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The
29th edition of the U.S. Open 9 Ball in Chesapeake, VA, was well attended by
191 players, but promoter Barry Behrmann had hoped for a full 256 field. But
most of the world’s top players were there, with the exception of the
Taiwanese players and the Japanese players who normally come to this event.
In
round one, I had a walk-through and then had to play J. Grooms. Without too
much effort I won 11-1 and had entered round 3. Here, it came to the
European duel with M. Kraljevic (ITA). Both players committed a high number
of errors and so the match lasted almost three hours and nobody really
deserved to win. In spite of me trailing almost all over the match, I could
finally win 11-8 and enter round 4.
My
next opponent was R. Luat (PHI), and all our previous matches had been hot
battles. And once more, we had to play the full distance, but this time,
„Boy Samson“ missed the second last ball when already leading 10-9. But
the 8 ball was in such a position that I only could play a safety shot. I
could win the safety battle and equal the score at 10-10. Then I cleared the
table to win 11-10.
In
round 5, I faced the local hero from Virginia Beach, D. Bollman. Back in
1989, he was my first opponent in an official match on US soil at the BC
Open. At the time, Bollman was the defending champion and I was a complete
nobody. I won and booked a big surprise. But this time, things were
different and the bets were placed on me. Bollman won the shot-out for the
break and I did not get to the table for the next three racks. When he
committed the first mistake, I could come back and the match was balanced.
We shared the next racks until a score of 6-6. Then, I had numerous
opportunities to take the lead and missed at least 3 100 % opportunities to
win the match. I finally lost 8-11 and was mad about all the missed chances.
Right
after this match, it came to another European duel. Italy’s no. 1, F.
Petroni, was the victim of my anger about the lost match. Until 0-6, he only
came to the table once. Then he started discussions about an imaginative
soft break on my end. The called-in official, S. Smith, did not confirm the
soft break and I just carried on until 10-0. Petroni won three racks, but
finally could not help me winning 11-3.
The next morning, I played
E. Reyes (PHI). The match went well for me right from the beginning, because
the Magician made a few unexpected mistakes. At an intermediate score of
6-1, I missed three consecutive racks and could not take a decisive lead.
Reyes played better and could equal the score. Again, I took the lead at 8-6
and 9-, but Reyes equalled again at 9-9. Once more, I took the lead upon a
bad position of the Magician, but I lost this advantage immediately with a
break foul. But Reyes shot again a bad position and had to play the 9 ball
with a rail shot. He made the shot and the crowd was cheering. In the
decisive 21st rack, he pocketed three balls upon his break. The
cue ball hit the edge of the middle pocket and came back to the centre of
the table, where another object ball hit it again and finally, the cue ball
fell in the right middle pocket. I had ball-in-hand and could play a perfect
first position and the rest was pure routine, if one can say so at a score
of 10-10.
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Award Ceremony:
J. Wych, G. Owen, B. Behrman, B. Incardona,
T. Hohmann
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The following match against C. Deuel on the TV table turned out to be a
nightmare. Deuel played very well and I really have to be ashamed of
my bad performance. I totally deserved to lose 1-11 against the
„Prince of Pool“ and ended, like last year, on the 9th rank,
which only partially satisfied me.
More
successful was the second German starter T. Hohmann. With 7
consecutive wins he entered the final of the winner’s bracket
against G. Owen (USA) and all bets were on him now. At the beginning
of the match, he played up to the expectations, but after leading
6-3, he lost 7-11. In the final of the loser’s bracket, he played
Dutchman N. Feijen, who had captured the attention by winning
several matches during the tournament with the tightest possible
score of 11-10. Hohmann defeated Feijen and wanted to take his
revenge against Owen and he wanted to score his next big title after
winning the WC in 2003.
A missed 9 ball by Hohmann
at the beginning of the match was almost decisive for the match.
Instead of taking the lead, it was Owen who played very well and
took a 3-0 lead. After the German won a rack, the US player even
increased the quality of his game and did not leave a chance to the
former World Champion. At 2-8, Hohmann re-gained a bit of hope after a break foul. But Owen, from within a snooker, played a jump
shot and came back into the match and increased his lead to 10-2.
The German could win one more rack, but this very day, he did not
stand a chance against this strong and well playing Gabe Owen. The
US player won 11-3 and so won the most prestigious tournament on
American soil. Rumours say that Owen assured himself a spot in the
US Mosconi Cup Team 2004. He will receive the green jacket of the
U.S. Open Champions next year from his good friend and defending
champion J. Jones.
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"Award Ceremony for the 9th"
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