U.S. Open 10-Ball Updates

Seventy-eight of the best players in the world are at the Rio in Las Vegas to compete in the U.S. Open 10-Ball Championships. This is day one and the results so far are pretty much as to be expected with the wheat being separated from the chaff in the opening round. Many top players drew byes in the opening round but faced tough matches in round two.

In that round John Morra appeared flawless in his 10-1 drubbing of Emily Duddy. Warren Kiamco loves the short track (7-foot tables) and steamrolled Shaun Murphy 10-2. Amar Kang showed 1-Pocket specialist Danny Smith the way to the losers bracket 10-2 and Skyler Woodward used his young eyes and steely nerves to crush Rodney Morris 10-2 before moving to his match against Frank Alvarez which he easily handled 10-0. Skyler will next face Oscar Dominguez after Oscar defeated Shane McMinn 10-4.

Darren Appleton found a strong arm in Gregory Hogue but still managed the victory 10-7 and now must face Roberto Gomez who just defeated Rafael Reyes 10-0. Justin Hall faced Jason Klatt and beat him 10-4 after manhandling Matt Edwards  10-3. New 14.1 Champ Thorsten Hohmann bested Matt Krah 10-7 while Tony Robles won over Chris Lawson 10-4. Meanwhile, Brandon Shuff took a close one 10-9 from Danny Olson and Dennis Orcollo dismantled Ivica Putnik 10-2.

Dennis Hatch beat Justin Bergman 10-7 while Jayson Shaw continued his sharpshooting ways beating Raymond Faraon 10-5. Jeremy Sossei destroyed a very powerful Jeffrey Ignacio and Shane Van Boening swept Verjil Bedwin 10-0. Alex Pagulayan had a tough match against Ernesto Dominguez but pulled it out 10-8 and Tony Chohan, newly back in action, showed his old form against Max Adams as he won 10-1. Johnny Archer led Eric Durbin through much of their match but in the end Durbin prevailed 10-9.

Corey Deuel continued his winning ways against Marc Vidal 10-5 And Robb Saez helped his account by winning over Stan Tourangeau 10-8. Finally, Hunter Lombardo beat Joe Pelayo 10-4 and Josh Roberts took a forfeit from Mark Haddad.

By round three on the winners side the heat was really getting turned up. Mike Dechaine had to play a fine Filipino player in Oliver Mendenilla and Mendenilla got to the hill first, leading 9-8. But he scratched on the break and never got up again as Dechaine ran out that rack and then broke and ran the case game to win 10-9.

Two of the best met when Waren Kiamco faced off against John Morra. This one was a tight and very hard fought battle that saw another double-hill situation. Kiamco prevailed 10-9. Our third match also went double-hill. Thorsten Hohmann had all he could handle against Amar Kang but pulled out the win 10-9.

Tony Robles faced off against the ever-tough Brandon Shuff and his experience allowed him to rule the day 10-7. Young gun Skyler Woodward makes the bar table look like his personal toy and he used it to topple one of the best players of the modern era, Oscar Dominguez 10-7.

Darren Appleton just does not know how to lose and he won again today over Roberto Gomez 10-7. Dennis Orcollo chopped up Dennis Hatch 10-3, Sal Butera emerged victorious over Mike Hutchison 10-8 and Justin Hall beat Jayson Shaw 10-7. Erik Hjorleifson cruised Michael Robertson 10-1 while Alex Pagulayan bested Tony Chohan 10-6.

Shane Van Boening has been shooting two balls above everyone this week and he continued his winning ways against Jeremy Sossei 10-8. Corey Deuel continued his march with a 10-5 win over James Blackburn as Stan Tourangeau dominated Lee Brett 10-1. Our last two matches of the round found Josh Roberts beating Hunter Lombardo 10-6 while Greg Harada Jr took out Eric Durbin 10-8.

Action on the one-loss side is always more dramatic as the loser goes home while the winner continues play. Here Phillip Tieu punched the homeward ticket for Joe Pelayo 10-3. Vilmos Foldes ended the run of Robb Saez 10-8. Marc Vidal had a busy day with two matches where he first defeated Carl Khan 10-3 and then Rick Sleeper 10-8. Johnny Archer defeated Robert Hart 10-3 as Rodney Morris took out both Mark Adams 10-3 and then took a forfeit from Ernesto Dominguez.

Jeffrey Ignacio had his way with Verjil Bedwin 10-2 and Raymond Faraon ended the tourney for Jason Klatt 10-7. Richard Andrews got going with a 10-6 victory over Kyle Pepin 10-8 but then lost out to Rafael Chavez 10-6 after Chavez had already beaten Matt Edwards 10-4. Justin Bergman continued his pursuit of Mosconi Cup points with a win over Ivica Putnik 10-6 and Mark Tademy beat first Rafael Reyes 10-0 and then Gregory Hogue 10-8. Shane McMinn broke no sweat sending Frank Alvarez home 10-1 and Danny Olson caught fire against first Chris Neacsu 10-3 followed by a 10-2 whipping of Chris Lawson. Danny Smith had a tough match against Matt Krah but prevailed 10-7 as Shaun Murphy ended the tourney for Emily Duddy 10-4. Scott Frost tackled Alfonso Martiez 10-7 and then Andy Nguyen 10-8
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That set up the day for Saturday morning and we will bring you those results tomorrow morning. To follow the tournament in real time please visit PlayCsipool.com where you can find links to the live streaming and to the constantly updated brackets.