Aloysius Yapp conquered defending champion Fedor Gorst to win the 48th US Open Championship at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City, sealing an unprecedented third consecutive open championship in the process.
Having already landed the Florida Open earlier this month as well as the UK Open in May, Singapore’s Yapp added the sport’s most historic prize to his resume, clinching the lucrative $100,000 top prize and getting his hands on the famous Barry Behrman trophy for the first time.
Asia’s Reyes Cup figurehead extended his winning streak in major open championships on the World Nineball Tour to a staggering 27 matches as he scooped the most prestigious accolade of his career and rose to world number two.
Gorst had followed in the legendary footsteps of Efren Reyes, Shane van Boening and Nick Varner in reaching a third successive US Open final and was bidding to become just the fifth player to successfully defend the title, although the hopes were ultimately dashed.
Both Yapp and Gorst made numerous errors as four nervy initial racks were shared, with Gorst notably firing in an outrageous shot to middle pocket with the short stick in the fourth rack prior to rattling the pocket for back-to-back brilliant jumps.
Yapp subsequently gained a foothold and compiled back-to-back break and runs to obtain a two-rack buffer at 4-2. He then executed a magnificent jump shot of his own, only to miss the six ball and gift Gorst an opportunity to halve the deficit.
A four-rack surge would follow from Yapp, including his third break and run of the contest and a sensational kick shot on the three ball, before a decision to stun the cue ball at 8-3 in front proved costly and allowed Gorst back to the table. Two successive racks for Gorst reduced the arrears once more.
Yapp would reinstall his five-rack advantage, only for a dry break to prove costly as Gorst regained control of the table and put together back-to-back break and runs to move within one at 10-9. And, Gorst would restore parity soon after, capitalising on a poor push out to level.
In a bizarre juncture of the match, Gorst accidentally potted the three ball and ultimately hooked himself behind the four. Yapp would step in, but another error in the proceeding rack let Gorst level up at 11-11.
As the business end of the match beckoned, nerves seemingly made anything missable and both players were struggling to deliver their cue as they usually would. Gorst scratched off a straightforward two ball and missed a trickier jump shot as Yapp moved onto the hill.
Cueing movement caused Yapp to miss the two ball early in what proved to be the final rack, although Gorst would squander an opportunity on the three ball and that allowed Yapp to clear the table and land the title that he had dreamed of winning.
Beforehand, Yapp had compiled five break and runs in a comfortable 11-4 victory over Ko Pin-Yi, while Gorst came through a scrappier encounter with Johann Chua.
