first world title. The weekend concluded with Fisher continuing a hot streak that would result in her earning a gold medal at the World Games later that summer and Player of the Year honors with Billiards Digest as AZBilliards, as the Hall of Famer posted an undefeated record and defeated Canada’s Britany Bryant in the finals of the women’s Alfa Las Vegas Open.
Professional events will be played on 18 nine-foot Predator Apex tables while over 6,000 competitors from the CSI Leagues will be competing on 276 of the seven-foot Apex table.
The prize fund for this year’s World 10-Ball Championship is also expanding to a total of $250,000 – up from $225,000 the previous year – with the winner’s share remaining $60,000. The two-week-long event kicks off third year of the Pro Billiard Series, which will include 21 total events this year that will pay out over $2 million in prize money.
Matches can be watched on Billiard.TV and on World Billiard TV, the official YouTube channel of CueSports International. A schedule of televised matches will be posted daily on the Pro Billiard Series and CSI Facebook and Instagram pages.
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.
Shane Van Boening (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)
Jayson Shaw survived a hill-hill scare in his opening match of the World Pool Championship 2023 in Kielce, Poland as defending champion Shane Van Boening cruised through to Winners Round 1 unscathed live on Sky Sports, Viaplay, DAZN, Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide.
Van Boening stepped out at Targi Kielce looking to do what only Earl Strickland has ever achieved in defending a world title with Masato Yoshioka offering the first test. The South Dakota Kid was barely troubled by his opponent in a strong showing that saw Yoshioka restricted to few opportunities as Van Boening rattled in a 9-2 opening win. Mats Schjetne awaits tomorrow afternoon for Van Boening in Winners’ Qualification.
Shaw meanwhile had a far from the ideal start being pushed to the final four ball against Italy’s Francesco Candela. Two-time Mosconi Cup MVP Shaw, got off to a comfortable start to lead 5-3 but Candela hit back forcing it all the way to the hill. It was the case of Shaw making plenty of balls off the break but misfortune awaiting at his feet with several in-offs to claw Candela back into the contest. Candela forced a hill-hill finish and looked to have an out after a nervy safety exchange only for the four to be left hanging to allow Shaw in to complete a 9-8 win.
“I played well throughout the match. It was a weird one. Funny little things happened, I am exhausted and can barely keep my eyes open with a lot of pool being played in the last week. I need a good sleep and I will be back tomorrow. I got here at 5 pm yesterday and woke up at 5 pm today! 24 hours, I didn’t know where I was! Hopefully, tomorrow I can be back to where I need to be. I am playing well, there are a lot of good players out here. Hopefully, luck is on your side and you play well. It’s one match at a time for me. Everyone is here to win, we will see what happens.” – Jayson Shaw after beating Francesco Candela 9-5.
Wojciech Szewczyk (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)
13 Polish players started their journey on home soil with Wojciech Szewczyk getting the honours of playing the first match on Table 1 with the Warsaw native up against Bashar Hussain Abdul Majeed in front of a packed home crowd.
Nineball World No. 1 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz beat So Shaw in a whitewash before coming from 5-2 down to defeat Wu Kun Lin and book a spot in the Last 64 and a day off tomorrow. Joining Sanchez Ruiz in the Last 64 is two-time winner Albin Ouschan who got the better of SVB Junior Open winner Khalid Alghamdi in Winners’ Qualification whilst Niels Feijen, Ko Ping Chung and Max Lechner also made it through early doors. It was also a delight for Nick Van Den Berg on a triumphant return to the Nineball Arena with back-to-back wins.
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.
Diamond Derby City Classic XXIV, January 20-28, 2023
Caesars Southern Indiana, Elizabeth, IN
Master of the Table points are accredited to the Banks, One Pocket, and 9-Ball divisions.
The player who accrues the most points from their highest finishes in the 3 disciplines is deemed All-Around-Champion.
Diamond generously delivers an additional $20,000 for first, plus, $3,000 and $2,000 respectively for 2nd and 3rd.
