Billy Thorpe (Photo courtesy of JP Parmentier)
The US Open 10-Ball Championship kicked off on July 20th, at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada with 52 players doing battle for over $30,000 in prize money and coveted Mosconi Cup points for the American players.
First round action saw Mike Dechaine looking to build on his 3rd place position on the Mosconi Cup points list, but that goal ran into some problems in his match against Danny Smith. Trailing Smith 7-1 and visibly frustrated, Dechaine spoke to tournament officials and forfeited the match. Dechaine commented after the match that he had been feeling poorly all day and apologized to the fans and tournament staff. “It was the first time I’ve ever forfeited, and hopefully it will be my last”, Dechaine said. Dechaine bounced back with three wins on the left side of the board, and has a match against fellow Mosconi Cup hopeful Oscar Dominguez early Thursday morning.
Another first round surprise was defending champion Thorsten Hohmann’s loss to John Schmidt. “Schmidt was ahead 9-2 before I felt I was in 10-ball bar table competition mode”, Hohmann said. Hohmann attempted to put together a comeback, but was only able to win three more racks before succumbing to Schmidt 10-5. On the one loss side, Hohmann eliminated Danny Smith and finished his night with a streamed match against Ohio’s Billy Thorpe. Hohmann looked to be in complete control at 8-2, and the FargoRate match % showed Hohmann as a 99.1 to 0.9 favorite. Unfortunately for Hohmann, his break would quickly abandon him and Thorpe gained confidence with each rack he won. Thorpe said after the match that he was not aware of the FargoRate odds against him and was just “focused on one game at a time”. “I started to believe the comeback would happen when I noticed the rolls started going my way and I started making balls on the break” Thorpe said. When the dust settled, it was 10-8 Thorpe. Thorpe will take on Vilmos Foldes Thursday morning.
The newest inductee into the BCA Hall of Fame, Rodney Morris, won a tough hill-hill contest against Arizona’s Mitch Ellerman. A missed 2-10 combo at 9-9 was the beginning of the end for Ellerman in the match. Morris kept his winning ways going in matches against Brandon Shuff, Vilmos Foldes and Canadian Jason Klatt. Klatt survived a hill-hill match with Justin Bergman on the winner’s side, but fell to Morris in his final match of the day on Wednesday.
At the end of day one play, the field has been cut to 24 players. Winner’s side matches will see Shane Van Boening taking on Skyler Woodward and Rodney Morris vs John Morra. The one loss side is a treacherous path for anyone, with notables such as Pagulayan, Dominguez, Dechaine, Wilkie, Saez, McMinn, Bergman and Schmidt all looking to end someone’s tournament run.
Predator is the official cue of the US Open 10-Ball Championship. They are joined by Kamui (the official tip), Cyclop (the official balls), Omega Billiards (the official online store) and Diamond (the official table) as major sponsors of this event.
