Fedor Gorst shut down Shane van Boening’s quest for a sixth title to continue his own hopes of reaching a fourth consecutive US Open Championship final.
Because Van Boening qualified through the losers’ side, fate set up an early heavyweight clash between the two best American cueists in the round of 32.
Van Boening, riding the high of a dominant 10-1 victory over Michael Baoanan in the Last 64, pulled away early to a 4-0 lead.
A fluke on the four-ball in the fifth rack changed everything for Fedor Gorst. He strung together seven consecutive racks before seeing off his Mosconi Cup teammate 10-7.
SVB will have to wait at least another year to etch his name in immortality. Gorst can continue chasing his fourth consecutive US Open final and the $100,000 prize that would propel him back to the WNT number one spot.
The 2024 champ went on to defeat John Morra in the final 16, reuniting with Hong Kong’s Robbie Capito in a rematch of the UK Open 2026.
In their last meeting on the major stage, Capito ‘The Sniper’ shot down ‘The Ghost’ in a thrilling tactical hill-hill showdown.
Robbie Capito has shown insane grit and consistency this tournament, silently taking down Dimitris Loukatos, Casper Matikainen and Billy Thorpe on his way to the elusive quarter-finals.
The winner of this matchup will face the winner of the Balkan boys showdown between Aleksa Pecelj and Sanjin Pehlivanovic.
Pecelj once again displayed scintillating form on American soil, while Pehlivanovic also had three impressive wins, including a hill-hill drama against Georgi Georgiev in the last 64.
The upper half of the bracket is dominated by the Europeans, the Spanish and Germans to be exact.
Two former champions, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and Joshua Filler, will go head-to-head for a semifinal spot in the opening match on the main table.
Filler, as usual, was untouchable in the early rounds, washing away Stephen Holem, Albert Januarta and Chris Melling in relatively swift fashion.
El Ferrari, on the other hand, had a tough start to the week, falling to the losers’ side but crawled back to form just in time for the single elimination stage.
Sanchez Ruiz overcame a hill-hill scare against Petri Makkonen before taking down Florida Open runners-up Alexander Kazakis in the last 16.
The last quarterfinals will be an interesting clash of generations, when 47-year-old veteran David Alcaide faces 18-year-old wunderkind Felix Vogel.
Alcaide showed the world why he is still one of the best by handing reigning champion Aloysius Yapp an early exit in the last 64.
‘El Matador’ navigated through former US Open semifinalist Chang Yu Lung in the Last 32 before wiping away former winner Jayson Shaw in style with a 10-4 win.
For Felix Vogel, this is the biggest breakthrough of his career. The young German prodigy displayed exceptional poise and table IQ despite his age to defeat two of this year’s most decorated ranking event winners, Oliver Szolnoki and Kledio Kaci, on his way to the final day.
Three former champions remained, but at least one will fall before the final four.
We are guaranteed one European finalist, but will it be the experienced or the youthful? Which players can capitalise on this grand opportunity and punch their tickets to the Mosconi Cup?
It is bound to be a dog-fight on Saturday in Frisco, Texas.
