Shane Van Boening
Zielinski comes back from hot seat loss to down Sanchez-Ruiz in US Open 8-Ball
It presumably accrued to his benefit that on Shane Van Boening’s way to going undefeated and claiming the $10k-added, 2024 US Open 10-Ball title that drew 63 entrants to Griff’s in Las Vegas over the past few days (March 3-6), he did not have to match up against Austria’s Albin Ouschan or the Philippines’ Roland Garcia (they did compete). In order, those were the two competitors who defeated and left him in the tie for 13th place in the $10k-added, US Open 8-Ball event (March 6-9).
Taking it from the other direction, the winner of the 8-ball tournament, Poland’s Wiktor Zielinski, did have to face the competitor who eliminated him in the 10-ball tournament, Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz, twice. The two had met (among other places) in the finals of the WPA’s World 8-Ball Championships in Puerto Rico two years ago; won by Sanchez-Ruiz. They battled to double hill on the loss side of the 10-ball event, in Zielinski’s second, loss-side round. Zielinski faced him again in the 8-ball hot seat match and was once again defeated, double hill. In a presumed restoration-of-confidence semifinal, Zielinski downed Germany’s Joshua Filler 8-3 and in a third match against Sanchez-Ruiz in the 8-ball finals that almost went double hill, Zielinski claimed that title 11-9.
In races to 9, Sanchez-Ruiz was the first opponent that Van Boening faced in 10-Ball. Van Boening got by him 9-6 before sending Fahad Zaidaldhayan (3), The Lion (Alex Pagulayan; 7) and Carlo Biado (2) to the loss side, picking up Daniel Maciol in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Lee Vann Corteza, in the meantime, looking for his second straight title in Vegas, having won the CSI Predator Series’ Alfa Vegas Open, two weeks earlier (Feb. 21-24), got by Max Eberle (3), Mateusz Sniegocki (4), Dennis Laszkowski (4) and Joshua Filler, double hill, to draw Vitaliy Patsura in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Van Boening sent Maciol west 9-6, as Corteza sent Patsura over by the same score. Van Boening claimed the hot seat 9-4.
Over on the loss side, where lurked any number of ongoing, potential contenders for the title, Patsura drew a rematch against one of them; Billy Thorpe, whom he’d sent to the loss side 9-4 in the opening round. Thorpe, who would end up with the event’s second-highest, game-winning percentage (57%, behind Van Boening’s 66% and ahead of Patsura’s 54%) arrived with seven straight notches on his loss-side ‘dance card,’ including the recent elimination of Carlo Biado (1) and Max Lechner (4). Maciol drew Filler, who’d followed his loss to Corteza with victories over Oliver Ruuger (4) and Albin Ouschan, double hill.
Patsura ended Thorpe’s loss-side winning streak, 9-6, while Maciol was busy eliminating Filler 9-5. Patsura and Maciol locked up in a double-hill, quarterfinal fight that ended with Patsura’s advancement to a rematch against Corteza in the semifinals.
As he’d been when he faced Patsura the first time, Corteza was two matches away from winning his second straight title in Vegas. ‘Close, but no cigar,’ as they say. Patsura downed him 9-6 for a shot at Van Boening. The ‘South Dakota Kid’ claimed the 2024 US Open 10-Ball title with a 13-7 victory over Patsura.
Wiktor Zielinski
Zielinski and Sanchez-Ruiz battle twice for the US Open 8-Ball title
Lee Vann Corteza, still in search of his second straight victory in two weeks, was the only competitor in either event to be among the final four in both. He left, though, without that title as Zielenski and Sanchez-Ruiz met again, twice, and hashed it out between them.
In races to 8, Zielinski started off with 8-3 wins over Daniel Maciol and Jeff Whitehead, before switching his racks-against switch to 2, all the way to the hot seat match, downing Jason Klatt, Szymon Kural and, in a winners’ side semifinal, the relentlessly persistent Vann Corteza. Sanchez-Ruiz started out in a double-hill match against Sergio Rivas, surviving that to defeat Derald Salaz (2), Mario He (4), Bader Alawadhi (5) and in his winners’ side semifinal, Joshua Filler (5). In their second, double-hill match playing different games in a matter of days, it was Sanchez-Ruiz who claimed the hot seat over Zielinski.
Filler moved over and picked up Albin Ouschan, who started his day with a double-hill win over Van Boening, before promptly joining him on the loss side after he was shut out by Alawadhi. Ouschan won four, including the elimination of Tony Chohan (5) and Szymon Kural (4) to face Filler. Vann Corteza drew Alawadhi, who’d followed his loss to Zielinski with victories over Daniel Maciol (2) and Roland Garcia (5).
It was Vann Corteza and Filler who advanced to the quarterfinals; Vann Corteza 8-5 over Alawadhi, Filler 8-3 vs. Ouschan. As befitted a match between two men who’d just finished 3rd (Vann Corteza) and 5th (Filler) in the previous 10-Ball event and wanted more from this event, they battled to double hill for advancement to the semifinals. Filler prevailed and got a shot at Zielinski.
That semifinal match went 8-3 in favor of Zielinski, who, down 2-0 in matches against Sanchez-Ruiz since they’d met up in the 10-ball tournament, proved that ‘third time’s a charm’ theory. In another one of those almost double-hill matches, Zielinski claimed the 8-ball title with an 11-9 win.
Two down in the 2024 US Open and two to go. The $10k-added Open Banks tournament, with 35 registered to compete, is scheduled to get underway tomorrow (Sunday, March 10). It will be followed by the $10k-added One Pocket event with 31 registered entrants, which is scheduled to get underway on Wed., March 13 and finish on Sunday, March 17.
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