Moritz Neuhausen
Germany’s Moritz Neuhausen capped off an undefeated run through a field of 128 players to win the Turning Stone Classic XXXIX, held at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, NY on August 29th – September 1st.
Neuhausen got things underway with back to back 9-0 shutouts against tour regulars Bob Lewis and Holden Chin. “The Giant Killer” Jeremy Sossei was up next, and he took Neuhausen to the hill at 8-8 before Neuhausen could put him away.
Neuhausen’s next match was against a newcomer on the pro scene, Turkey’s Mustafa Alnar. Alnar led the match most of the way, until Neuhausen finally clawed his way ahead late in the match. It still came down to hill-hill before a missed 4-ball by Alnar resulted in a 9-8 win over Neuhausen.
As if back to back hill-hill matches wasn’t enough stress for the young German, Neuhausen’s next opponent, New York’s Aaron Greenwood also took him to hill-hill before Neuhausen pocketed the final 9-ball for the match win.
Neuhausen then made quick work for Christoph Neumayer (9-4) to setup the hot-seat match against Mika Immonen. Immonen, a two time Turning Stone Classic Champion, was looking like the Mika of old, with notables wins over Canadian Champion Erik Hjorliefson, American Young Gun Lukas Fracasso-Verner and young Filipino hotshot Michael Baoanan. The hot-seat match was a close one, with neither player able to build more than a two rack lead. Neuhausen got to the hill first at 8-6 and went on to close Immonen out at 9-6.
Immonen dispatched with Baoanan 9-6 and the rematch with Neuhausen in the finals was underway. Neuhausen quickly built a 6-2 lead and looked to be in complete control at 9-3, but Immonen didn’t win two US Open 9-Ball Championship titles by rolling over when he trailed in a match. Immonen win five straight racks to get back to win one at 9-8. Then it was Neuhausen’s turn to take control of the match, as he won three racks to take the hill at 12-8. Immonen had one more run in him, as he won three straight to get within one again, at 12-11 but an early scratch in the 24th rack by Immonen was his last trip to the table and Neuhausen ran out for the 13-11 win, and his first Turning Stone Classic title.
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