Day three is underway at the second stop on the North American Open Tour at The Hilton in Pittsburgh.
By the end of the day, the winners side will be down to eight players. Players already assured of positions in that eight are Johnny Archer, Niels Feijen and Tony Robles. Robles earned a hard fought hill-hill win over Gabe Owen on Tuesday. "It was very frustrating" said Robles. "I felt like I was playing a great match. But every time Gabe came up empty on the break or missed a ball, I was hooked. When he made a ball on the break, he had an easy out." added Robles.
The match came down to hill-hill with Owen breaking. Gabe made a ball and then hung the one ball on his next shot. Robles made the one but was getting further and further out of line on balls when he got to a tough angle on the 4-ball. Fortunately for Robles, the table allowed him to play a two way shot with a chance to pocket the 9-ball after hitting the 4-ball. To Robles delight and Owen's dismay, both the 4-ball and 9-ball fell giving the match to Robles. Robles will face Feijen on Wednesday.
Players still fighting for one of those final eight winners side spots include Danny Basavich, Rodney Morris, Corey Deuel, Jeremy Jones, Mike Davis, Luc Salvas and Santos Sambajon.
Online brackets have been updated with match results and we have a photo gallery from Diana Hoppe who is at the event.
Photo courtesy of Diana Hoppe - Pool Pics By Hoppe