U.S Open Day 2: Morra Off to Third Round

John Morra, photo by Erik Hjorleifson 

By: Erik Hjorleifson

Day 2 at the U.S. Open 9 ball championships saw the last of the first round winners side matches get underway at 10:30 am. The afternoon rounds were reserved for first round losers side matches which saw many top players pack their bags in this talent packed event. In the late night rounds the schedule shifted gear back to second round winners side matches.

Alex Pagulayan vs Sky Woodward photo by Shawn Beck-Cummings 

The first streamed match of the day saw Alex Pagulayan up against rising star Skyler Woodward. The young Kentucky native has had some major wins in 7 foot tournaments in the past years and was the Derby City Classic banks ring game champion in 2014. The titles have been piling up for Woodward but he is still somewhat of an unknown commodity in 9 foot rotation games. Today he made a statement in the 9 ball world with a big first round win against Pagulayan with an 11-8 scoreline. Also in first round winners side play yesterday morning, tournament favorites Johhny Archer, Earl Strickland and Karl Boyes advanced and Chinas Dang Jinhu advanced in a close 11-10 match with Donnie Mills.

Losers side afternoon action saw some tough match ups with Mosconi Cup hopeful Brandon Shuff going down in defeat against Rodney Morris. Haitao Liu, one of the top players from China defeated young Russian talent Ruslan Chinakov by a score of 11-9 and Adam Smith defeated Filipino star Israel Rota 11-7. Neils Feijen, Tony Drago and Alex Pagulayan advanced on the losers side after first round losses. Canadian Paul Potier lost 11-9 to Mike Delawder and will surely only get stronger in his return to major competitive play after recently taking some time away from the game.

The night session saw second round winners side matches in play and Canadian John Morra was up against American Joe Dupuis, who is a dangerous opponent with many strong finishes in tournaments on the East Coast. Morra played an excellent match missing only 1 ball! He struggled a little on the break but i will definitely tell you that he is not the only player that has not completely mastered the new breaking requirements at this years U.S. Open.

Morra held an early lead 6-2 and 7-3, and after his only miss in the match Dupuis took advantage and brought the score to 7-6 but Morra held strong and finished off the match with an 11-7 win. Other highlights from the late night winners side matches included relative unknown B. Shearer putting up another strong win after defeating Jeremy Jones in the first round. His second victory was against Jeremy Sossei, both scores were 11-10. Ernesto Dominguez also pulled off an upset against Ralf Soquet with an 11-7 win.

Today will be another full day of play. All four Canadian remaining in the tournament will be in action starting off with Klatt vs. Hjorleifson at 10:30 am. John Morra will play his 3rd round winners side match against Franciso Bustamante at 10:30 pm and Alex Pagulayan will continue his losers side run tomorrow as well. Check in tomorrow as Cue Sport Nation will continue with our daily updates throughout the tournament.