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Feijen Comes From Behind to Terminate Fortunski in Diamond Finals
 Posted on Wednesday, July 17 2019 @ 21:58:11 UTCby admin
9 Ball 2019 Diamond Las Vegas Open
Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino
3700 W Flamingo Rd
Las Vegas
Nevada
USA
www.playcsipool.com
www.world10ball.com - diamond las vegas open
www.wpapool.com
•

Wednesday-Saturday 17-20 July 2019


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Feijen Comes From Behind to Terminate Fortunski in Diamond Finals

Report by Max Lesser - Social Media Manager
Diamond Las Vegas Open | Predator World 10-Ball Championship
All photography courtesy of ©JP Parmentier - used with express permission.


With his steely blue eyes and chiseled face, Niels Feijen long ago earned the nickname “The Terminator.”

This weekend in Las Vegas the moniker may not have been more appropriate as the former World 9-ball champion left 105 professional players in his wake. Feijen saved his most dramatic exhibition for last, clawing back from a 7-5 deficit with two breaks and runs and some stellar safety play to defeat Poland’s Miezsko Fortunski, 9-8, in the championship of the inaugural Diamond Las Vegas Open Saturday night at the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino.

“I made three quality outs to go from down 7-5 to up 8-7,” said Feijen. “Overall, I think I played solid and I exploded at the right moments.”

Playing late into the Nevada night, the two players split the first 10 games as they struggled to find their games in the first half of the match Both players broke dry twice, missed shots twice and Feijen committed an uncharacteristic foul. Fortunski clawed ahead 6-5 after a victorious safety exchange on the 1-ball then appeared on the verge of adding to his lead in the 12th game but misplayed position on the 8-ball, ultimately missing a side pocket bank shot. Moments later, Fortunski was bailed out when Feijen, attempting to pocket the same ball and draw the cue ball the length of the table for position on the 9-ball, scratched.

The Dutchman broke and ran in the 13th game and was able to pull even yet again with Fortunski with victorious safety exchanges on the 1 and 2 balls in the following rack. He took the lead and climbed onto the hill with another slow and methodical break and run in the 15th game.



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At the table with the break in the 15th game, Fortunski had no room for error. Making matters worse, he struggled with cue ball positioning throughout the rack. After pocketing the 2-ball he sent the cue ball two rails and found his path to the 3-ball blocked. After pocketing the 3-ball after hitting the side rail first the cue ball offered a sharp cut on the 4-ball but no path to the 5-ball. After contemplating the shot for a good four minutes, Fortunski pulled the trigger, pocketed the object ball and discovered his path to the 5-ball covered by the 8 and 9 balls.

I was trying to make the balls and get the best shape that I could,” Fortunski said through a translator after the match.

For his next trick, he executed a one rail kick shot which deposited the 5-ball in the opposite corner pocket.

At last, Fortunski appeared positioned to tie the game. That was, at least, until he committed a foul when he struck the 9-ball while attempting to pocket the 8-ball. Given ball-in-hand, Feijen landed the final two balls to clinch the victory.

Feijen, the lone remaining undefeated player in the 106-player event when the championship match began, reached the finals with a commanding 7-2 performance against Fortunski in the winner’s side final. The Dutchman used two breaks and runs and a missed 2-ball by Fortunski to build a quick 3-1 lead, then added on three more racks after another Fortunski miss in the fifth game, a victorious safety exchange in the next game and a dry break by the young Polish upstart in the seventh rack.

Fortunski made his way over to the one-loss side where he faced a red-hot Skyler Woodward, who earned his way into the final four with victories against Eklent Kaci and Kun Lin Wu. Woodward used a handful of unforced errors by Fortunski to build an early 3-1, then began struggling with finding an opening shot off the break during the middle stages of the set. By this point, Fortunksi was the hot player – breaking and running three times while capitalizing on Woodward’s breaking struggles to win six of the last seven games to earn a re-match with Feijen in the championship game.

