Aloysius Yapp won the International 9-Ball Open title for an unprecedented third consecutive year, overcoming Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 13-11 in a thrilling final in St Augustine, Florida.
Yapp capped off a sensational season by completing an International Open three-peat and sealing the $40,000 champion’s cheque, adding to his UK Open, Florida Open and US Open titles.
In a final that went back and forth throughout, with scores level at 7-7 and 10-10, a crucial scratch from Sanchez Ruiz allowed Yapp to lead 11-10, before the Singaporean put together a break and run to move onto the cusp of the title.
A scratch from Yapp would keep Sanchez Ruiz’s hopes temporarily intact, only for the Spaniard to unfortunately scratch from a safety attempt in what proved to be the final task as Yapp emerged a 13-11 victor.
Beforehand, the world number three had beaten Alex Kazakis and Wiktor Zielinski on his way to the final, sandwiched by a high-quality 10-9 win over an impressive Skyler Woodward in the quarter-finals.
One of Yapp’s toughest matches of the tournament came in his opening match, where he narrowly beat Miguel Batista in a deciding rack, before brushing aside both Yannick Pongers and Lukas Fracasso-Verner.
Sanchez Ruiz, meanwhile, defeated his Spanish amigo Jonas Souto Comino 10-8 in the semi-finals, having beaten the South American-born duo of Jesus Atencio and Gerson Martinez.
The former world number one emerged through a hill-hill epic against Kuwait’s Bader Alawadhi in his second match, while he also beat Landon Hollingsworth and Denis Grabe to qualify for single elimination.
Elsewhere, world number one Fedor Gorst was stunned in the last 16 by American talent Sergio Rivas in a 10-7 defeat, who was ultimately beaten in the following round by Souto Comino.
World champion Carlo Biado failed to qualify for the last 16 following defeats to eventual quarter-finalist Thorsten Hohmann and Gerson Martinez, while Shane van Boening endured similar fate after losses to Jesus Atencio and Mickey Krause.
None of Europe’s team attended the $171,000 tournament, instead opting to head to Scotland for practice sessions, with the Mosconi Cup taking place from December 3-6 in London.
