A number of competitors currently at work looking to capture the US Open 9-Ball Championship warmed up from October 22-25, about two hours north, at the $20,000-added, 11th Annual American 14:1 Straight Pool Championships. The event's last two champions - Darren Appleton (2014) and Thorsten Hohmann (2013) - were among them, and no one was surprised when they turned out to be the 2015 finalists. Appleton completed an undefeated run through the field of 40, with a victory over Hohmann in those finals, to successfully defend the title that he'd claimed last year. Also competing in this event, and presently, at the US Open, were (among others) former 14:1 champions Johnny Archer (2011) and Mika Immonen (2007).
Hosted by Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA, and sponsored by Diamond Billiards and Simonis Cloth, the event featured eight 'flights' of round robin play; five players per 'flight.' Eight winners emerged from the initial round robin battles, while 16 players in either second or third place were seeded in an elimination round.
Going undefeated in their round robin play were Appleton, Thorsten Hohmann, Mika Immonen, and Nick Van Den Berg. Joining them among the eight round robin winners were Dennis Orcollo, Ralph Eckert, Johnny Archer and Jason Klatt.
On one side of the subsequent elimination bracket, Bob Hunter, Mike Davis, Daryl Peach, and Ivo Aarts advanced past Stevie Moore, Niels Feijen, Karl Boyes, and Alan Duty, respectively. On the other side, Warren Kiamco, Kevin Clark, Rodney Morris, and Danny Barouty, eliminated Jayson Shaw, Sean Morgan, Corey Deuel, and Alex Pagulayan.
With victories in races to 125 by Appleton (over Hunter, 51), Orcollo (over Davis, 62), Immonen (over Peach, 96), Aarts (over Eckert, 78), Kiamco (over Van Den Berg, 71), Clark (over Archer, 76), Hohmann (over Morris, 66), and Barouty (over Klatt, 88), the field was down to eight. It went down to four following Appleton's 150-100 victory over Orcollo, Immonen's defeat of Aarts 150-89, Kiamco's win over Clark 150-26, and Hohmann's elimination of Barouty 150-58
Three of the four left were former champions of the event. Appleton defeated the Iceman 150-113, as Hohmann eliminated the only player who wasn't a former champion, Warren Kiamco, 150-65. In the finals, Hohmann was ahead when the scores were still in double digits, 94-83. Appleton, though, gobbled up that 11-point differential, and went on to win it 150-94.
