Home favourite Jayson Shaw crashed out of the 2023 UK Open Pool Championship at the Copper Box Arena, London as World Snooker Tour star Gary Wilson and other Brit Chris Melling shone to reach the Last 16 live on Sky Sports in the UK, DAZN in the USA, Viaplay in Scandinavia, Baltics, Netherlands and Poland as well as Sport 1 in Germany and Matchroom.Live in countries without a broadcaster.
Shaw came up against a fierce competitor in Ko Ping Chung who was all to strong for the Brit as he powered through to the final stages 10-2 to end the dream of a big win on home soil. There is plenty of hope for Britain’s Wilson and Melling though who came through testing days to book maiden weekend berths a the UK Open. Wilson playing in only his third-ever World Nineball Tour event got the win of his journey so far with a 10-6 triumph over Naoyuki Oi before dismantling Anthony Brabin 10-4 to set up a tantalising tie with Francisco Sanchez Ruiz tomorrow afternoon.
Melling meanwhile got the better of Niels Feijen in one of the matches of the week to reach the Last 16 and meet Ko Ping Chung next. The tie ebbed and flowed in a hill-hill finish that came down to the final knocking with Feijen left with two balls to steal it from under Melling‘s nose only to see his eight ball wide of the mark and leave the Brit with a tough effort from more or less on the rail to secure victory. Former Mosconi Cup MVP Melling obliged with a scream of relief to reach the weekend.
Gary Wilson｜©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Defending champion Joshua Filler made a huge statement to reach the Last 16 with a ground-out winner over Luong Duc Thien in the Last 64 before the biggest win to date this week for the German thumping 2021 US Open winner Carlo Biado 10-1 to reach the next stage. Next up for Filler will be Riku Romppanen who has made his own piece of history becoming the youngest-ever player to reach the Last 16 of a Matchroom Major with the 15-year-old triumphing over compatriot Petri Makkonen to get it done.
WNT No.1 Sanchez Ruiz joins Filler in the final stages after the World Champion battled to a win over Wiktor Zielinski 10-6 before an assertive win against Canada’s Alex Pagulayan 10-4. Freshly-crowned World Pool Masters winner Ko Pin Yi joined Sanchez Ruiz in the Last 16 with his own statement win in the Last 32 against Aleksa Pecelj who reached the final stages last year. Eklent Kaci booked the final spot in the Last 16 to knock out London local and Brit Imran Majid late in the day 10-7.
USA hopes are well and truly alive and kicking with no fewer than three players flying the star-spangled banner in Shane Van Boening who has somewhat gone under the radar this week beating Nguyễn Anh Tuấn and Denis Grabe dropping only five racks in the process whilst Skyler Woodward sidestepped past German pair Fitim Haradinaj and Ralf Souquet to keep right in the running. Shane Wolford will make his debut in the Last 16 as his stock continues to rise with wins against Marcel Price and Mario He respectively.
©Taka G. Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport
Earlier on in the day, there were some notable omissions from the last 32, with Fedor Gorst missing out. Gorst ran out a 6-0 lead over Chinese Taipei star Ping Chung – who turned the tie around for a 10-7 win. World Pool Championship finalist Mohammad Soufi was beaten 10-8 by Switzerland’s Michael Schneider, whilst Singaporean star Aloysius Yapp crashed out at the hands of Grabe.
David Alcaide booked his spot in the next round at the expense of Vietnam’s Duong Quoc Hoang – but the biggest shock of the round came across at table 10. World Pool Masters semi-finalist James Aranas, who had looked dominant in his earlier tournament showings, was brushed aside 10-1 by the veteran Feijen.
Only the top three of the top ten on World Nineball Tour remain in the tournament with Alexander Kazakis, Albin Ouschan falling earlier before Max Lechner, He, Shaw, Zielinski, and Feijen joining them on day four.
The inaugural JS Junior Open also got underway alongside the main action in the Copper Box Arena. Juniors aged 17 and under all came to London hoping to make a name for themselves as an up-and-coming superstar. With host Shaw watching on and welcoming, action was fast-paced as they compete for their part of the $10,000 prize fund as well as a free spot in the 2024 UK Open.
All players were provided with a free jersey from partners Onboard Sportswear as well as welcome pack that included tips and chalk from KAMUI. The final of the JS Junior Open will be live-streamed live on the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel thanks to the partners mentioned above and Cuetec, Diamond Billiards, Iwan Simonis, and Aramith Balls.
Match Schedule
TV Table
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (2) (ESP) vs Gary Wilson (GBR) (94)
Joshua Filler (GER) (1) vs Riku Romppanen (FIN) (70)
Table 1
Ko Ping Chung (TPE) (27) vs Chris Melling (GBR) (43)
Skyler Woodward (USA) (21) vs Kyle Amoroto (PHI) (112)
Shane Van Boening (USA) (3) vs Eklent Kaci (ALB) (14)
Table 2
Ko Pin Yi (TPE) (13) vs Moritz Neuhausen (GER) (29)
Francesco Candela (ITA) (59) vs Dimitiris Loukatos (GRE) (60)
Mieszko Fortunski (POL) (25) vs Shane Wolford (USA) (38)
Session Times – UK time
Saturday, 3 June – 12 pm – 4:30 pm / 6 pm – 10:30 pm
Sunday, 4 June – 12 pm – 4:30 pm / 6 pm – 9:30 pm
Betting Markets
Match odds are available daily through online gaming websites with outright odds for the 2023 UK Open Pool Championship also available. Outright odds are available online with Filler and Van Boening at 7/1 with Sanchez Ruiz at 15/2. Pin Yi and Ping Chung are 10/1 and 14/1 respectively. Melling could be found at 33/1 earlier today.
Live rack-by-rack scoring is available throughout the event at www.matchroompool.com thanks to our partner PRP.
Watch
The final two days are live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland with fans in the USA, Italy and Brazil able to watch on DAZN whilst those in Scandinavia, Baltics, Netherlands and Poland able to sweat the action on Viaplay. Those in Germany, Austria and Switzerland can see the final two days on Sport1 whilst fans in the Philippines able to watch in TAP Go.
See where to watch in your country here.
Tickets
Tickets are available from £15 a day to enjoy the action inside one of London’s most historic sporting venues. Tickets are limited for the weekend. Buy tickets here.