Albin Ouschan battled back from five racks behind to overcome Shane van Boening in a heavyweight contest as the Hanoi Open Pool Championship reached the final 16 on Friday afternoon in Vietnam.
Hanoi Open Pool Championship 2023: Draw, live scores, format, prize fund and how to watch
Ouschan claimed the opening two racks but the American won seven in succession to gain a five-rack buffer, only to narrowly miss the pink four ball and allow the Austrian to stage a remarkable comeback.
The two-time world champion was fortunate on occasions but managed to clinch three consecutive racks to reduce the deficit to 7-5, before Van Boening stopped the rot to extend his lead to 8-5.
Ouschan claimed each of the next four racks to somehow move onto the hill. There, a missed four ball from him allowed Van Boening back to the table with a chance to force a deciding rack but he scratched on the same ball and Ouschan emerged a 10-8 winner.
Elsewhere, sixth seed Mario He endured a disappointing defeat in the last 64 at the hands of Italian number one Francesco Candela, ending his hopes of automatic Mosconi Cup qualification via the European rankings.
Americans Shane Wolford highlighted his Mosconi Cup credentials with an impressive victory over German teenager Moritz Neuhausen, before his campaign was halted in emphatic fashion by European Open champion David Alcaide.
US Open champion Ko Ping-Chung and his older brother Ko Pin-Yi remain on course to meet in the final, having convincingly brushed aside Candela and James Aranas to seal their respective passages into the last 16.
Ahmad Taufiq’s unprecedented week continued as he became the first player from Brunei to reach the last 16 on the World Nineball Tour on debut, defeating Thorsten Hohmann 10-8 in the last 32.
Lee Van Corteza scuppered the fairytale major debut of 18-year-old Bernie Regalario, with the teenage sensation being unable to recover after falling seven racks down against his Filipino countryman.
World number one Francisco Sanchez Ruiz fended off Carlo Biado in the last 64 prior to whitewashing Ralf Souquet, while Fedor Gorst overturned an 8-7 deficit to survive a scare against Kuo Po-Cheng before breezing past Jefrey Roda.
The penultimate day of the Hanoi Cup includes the last 16 as well as the quarter-finals, with Gorst versus Ko Pin-Yi and Ouschan against Kazakis amongst the stand-out last 16 encounters.
