CSI U.S. Open Ten-Ball, It's Over

lfigueroa

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Saturday afternoon it's Shane vs. Francisco. They start out close through the first part of the matchup, then Shane pulls away for a 6-3 lead. Busty wins the next game to make it 6-4. He breaks dry and Shane shoots the one in and ends up perfect for a 2-10 combo. 7-4. In the next game, both players miss the eight, but Bustamonte gets out to make it 7-5. He follows up with a break and run to make it 7-6. He misses a kick at the two in the next rack and Shane runs out to get on the hill. He crushes the break making four balls and ends up straight in on the one and runs out. Francisco takes fourth place money.

In the evening it’s Shane vs. Lee Van Corteza. They start out close: 5-4 and then 5-5. Lee breaks dry in the next game and Shane runs out. 6-5. Shane is really hitting his break well and makes three and runs out to make it 7-5. The next rack he makes two balls and runs out. 8-5. Shane’s next break puts three balls down, but he’s frozen to the one. He spins to rails for a kick and lays own a perfect safe. Lee kicks two rails and hides the one. Shane misses the one rail kick and Lee runs out to make it 8-6. Lee makes a ball on the break, but misses a cross-side break on the two and leaves Shane straight in on the two, but he jaws it. Lee kicks in the two but bumps the three ball behind the six. He almost kicks in the three and leaves Shane tough. Shane lays down a perfect safe on the three but Lee finally gets a shot and runs out. 8-7. Lee breaks dry. Shane plays a safe on the one, but Lee returns with a kick that hides the one. Shane shoots a two-rail kick that leaves Lee straight in. But, Lee bobbles the six in the side, only to have Shane miss a cross side bank. Lee slices in the six and gets out to make it hill-hill. The final game Lee fails to make a ball on the break. Shane is hooked on the one and rolls out. Lee shots and misses the one and Shane misses another cross side bank. Lee almost bobbles the nine, but holds on to get out for the win. Shane takes third.

The finals are a race to 13. It’s Lee Van Corteza vs. LoLi-Wen. (I have no clue now what the proper alignment and spelling of his name is, so my apologies.) It quickly, no, make that slowly, turns into a long drawn out affair. After an hour and 45 minutes they have played 11 games and it stands at 7-4, Lee. After some polite admonishments from the TD, where I believe the words “shot clock” were threaten, the pace picks up noticeably and after another hour it is 11-9, Lee. Li wins the next game to make it 11-10. He then makes a ball on the break, but eventually it is Lee who runs out from the one to make it 12-10. Lee breaks dry and Li runs out. 12-11. The next rack Li makes two balls on the break and plays a good safe on the one. Lee gets the first shot at the ball, but misses it and Li runs out. Hill-hill. The last game, Li makes a ball on the break, but bobbles the one in the side. A shot later he has jammed himself up against the three. He spins off the ball and hides most of the three. Li attempts a jump shot that fails and Lee runs out. Lee Van Corteza is the U.S. Open 10-Ball Champion.

Just in case you missed the numbers, the total payout for this event is $89,000, with $20,000 for first, $12,500 for second, $8,500 for third, and $5,700 for fourth. Lee also gets an entry into the U.S. Open 9-Ball later this year.

So, well, that’s it. Oh yes, akaTrigger’s team has finished tied for 5/6th, losing the Lighthouse Pub. It’s been a haul and I'm toast. Burnt toast. So I'm signing off for a few days. I’ll probably have a few random thoughts later on that’ll come to mind to share. But for now, I’d just like to thank Mark Griffin for all the fun the last few days. I hope some of you have enjoyed the reports and found of the info illuminating. See y’all in a few days.

Lou Figueroa
 
The finals are a race to 13. It’s Lee Van Corteza vs. LoLi-Wen. (I have no clue now what the proper alignment and spelling of his name is, so my apologies.)

Great write up!

