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
Mosconi Cup Captains Jayson Shaw and Skyler Woodward secured opening wins in dominant fashion at the BetVictor 2024 UK Open live on broadcasters worldwide, including DAZN, Viaplay, and Sky Sports in the UK
Shaw’s 9-1 triumph and Woodward’s 9-2 victory set the pace for top World Nineball Tour players like Albin Ouschan, David Alcaide, Aloysius Yapp, and Mortiz Neuhausen, who breezed through their opening matches to secure spots in the winners’ qualification bracket.
James ‘Dodong Diamond’ Aranas showcased his skill with back-to-back 9-2 victories, securing his spot amongst winners. Meanwhile, 2017 World Pool Championship winner Carlo Biado bounced back after dropping the first rack, rallying with a remarkable 9-rack win streak in the opening round. Biado continued his winning streak with a 9-6 victory over the Italian Daniele Corrieri to enter the winners’ qualification.
Six-time World Pool Masters champion Ralf Souquet started strong with a decisive 9-2 win but faced a tough challenge in his second match against Vietnam’s Bui Trong An from Vietnam, narrowly losing in a hill-hill battle. Misfortune continued for the highly rated Bosnian Sanjin Pehlivanovic, who despite sweeping the first match 9-0, stumbled in the second, suffering a 9-1 loss to Szymon Kural from Poland.
Snooker Scottish Open and Welsh Open champion Gary Wilson notched consecutive victories in his first day, clinching a hard-fought 9-7 win against Mubarak Al-Wahaibi. Wilson then engaged in a thrilling battle with British World Cup of Pool contender Elliott Sanderson, securing his second win after Sanderson missed the 9-ball at the hill.
Meanwhile, World Snooker Tour star Stuart Bingham faced a tough opening round against snooker ace Frazer Patrick, who capitalised on Bingham’s errors, controlling the table to secure a comfortable 9-0 victory. Although Bingham redeemed himself in his second match, he faced disappointment in his third and final match, narrowly losing 7-8 and being knocked out of the tournament.
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.”
One year ago, Wiktor Zielinski became the first player from Poland to break through at a large-scale event, defeating Aloysius Yapp to win the Alfa Las Vegas Open.
Heading into the final day of this year’s Open, Zielinski’s hopes to repeat as champion remain firmly in tact, as the Pole defeated 2020 champion Jung-Lin Chang in straight sets Saturday night at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino. The Pole will now face Vietnam’s Duong Quoc Hoang, who came from behind to beat Shane Van Boening.
After Zielinski won the first set, 4-2, the two competitors split the first two games of the second frame until the Pole clawed ahead with a victorious safety exchange. He failed to pocket a ball on the break in the following game but forced Chang into fouling, allowing him to tack on another win and climb onto the hill. Chang, who reached the quarterfinals by defeating Albin Ouschan and Joshua Filler, cut the deficit to 3-2 when he forced Zielinski into a foul with a safety but lost the next game and the match when his opponent used the same strategy, finding an opening to run out after multiple safeties on the 2 ball.
On an adjacent table, Hoang was taking advantage of a handful of unforced errors by Van Boening to grind his way into the semifinals.
The American won the first two racks of the opening set then took advantage of a missed cut shot on the 2 ball by his opponent to build an early 3-0 advantage. Van Boening, who reached the quarterfinals with victories over Eklent Kaci and Konrad Juszczyszyn, closed out the set in the next game when he forced Hoang into a foul with a safety.
He drew first blood in the second set when his opponent missed the 1 ball but again failed to make a ball on the break, allowing Hoang to drill home a combination shot on the 10 ball. Hoang climbed ahead after Van Boening missed a soft 7 ball in the side pocket, then increased his lead when he pocketed another combination after forcing the American into committing another foul. Van Boening had a chance to pull to within a game of the lead but missed the 6 ball, allowing his opponent to sail to a 4-1 second set win.
In the deciding set, Van Boening took advantage of a Hoang miss in the opening game to take an early lead but both players continued to be plagued by breaking struggles, failing to land a ball on the opening shot. Hoang tied the score after trading safeties, gave away a chance at the lead when he scratched but recovered in the next game when Van Boening scratched on the break. With the score now knotted at two, Hoang closed out the set by taking advantage of a missed 3 ball by Van Boening in the fifth game then breaking and running.
