Lee Van Corteza clinched his maiden World Nineball Tour ranking title at the Rally in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, denying Yannick Pongers 15-14 in a thrilling final.
Corteza claimed the $10,000 top prize following a tremendous comeback, which witnessed him win seven straight racks from 14-8 down in an alternate break format against a Dutch youngster playing one of the biggest matches of his career.
A former Derby City Classic and Las Vegas Open champion, Corteza became the latest Filipino winner on the WNT circuit, following in the footsteps of the likes of two-time world champion Carlo Biado, Johann Chua and Roberto Gomez.
It was an undefeated campaign for Corteza, who came through seven matches on his way to the title, notably beating Sweden’s Walter Laikre, Jeremy Long and Nathan Childress in the single elimination phase.
Pongers, meanwhile, brutally beat his older brother Quinten to qualify via the one-loss side following a defeat to John Morra, before overcoming teenagers Sam Henderson, Mika van Berkel and Felix Vogel to reach his first ranking final at 20 years of age.
Germany’s 17-year-old Vogel reached his maiden ranking semi-final following a hill-hill epic against New Zealand’s Sullivan Clark in the quarter-finals, having also beaten Helsinki Open champion Jonas Souto Comino earlier in the tournament.
Virginia’s own Nathan Childress, a Beasley Open runner-up last year, boosted his hopes of a Mosconi Cup debut, coming from behind to overcome Moritz Neuhausen 11-10 and make the semi-finals.
Elsewhere, top seed Souto Comino exited in the last 16 after an 11-4 defeat at the hands of Neuhausen, while Tyler Styer was beaten 11-6 by Jeremy Long, who reached his first WNT ranking quarter-final.
Attentions now turn to the inaugural Florida Open Championship in Orlando from August 5-10, before moving onto the Battle of the Bull and the prestigious US Open Championship later this month.
