Naoyuki Oi will face Jayson Shaw
Mast claims JIC Girls hot seat, Makhani and McBride to battle for 18U Boys hot seat at 3:30
The 2023 International Open Championship continues today LIVE from the Simonis Aramith Arena at the Sheraton Waterside Hotel in Norfolk VA.
Late last night (Thurs., Nov. 2), the pieces came together for the single-elimination Stage 2 of the the International Open’s 9-Ball Championships; the final 16 of the 128 who began their quest for the title on Monday. The 16 represent 13 countries, spanning the globe in all directions; Poland, Peru, Canada, Austria, Japan, UK, Spain, Venezuela, Singapore, the Phillippines, Germany and Ukraine. Two each from Poland, Austria and the host, USA.
All of the ‘usual’ suspects are on the list, although by the nature of the single-elimination draw, some of the likely candidates for the top prize might be facing each other sooner rather than later. Whatever happens, defending champion Jayson Shaw and Shane Van Boening will not be meeting in the finals, although they might meet in the second round, scheduled for 9:45 p.m. this evening. Shaw is scheduled to meet Japan’s Naoyuki Oi at 2 p.m. today, as Van Boening faces Spain’s David Alcaide at the same time.
The four-player segment of the bracket which will yield (potentially) either Van Boening or Shaw’s competitor in the semifinals will emerge from a pair of 2:30 p.m matches. Austria’s Albin Ouschan will step into the Simonis Aramith arena against an actual lion. . . well, the Lion, Canada’s Alex Pagulayan, as Peru’s Gerson Martinez and Poland’s Mieszko Fortunski square off at the same time. The two winners will battle and send one of them to the semifinals against (assuming the two win their opening-round matches) either Van Boening or Shaw
Austria’s Mario He and The Philippines’ Lee Vann Corteza, who were the winner and runner-up, respectively, at last week’s American 14.1 Straight Pool Championships, won’t be meeting in the second round, but they could end up against each other in the semifinals. To get there, Mario He will have to get by the highest Fargo-rated competitor among the final 16, Germany’s Joshua Filler, in the opening round at noon and then, meet and defeat the winner of another noontime pair; Poland’s Wiktor Zielinski and Ukraine’s Vitaliy Patsura, who’s playing in this event 107 points above his entry Fargo Rate of 773; best of the tournament so far. Only Shaw is above him in the Effective Rating Category with a 885.87 Effective Rating, 55.87 points above his entry rate of 830. Vann Corteza’s path to the semifinals begins against Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp (at 1 p.m.) and will then have to contend with the winner of the match between Fedor Gorst and Venezuela’s Jesus Atencio.
Thinking (way) ahead, and bearing in mind that this is pool and an “anything can happen” rule applies, either a Shaw or Van Boening/Gorst final is possible. Joshua Filler, Mario He and Lee Vann Corteza are possible candidates from the upper bracket of eight, but they’d have to get by Gorst to make that happen. In the lower bracket, Albin Ouschan and Alex Pagulayan are contenders, but they’ll likely have to get by either Van Boening or Shaw to make that happen.
Among the many contenders who did not advance in hopes of claiming the title was the Netherlands Neils Feijen, who will accept his nomination to the BCA Hall of Fame at a banquet on-site at the Sheraton Waterside Hotel this evening. That event will put the match schedule on hold for a couple of hours as attendees join him in celebrating his much-deserved award. Feijen came within a match of being among the final 16. He’d opened against two formidable female opponents. He was able to shut out Bethany Sykes, while Germany’s Pia Filler gave him a bit of a ‘run for his money’ that he eventually won 10-8. It was Billy Thorpe who sent him to the loss side 10-4. On the loss side, he downed Eric Roberts 10-8 and Davy Peirgiovannni 10-4 before running into The Lion (Alex Pagulayan), who probably figured that Feijen might enjoy his time at the award-dinner table better without having to think about returning to the pool tables and defeated him 10-3.
Mast in the hot seat of 18U Girls JIC, Makhani/McBride to play for 18U Boys hot seat at 3:30
As this report was being prepared, the two Championship events of the Junior International Championship’s third season were playing out in the first of the day’s matches. The 18U Boys division championship (16 entrants) was down to its final eight. Early morning, 10 a.m. battles saw Jas Makhani defeat Landon Hollingsworth 7-3, as Payne McBride was busy surviving his double-hill matchup against Lazaro Martinez. Makhani and McBride will meet in the hot seat match, scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
On the loss side, two matches are scheduled to begin at 1:15 p.m., which will reduce the numbers down to six. Joey Tate will face Nathan Nunes, while Niko Konkel takes on Eddie Vondereau. The winner of the Tate/Nunes matchup will advance to meet Landon Hollingsworth at 3:30. The winner of the Konkel/Vondereau pairing will pick up Lazaro Martinez, also at 3:30.
The eight-entrant 18U Girls Championship has eliminated only two so far. Earlier, two of the top junior women in the country squared off in the battle for the hot seat. After Savanna Easton took an early-match lead over Sofia Mast (3-0), Mast came back to eventually knot things up at 5-5. Mast won the 11th game and then executed a break-and-run to claim the hot seat. On the loss side, at 1:15 p.m., Skylar Hess will face Mackenzie Cuda, while Bethany Tate takes on Courtney Hairfield for advancement to the quarterfinals, scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
Pat Fleming and Accu-Stats Video Productions are providing PPV coverage of the event again this year, and Digital Pool is providing online brackets and real time scoring. More information on the PPV event coverage is available at http://www.intlopen.com/watch/. Real time scoring and online brackets are available at the Digital Pool website or right here on AzBilliards.
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