Makati — Asia’s card for a must-win night
Day three of the Reyes Cup has just started at Makati Coliseum, and when we went to press the session board still read 0–0. The Rest of the World lead 6–3 and need five more points. The World Nineball Tour’s order of play saves the best match for last.
- Match 1: team match
- Match 2: Albert Januarta v Fedor Gorst
- Match 3: Carlo Biado & Januarta v Joshua Filler & Gorst
- Match 4: AJ Manas v Aleksa Pecelj
- Match 5: Robbie Capito & Duong Quoc Hoang v Francisco Sánchez Ruiz & Shane Van Boening
- Match 6: Biado v Filler
Django Bustamante has kept faith with Januarta for two matches after a rough Friday. The last singles pits Biado, Asia’s only winner on day two, against Filler, who took three points yesterday. There is a catch, though. If the visitors win the first five, they reach 11 and Biado v Filler won’t count for anything.
Sydney — Anupama finishes the job
When we last looked at the Australian Women’s Open, Anupama Ramachandran was partway through her match with Jessica Woods. She finished it off 2–0 (64–23, 94–17, frame scores per India’s Sports Arena) to complete a perfect first day, having already beaten Heidi Royle 2–0.
- Group D: Anupama leads on two wins. Woods, Agnes Kimura and Royle have one win each, and Linda Larrea has none.
- Group F: Cheung Yee Ting backed up her win over So Man Yan by beating Krystal Aw 2–1. Aw then beat Dianne Spring 2–0, so So v Aw at 2am UK looks like a decider for second place.
- Group A: Carlie Tait beat Joey Leung 2–0 and Christine Firth 2–1, which keeps her in the hunt for one of the four best-third places.
Day two starts at midnight UK, and the champion will be crowned on Tuesday. The Under-21 side event won’t count towards the world rankings because it drew fewer than four entries.
Landywood — 60 in the English Open, and a strong Worlds field to follow
The WPBSA confirmed that 60 players started the billiards English Open this morning, though no scores were up when we went to press. Monday’s World Championship field is one of the strongest in years: 60 players from 12 nations, the whole world top ten and six former champions. Alongside David Causier and Geet Sethi, they are Peter Gilchrist, Pankaj Advani, Sourav Kothari and 12-time champion Mike Russell. On Wednesday, Shruthi L defends the women’s title against Eva Palmius, Michelle Cohen, Mhairi Mackay and Gaye Jones. Entry is free.
Belfast — a first for Selby or Robertson?
Totally Snookered points out that Mark Selby and Neil Robertson have each won the English, Scottish and Welsh Opens, so winning in Belfast would make either of them the first player to complete the Home Nations set. Neither has ever reached the Northern Ireland Open final, and they’re in the same quarter, so they could meet in the last eight. Selby starts with an all-Leicester derby against Louis Heathcote. Mark Allen, who needs only the Welsh Open for the set, is expected back on home soil after five months out.
Goyang — the PBA’s open season resumes
Korea’s pro three-cushion tour holds its fifth event, the NH Nonghyup Card Championship, at the KINTEX PBA Stadium from tomorrow to 26 October. Yonhap notes that both the men’s and women’s events have had four different winners in four events this season, and Vietnamese players have won the last two men’s titles. Kim Ga-young is chasing her 20th career title, and last week’s LPBA champion Jung Su-bin plays for the sponsor’s team.
Elsewhere
- New York: Stop five of the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour’s 30th season is at Brick House Billiards in North Syracuse this weekend: $1,500 added to the main event and $500 to the Sunday second-chance event.
Feature image: “Carlo Biado 2022 International 9-Ball Open” by Puddin Tain, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 2.0.
