Last year, when Jeremy Jones won the US Open title, he pointed into the stands before his final shot and said "This one's for you". He wasn't pointing at his girlfriend or mom, he was pointing at his best friend and road partner Gabe Owen. This year, before the final 9-ball, Gabe Owen pointed into the stands and said "This one's for you Double J" and then got down to shoot as his opponent Thorsten Hohmann threw in the towel.
Gabe Owen completed a surprising undefeated run through the field to win the 29th Annual US Open 9-Ball Championship. His opponent in the finals, Thorsten Hohmann had already lost to Owen for the hot-seat but was ready for the rematch in the finals. That readiness disappeared in the first rack as Hohmann missed an almost straight in 9-ball and didn't win a game until game 4. By that time, Owen was comfortable at the table and he never looked back.
Owen ran the next two racks before Hohmann could win another rack. Before it was over, Owen would run another three racks and execute a crowd pleasing 2 ball jump bank shot to get out in another rack.
When all the cheering had stopped, it was Gabe Owen scoring a dominating 11-3 win and holding the $30,000 first place check high. Hohmann settled for $15,000 in prize money.
Complete brackets are online and we will have more pictures for Carol Whiteside's Online Photo Gallery later tonight.
File photo courtesy of Diana Hoppe - Pool Pics By Hoppe