Zielinski will have familiar company in the semifinals, with fellow countryman Daniel Maciol defeating Bader Alawadhi 4-3, 4-1 in the quarterfinals, meaning half of the event’s remaining four competitors are from Poland. Maciol will face Sanjin Pehlivanovic, who defeated Vitaliy Patsura in straight sets as well.
Semifinals are scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. local time and the finals are slated to start at 4 p.m.
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.
AFTER THREE DAYS of play, we’re down to the last eight at the Dynamic Billard Italian Open, taking place at the Best Western Premium BHR Treviso Hotel. Starting out at 9.00 on Sunday morning, there have been seven rounds of matches today, the majority on the one-loss side of the draw, concluding with two rounds of single elimination.
The lowest ranked player into the last eight is Iker Echeverria at No.56 and his terrific efforts this week have kept the Spanish flag flying in the absence of Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and David Alcaide. All the other quarter-finalists are either previous Euro Tour winners or have gone deep in previous events.
Poland’s Wiktor Zielinski, currently ranked No.2 on the tour, stayed on track to steal the top spot from Sanchez Ruiz as he eased his way into the last eight with a 9-4 victory over Michael Schneider (Switzerland). The in-form Pole has yet to be extended this week in Treviso and can look forward to Iker Echeverria tomorrow.
Commented Wiktor, “I’ve been playing quite good and I think with the jet lag and being tired, I’m playing quite well. I can make some stupid mistakes but overall, I’m breaking really well and so far, I haven’t had a really tough match – the worst I’ve lost by is 9-4 with Tomasz Kaplan and then Michael just now so hopefully I will continue like this tomorrow.
“I’m sleeping well but not deep sleep so I think I need two or three more days to adjust to the European time zone. All my results have been good so I’m confident and hopefully I can continue like this tomorrow,” he added.
Alex Kazakis
Another big gun who will be fighting it out in the quarter-finals is Alex Kazakis who enjoyed wins this evening over Marco Cordova (Italy) and Switzerland’s Dimitri Jungo, 9-2 and 9-7, respectively. He now faces Pole Mieszko Fortunski who won a thrilling hill-hill match over Roam Hybler that saw multiple attempts on the 9-ball in the deciding rack.
Kazakis, like many players in the Italian Open, has just returned from the World 8-Ball in the Caribbean and is grappling with the effects of jetlag.
“I’m pretty happy when you consider that most of the players came her from Puerto Rico and we have jet lag, me included. Today I slept only three hours but I was playing good. I made some easy mistakes but overall, I’m happy and I’ll keep fighting and this is what matters,” said Kazakis.
“I hope I can sleep five or six hours tonight and then I’m going to be happy. It’s only three more wins but there are a lot of good players and you can lose in any round but it can go the same with me; I can win any round and I can win the tournament so it would be nice to win here in Treviso.”
Mario He
Mario He also advanced to the final day, courtesy of a brace of 9-8 wins in the single elimination stage. Firstly, he overcame impressive World Junior Champion Szymon Kural of Poland in the last 32 and then Sanjin Pehlivanovic in the next round. The Bosnian looked set for victory but missed a 7-ball to clear a path for a He victory.
Commented Mario, “When you win 9-8, it’s always a good feeling and when you lose 9-8, it’s a bad feeling. I was down 8-6 in both matches and I don’t know how I turned them around, especially against Sanjin because he had me. It was a very tricky situation and I didn’t think that he’d miss the 7-ball so I guess I got lucky to get through but I feel I’m playing really good.
“I’m not really thinking about winning the tournament and right now I have some time off so I’ll try -to refocus tomorrow on my next match. I hope I can sleep tonight but I’ll just try to grind tomorrow but it’s been going well up till now,” he added.
Play continues tomorrow (Monday) with the four quarter-finals taking place at 10am and then the semi-finals at 16.00 and 17.30. The final breaks off at 19.00.
As well as the prize money, there are Tour ranking points on offer as well as world ranking points, so there is everything to play for. All Euro Tour tournaments are 9-ball and players compete in a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 32 competitors, and then single elimination until the finish. All matches are races to 9 racks with alternate break.
All the matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com as well as selected matches on Facebook Live on the EPBF page. In addition, the semi-finals and final will be live or highlights on the following television stations across Europe;
SportKlub HD – Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia,
Bosnia Herzegovina, Greece
Eyecons – Netherlands)
SportKlub – Poland
ORF – Austria
B1B Box – Bulgaria
Results, live scoring and draw are available at www.epbf.com
Alex Kazakis, Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz, Mario He and Seybert’s Michigan Open champion Aloysius Yapp are through to the last 16 of the FargoRate Ohio Open, but big names including all three Ko brothers are already heading home.
