From top left: Roberto Gomez, Marc Vidal, Chris McDaniel and Sharik Sayed
On Saturday and Sunday, July 27 and 28, Felt Billiards in Englewood, Colorado hosted two single-elimination qualifiers for the 2024 Matchroom U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships.The prestigious annual event will be held at Harrah’s Resort & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey August 19-24. With the new Matchroom format, players must get invited or win a qualifier in order to compete in the main event.
In the second round, spectators were treated to a feature match as Singapore’s Sharik Sayed faced Philippines’ “Superman” Roberto Gomez on the live stream. Gomez pulled to a quick lead, at one point wowing the crowd, making five balls on the break. After his 9-3 victory, the Houston resident went on to defeat Colorado’s Geoffrey Quezada 11-3 in the final round to secure the first of the four total qualifier spots.
On the other side of the bracket, fans were treated to some exciting matches with local favorites; Frank Urbaniak from Colorado Springs and Denver’s Marc Vidal played a race-to-11 for the second qualifier spot of the day. Vidal recovered from a 5-1 deficit against top player Chris McDaniel in the previous round, to advance with a close score of 9-7. In the end, Urbaniak came up short 5-11 and would return Sunday for another attempt #2.
On Sunday, Urbaniak, despite a hard fight, came up short against Sayed, who faced 19-year-old Zach Bryan in a race to 11 for the first qualifier spot of Sunday. Sayed was determined to redeem himself after an early exit the previous day when he faced Gomez in the second round. Unfortunately, Bryan’s strong play throughout the day was no match for the skilled Sayed, ending with a lopsided score of 11-1.
In the bottom bracket, McDaniel returned Sunday on a mission, defeating Colorado Springs’ Bill Meacham 9-3, then Geoffrey Quezada 9-2 to face Matt Driste in a thrilling hill-hill finals match where
Driste had an unfortunate scratch on the four ball to get to the six. With ball-in-hand, McDaniel overcut the eight ball, leaving Driste a tester, which he hung in the jaws and the rest was history. McDaniel would claim the fourth spot for Felt’s U.S. Open Qualifier Events.
About the FELT
Established in 2011, Felt is Colorado’s premier pool room, bar, and restaurant. They have 30 Diamond 7ft and 9ft pool tables, as well as two 10ft snooker tables. They also have a state-of-the-art Golf simulator (Trackman), darts, video games, a full kitchen and a huge liquor and beer selection.
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