Jesus Atencio defeated Cristopher Tevez 13-9 in the first ever all-South American final on the World Nineball Tour to win the inaugural River City Open and an elusive maiden ranking accolade.
Venezuela’s Atencio etched his name into the history books as the first player from the whole of South America to seal a WNT title, pocketing the $13,100 top prize at Legends Billiards in Jacksonville, Florida.
Now representing the USA on tour and therefore eligible for the Mosconi Cup as a North Carolina citizen, Atencio raced into a 7-2 lead in the final, notably putting together a five-pack to gain the ascendancy.
Despite Tevez mounting a spirited comeback to eventually restore parity at nine apiece, an emotional Atencio made no further errors to emerge victorious, subsequently struggling to hold back the tears after sealing a career-changing win.
Atencio double-dipped Tevez having thrashed him 9-1 in the fifth round, while the South American number one also beat Thorsten Hohmann 11-8 and reigning world champion Carlo Biado 9-8 on his way to the title.
Tevez, meanwhile, defeated both Hohmann and Biado in decisive matches on the one-loss side, having previously beaten the likes of Lee Van Corteza and Georgi Georgiev, both WNT ranking event winners, on his way to the finals.
Philippines Open runner-up Arseni Sevastyanov endured back-to-back defeats at the hands of Tyler Styer and Sergio Rivas, while Styer finished in fifth place after his campaign was scuppered by Biado.
The World Nineball Tour remains in Florida for the prestigious US International Open in St Augustine from November 19-23, before the ranking season concludes with the Bob Stocks Memorial
