Elliott Sanderson has called for Jonathan Pinegar to be banned from professional tournaments following his distasteful departure from the 49th US Open Championship.
Sanderson endured an 8-6 defeat to Pinegar in the third round on the one-loss side, having been initially denied in a hill-hill epic by 2001 champion Corey Deuel in the tournament’s opening round.
A former ranking event semi-finalist on the World Nineball Tour and current British number three, Sanderson revealed the antics that Pinegar was deploying and the constant distractions during their match.
“I’ve honestly never experienced anything like this in 15 years of playing competitive pool,” Sanderson said on social media following his exit from the tournament.
“I’m far from a sore loser and I’ve got absolutely no problem admitting when someone has played better than me, but how Jonathan Pinegar is allowed to compete in professional events honestly baffles me.
“Played a two-and-a-half-hour match and the abuse and sharking went on the whole time. There were constant remarks telling me I couldn’t beat him, ‘you’re in Texas now mother f*cker’, brushing the cloth towards the pocket while he was playing, throwing his cue on the floor in the middle of my shot, constantly moving around in his seat, coughing on my backswing and just generally doing everything possible to try and put me off.
“He got two warnings from the referee, the behaviour was a disgrace. By the end of it my head was totally gone.
“I hate writing stuff like this because I’m not that type of player and I’m genuinely not a sore loser, but I honestly don’t believe people behaving like that belong in the sport, never mind professional events.
“There were many people by the table and all were saying the same thing. I don’t normally write things like this but feel it needs to be addressed.”
The World Nineball Tour are required to refer incidents of this manner to the Pool Regulation Authority, who will subsequently ensure that all potential cheating cases are fully investigated.
