5 Years Ago
AFTER EIGHT months of inactivity, pool-starved pro players flooded Round Rock, Texas, for the 46th annual Texas Open at Skinny Bob’s Billiards.
Champing at the bit, 128 players descended on the Austin area for both one-pocket and 9-ball divisions, and Dennis Orcollo was the big winner.
Orcollo also finished second in the one-pocket division, but it was fellow Filipino-turned-Texan Roberto Gomez who claimed the title, going undefeated in the competition.
10 Years Ago
Twenty-seven-year-old Kevin Cheng shocked a 128-player field at the 2015 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship in Norfolk, VA., topping England’s Karl Boyes in the title match.
Cheng, one of nearly a dozen entries from Chinese Taipei, admitted that he is no better than sixth in the Taiwanese hierarchy, but played like a seasoned champion in Norfolk.
Meanwhile, American hero Shane Van Boening’s bid for a fourth consecutive U.S. Open title failed early, following losses to Justin Berman and Corey Deuel, and left Van Boening in 33rd place.
15 Years Ago
The 35th edition of the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship featured its longest and perhaps wildest finish in 2010, when Brit Darren Appleton outlasted Corey Deuel, 15-13, in Chesapeake, VA.
Tinkering with the format to create more drama and a stiffer test, U.S. Open creator Barry Behrman declared that the 2010 race-to-13 final would require a player to win by two games. Deuel was the first to the hill, 12-11, but Appleton responded, forcing at least two more games. Appleton inched ahead, 13-12, but Deuel once again knotted the match. After winning a safety battle to once again reach the hill, Appleton ran out from the break to score the 15-13 victory and claim the U.S. Open crown.
