Forfeits and Long Matches Open Day 2 at the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship

Forfeits and Long Matches Open Day 2 at the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championshipby Rick DavisThe morning round of billiards in Day 2 of the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships started the dominos of odd scheduling errors. First, the 11 a.m. round had three forfeits, giving former U.S. Open champion Gabe Owen, C.J. Wiley, and Robert Lewis a free ride into the next round. As the 1 p.m. round was ready to begin, three matches were still in play from the early round. After nearly two and a half hours of play they finished up, as the final match saw Francesco Tomati squeak past Dave Grossman double-hill. Discuss the U.S. Open 9-Ball ChampionshipU.S. Open 9-Ball Championships image galleryU.S. Open 9-Ball Championships Tournament BracketsAgain all the seeded players came through strong, even though many seemed to be adjusting to the tables. Raj Hundal defeated John Morra 11-9 and commented on his match afterwards. He said, “I played okay, the first match out of the gate is always tough. I’ve never seen that kid before, but damn, he plays good. None of us played great, I played better than him, I think I moved better, which won me the match. I beat him in the safety and kicking exchange.” Another seeded favorite was Jeremy Jones who, after defeating Antonio Gabica 11-4, simply said, “I started off real good, didn’t make any mistakes. I was up six-one then made a couple mistakes, but overall I played pretty well.”
A little behind schedule, the 1 p.m. round began, although a new problem was on the horizon as some of the later rounds had more matches scheduled then there were tables available. Tournament director Scott "The Shot" Smith decided to put up some new matches mid-round as tables became available in order to stay on schedule. No sooner was this decision made then another forfeit occurred while Earl Strickland annihilated his opponent 11-0, the first shutout of the event so far. With all the necessary matches underway, plenty of action remains in the 1 p.m. round to be followed quickly by the 3 p.m. round. The crowd has easily doubled in size from Monday, and with the evening rounds not far off the excitement continues to build. Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

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