The Diamond Las Vegas Open is a presentation of Cue Sports International and is the first half of a professional pool double-header in Las Vegas these next two weeks. Next week, 64 of the pool’s best will compete at the $100,000 added Predator World 10-Ball Championships which begin Monday at the Rio. Both events are being broadcast live by CSI for free on YouTube. For more information on the tournament or for links to live YouTube streaming, please visit www.world10ball.com


DAY 3 RECAP


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Youth meets Experience into the Final Stages of the Diamond Las Vegas Open

Report by Max Lesser - Social Media Manager
Diamond Las Vegas Open | Predator World 10-Ball Championship
All photography courtesy of ©JP Parmentier - used with express permission.


The future of billiards was on display Friday afternoon at the Diamond Las Vegas Open when Russia’s Kristina Tkach met French World Cup of Pool representative Fabio Rizzi.

The two young Europeans traded racks and momentum but a timely jump shot in the late stages of the match allowed the Frenchman to best Tkach, 7-5, in a one-loss side matchup at the Rio Hotel and Casino.

After playing virtually even throughout the first half of the set, Rizzi was able to establish momentum in the eighth game with a timely jump shot. After sinking a ball on the break, Rizzi found the 4-ball blocking the cue ball’s path to the 2-ball. The Frenchman grabbed his Predator Air2 jump cue and executed a jumping cut shot – pocketing the object ball in the opposite corner and establishing position on the 3-ball. Rizzi added another rack to the win column when he pocketed the 9-ball on the break in the 11th game, then closed out the final rack after a missed shot by Tkach on the 4-ball.

A few hours later, Chinese Taipei’s Chang Jung Lin squared off against Germany’s Joshua Filler. On paper, the resumes of the two competitors were practically even, with Filler winning this year’s United States Open 9-ball Championship while Chang won last year’s International 9-Ball Open.

The results were anything but, as Lin used pinpoint accuracy to run racks and capitalized on a pair of Filler dry breaks to build a 5-0 lead and coast to a 7-1 win.


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As Lin was cruising to an easy victory, a large crowd had grown at a nearby table to watch the five-time U.S. Open champion Shane Van Boening face off against Florida’s Donny Mills. The two competitors played virtually even going into the final games until Van Boening made an uncharacteristic scratch that allowed Mills to tie the match at 6 games each and send it to a deciding 13th game.

Mills momentum was short-lived as Van Boening broke in the final game and closed out the match to advance.

The late evening matches were highlighted with a pair of former Mosconi Cup competitors meeting as Albania’s Eklent Kaçi met Corey Deuel. Kaçi started off the match by pocketing four balls on his opening break and used some effective safety play to take control, ultimately defeating Deuel 7-0.

Competition in the Diamond Las Vegas Open concludes today, with the semifinals scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. pacific time and the championship match slated for 10 p.m.

The Diamond Las Vegas Open is a presentation of Cue Sports International and is the first half of a professional pool double-header in Las Vegas these next two weeks. Next week, 64 of the pool’s best will compete at the $100,000 added Predator World 10-Ball Championships which begin Monday at the Rio. Both events are being broadcast live by CSI for free on YouTube. For more information on the tournament or for links to live YouTube streaming, please visit www.world10ball.com.

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DAY 2 RECAP


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Woodward Survives Twice To Remain Undefeated at Diamond Open

Report by Max Lesser - Social Media Manager
Diamond Las Vegas Open | Predator World 10-Ball Championship
All photography courtesy of ©JP Parmentier - used with express permission.


John Morra appeared to be a lock to remain undefeated at the Diamond Las Vegas Open Thursday afternoon.

The young Canadian was at the table with a 6-5 lead in a race to seven and five balls stood between him and a victory against Skyler Woodward.

And then he scratched.

Attempting to draw the cue ball to the opposite end of the table for position on the 6 ball, Morra deposited the ball into the side pocket. Woodward cleared the rack and then added a break-and-run to come from behind and defeat the Canadian, 7-6, in the second round of the four-day event.

It was the first of two hill-hill matchups for the young Kentuckian, who went on to defeat Alex Kazakis, 7-6, later in the day to remain perfect at the double elimination tournament being held at the Rio Hotel and Casino.

