Here is the player I drew 1st round. Ranked #77 in the world. FARGORATE 790
I had never heard of him before.
The set we played wasn't real straightforward. Lots of misses that left me no shot. Lots of returning decent safeties where he got me safe back. The first rack I had 6 or 7 trips to the table, never once with a shot. On 4 offensive starts I had tough shots I went for I made 2 of them and got a rack once. He outright missed 5 shots and made several positional errors. Was a very strange set, but I knew I had to keep him from just running out on me. I know his game is alot stronger than he showed me. He is the 3rd highest ranked player there.
8/22/24 US Open writeup
Let’s talk about a player that no one in Matchroom (or many people in general) is paying attention to.
Michael Baoanan is the surprising unseeded player that has quietly made his way to the last 16. He is unseeded but in no way inexperienced. He has not been featured in any TV table and even the commentators are pronouncing his name wrong. Just to clarify, his last name is pronounced Ba-wa-nan.
This newly installed Marboys player is a newbie in the US pool scene. He attended the Raxx Open but was not able to enter the last 16 as he was eliminated by Patric Gonzales in the loser’s qualification side. But before coming to the US, he has compiled some strong wins late last year and this year. He was runner up in the Manny Pacquaio 10 ball Open last December where all the top Filipino pros played. He also was champion in a 10 ball open in Indonesia earlier this year.
On his way to the last 16, he had quality wins over Mario He(9-6) in the 2nd round and Francesco Candela(9-4) to qualify for the knockout stage. In the last 64, he was matched up against Ralf Souquet and won 10-8. He had to face another solid veteran in the last 32 in the person of Lee Vann Corteza and he won this match 10-7.
This silent and unassuming player has suddenly found his way in the last 16. He has bested other high ranked Filipino compatriots and is only one of the three Pinoys left in the field. He will be up against David Alcaide in the last 16 later today. If no one is paying attention before, they will surely be watching and talking about him now. The Dark Phoenix is now looking more like The Dark Horse of the competition.