Spanish number three Jonas Souto Comino landed an elusive World Nineball Tour ranking title at the inaugural Mexico Open, beating Oscar Dominguez 11-9 in Saturday’s final in Culiacan, Mexico.
Souto Comino followed in the esteemed footsteps of fellow countrymen Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and David Alcaide, becoming the third Spanish cueist to secure a ranking title in the World Nineball Tour era.
The 22-year-old from Ibiza did reign supreme at last year’s Super Billiards Expo, defeating Jayson Shaw in that final, although that tournament wasn’t recognised on the world nineball rankings at the time.
Nonetheless, Souto Comino now has a ranking accolade to his name after overcoming a 7-5 deficit against Dominguez in the Mexico finale, scooping the $9,000 top prize and breaking into the world’s top 20 in the process.
The Spaniard battled through a thrilling 11-9 victory over fellow youngster Moritz Neuhausen, having beaten Mexican number one Ruben Bautista 11-5 in the quarter-finals in relatively routine fashion.
Souto Coming also recorded resounding wins over Germany’s Nils Johanning and Colombia’s Mauricio Cuesta, with Mexico’s Oscar Camacho providing his toughest test during the early stages of the tournament.
Dominguez, meanwhile, defeated the likes of Vietnam’s Nguyen Cong Thanh and World Championship runner-up Mohammad Soufi on his way to the semi-finals, where he pulled off an impressive 11-9 win over world number eight Alcaide.
British number two Elliott Sanderson endured a disappointing losers’ qualification departure following losses to Mexico’s Bautista and the USA’s Max Eberle, while Medellin Open semi-finalist Jose Wilber Perea was also eliminated prior to the single elimination phase.
Multiple-time Women’s World Championship qualifier Soledad Ayala exited in the losers’ qualification round after a steady campaign, suffering back-to-back losses at the hands of Yamil Yutani and Diego Rojas.
The World Nineball Tour now heads to Hildesheim, Germany for the invitational World Pool Masters, before the Scottish Open takes place from May 1-5 followed by the UK Open Championship from May 7-12.