Woodward controlled the match’s early stages, using three breaks and runs as well as a victorious safety exchange to build a 4-1 lead. Morra refused to go away, breaking and running in the sixth game and executing a combination shot on the 9 ball in the eighth to cut the deficit to 5-3. Woodward struggled with his break shot in the middle stages, scratching in the ninth game and failing to pocket a ball off of his break in the 11th rack of the alternate break format. Morra capitalized on his competitor’s misfortune, winning four straight games to climb onto the hill before his untimely scratch.

The Canadian will look to rebound this morning when he faces Angel Gabriel Acosta at 10 a.m. local time.


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Three months ago, Raymund Faraon was granted a last-minute entry into the Super Billiards Expo men’s professional championship and made the most of it, defeating Oscar Dominguez, Corey Deuel and Ralf Souquet to earn third place honors. So far in Las Vegas, Faraon is again taking advantage of his opportunities. The young Filipino defeated World Cup of Pool co-champion Mario He and Mitch Ellerman by matching 7-4 scores to join Woodward in the final 16.

Also remaining on the winner’s side is Niels Feijen, who gave an impressive performance on Thursday night against Pin-Yi Ko. The two-time World Pool Masters champion used lethal position play and Ko’s breaking struggles to shutout the 2015 World 9-ball champion, 7-0. Feijen exhibited complete cue ball command, breaking and running four times as Ko failed to pocket a ball on the break twice, leaving left wide-open tables for his opponent.

Mieszko Fortunski has been working his way closer to the top of leaderboards in major tournaments over the past year, finishing fifth at the Predator Grand Final in January and 17th out of 256 players at April’s United States Open 9-ball Championship. The Polish talent is yet again in position for another strong finish after defeating Billy Thorpe, 7-5, Thursday night to remain undefeated through two days of competition. Fortunski was tied with Thorpe after six racks then used a break-and-run paired with a missed bank shot by Thorpe to inch ahead, 5-3.

Thorpe would use a miss and a scratch by his opponent to cut the deficit to 6-5 but failed to pocket a ball on the break in the 12th game. With three balls remaining for the win, Fortunski flirted with disaster when he overran position on the 7 ball but recovered with a jump shot after a safety exchange to close out the set.


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The third day of the tournament play resumes at today at 10 a.m. with eight matches on the one-loss side of the bracket, including Shane Van Boening taking on Christian Coffey and James Aranas meeting Kengo Suzuki. Winner’s side competition resumes tonight at 10 p.m. with eight more matches, including Feijen taking on recent Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame inductee Alex Pagulayan; Wu facing riding star Tyler Styer; Eklent Kaci taking on Corey Deuel and Omar Alshaheen meeting Carlos Ariel Casto. The lower half of the bracket includes Faraon facing Jeffrey Ignacio; Justin Hall squaring off against Fortunski; Maximillian Lechner playing Woodward and Ping-Chung Ko meeting Nguyen Phuc Long.

The Diamond Las Vegas Open is a presentation of Cue Sports International and is the first half of a professional pool double-header in Las Vegas these next two weeks. Next week, 64 of the pool’s best will compete at the $100,000 added Predator World 10-Ball Championships which begin Monday at the Rio. Both events are being broadcast live by CSI for free on YouTube. For more information on the tournament or for links to live YouTube streaming, please visit www.world10ball.com


DAY 1


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Notable Names Suffer Early Losses at Diamond Las Vegas Open

Report by Max Lesser - Social Media Manager
Diamond Las Vegas Open | Predator World 10-Ball Championship
All photography courtesy of ©JP Parmentier - used with express permission.


Things weren’t looking so great for Niels Feijen as he sat in his chair at the Rio Hotel and Casino Thursday afternoon.

He trailed rising, young Filipino star James Aranas 5-3 in a race to seven in the opening round of the Diamond Las Vegas Open and had just failed to pocket a ball on the break in the ninth game. Worse for Feijen was the fact that Aranas has just executed a sharp cut shot on the 1 ball and appeared ready to climb onto the hill.

