More US Open 9 Ball

The US Open 9 Ball Championships came off without a hitch, bringing in 216 of the best players in the world from 26 different countries. There were many double hill matches for those who needed to get their heart beating and plenty of stories within the big story that is the Open. Here are a few:

Kim Davenport hung in and finished tied for 5th place with Rodney Morris. This is his first US Open since his freak eye accident a few years ago. Kim is an avid golfer and was at a driving range when a lawn mower shoots a ball out and it hits him squarely in an eye. What are the odds? Well, years and some number of surgeries later California Kim is back in action. Kim had 2 back to back very long hill-hill matches before going to his 2am match in the TV arena with Lee Vann Corteza, a fine Filipino player. Kim represented himself well but was obviously very weary, losing 11-6. He had a great tournament.

There were noteworthy players as well as some former US Open winners that didn't make it to Chesapeake. The Philippines were well represented by the younger players but many of the usual suspects from the Philppines were no-shows including Efren Reyes, Francisco Bustamante, Alex Pagulayan, Rudolfo Luat, Santos Sambahon and Dennis Orcollo. Some of the American players that are potential contenders that didn't make it this year were Shannon Daulton, Dennis Hatch, Scott Frost and Dave Matlock. If it was any easier to make it through the brackets because of the missing players it definitely didn't show.

There was a fair bit of talk about Jose Parica. The general theme of the talk was that it is long overdue for him to be inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame. Afterall, he has played world class pool, winning and placing high in tournaments for decades and is acknowledged as the first in a long line of Filipinos to test their game against the dominant (at the time) American players. He's past sixty years old and still plays great. I don't mean great for an old guy, just great. At this year's US Open, among others, he sent Tony Chohan, Shane van Boening and Corey Deuel either to the west side of the brackets or packing their bags. He finally succumbed to Johnny Archer. 

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