Four world champions remain in the reckoning for US Open Pool Championship success at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City as five-time champion Shane van Boening sets sights on a record-breaking sixth accolade.
In contrasting fashion to the UK Open and the European Open, won by underdogs Robbie Capito and Mickey Krause, four household names are vying to etch their names onto the sport’s most prestigious slice of silverware and earn themselves $50,000 in prize money.
It would be rather apt for the American duo of Fedor Gorst and Shane van Boening to meet in the final following their epic challenge match last week, although Niels Feijen and Joshua Filler are equally as fierce competitors and will be out to put the kibosh on the American dream.
FEDOR GORST VS NIELS FEIJEN
Fedor Gorst, the world number one and world champion, wasn’t even born when Niels Feijen initially competed at the US Open Championship back in 1997. However, it remains the only incredibly prestigious nineball accolade that has eluded the Dutchman during his hall of fame career.
Four times a Mosconi Cup MVP, twice a World Pool Masters winner and the world champion in 2014, Feijen is within two victories of clinching that elusive US Open scalp, two decades after reaching the semi-finals for the first time. Someone who has been a relentless force this year stands in his way nonetheless.
Gorst could extraordinarily become the first player to boast the World Championship, Masters and US Open titles during the same calendar year in unprecedented fashion. An unfortunate runner-up last year, the 24-year-old appears to have fortunes in his favour this time around, with a couple of outrageous nine ball flukes helping him overcome Jefrey Roda in the quarter-finals.
Aside from his emphatic defeat at the hands of roommate Vitaliy Patsura in the winners’ qualification round, Gorst has showcased exceptional cue ball control and advanced through relatively comfortably despite not playing anywhere near his brilliant best by his own admission.
No one has managed to get within three racks of the formidable Feijen throughout the tournament, even Ko Pin-Yi in the quarter-finals, although you have to feel that comes to a halt in the semi-finals. Gorst is beatable and the fashion in which Feijen has been breaking makes that outcome more conceivable, but his prowess should prove too much for the Dutchman.
Prediction: 11-6 Gorst
SHANE VAN BOENING VS JOSHUA FILLER
Shane van Boening and the potential of him landing a record-breaking sixth US Open accolade has been the centre of conversation in Atlantic City for a number of years. This is the closest Van Boening has come since winning for a fifth time in 2016 and now could be the time that history unfolds.
Joshua Filler, meanwhile, the champion five years ago, will be eyeing his first Matchroom major title in more than two years. He needed grit and determination to come through hard-fought battles against Mickey Krause, Bernie Regalario and Mark Bijsterbosch, before brushing aside David Alcaide in emphatic style.
Van Boening has notably defeated the likes of surprise package Vitaliy Patsura and Mosconi Cup rival Jayson Shaw en route to the semi-finals. His game has seemed the most complete of the four semi-finalists, breaking well and never appearing in any trouble, and perhaps the most advantageous factor is that SVB will have more than a thousand American fans willing him over the line.
The 2021 world champion firmly believes that his 136-rack challenge match against Gorst has benefitted him significantly, getting him in stroke and striking the balls well ahead of his favourite tournament.
Having locked horns on numerous occasions at the Mosconi Cup whilst representing country or continent, Van Boening and Filler represent only themselves on this occasion and it’s a real coin flip affair. It be will be a contest that ebbs and flows and perhaps decided by a single rack.
Prediction: 11-10 Van Boening