Fedor Gorst will face Mika Immonen in winners’ qualification on Friday morning but Albin Ouschan, Robbie Capito and Wiktor Zielinski have been eliminated from the event, which carries a $75,000 prize fund and is played alongside the CSI Ohio State Championships at the Roberts Center in Wilmington, Ohio.
Ouschan suffered a shootout defeat to Finnish youngster Riku Romppanen and was then eliminated 4-3, 4-0 by Eklent Kaci. Romppanen takes on Roberto Gomez tomorrow morning for a place in the last 16, while Kaci must beat Predator World 10-Ball Champion Wojciech Szewczyk to remain in the event.
Four winners’ qualification matches have already played, with the remaining four to take place at 10am on Friday. Kazakis defeated David Alcaide 4-1, 4-3 for his place in the last 16, leaving the Spaniard with one more chance to qualify.
“I am feeling really happy that I won that match,” said Kazakis. “First set everything went my way, and in the second set it went both ways. David had a chance to run out at hill-hill but he missed it and I took my chance.”
Sanchez-Ruiz won 4-3, 4-3 over America’s Justin Martin while Aloysius Yapp, a two-time winner on the Predator Pro Billiard Series, defeated Finland’s Jani Uski 4-2, 4-3. Last year’s Fargorate Ohio Open champion Mario He needed a shootout to advance at the expense of Michael Schneider. The four players already qualified for single elimination share four Pro Billiard Series titles, with only Sanchez-Ruiz yet to win a stop.
Brothers Ko Ping Han, Ko Pin-Yi and Ko Ping-Chung were all eliminated within hours of each other. Ping Han had suffered shootout defeat to Petri Makkonen on Wednesday and was again beaten from the spot on Thursday, this time by Badar Al Qrrayyan. Defeat yesterday to Jan van Lierop had left Pin-Yi on the losers’ side, where a 4-1, 4-1 win for Sharik Sayed meant that Ping-Chung was now the only member of the Ko family still in the event.
However, Ping-Chung was soon eliminated too. His tournament had opened with a shootout defeat to Robbie Capito on Wednesday. He responded with a 4-3, 4-1 win against Sanjin Pehlivanovic only to lose by shootout to New Zealand’s Sullivan Clark.
Zielinski’s tournament came to an end against Chang Jung-Lin, who won 4-2, 4-3 in the day’s final match on the TV table. Chang missed a 4 ball at 3-2 up in the second set, allowing his Polish opponent to level the match at 3-3, however when Zielinski missed the 5, Chang was back at the table and won the rack to avoid a shootout. Chang requires two more wins to reach the single elimination stage and faces Dimitri Jungo in his next match.
Among the other players coming back on the losers’ side is Konrad Juszczyszyn, who will face Aleksa Pecelj after beating Ernesto Dominguez in a lengthy shootout. Juszczyszyn took the first set 4-2 but a 4-0 shutout in the second took the match to a shootout. Neither player missed in their first four shots, before both missed their next two sudden death efforts. Another successful spot shot each took the shootout to 7-7, but Dominguez missed his next shot after Juszczyszyn had already sunk his.
The FargoRate Ohio Open continues from 10am ET on Friday with six matches streamed free on Billiard TV, the World Billiard TVYouTube channel and at Kozoom.com
Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz is the new Nineball World Number One after clinching the 2022 US Open Pool Championship title beating Max Lechner in the final at Harrah’s Resort, Atlantic City to take home the $50,000 first-place prize.
The Spaniard’s week in New Jersey couldn’t have gone much better finding out earlier on that he would be an automatic pick for the 2022 Mosconi Cup Team Europe side as one of the three players to come from the Live Nineball World Rankings and it ended with a memorable victory in front of a sell-out crowd over Lechner to break the $100,000 mark and overtake World Champion Shane Van Boening at the top.
Sanchez Ruiz was elated with his week’s work: “It is unbelievable how it feels. I feel so happy. Congratulations to Max. Thank you to everyone for the support, I love you guys. It’s the biggest win in my career. There are too many good feelings right now. I received the news of making the Mosconi Cup and it gave me so much. I want to say thank you to my team David Alcaide and Jose Alberto Delgado. It’s an unbelievable feeling, it really is.”
Joshua Filler was eyeing a second US Open, but it wasn’t to be as Eklent Kaçi abruptly ended the UK Open winner’s run in the Last 16. Despite that, Filler has opened up a $17,870 gap over Albin Ouschan at world number four.