More on that later after the One Pocket final.
The Accu-Stats PPV OnDemand service has all of the above entertainment available for your viewing pleasure until Feb.28, 2023.
Diamond Derby City Classic ONE-POCKETChampionship: Semis and Finals
Due to Diamond’s dedication to accommodating the incredible surge in entries –1569 in all – the ONE POCKET Semis and Finals will be completed, and streamedfrom the Accu-Stats TV Arena,
TODAY Saturday, Jan 28.
Let’s catch up: Highlights from Thursday
Pagulayan vs Schmidt
Alex ran 8-and-out to open his encounter with John Schmidt. It was do-or-die as each contender was down to one bullet.
After the second rack Alex was leading 2-0. Schmidt mustered his gumption to take it to 2-1
Alex, after leaving his 5th ball hanging near his pocket, allowed John an opening.
John, masterfully, manufactured a six ball run until the nudge to open a three ball cluster didn’t cooperate.
He made his 7th ball anyway knowing full well that shape on his game-ball wasn’t very possible.
Needing only one ball to tie the match, necessitated that John went full blooded, He sliced the paint off of it. And, lost the cue ball.
Johnathon Pinegar is no stranger to Derby City, yet it might be this year’s superb performance by administering losses to Shane Van Boening, Tyler Styer, Anton Raga, Billy Thorpe, and the first loss to Tony Chohan that will be remembered best.
Thanks to the luck of the algorithm, Johnathon and Tony were chosen to meet again immediately, only this time, in the Accu-Stats Arena.
Here, Tony had home court advantage: He had a few matches “in the can.” He had experienced that the table played slower and banked a little shorter. Plus, he was familiar with the intensity of the 60-second shot clock.
Johnathon found this out the hard way; Mainly as his cue ball didn’t travel as far and interrupted the kind of run-outs he had completed earlier in the outer Diamond Arena.
Tony retuned the compliment and, in under hour, FedExed Pinegar to the buy-back booth.
Pinegar vs Reyes
No rest for Pinegar: He was immediately redrawn to face Efren…in the Accu-Stats arena.
The good news is that as we’re down to four players, he had opportunity to become acclimatized to it. It’s Semis and Finals time: There is nowhere to play but the Accu-Stats TV table.
After Efren defeated Alex, Skyler finished off Filler only to lose to Reyes who’s relentless will to win is truly inspiring.
He still has two lives and he’s been competing for six hours in Pool’s most cerebral discipline. Where is this stamina, both mental and physical, coming from?
Pinegar, too. He’d just succumbed to Chohan, the 2022 One-Pocket runner-up. Now he has to face the man the with more DCC wins than anyone.
And, his confidence is lagging as is the speed of his cue ball. It’s time to adjust.
His relaxed, yet focused, demeanor and superb defensive skills didn’t allow Reyes much of a look at anything, makeable, anyway.
Efren was definitely tiring. Then, he erred. John stole a ball. A few innings later Efren erred again. John ran 7-and-out.
At 1-0, it’s Reyes’ ball that isn’t reaching the pocket. John in two innings, by running four balls in each, surged ahead, 2-0.
Not to worry. How many times, this week, has Efren been down 0-2 and won the match?
In game 3, Pinegar erred. Reyes ran five, didn’t get the desired spread from the stack and, frustrated now, attempted a very low percentage combo.
Luckily, he left little.
Yet, it was enough. Pinegar fired in a short rail bank and drew his cue ball to land perfectly on the next indicated sphere. He then ran out the necessary 8-balls to ensure his seat at tomorrow’s table.
Efren visited the buy-back booth.
And then there were three: Chohan, Pinegar and Reyes – who was soon snoring like a baby.
At around noon on Saturday, he’ll be fresh as a daisy, ready for the redraw.
Someone is going to get a bye – straight into the hot seat.
Would you want it to be you, or would you prefer to win the opening match and be all warmed up for the finals?
