Alex Pagulayan (Photo courtesy of JP Parmentier)
The CSI 4th US Open 10-Ball Championship at the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada started Monday, May 14th with 96 top players from around the world. Going into day six the last four players standing are Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan versus #6 WPA World ranked Dennis Orcollo on the winner's side and recent BCA Hall of Fame recipient and legend Francisco Bustamante versus current #7 USA ranked Mike Dechaine on the one loss side.
Competition on the tight Diamond Pro Tables has been tough and this week's earlier rounds saw several upsets. Perhaps one of the biggest stories throughout the week was Oscar Dominguez, currently ranked 11th in the US and #9 on the US Mosconi Team race. Dominguez lost his first round match to Orcollo hill-hill, then won his next seven matches beating out such opponents as Mika Immonen 9-0, Jeremy Jones 9-1, Johnny Archer 9-6 then finally knocked out by Dechaine, taking 7-8th place.
Another player that created quite a buzz was top Japanese player Kenichi Uchigaki. A long time participant in the international professional pool circuit, Uchigaki played this week near flawless until he was sent to the stands by Bustamante. On his road though he took out, Amar Kang 9-6, Shaun Wilkie 9-5, Diego Simon Parra 9-7 and Raul Hebles Berraquero 9-2 and taking home 5-6th place.
The US Open 10-Ball Championship is a BCA Point event, which determines the US player invites to WPA World Championships and is also a Matchroom Sport Mosconi Cup US point event, which determines which players make up the coveted US Mosconi Cup Team.
Dennis Hatch, who also placed 5-6th this week, came into the event ranked 6th in the US and #4 on the US Mosconi Team race. His finish in this tournament may boost him up a place in the ratings.
Uncharacteristically, several top players found themselves out of the tournament early. #1 ranked US player, Shane Van Boening ended in 17-24th place. However Van Boening has a substantial point lead above all other US player and will feel little impact from his lack of points in this event. The #3 ranked US player Rodney Morris, after a first round loss to Matt Krah fought back to win his next six matches to be knocked out by top Canadian player John Morra finishing 13-16. Shawn Putnam, who is currently ranked #8 in the US and #6 on the US Mosconi Team race, settled for 33-48th place this week after losing his first round match to David Alcaide Bermudez from Spain 9-6 and fellow US player Rob Saez 9-7 in the fourth round.
The final four matches are scheduled at 10 am, the hot seat match at 12:30 pm, the semi-finals at 3 pm and the finals starting at 6 pm US Pacific Time. Viewers may catch today's match online at www.theactionreport.com
The 4th US Open 10-Ball Championship is sponsored by CueSports International (CSI), Simonis, Aramith, OB Cues, Mueller Recreational Products, and the Magic Ball Rack with live stream coverage by The Action Report (TAR).
The 4th US Open 10-Ball Championship is being held in conjunction with the 36th BCAPL National Championships at the Riviera Hotel & Casino. To view online all of the brackets for the 36th BCAPL National Championships, the 13th US Open One Pocket Championship and the 4th US Open 10-Ball Championship, visit the CueSports Tournament System at www.ctsondemand.com. You may search by player or team name or can view by division or tournament.
For more information about the BCAPL visit www.playbca.com.
CueSports International (CSI) is dedicated to creating more choices for all players. In the past seven years CSI has directly paid out approximately Seven Million Dollars to players. CSI is the parent company of the BCA Pool League and the USA Pool League. CSI also produces independent events such as the US Bar Table Championships, the Jay Swanson Memorial, the US Open One Pocket Championship and the US Open 10-Ball Championship. Visit www.playcsipool.com, www.playbca.com and www.playusapool.com for more information about CSI and its divisions.
CSI leads the billiard industry in the development of technology. For more information on the state-of-the-art software systems for league and tournament management visit www.leaguesys.net and www.ctsondemand.com.
