Ko Ping-Chung has been crowned the 2023 US Open Pool Championship champion following a comeback victory over Fedor Gorst at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City.
Ko produced flawless performances in both the semi-finals and the final to receive the famous Barry Behrman trophy and the $50,000 top prize, whitewashing Aloysius Yapp before battling back from 6-3 behind against Gorst in the showpiece.
The Taiwanese sensation was irresistible against Singapore’s Yapp in the final four, making the one ball on all eleven breaks, break and running on six occasions, sinking all 99 balls available and leaving the former runner-up hopeless in a breathtaking display.
Opening the final by winning the lag and making the one ball for the twelfth break on the bounce, Ko extended his winning streak to 16 racks following an unbelievable out including two sensational jump shots back-to-back on the two and three balls.
Gorst, who battled back from 5-2 behind to see off Serbia’s Aleksa Pecelj in the semi-finals and secure a Mosconi Cup return on Team Europe, capitalised on an unfortunate layout to claim the next two racks and lead 2-1.
Gorst soon opened up a three-rack buffer at 6-3 in front following numerous successful safety battles, with the former world champion pulling off some impressive snookers, although an ultimately costly miss on a routine three ball restored Ko’s hopes.
An extremely lucky five-rail escape when hooked on the red three ball sparked the eventual champion’s comeback. That alongside some crucial errors from his opponent allowed Ko to restore parity at six apiece, and the support he was receiving from his brothers in the audience was noticeable.
Ko reeled off four racks in succession to lead 10-6 and grasp the ascendancy into his favour, before his unbelievable breaking streak came to an end in the 17th rack. He had made the one ball for a total of 23 breaks on the spin but a dry break allowed Gorst back into the match.
In arguably the most dramatic rack of the title decider, too much speed on the six from Ko left the ball hanging over the pocket and that handed Gorst one final lifeline. However, a four-rail positional shot for the eight saw him scratch and fall 11-6 down.
An exasperated Gorst knew that was his chance gone and Ko managed to close out another relatively comprehensive victory, break and running on five occasions in what proved to be the final seven racks.
Despite being banished onto the one-loss at the hands of Corey Deuel during the double elimination phase and subsequently surviving a hill-hill battle against Radoslaw Babica to keep his hopes alive, Ko emerges as the 46th US Open champion.