By the way, his name is Li-Wen LO, where LO is his surname.
Just some background about him. He is a Taiwanese but been staying in Tokyo for long time. Recently won the Hokkaido Open and was the runner up of Japan Open 2009.
 
thoroughly enjoyed the reports!

Saturday afternoon it's Shane vs. Francisco. They start out close through the first part of the matchup, then Shane pulls away for a 6-3 lead. . . . .

Lou Figueroa


Lou,

Just in case you never see the short note I sent with rep, I have thoroughly enjoyed your reports.

I watched at least part of the last three matches and they were all nail biters if folks are inclined to do such things. Great great streams for anybody the least bit into watching pool.

I have to admit my allegiance was more than a bit fickle. I feel that with his break and play Shane was the best on the tables. When he lost, I switched my support to Francisco who I often support anyway. When he lost I switched again to Lee Van. Which reminds me, on behalf of all the old stiff players I think we need an anti-Filipino rule, no shooting behind the back! Francisco made maybe the best behind the back shot I have ever seen under tremendous pressure and he isn't as young or as skinny as he once was. I think it is something in the genes. A little later Lee Van executed a very tough behind the back shot again at a crucial point in a match.

I wish that someone from the US would have taken the cup home. Failing that, we have a great and very deserving champion. Lee Van made a couple of bone headed shots early in the finals but as the pressure increased he never flinched. Lo Li-Wen played great but seemed to feel the pressure a little more near the end. A little more seasoning and he could have been the winner.

Hu
 
Saturday afternoon it's Shane vs. Francisco. [...]

I want to thank Mark for having the insight to bring Lou to do these fine reports.

And thank you Lou for doing them.

I'm going to post--probably this afternoon or this evening-- a Fargo Rating analysis of the whole tournament, so stay tuned.

How did everybody REALLY play?
 
I wonder if this will be double post, My first went MIA! The us open 10 ball was a great event with a great game. This was my first time playing 10 ball and I really enjoyed it. Thanks to everyone involved for holding a great event!

Nice meeting you Mike. If you make it out this way for a visit, give a pm. I think I can find some lobster and drink.
 
I'm going to post--probably this afternoon or this evening-- a Fargo Rating analysis of the whole tournament, so stay tuned.

How did everybody REALLY play?

Cool, would love to see that.

It's completely from the scratch and based on matches only from this tournament, right?

I'm pretty sure Lo Li-Wen will have the highest Fargo Rating.
 
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thanks!

I did a little write-up on the runner-up, Lo Li-Wen, as there's not much about him that easily accessible through Google.

Thanks for the information. I think this is the first time I have seen Li-Wen play but I have to suspect it won't be the last. Very impressive. I actually thought I was backing the loser choosing Lee Van in the finals because especially in the early stages Li-Wen's break was working better. He seemed destined to string more racks than Lee Van and I thought that would make the difference.

Hu
 
It was a great finals match, even suffering through some of the very slow early games. Once the TD director threatened the shot clock, Lo picked his pace up some and played considerably better. I think at the 7-4 point in favor of Lee, Lo put up a three pack tieing it up.
 
how does he break like that? i can't do that with an open hand. he wasnt even hitting it really hard but he gets good spread
 
Just in case you missed the numbers, the total payout for this event is $89,000, with $20,000 for first, $12,500 for second, $8,500 for third, and $5,700 for fourth.

That one game with Corteza may have cost Shane $11,500 and the U.S. open 10-Ball Championship.
 
Cool, would love to see that.

It's completely from the scratch and based on matches only from this tournament, right?

I'm pretty sure Lo Li-Wen will have the highest Fargo Rating.

It's posted in a separate thread:

US Open 10-Ball Tournament - fargo rating analysis
 
how does he break like that? i can't do that with an open hand. he wasn't even hitting it really hard but he gets good spread
I think the balls were racking fairly well, which is not the situation on most tables. On many and perhaps most breaks, at least half the balls were passing the side pockets.
 
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