Diamond Derby City Classic 9-BALL Championship: LAST DAY – Sat. 28.
Accu-Rack, 9 on the spot, winner breaks.
Since Matchroom deemed the Derby’s 9-Ball Championship a Mosconi Cup point garnering tournament, 9-Ball has become most populated DCC event.
527 entries smashed the previous attendance statistic!
Another record broken is the number of ladies competing this year: Margarita Fefilova, Sakura Muramatsu, Melissa “Sure Shot” Smith sponsored by Brutal Gear, Emily Sumrall, the up-and-coming Catherine Cool, and the ubiquitous Angela Mears, just to name a few of the approximately 20. Diamond thanks you all!
Mezz-sponsored Mika Immonen opened the proceedings in the Accu-Stats Arena first thing Friday facing Derby City Classic stalwart Dee Adkins.
Mika was on fire. His early .980+ TPA seemed to intimidate Adkins who wasn’t getting out when he had the opportunity. The more he faltered, the more Mika gained confidence, and the more Dee’s TPA dropped.
The Mezz player-rep of 21 years closed it out 9-0 with a stellar .958.
Thanks to fan demand, Pat Fleming was asked to explain how the Accu-Stats’ Total Performance Average(TPA) is calculated. During the Mieszko Fortunski vs. Brendan Shuff match, he tells all.
Culminating at $1,200 a ball, Shannon Murphy robbed them all banking $5,000. Billy fought gallantly to secure 2nd and $3000. Skyler Woodward claimed a distant 3rd. Shane Wolford began well. Justin Hall fell fast as did Jonathan Demet.
The captured match-ups are available via the Accu-Stats Pay-Per-View OnDemand, 4-camera HD production. Approximately, 60 action-packed hours of pro-pool are projected, PLUS reruns. After each match concludes, it is uploaded and available for your viewing pleasure. With PPV OnDemand, you choose when you watch, no matter what you’re timezone, until February 28, 2023.
Shane Van Boening (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)
Shane Van Boening will begin the defense of his World Pool Championship title against Japan’s Masato Yoshioka in Kielce, Poland from February 1-5 live on Sky Sports in the UK, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia and the Baltics, DAZN in the USA as well as Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide.
The American will look to become only the second player in history to defend the title following in the footsteps of Earl Strickland in a packed arena at Targi Kielce. 46 countries will be represented in the 128-player field as it is whittled down to the Last 64 over the first two days of action before it’s straight knockout to the end where one will claim the $60,000 first-place prize and the world crown.
The draw was completed with the top 64 players from the Nineball World Rankings against an unseeded player from the other 64 in the hat. Standout first-round ties include 2015 world champion Ko Pin Yi facing James Aranas of the Philippines whilst 2022 semi-finalist Abdullah Alyousef faces the tricky prospect of Johann Chua. 2004 world champion Alex Pagulayan was unseeded and will meet Michael Schneider.
World Cup of Pool winner David Alcaide takes on Billy Thorpe and Shane Wolford‘s mission for a spot on Team USA at the 2023 Mosconi Cup takes on Pia Filler. Francisco Sanchez Ruiz had a year to remember last year and will begin his Nineball campaign against So Shaw of Iran.
Double elimination matches are all race to 9, with all matches from the Last 64 a race to 11 except the final, which is a race to 13.
Table 1 will be live on broadcasters worldwide including Sky Sports in the UK, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia, Baltics, and the Netherlands, DAZN in the USA, Canada, and Italy, as well as on Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide. See where to watch here.
Table 2 will be live on Viaplay in selected territories as well as on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel.
Table 3 will be live on Viaplay in selected territories as well as on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube channel.
Diamond Derby City Classic XXIV, January 20-28, 2023
Caesars Southern Indiana, Elizabeth, IN
Master of the Table points are accredited to the Banks, One Pocket, and 9-Ball divisions.
