U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship Kicks Off

U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship Kicks Offby Rick Davis, InsidePOOL StaffAction started up promptly at 11 o’clock for the 31st annual U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship in Chesapeake, VA. The day’s early rounds showed a relaxed atmosphere, as all of the tournament tables were not in use and the matches that took place offered more first-day jitters than break and run-outs for the slowly growing group of spectators.This was apparent in the opening round where Trevor Braymore beat down his opponent, although luck was on his side. Braymore missed several shots that cost him a run-out; however, every time he missed, the cue would roll to a rail or behind another ball. His opponent pulled out some great kicks but eventually got out of line and gave away many of the racks.Discuss the U.S. Open 9-Ball ChampionshipU.S. Open 9-Ball Championships image galleryU.S. Open 9-Ball Championships Tournament Brackets
In the second round Butch “The Butcher” Croft chopped up his opponent, although the jitters were present for both players. A scratch on the break and a couple of dogged shots left Croft shaking his head, but a missed 9 ball by his opponent helped to bring Croft to a 4-0 lead. Getting into the groove of the match, Croft went from five-ball runs to seven-ball runs, helping him to extend his lead to 7-2, but then a few seesaw games brought that to a closer 9-6. Finally Croft managed a 11-9 win. He said, “I struggled a little. He made nice shots, he was the only one to break and run out the whole set. I missed some really simple shots, I am going to hit a few before the next match to iron out what’s going on.” At the next table Walter Blacker started the strongest in the round, taking a huge lead early over Bill Hondry until he began to stall out up 9-4. Some good rolls by his opponent and some misplayed shots dwindled his lead to 9-6 then 10-7, where a scratch on the 9 moved things to 10-8 then double-hill. Both players saw rough rolls in the last rack until Hondry missed a two-foot 9 ball shot, leaving Blacker to pocket the 9 off a table-length cut shot. Blacker said, “He should have won … I gave it to him, I was so worn out but he missed the nine.”Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

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