Wojciech Szewczyk tasted World 10-Ball Championship success for the second time in his career following a 4-1, 1-4, 4-2, 4-3 victory over two-time champion Eklent Kaci in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Having defeated Cristopher Tevez in the final four years ago, Szewczyk now accompanies Kaci and Ko Ping-Chung in being two-time world 10-ball champions – a stunning feat for unequivocally Poland’s greatest ever player.
Szewczyk pocketed the $80,000 champion’s cheque to cap off a ruthless Saigon campaign, during which he did not require a deciding set on a single occasion, sweeping aside opponents with relative ease throughout the duration.
Szewczyk dropped a mere five racks in defeating both Kaci and Hayato Hijikata during the double elimination phase, before beating Oliver Szolnoki in a four-hour-long battle to reach the final 16 for the fourth time in five years.
There, the Pole dominated the significant moments in a closely-contested encounter with Johann Chua, with three of the four sets needing deciding racks, and similar grit was necessary in his quarter-final victory over Francisco Sanchez Ruiz.
Szewczyk commanded his subsequent semi-final against Sanjin Pehlivanovic from the outset, winning the initial two sets to the loss of just two racks, with Pehlivanovic perhaps fatigued after competing for almost nine hours on Friday in back-to-back deciding set wins.
Kaci, meanwhile, bounced back from a winners’ qualification round defeat to Szewczyk with a sensational string of performances, battling back from a set behind in five straight matches and emerging through three deciding sets during a remarkable run.
The 2021 and 2023 champion scuppered hometown hero Duong Quoc Hoang’s hopes and beat Niels Feijen and Japan’s Hijikata, before overturning a two-set deficit to overcome Robbie Capito. Another come-from-behind win over a history-seeking Joshua Filler followed in the semi-finals.
Szewczyk showcased sublime safety play to claim the early ascendancy in the final, taking the opening set 4-1, only for Kaci to respond in kind courtesy of a brutal scratch from the Pole and level up proceedings at a set each.
Three dry breaks and a couple of additional uncharacteristic errors from Kaci gifted the third set away, although the Albanian’s riposte was admirable, punishing a dry break from Szewczyk before compiling the first break and run of the contest to take a 2-0 lead in the fourth set.
Szewczyk continued to dominate the tactical exchanges nonetheless and two more successful safety battles, sandwiched by his first break and run, moved him onto the hill, but Kaci refused to buckle and forced a deciding rack.
A spectacular cut shot with the jump cue on the one-ball expanded the table for Szewczyk, although a completely misconstrued two-six-seven combination allowed one final opportunity for Kaci.
However, Kaci rattled the pocket with a powerful attempt on the three-ball and that spelled the end, as Szewczyk cleared the table before saluting the Vietnamese crowd as a two-time champion of the world.
Szewczyk’s emotions were palpable as his latest achievement registered, holding back the tears in rather similar fashion to four years ago – the only difference being that this time was certainly no surprise.