The player who accrues the most points from their highest finishes in the 3 disciplines is Master of the Table or, as it is also known, All-Around-Champion.
Diamond generously delivers an additional $20,000 for first, plus, $3,000 and $2,000 respectively for 2nd and 3rd.
More on that later after the One Pocket final.
The Accu-Stats PPV OnDemand service has all of the above entertainment available for your viewing pleasure until Feb.28, 2023.
Diamond Derby City Classic ONE-POCKETChampionship: Sun Jan. 22 -Wed. Jan. 25.
Semis and Finals are rescheduled in the Accu-Stats TV Arena before the Friday Night Ring Game, Jan 27.
In the Accu-Stats Arena, Efren was pitted against sharpshooting Lithuanian Pijus Labutis.
Reyes realized he had to change strategy when Pijus, comfortable with his latest Mezz cue, had streaked to a 2-1 lead. It was then his masterful “moving” game began.
Labutis, now dumbfounded, spent the remainder of the match, immobilized…and in awe.
Soon, tied at 2-2, Efren showed his ability to run 8to find himself stuck on the remaining cluster. He still need one ball as he was-1 when he begun the run.
While Efren was considering his next move, the referee approached the table and told him he had won.
Efren, confused, questioned, “But I need one more ball?”
The ref had forgotten that Efren owed one.
Pijus, respectfully, in a kind of, “Oh, whatever,” moment, honored the ref’s decision and offered Efren his hand.
Pijus, showing true sportsmanship, had observed the current pattern of Efren’s of play, probablyconcluded that there was no way he was getting a look at another ball.
Meanwhile, in the outer arena, Fedor, fired up from his Bank Pool accomplishment, had his 2022 One-Pocket title to defend against 2009 DCC One-Pocket winner John Schmidt.
Fedor, a few rounds back, collided with the skillset of 2022 Texas Open One-Pocket runner-up Yerry Calderon and was, unceremoniously, sent to the buy-back booth.
Now he faced John, a household name as the first player to out-run Willie Mosconi’s 526 14.1 record – coincidently, by the number on every serious straight-pool player’s bucket list, 100!
Knowledge of pattern-play in 14.1 is a renowned asset in One-Pocket.
More drama; John had already gone to the buy-back booth because of his prior encounter with the robust Roberto Gomez.
In the opening game, Schmidt rallied from a minus two ball deficit to 7-7 only to have Fedor, unflinchingly, deliver the 8th to his hole. 1-0.
Fast-forward to tied at 2 games: John, 5 balls ahead, adopted the strategy of forming the “wedge.” The method here is to move all the balls up-table into a corner making it near impossible to for Gorst to run the remaining balls.
The strategy worked: John soon had his remaining 3 balls.
Fedor is now in left to his fate in the 9-Ball division.
The outer-arena crowd gathered as Filler faced Efren. Both being undefeated, one was heading to the buy-back hell.
Efren removed Naojuki Oi. Filler, ditto with Robert Frost.
Filler will be the first to admit that his strength in one-hole is applying the aforementioned Straight-Pool methodology and just running-out. In fact, he’s quite brilliant at it.
Forget all this “moving” altho, as you can imagine, his safety-play is formidable, too.
Efren, struggling a little, yet always respectful, awarded Joshua game-ball to go ahead 2-1.
Now, down 1-2, we know never to count Reyes out.
He put the tiller to Filler to hoe two superlative 8-and-outs. Josh was left no alternative but to humbly buy-back.
We also know never to count Joshua out: Heaven help his next opponent.
Johnathon Pinegar is no stranger to Derby City, yet it might be this year’s performance by administering losses to Shane Van Boening and Tyler Styer that will be remembered best.
The action-packed week continues with a little levity and a lot of moolah:
DCC’s Friday Night Ring Game: Jan 27
The captured match-ups are available via the Accu-Stats Pay-Per-View OnDemand, 4-camera HD production. Approximately, 60 action-packed hours of pro-pool are projected, PLUS reruns. After each match concludes, it is uploaded and available for your viewing pleasure. With PPV OnDemand, you choose when you watch, no matter what you’re timezone.