Three Austrians now sit inside the top ten in the world with Lechner’s $25,000 winnings taking him from 15th to sixth just behind Mario He and Ouschan. Kaçi’s run in AC to the quarter-finals sees the Albanian break into the top ten whilst Alexander Kazakis, Wiktor Zielinski, and Abdullah Alyousef all had strong weeks to maintain their position inside the top ten.
The Ko brothers have been back in force in recent months after Pin Yi snapped off the APF Asian 9-Ball Open, Ping Chung reached the semi-finals to climb from 73rd in the world to 24th as one of the biggest movers. Poland’s Konrad Juszczyszyn steady year continued as he moved up to 15th and Sanjin Pehlivanovic moved inside the top 20.
2023 promises to be bigger and better for Nineball with the Matchroom provisional schedule revealed for the first time during the US Open. Matchroom’s calendar will begin with the World Pool Championship from February 1-5 before the World Pool Masters from May 6-9 ahead of the second-ever UK Open Pool Championship set to take place in London once again from May 30 to June 4. Both the World Cup of Pool and Premier League Pool will take place in June ahead of the European Open Pool Championship in Fulda, Germany from August 8-13.
The next US Open Pool Championship gets underway from September 25-30 before the Mosconi Cup caps off 2023 in December. See more on the 2023 Matchroom provisional schedule here.
The full Nineball World Ranking Schedule will be revealed in the coming weeks as it promises to offer more opportunities for players to earn their right to the biggest events on the calendar.
All eyes will now turn to the 2022 Mosconi Cup where both Team USA and Team Europe know three of their five-player rosters after Sanchez Ruiz and Ouschan were confirmed for Europe to join Filler. On Jeremy Jones‘ American side Skyler Woodward and Oscar Dominguez were confirmed to be joining Van Boening ahead of both Jones and Alex Lely confirming their two wild card picks.
Fans can expect to hear more soon from both skippers as they confirm their two wild card picks each to complete their sides ahead of the battle commencing in pool’s biggest battle.
Shane Van Boening crashed out of the 2022 US Open Pool Championship in a hill-hill defeat to Alexander Kazakis as only 16 remain at Harrah’s Resort, Atlantic City ahead of the final two days of action.
Van Boening began the day on the hunt for a record-breaking sixth US Open but it was the case of the champagne being put on ice for at least another year. The World Champion came up Kazakis in full steam ahead mode as the Greek rattled up a 5-0 lead without breaking stride against the American great. Kazakis has had mixed fortune against Van Boening in recent times, defeating him in the final of the 2021 World Pool Masters in a whitewash before tasting defeat at the World Pool Championship semi-final stage back in April.
Kazakis lost his way in the middle of the match as Van Boening rallied to 5-5 and soon 7-5 to lead with an opportunity to reach the hill first. A scratch on the break for Van Boening though brought Kazakis back into it and 7-7. In the next rack, Kazakis missed the two ball and Van Boening reached the hill first.
At times, Kazakis has been doubted and questioned but today wasn’t going to be one of those days, back at the table at 8-8 breaking for the match, he was hooked when looking to make the two ball. One bank later from Kazakis and the table was clear for him to run out and secure a memorable win. For Van Boening, the wait goes on but all is not lost with the conclusion of the inaugural SVB Junior Open set to unfold tomorrow afternoon.
Skyler Woodward will have mixed emotions after today after the two-time Mosconi Cup MVP fell at the hands of Chang Jung-Lin who was on a rampage at times in a 9-4 win but with results going his way, the Kentucky Kid ensured a Mosconi Cup automatic spot to avoid leaving it up to Jeremy Jones‘ wild card picks. Greg Hogue was also in the Mosconi Cup reckoning for an automatic spot until defeat to Marc Bijsterbosch saw the American bow out 9-2. That news was good for Oscar Dominguez though who will return to the Mosconi Cup for the first time in five years off the Live Nineball World Rankings.
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz had a day to remember, before he even played Ralf Souquet in the Last 64, he knew he would be making his Mosconi Cup debut for Team Europe come November 30 to December 3 as the Spaniard secured the second automatic spot off the Live Nineball World Rankings due to Ouschan’s defeat to Szewczyk. On a high, Sanchez Ruiz took down Souquet and Wu Kun Lin to reach the Last 16.
