Eklent Kaci defeated Mosconi Cup teammates Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and Jayson Shaw on his way to winning the McDermott Open in Wallingford, Connecticut – his second World Nineball Tour ranking title.
Kaci’s only previous success on the World Nineball Tour had come at the UK Open Championship two years ago, but the Albanian doubled his title tally at Yale Billiards and pocketed the $8,000 top prize.
Kaci had beaten Brandon Shuff to qualify for the last 16, prior to 11-8 and 11-3 wins over Sam Henderson and Italy’s Francesco Candela earning his spot in the semi-finals.
There, the World Championship runner-up completed a hard-fought 11-9 come-from-behind victory over Jayson Shaw, striking a golden break in the final rack, with Shaw having beaten the likes of Edward Koyongian and Pijus Labutis to reach the last four.
Sanchez Ruiz, meanwhile, had beaten his Spanish amigo David Alcaide as well as Americans Shuff and Lukas Fracasso-Verner to reach the final, although Kaci was in stroke and quickly raced into an unassailable nine-rack lead.
Despite the Spaniard’s valiant efforts to turn the contest around, reducing the arrears to 12-7, it was Kaci who grabbed the trophy in ideal preparation for the upcoming Super Billiards Expo in Philadelphia.
Jonas Souto Comino, the Seattle Open winner last weekend, was beaten in the last 16 at the hands of Labutis, while Indonesia’s Koyongian endured a second hill-hill loss in as many events to exit in the same round.
