by InsidePOOL Staff

In a surprising twist in the first round of the 35th U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships, Mike “Fireball” Dechaine upset former Open champ Shane Van Boening. Dechaine recently was the champion at the Seminole Pro Tour’s New York stop, while Van Boening won the Open in 2007. The match was never really close at all, as Dechaine was able to win by the wide margin of 11-3.

A bit of history occurred in today’s rounds: Barretta became the first-ever woman to win a match at a U.S. Open event by virtue of her 11-5 victory over David Ross.

However, defending champion Mika Immonen, who has won the Open for the past two years in a row, easily swept aside Joey Arbuckle 11-4 in his first-round match and will go on to face Japan’s Kenichi Uchigaki in the second. Uchigaki dealt an 11-0 donut to Kiril Jeliazkov in the first round.

Also a former Open champ, Gabe “The Babe” Owen eked out a tight 11-9 victory in his first round over Phil Davis 11-9. Owen goes on to face local favorite Chris Futrell, just off an 11-3 win over Bill Carenbauer, in the next round.

Winner in 2002, Ralf Souquet breezed through his first-round match-up against Bill Bauer without even allowing his opponent to take a rack. Another past champion of this event, Johnny “The Scorpion” Archer, advanced over E.J. Glode 11-1.

View U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships tournament bracket 1 (updated continuously)

View U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships tournament bracket 2 (updated continuously)

A bit of history occurred in today’s rounds: Jennifer “9MM” Barretta became the first-ever woman to win a match at a U.S. Open event by virtue of her 11-5 victory over David Ross. Sarah Rousey was bested by Chris Melling of the U.K. 11-2 but is still alive on the one-loss side. Also, Hall of Famer Loree Jon Hasson went neck and neck with Shaun “Get Some” Wilkie but ultimately headed west 11-8. And for Borana Andoni in her match against George McLanahan, it was a seesaw, with McLanahan reaching the hill with Andoni at 6. She mounted an incredible comeback to make it double-hill, but ultimately it was McLanahan who moved on 11-10.

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by Lea Andrews

With the action still going strong on day two of the 34th Annual U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships, which is being held October 18-24 at the Chesapeake Conference Center in Chesapeake, VA, many big names remain undefeated after two rounds of play, while others have become early victims. All 216 players remain in the field, though elimination rounds begin Tuesday morning.

Still on the winners’ side is past champion Ralf Souquet, who notched up an 11-1 win over EJ Glode and an 11-4 win over Thomas Giddens. After shutting out Pat DiBuono, Steve Moore rolled over Stefano Ariavakis 11-1. Spain’s David Alcaide was almost as stingy with the 9 balls in his first two matches—he rode an 11-1 win over Scott Hershman to an 11-3 victory over Kaloyan Rusanov.

Bartram handed Immonen his first loss in his title defense.

View the U.S. Open 9-Ball Double Elimination Tournament Brackets 2 (updated continuously)

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Defending champion Mika Immonen, who held Jerry Fitchett to six games in round one, will have to defend his crown from the left side of the bracket after running into a determined Chris Bartram in round two. Bartram got out ahead 2-0, 3-1, and 7-3, but Immonen managed to tie it up at eight games apiece. Talent and luck were both on Bartram’s side in the final racks, and he took racks seventeen and eighteen with a 2-9 combination and a 1-9 combination, respectively, and though Immonen claimed rack nineteen after Bartram left a safety on the 2 ball open, he couldn’t close rack twenty, which turned into a safety battle after Immonen missed position on the 6 ball. It was Bartram who came out on top, making a difficult shot on the 6 to earn the right to face Alcaide 11-9. Another fallen hero is 2004 U.S. Open champion Gabe Owen, who fell 11-9 to Abdullah Alyousef after being up 4-1. Runner-up that year, Thorsten “The Hitman” Hohmann also suffered a second-round loss to Jason Klatt 11-9. After falling 11-6 to Robb Saez, 2006 U.S. Open champion John Schmidt will face Don Steele on Wednesday, while Oliver Ortman , who fell 11-9 to Keith Bennett, will face Thorsten Hohmann, who managed just nine games himself against Jason Klatt.

Second round winners’ matches still to come are Jonathan “Hennessee” Pinegar versus Charlie Bryant, Tony Chohan versus Jose Parica, Darren Appleton versus Zaid Thweib, and Shane Van Boening versus Marvin Davis.

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by Lea Andrews

The action has begun in Chesapeake, VA, where 216 men have gathered for the 34th annual US Open 9-Ball Championships, which is being held October 18-24 at the Chesapeake Conference Center and features winner breaks races to eleven on both sides of the bracket. While many of the nation’s usual suspects are present for the competition, the rest of the world’s players have helped fill up the bracket. Filipinos Efren Reyes and Alex Pagulayan are conspicuously absent, but Warren Kiamco, Roberto Gomez, Jose Parica, Al Lapena, and Ramil Gallego are all vying for the win. The British contingent is also well-represented with Chris Melling, Imran Majid, Raj Hundal, and Karl Boyes, as is the European contingent: Ralf Souquet, Niels Feijen, Thorsten Hohmann, and Vincent Facquet.

After a major victory at the Galveston World Classic 10-Ball, Immonen will be looking to keep his winning streak going by defending his U.S. Open title this year.

View the U.S. Open 9-Ball Double Elimination Tournament Brackets 1 (updated continuously)

View the U.S. Open 9-Ball Double Elimination Tournament Brackets 2 (updated continuously)

Some of the field’s biggest names, such as Parica, Johnny Archer, Nick Varner, Gabe Owen, and Shawn Putnam, remain in the winner’s bracket after receiving byes in the first round, while defending champion Mika Immonen made it to round two on the winner’s side the old-fashioned way with an 11-6 win over Jerry Fitchett. Next up for Immonen is a Monday match versus Chris Bartram, who sent Sho Tsuken west 11-8. Other early victories include Tony Crosby over Matt Rutter 11-5, Rodney Morris 11-5 over Nick Brucato, and Jeremy Jones 11-3 over Bill Dunsmore. First round matches still to come are Cary Dunn versus Cliff Joyner, Mike Davis versus Brent Hensley, Souquet versus EJ Glode, Earl Strickland versus Michael Yedrak, John Schmidt versus Rob Saez, and Feijen versus Ramil Gallego.