Roberto Gomez
Late September through the end of October has become something of a magnet for tournaments following the World 10-Ball Championship & US Open Pool Championship and leading up to Pat Fleming’s International Open in Norfolk, VA, scheduled this year for the week of October 22-30. Players from around the world come to the US and in the hopes of killing the proverbial two (or three or four) birds with a single stone (trip), move about the country, hoping to win a little extra cash as they move geographically toward the International Open.
If the winners’ side final four of the $10,000-added, 10-ball tournament is any indication, the 1st Annual Omega Diamond Open in Aiken, SC is in for one hell of a week of non-stop pool. The field of 32 entrants began its quest for the Open’s first 10-ball title on Tuesday (Sept. 28th) and concluded on Wednesday night. The field worked its way down to that final four on the winners’ side and featured the eventual winner, Roberto Gomez, battling Dennis Orcollo, as Alex Pagulayan and Fedor Gorst squared off in the other one.
The hot seat match between Gomez and Gorst, their first of two, went double hill, sending Gorst to the semifinals and leaving Gomez in the hot seat .
Waiting for the defeated players from those two matches (Orcollo and Pagulayan) were Joshua Filler and Mario He, who’d just defeated, respectively, Jayson Shaw and Hungary’s Oliver Szolnoki. The winners’ side final four proved to be the end of the line for The Lion and Dennis Orcollo, as Filler downed Pagulayan and He eliminated Orcollo.
Filler downed He in the quarterfinals 7-2, but had his run stopped by Gorst 7-3 in the semifinals. The rematch between Gorst and Gomez in the true double elimination finals needed only a single set, won by Gomez 7-4 to become the 1st Annual Omega Diamond Open’s first player to claim an event title.
As we ‘speak,’ the $3,000-added Banks Open Division is underway. Further reports will follow.
Later this evening (Thursday, Sept. 30), the $7,500-added 9-Ball Mixed Doubles Invitational will get going, as will the $10,000-added One Pocket tournament. Beginning on Saturday (Oct. 2), the $10,000-added 9-Ball main event will begin, as will the $2,500-added Ladies 9-Ball Open.