As is many times the case in the game of pool, a rolls of a couple balls changed the course of the match. Feijen took advantage of a pair of misplaced positional shots by Aranas then executed a timely pocketed 9-ball on the break to defeat the Filipino,7-6, in the opening around of the tournament.


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Shortly after Aranas cut in that 1-ball in the ninth game he found his cue ball’s path to the 3-ball blocked by the 9-ball. After a missed jump shot, Feijen ran out to cut the deficit to one and then history repeated itself in the next game when Aranas again misplayed position on the 3-ball. The former World 9-ball champion used the opportunity to tie the match and the two competitors traded breaks and runs to push the match to hill-hill.

At the table in the deciding game, Feijen broke the balls and watched as the winning 9-ball tracked directly into the side pocket as if it was remote controlled.

Feijen’s come from behind victory was one of many hotly contested matches in the opening act of this four-day tournament. During the first round of play five matches were forced to a deciding game – including the late night second round matchup between fellow Germans Joshua Filler and Ralf Souquet, who edged out the hot, young star, 7-6.

WATCH AGAIN... Niels Feijen (Netherlands) vs. James Aranas (Philippines) here...


Also situated on the one-loss side after the first round is five-time United States Open Champion Shane Van Boening, who also lost in a hill-hill match to Kun Lin Wu – the first of two victories for Wu Wednesday. Van Boening will look to get back on track when he faces Kelli Chuberko at 2:30 p.m. while Wu faces Souquet in an 8:30 p.m. match.

Also making his way to the loser’s side of the bracket is Roberto Gomez of the Philippines, who watched a 4-2 lead against Kevin Cheng evaporate as Cheng inched ahead and won, 7-5. Trailing 6-5, Gomez had an opportunity to tie the match and send it to a final deciding game after Cheng missed the 3-ball. Gomez then added a miss of his own as he left the 6-ball in the corner pocket’s jaws – handing the table back to Cheng, who closed out the match.


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The second day of competition begins this morning at 10 a.m. local time with eight matches, including Duong Quoc Hoang facing Denis Grabe of Estonia. The Vietnamese Hoang, who finished fifth in April’s World Pool and Billiards Association’s Players Championship, defeated Robbie Capito, 7-3, in his opening round match while Grabe received a bye.

At 11:30 a.m. World Cup of Pool co-champion Mario He will face Filipino upstart Raymund Faraon, who soundly defeated Darren Appleton, 7-4, in the opening round. Faraon won his first two games with a 1-9 combination shot and a pocketed 9 ball on the break, then used a pair of breaks and runs to build a 6-3 advantage. Meanwhile, Appleton struggled as he continued his comeback to professional pool, missing a handful of balls in the middle stages.

“All a bit of a mess but it’s the first game out so I’m not going to be hard on myself, just try and learn from what I was doing wrong going forward,” said Appleton on social media.

The Englishman will look to rebound against Hunter Lombardo of New York in a match scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

Afternoon matches of note include Canadian John Morra facing Skyler Woodward at 1 p.m. local time. Woodward opened the tournament with a 7-4 first round victory over Chris Lawson while Morra received a bye.

For more information on the Diamond Las Vegas Open for links to live YouTube streaming, visit www.world10ball.com.


PREVIEW


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Pool’s Best Set to Square Off at Inaugural Diamond Las Vegas Open

Report by Max Lesser - Social Media Manager
Diamond Las Vegas Open | Predator World 10-Ball Championship


When planning this week’s Diamond Las Vegas Open, Karim Belhaj of Predator Group and Ozzy Reynolds of Cue Sports International wanted the event to accomplish two objectives.

The first was to create and develop a world class tournament that could be used as a prototype to eventually develop a new professional tour in the United States.

“Events are critical to the development of the sport,” Belhaj said. “Without a pro tour, it’s tough to develop a strong coaching program and a strong junior program. You need to create an ecosystem.”

Additionally, with the tournament being staged in the right smack dab in the middle of the Billiard Congress of America’s world and national championship event, the plan was to build a bridge from the professional ranks over to the amateur players. With a lower entry fee than many major events, Belhaj is hoping many top amateurs will be enticed and motivated into someday taking a crack at testing their abilities in a professional event.

