Moritz Neuhausen stepped back from the table and drew in a deep breath to compose himself. He faced a slightly awkward cut on the eight-ball. But he was on the hill with a 9-7 lead in the Last 64 and two pots away from closing out Marc Bijsterbosch.
When his arm delivered the stroke, though, he twitched slightly. At the US Open, where Matchroom instituted four-inch pockets, the movement during his shot was enough to force a miss. Worse yet for the young German, the eight-ball hung in the jaws of the pocket. Bijsterbosch eventually completed the comeback to knock Neuhausen out.
Anxiety and nerves heightened for everyone as the US Open moved to a single-elimination format on Thursday with 64 players left in the draw. Even the world’s most fundamentally sound players weren’t spared. Unlikely misses, questionable decision-making and messy position-play littered the TV tables throughout the day. Upsets, which were rare through the first three days, popped up more frequently, too.
The first major domino to fall was No. 14 Pin-Yi Ko. Vietnam’s Phuong Nam Pham held the lead for most of the match and squeaked past the reigning World Pool Masters champion, 10-9. Then No. 6 Albin Ouschan, who’d dropped just seven racks in the first three days of the tournament, fell to Ralf Souquet, 10-5. Souquet continued his resurgent run at age 54 in the Last 32 with a win against American Mosconi Cup hopeful Chris Reinhold.
No. 2 Shane Van Boening also lost in the Last 64. He never found a consistent break, and Jung-Lin Chang’s slow, surgical style ensured SVB will have to wait at least one more year for a sixth US Open title. Chang couldn’t find a second consecutive upset against Wiktor Zielinski, though. The young Polish player handed Chang a 10-2 loss.
World No. 1 Francisco Sánchez Ruíz narrowly avoided being another upset victim. For most of the afternoon, Mickey Krause held the advantage over the reigning US Open champion. He opened up a 6-0 lead. But FSR grinded his way back, and a fluked three-ball in the hill-hill rack helped him complete the comeback.
He went down early again in his Last 32 matchup against Daniel Maciol, 6-2. This time, the world No. 1 couldn’t claw his way all the way back. Maciol finished the job Krause couldn’t, 10-5. He’ll play Robbie Capito in the Last 16.
Ping-Chung Ko and Joshua Filler were two favorites who avoided all the drama their counterparts faced. Both looked comfortable in their TV table matchups. Ping-Chung dispatched Jeffrey De Luna, 10-3, to reach the Last 16. Earlier, he defeated Alex Kazakis, 10-8. Filler, meanwhile, lost just nine racks total while knocking out Kim Laaksonen and Bijsterbosch.
Two other top-five ranked players cruised through to the Last 16. No. 5 Jayson Shaw ended Earl Strickland’s US Open before dominating Jonas Souto, 10-5, in the Last 32. No. 4 Mario He compiled a pair of 10-7 wins, first against Niels Feijen and then against Olivér Szolnoki. He has put together multiple runs to the quarterfinals or better this year but is yet to break through for a major tournament win.
The last American hope is Sky Woodward. He beat Do The Kien in the morning, 10-5, before taking out Naoyuki Oi, 10-7, in the Last 32. Woodward is looking to become the first American since Van Boening in 2016 to win the US Open. It’d also be his biggest title in a resume already filled with multiple Mosconi Cup MVPs and a Derby City Classic 9-Ball championship.
Woodward faces a stiff test in Shaw on Friday. Other headline matches in the Last 16 include Fedor Gorst and 2021 US Open champion Carlo Biado, Filler and Ping-Chung and Zielinski versus David Alcaide.
The one heavy underdog story remaining is Portuguese player Miguel Silva. He’s the only player left in the tournament with a Fargo rating under 780. He’s also never been in the top-100 money earners for any year he’s played per AZBilliards. Silva handled a pair of Filipino players on Thursday. First, he beat Joven Bustamante. Then, he downed Lee Van Corteza. He also went undefeated in the double-elimination portion of the event earlier in the week.
