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2023 US Open Pool Championship
Harrah's Resort Atlantic City
777 Harrah's Blvd
Atlantic City
NJ 08401
United States
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www.nineball.prpbilliards.com - matches/live scoring - brackets
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www.caesars.com/harrahs-ac

Monday-Saturday 25-30 October 2023

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FEDOR GORST DELIGHTS THE AMERICAN CROWD WITH LAST 16 WIN

Fedor Gorst reached his third-straight US Open Pool Championship quarter-final on the main TV table – live on Sky Sports in the UK & Ireland and DAZN in the United States – after battling past former US Open and World 9-ball Champion Carlo Biado.

Gorst, who recently won the Turning Stone Classic XXXVII during his preparations for the tournament, had ran up a three-rack lead to start the contest and looked comfortable in-front of an adopted home crowd in Atlantic City.

The Black Tiger Biado roared back taking the next three racks to level the game, in a trend that followed suit throughout as neither man could establish a comfortable margin until the 13th rack. Gorst found his breakthrough and got to the hill, and with the scores at 9-7 to the former Mosconi Cup winner, a moment of fortune saw him over the line.

Fortune favours the brave, and following a kick on the 5-ball, the six was knocked into the pocket allowing the 23-year-old to clean up and advance to the last eight.

Next up was the turn of Skyler Woodward to step onto the main stage in-front of a rapturous American crowd. In the opposite corner sat 2017 US Open champion Jayson Shaw, a man who’s made his home in the Land of Opportunity.

Shaw has been on top-form all week, and when he’s at the top of his game, Eagle Eye is an incredibly difficult opponent to stop. Woodward, who has years of experience against his British counterpart, found out the hard way and fell behind to a three-nil lead early doors.

The three-rack cushion was maintained as the scoreline bounced from 5-2 to 7-4 to 8-5 – where Shaw really came into control of the tie. His moment was capped off with a Golden Break and a signature war cry to let America know that he was here for the title.

Aloysius Yapp and Mario He contested for a spot in the last eight to open proceedings on Table 1. He has yet to snap off a Matchroom Major title, despite sitting #4 in the WNT Rankings. Yapp has been in this position before, having reached the US Open final in 2021, and was able to use the experience of the event to see out a 10-5 victory over the Panda.

Sharks’ International Open winner Ko Ping Chung stung the hands of Mosconi Cup hopeful and Matchroom Major veteran Joshua Filler. The World Cup star of Chinese Taipei dashed the hopes of another major title for the German.

The session came to a close with a hill-hill epic between Wiktor Zielinski and European Open champion David Alcaide. Having commanded a dominant 7-1 margin, Zielinski looked set to cleanly move into the quarter-finals.

But El Matador Alcaide is a fighter, and battled back to take the tie the distance, and was breaking in the deciding rack. It ended in agony for the Spaniard however, scratching on the break to allow the Pole ball-in-hand and was able to clean up for the win.

Meanwhile on Table 2, Serbia’ Aleksa Pecelj reached his first Matchroom Major quarter-final since the 2022 UK Open Pool Championship. Having shown his relief yesterday from battling through the loser’s qualification, he truly looked in his element on the big stage, running a six-pack on the way to a 10-1 thrashing of legendary veteran Ralf Souquet.

Hong Kong’s Robbie Capito and Poland’s Daniel Maciol went head-to-head for a chance of their first-ever Matchroom Major quarter-final. After a dominant start to proceedings, Capito held off a resurgent charge from the Pole to make the final eight.

Max Lechner, runner-up to Francisco Sanchez Ruiz in last year’s US Open final, completed the session’s play on Table 2 with a dominant 10-3 display over Portugal’s Miguel Silva.

FINAL 8 CONFIRMED

• Fedor Gorst, • Aloysius Yapp, • Aleksa Pecelj, • Jayson Shaw, • Ko Ping Chung, • Robbie Capito, • Wiktor Zielinski, • Max Lechner

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