That bridge opens to traffic this afternoon, as 106 players begin competition at the Diamond Las Vegas Open at the Rio Hotel and Casino. This four-day, $25,000 added double-elimination tournament features an international field that is loaded with some of the most talented players in men’s and women’s professional billiards – with 16 of the top 20 players in the World Pool and Billiards Association’s ranking competing. Pool fans and BCA competitors who are in Las Vegas will be able to view the tournament for free at the resort and those who are not in the area can watch the action for free on YouTube – another bridge that was by design.

“The goal is to create as much excitement as possible and bringing pros and fans together,” Belhaj. “Lets show the world what we can do and let’s let them connect with the players and let them enjoy the broadcast.”

Returning to Las Vegas for the first time since his action-filled victory in April’s 256-player United States Open 9-ball Championship is Joshua Filler. The past 18 months have been a roller coaster ride of highs and additional highs for the young German, who also won December’s World 9-ball Championships and the Predator Grand Final of the World Pool Series the following month. Filler, who received an opening round bye, was also named Most Valuable Player of the 2017 Mosconi Cup in his rookie season.

Yu-Hsuan Cheng’s last trip to Las Vegas also was a profitable one. Trailing Carlo Biado 8-5 in the race-to-9 championship match of the WPA Players Championship, Cheng took advantage of a handful of unforced errors by his opponent and clinched the title. Cheng will face Roberto Gomez at 2:30 p.m. local time while Biado, who also was a runner up at last month’s World Cup of Pool, will face Billy Thorpe at 5:30 p.m. Thorpe won the 9-ball banks division of this year’s Derby City Classic and finished second at the U.S. Open bank and straight pool events in May.

Filipino James Aranas isn’t exactly a stranger to winning either. Aranas earned top honors at this year’s Super Billiards Expo Pro Players Championship, defended his crown at the Barry Behrman Memorial the following week and defeated Skyler Woodward to win the Beasley Custom Cues Open in June. The Filipino with the two-tone hair also earned runner-up honors in the 9-ball division of this year’s Derby City Classic and won last year’s Asian Culture Day 10-ball tournament.

Aranas will be tested early as he faces former World 9-Ball and World Pool Masters champion Niels Feijen in his first-round match at 11:30 a.m. local time.

Joining Aranas in the Diamond Open will be Kristina Tkach, who put on an impressive performance at the women’s professional 9-ball event at the Expo on a table across from where Aranas was clinching his victory. A dominant force in the European junior ranks, the young Russian superstar has been making her presence known in the professional world over the past several months. Tkach, who faces Michael Yednak in her opening match, won the women’s division of the EuroTour’s Dynamic Billiards Treviso Open in May and earned top 10 finishes at the Ginky Memorial in the same month and the WPBA Masters in February.

There isn’t an American player over the past decade that has a more impressive resume than South Dakota’s Shane Van Boening. The five-time U.S. Open 9-ball champion has also earned top honors U.S. Open 10-ball championships four times and won the U.S. Open 8-ball title three times. He’s also won the 9-ball division of the Derby City Classic and World Pool Masters twice. Van Boening will open the tournament against Kun Lin Wu at 11:30 a.m. local time.

Joining Van Boening at the Diamond Open is Mosconi Cup teammate Skyler Woodward, who will face Indiana’s Chris Lawson at 7 p.m. Woodward put on an impressive performance at this year’s Derby City Classic – winning the 9-ball division and bank pool ring game on his way to claiming Master of the Table honors.

Multiple noteworthy matches will start at 4 p.m., with Raymund Faraon meeting Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famer Darren Appleton, Jeffrey Ignacio matching up against Fedor Gorst, Warren Kiamco taking on Mitch Ellerman.

Kiamco had a lucrative week in Las Vegas two months ago, winning the U.S. Open one pocket championship and finishing third in the U.S. Open straight pool tournament. Meanwhile, Ellerman has spent the past two years sniffing around the top of the leaderboard of noteworthy tournaments. He finished in third at last year’s U.S. Open 10-ball Championships and notched a pair of top five finishes at this year’s U.S. Open one pocket and bank pool events.


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