Styer’s journey ended at the hands of Mosconi Cup foe Filler leaving his Mosconi Cup hopes in Jones’ hands. The American put on a gutsy display to push Filler all the way before the World Pool Masters champion pulled away to a 9-6 win.
Defending champion Carlo Biado will go again on his hunt for the crown in back-to-back years against Konrad Juszczyszyn. Biado coming through in a repeat of last year’s semi-final against Naoyuki Oi 9-6.
The Union Jack of Great Britain will be kept flying tomorrow by Chris Melling who is experiencing something of a renaissance in the Diamond Arena. Melling seeing off Joven Bustamante 9-4 before an impressive 9-1 win over Badar Alawadhi. The Magician’s match-up with Corteza will kick off the TV coverage tomorrow from 10am ET. SCHEDULE
There were seven rounds of matches today at the Dynamic Billards Slovenian Open, and we’re down to the last four men standing. After a heavy day’s play, the semi-finals are made up of Mario He against Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and Joshua Filler v Ralf Souquet.
Veteran Souquet was the story of the day as he went through the winners side, and then defeated Oliver Szolnoki of Hungary in the last 16 before taking care of Holland’s Marc Bijsterbosch 9-4 to make it through to the final day.
Souquet, 53, has won every title pool has to offer but he is still as competitive as they come, even if the results don’t come quite as often.
Commented Ralf, “It was definitely a pleasant day for me, no doubt! I had four matches and although I didn’t play perfect, I‘m quite happy with my performance today. It seems like I have found the old Ralf Souquet inside again; he was probably a little bit asleep and I woke him up and it looks like the old Ralf is back to the table.
“I always do the same preparation, I always try to practice hard, a lot and I have more practice nowadays than I ever had. I feel way more comfortable. I’ve tried several things over the years to improve my game and change some things, some for good, some not so but I’m in a good way. Being in the semi-final may bring a bit of extra pressure but on the other hand, it’s just another match like any of the other thousands I’ve played.”
He will play Joshua Filler who beat Niels Feijen 9-8 in a match where the table played a significant part in the proceedings. With some of the cushions acting a little bouncy, both players struggled with the speed.
Filler said, “The table was so bouncy and you couldn’t really calculate any shots and then it’s tough to play good. We both tried our best and both wanted to win but it wasn’t a good match as we couldn’t adjust to the table
“I’m happy to win and be in the semi-final but I want to play like it’s just for fun but if conditions are bad, I’m struggling. I’m happy for Ralf as he seemed to be struggling the last few tournaments but he’s playing well and I’ve always watched Ralf as he’s a great player,” he added.
The second semi-final will be between Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, who has stormed the Euro Tour in recent times, racking up three titles and Austria’s Mario He who will be looking to go one better than last time out in Petrich where he fell at the semi-final stage. This time he won a hard-fought contest over Sanjin Pehlivanovic.
“I’m playing very good at the moment; I’m feeling good and my break is working well so I’m very confident playing tomorrow against Sanchez. I’m looking forward to semis and give my all and I’ll try to win it this time. Sometimes you get tired but today I felt really good, didn’t get tired and I could have played another set. Tomorrow, I’ll try to relax and focus on the semi-final.”
For Sanchez-Ruiz, tomorrow presents a golden opportunity to win his fourth Euro Tour title in 14 months but he knows Mario He represents a difficult challenge.
“It was tough day! In the last 32 I had to come back and win on the hill and now with Sanjin I played really good and felt confident but I’m so tired right now! I’ll try and get some rest tonight but don’t play till late afternoon so that will give me plenty of time. I’m really happy with my performance. I’m playing really good this year and on the Euro Tour, I like the format and the break and I really enjoy it,” said the Spaniard.
The first semi-final commences at 16.00 local time with the second following straight after at 17.30. The final gets underway at 19.00.
All the matches can be viewed live at www.kozoom.com as well as selected matches on Facebook Live on the EPBF page. In addition, the semi-finals
and final, played out on Monday night, will be live or highlights on the following television stations across Europe;
SportKlub HD – Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia,
Bosnia Herzegovina, Greece
Eyecons – Netherlands)
SportKlub – Poland
ORF – Austria
B1B Box – Bulgaria
Results, live scoring and draw are available at www.epbf.com
As well as the prize money, there are Tour ranking points on offer as well as world ranking points, so there is everything to play for. All Euro Tour tournaments are 9-ball and players compete in a double-elimination format, playing down to the last 32 competitors, and then single elimination until the finish. All matches are races to 9 racks with alternate break.
