2017 US Open - Five out of twelve

Oct 27, 2017

Great achievement for the European contingency at the 2071 US Open in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. Out of the remaining 12 players, 5 are Europeans. Even better, out of the 4 remaining players on the winner’s side, we have Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP), Jayson Shaw (SCO) and Eklent Kaci (ALB). These 4 are joined by Ko Ping-Chung (TPE) for the semi-finals on the winner’s side. On the loser’s side, we still have Joshua Filler (GER) and Thorsten Hohmann (GER) in the race. With his achievement here so far, Joshua Filler made it to this year’s Mosconi Cup team.
Yesterday, two Europeans really gained the interest and the respect of the audience. The respective players are Joshua Filler and Eklent Kaci again. Filler managed to come up with a hell of a performance. Being on the loser’s side for quite a while since he lost 10:11 to Albin Ouschan (AUT) earlier this week, Filler cut through the loser’s side like a knife taking no prisoners at all. Yesterday, his first victim was local player Reymart Lim (USA) whom he handed an 11:4 defeat. Then, Filler went on into the next match and took down „The Lion“ Alex Pagulayan (CAN) in a thriller with 11:8. His next opponent was the 5-time US Open Champion Shane van Boening (USA). The match rose high expectations with the fans in the arena but they were brutally destroyed by Filler. Instead of providing the audience with a tight and close fight, Filler just steamrolled van Boening who could not find any mean against the German „wonderkid“. 11:4 was the final result in favour of Filler who will now have to deal with Corey Deuel (USA). The „Prince of Pool“ was sent to the loser’s side by the other European who is really making some noise here in Norfolk. Eklent Kaci from Albania is probably in the form of his life. One after the other, he took down in the winner’s round Ronnie Alcano (PHI) 11:7, then Darren Appleton (GBR) 11:8 and then Corey Deuel (USA) after a fiercely fought over match with 11:10. Kaci will meet fellow European player Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz in the semi-final of the winner’s round. The other semi-final will be played between Jayson Shaw and Ko Ping Chung.
Left to right: Sanchez-Ruiz, Filler and Kaci
Results from European players on Thursday, October 26th
Loser’s round 6
Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) v Rodney Morris (USA) 11:8
Nick van den Berg (NED) v Liu Haitao (CHN) 11:8
Petri Makkonen (FIN) v Hu Dang Jin (CHN) 7:11
Mika Immonen (FIN) v Johnny Archer (USA) 11:7
Radoslaw Babica (POL) v Jeremy Jones (USA) 11:8
Chris Melling (GBR) v Earl Strickland (USA) 7:11
Niels Feijen (NED) v Chang Yu Lung (TPE) 11:8
Winner’s round 4
Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) v Lo Li-Wen (TPE) 11:9
Eklent Kaci (ALB) v Darren Appleton (GBR) 11:8
Albin Ouschan (AUT) v Corey Deuel (USA) 6:11
Thorsten Hohmann (GER) v John Morra (CAN) 11:7
Jayson Shaw (SCO) v Yukio Akagaiyama (JPN) 11:3
Loser’s round 7
Mario He (AUT) v Shane van Boening (USA) 8:11
Joshua Filler (GER) v Reymart Lim (USA) 11:4
Nick van den Berg (NED) v Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) 11:5
Mika Immonen (FIN) v Jia-Qing Wu (CHN) 11:3
Radoslaw Babica (POL) v Justin Bergman (USA) 10:11
Niels Feijen (NED) v Skyler Woodward (USA) 6:11
Loser’s round 8
Joshua Filler (GER) v Alex Pagulayan (CAN) 11:8
Nick van den Berg (NED) v Darren Appleton (GBR) 11:5
Albin Ouschan (AUT) v Hu Dang Jin (CHN) 8:11
Mika Immonen (FIN) v Chang Jun Lin (TPE) 10:11
Winner’s round 5
Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) v Naoyuki Oi (JPN) 11:9
Eklent Kaci (ALB) v Corey Deuel (USA) 11:10
Thorsten Hohmann (GER) v Ko Ping Chung (TPE) 5:11
Jayson Shaw (SCO) v Billy Thorpe (USA) 11:8
Loser’s round 9
Joshua Filler (GER) v Shane van Boening (USA) 11:4
Nick van den Berg (NED) v Hu Dang Jin (CHN) 6:11
Generally, the European attendance here at the US Open is really positive and displays the level of performance in Europe. Many high class matches have been played by the Europeans so far and at the beginning of Friday, we have a serious chance to provide the next Champion here at the US Open. Of course, any player who is still left at this stage is capable of winning the coveted trophy.
The EPBF will follow the path of the European players and keep you updated on the EPBF Facebook page with results, statements, interviews, pictures and more. Check out our page if you want to be part of the action. For watching the event LIVE on the internet, you can get pay-per-view access at http://www.accu-stats.com/liveppv.html