One week ahead of the ongoing Derby City Classic at Caesars Southern Indiana Resort and Casino in Elizabeth, IN, Railyard Billiards & Sports Pub in Louisville, KY, about two hours away, held what is hoped to be an annual event, the 2023 Mini Derb Open. There were four tournaments at the January 12-18 event in Louisville; an $8,000-added One Pocket that drew 11 entrants, a $4,000-added 10-Ball that drew 20, a $3,000-added 9-Ball with 60 entrants and 12-entrant Bank Ring Game.
Looking to defend his three 2022 Derby City Classic titles (9-Ball Banks, One Pocket and Overall Championship), Russian ‘phenom,’ Fedor Gorst traveled to Louisville for a little pre-Derby practice and won all four of the Mini Derb Open events, pocketing enough money to more than pay for any and all incurred expenses as he made his way northwest to Elizabeth, IN. If he doesn’t retain any of his titles at the Derby City Classic (he has already finished in the four-way tie for fifth place in the 10-Ball Bigfoot Challenge), it won’t be for lack of practice that he logged at the Mini Derby Open.
Small in field size (11), but big on talent, the One Pocket event, which opened the 2023 Mini Derb Open, featured some of the nation’s top One Pocket competitors; Scott Frost (Derby City One Pocket champion, 2010), Tony Chohan, John Gabriel, Sky Woodward (Derby City’s 2019 9-Ball and Overall Champion) and Billy Thorpe (who’s won the Derby City’s One Pocket event twice, ’17 & ’20) among them. Fedor Gorst faced three of those five on his four-match march to the title. Following a bye, he downed Woodward, double hill, Hunter White 5-1 and fought Chohan to double hill before claiming the hot seat. Scott Frost, in the meantime, who lost his opening match to Woodward 5-3, won five on the loss side, including a quarterfinal victory over Thorpe and semifinal win over Chohan to face Gorst in the finals. Gorst downed Frost 5-2 to claim the One Pocket title.
In the 20-entrant 10-Ball Open, Gorst got by six opponents, including Poland’s Mieszko Fortunski and claimed the hot seat 9-7 over Ukraine’s Vitaliy Patsura. In the meantime, John Gabriel, sent to the loss side in a winners’ side semifinal by Patsura 9-7, got by Sky Woodward (double hill), Fortunski 7-5 in the quarterfinals and in a rematch, Patsura, double hill in the semifinals. Gorst defeated Gabriel 9-4 in the opening set of a true double elimination final.
In the largest event of the week (60 entrants), the Mini Derb 9-Ball Open, Gorst faced Poland’s Bart Czapla twice; hot seat and finals. Gorst faced a total of seven opponents and didn’t give up more than two racks until he’d faced his fourth, Scott Frost, whom he sent to the loss side 9-4. He followed that with a winners’ side semifinal win over Mieszko Fortunski 9-5 and in the battle for the hot seat, downed Czapla for the first time 9-3.
On the loss side, Louis DeMarco who’d lost his second-round match to John Farrar 9-7, was working on an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that had included victories over Vitaliy Patsura, Sky Woodard (double hill), Scott Frost and in the quarterfinals, Mieszko Fortunski 7-5. Czapla stopped DeMarco’s loss-side streak 7-2 in the semifinals, only to be defeated himself by Gorst in the finals 9-2.
Gorst wrapped up his weekend in style. He completed his four-title performance by winning the Mini Derb Banks Ring Game. He and Earl Age split the top two prizes; $5,500 total.
Event representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Railyard Billiards for their hospitality, as well as all of the players who competed in the inaugural Mini Derb Open. Thanks were also extended to event sponsors Diamond Billiard Products, Jam Up Apparel, Michelle Griffin (Realtor – Schuler Bauer Real Estate) and Pace-O-Matic.
