Gerson Martinez
Mast surges ahead at the end to claim JIC 18U girls title, McBride/Konkel at 1 p.m.
The 2023 International Open Championship continues today LIVE from the Simonis Aramith Arena at the Sheraton Waterside Hotel in Norfolk VA.
When last we ‘spoke,’ a report on the progress of the 2023 International 9-Ball Open noted the existence of “intriguing potential matchups” in the 16-entrant, single-elimination Stage 2 of the $50,000-added event. The report went on to project the advancement of the tournament’s more renowned players; its defending champion, Jayson Shaw and the top three competitors in our own AZBilliards Leaderboard among them – Fedor Gorst, Joshua Filler and Shane Van Boening. The winner and runner-up of last weekend’s American 14:1 Straight Pool Championships, Mario He and Lee Vann Corteza were mentioned too, as the report speculated on the number of different ways that advancement on the single-elimination bracket might play out as the day (Friday, Nov. 3) progressed toward spectator hopes for an entertaining final today.
Yeah, well, none of that happened. None of it. Jayson Shaw didn’t make it out of the opening round, falling to Japan’s Naoyuki Oi 10-8. Neither did Shane Van Boening, who dropped his opener to Spain’s David Alcaide 10-6. Germany’s Josh Filler lost his opening round to Austria’s Mario He 10-8, while He’s opponent in the straight pool championships last week, Vann Corteza lost to Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp 10-6. The report did mention that it was pool, after all, and anything could happen. And it did.
Filler, along with his wife, Pia, and Darren Appleton, sat in the lounge of the Sheraton Waterside Hotel, many hours later and while Filler’s professional ‘self’ took the early-stage loss to Mario He in stride, part of him was as puzzled as some of the spectators who’d watched it happen.
“I didn’t miss balls, my safeties were good and I was breaking great,” he said, adding in recognition of where his efforts had stumbled a bit, that three dry breaks had contributed to the result.
“I was up 8-6 and had two dry breaks,” he added, “and then, down 8-9, I made a great cut on the 3-ball and (in a run that was supposed to turn that match into a double-hill, single game), I missed the 9-ball.”
He wasn’t alone in his personal post-mortem look back at what had happened, all presumably articulating the same explanation – Oh, well, what are you going to do? It’s those pesky Pool Gods!
Here’s what did happen last night (Fri., Nov. 3).
At the end of the opening round, there was a long break, as competitors and 13 members of the Billiards Congress of America’s Hall of Fame gathered in a hotel meeting room to induct the Hall’s latest member, Neils Feijen of the Netherlands. The assembled enjoyed a meal, and a pair of video presentations; one reflecting back on previous ceremonies and the other, put together by Feijen himself, reflecting on his own personal history and the members of the pool community that had contributed to his success.
“We competed to strive together,” Feijen said of players like Ralf Souquet, Nick van den Berg, Thorsten Hohmann and Darren Appleton and others, many of whom were in attendance. “We used each other to make each other better.”
The ceremony concluded in time for those among the attendees still competing to begin four quarterfinal matches, two of which would be featured in the live-streaming broadcast from the Simonis Aramith Arena at the Sheraton Waterside. At 7:30 p.m., Fedor Gorst took center stage in the arena to battle Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp. Elsewhere in the room, Mario He faced Poland’s Wiktor Zielenski.
At 9:45, the ever-entertaining Lion, Alex Pagulayan battled Peru’s Gerson Martinez in the Simonis Aramith arena. Spain’s David Alcaide and Naoyuki Oi would claim the off-center stage in the arena for their quarterfinal matchup.
Zielinski advanced to the semifinals with a 10-6 victory over He. Yapp will join him for the scheduled 3:30 p.m. match after eliminating Gorst in a tighter, 10-8 win.
In another tight match, The Lion kept things close in his center arena match against Martinez. Even when Martinez managed to reach the hill, ahead by two. A combination shot on the 9-Ball sent a loudly triumphant Martinez to the semifinals. It’ll be David Alcaide squaring off against him in those semifinals, after he eliminated Oi 10-5.
The two semifinals will occur separately. Zielinski and Yapp will square off in the main arena at 3:30 p.m. The Alcaide/Martinez match is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. with the final set for 8 p.m.
Strong performances highlight 18U JIC Girls final, Mast claims title
A pair of three-rack runs for both of the finalists in the quest for the JIC’s 18U girls title led to a 5-5 tie in their race to 9, which began at 11 a.m. this morning. Fifteen-year-old Sofia Mast took the early lead with two straight at the outset, but 13-year-old Savanna Easton fought back to tie and then, take the lead at 3-2.
Mast came back to win the next three racks and regain the lead, though a heart-stopping rattle of the 9-ball in a hole almost tied things at 4-4. Easton responded with the two racks that did tie things at 5-5.
Though Mast would win the next four to claim the title, those four racks were not without their potential turning-point moments. Mast went ahead by one, but in rack #12, Easton got the game’s first look at the 9-ball, albeit a tough-angle, short-rail shot that missed, leaving it right in front of the pocket. Sofia took advantage to go ahead 7-5.
In rack #13, Easton found herself with another opportunity to close the gap. Mast took a close-in shot at the 6-ball that knocked the 7-ball out of alignment, and she missed that shot. Easton dropped the 7-ball and the 8-ball, but left herself straight-up vertically looking at the 9-ball. She miss the cut, forcing Mast to take a long cut shot, with the 9-ball nestled close to a short-rail. She made the soft-touch shot to reach the hill first. She closed it out to win 9-5.
The JIC’s 18U Boys Championship, pitting Payne McBride against Niko Konkel, was underway as this report was being filed. McBride took the opening rack.
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.
PPV Information | Real Time Scoring | 9-Ball Brackets | 10-Ball Brackets
0 comments