Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famer Mika Immonen certainly didn’t make things easy on himself.
Playing in his first match of the Apex Wisconsin Open, Immonen was upset by rising young American Sam Henderson in a shootout. After Henderson won the first set, 4-2, the former two-time United States Open 9-Ball champion stormed back to win the second set, 4-1, and force a shootout. Henderson held the steadier hand in the extra-frame spot shot contest, pocketing three balls while Immonen could only manage two.
Now playing on the one-loss side against Evan Lunda and trying to avoid early elimination, the former World 9-Ball champion again split the sets and headed to a shootout. This time, however, the Hall of Famer was able to preserve, defeating the American in the penalty shot frame to remain in the hunt at the 64-player, double-elimination event at Ho-Chunk Gaming in the Wisconsin Dells. Immonen will now face American Nakia Guyton Thursday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. local time.
Mika Immonen(R) vs Evan Lunda (L)｜©Pro Billiard Series
After he took an early lead in the opening rack, Lunda appeared to be in position to tie the score but misplayed position on the 7 ball and was forced to kick, leaving an opening for his opponent to clear the table. After adding another rack to build a 3-0 lead, Lunda climbed onto the scoreboard with a combination shot on the 10 ball but failed to pocket a ball on the break in the following game, allowing Immonen to clear the table and claim the opening set, 4-1.
Lunda drew first blood in the second set when his opponent missed the 4 ball but allowed Immonen to tie the set when he missed the 2 ball in the corner pocket in the next game. Lunda gutted out the third rack to reclaim the lead, then took advantages back-to-back successful safeties to close out the set, 4-1, and send the match to a shootout.
In the extra frame, Immonen pocketed three straight spot shots while Lunda could only manage to land one.
Kazakis (R) and Anh Nguyen Tuan (L)｜©Pro Billiard Series
Meanwhile, defending champion Alex Kazakis of Greece stumbled in the next round against Vietnam’s Anh Nguyen Tuan, losing the first set 4-3, then rallying to claim the second set, 4-1, before falling in a sudden-death shootout, 4-3. The Greek, who easily defeated American Guido Joost in straight sets in his opening match, now moves to the one-loss side of the bracket, where he will face Kyrgyzstan’s Iliyas Adamov at 2:30 p.m. local time.
On the winner’s side of the bracket, Canada’s John Morra went the distance in each set of his second-round match against Jeremy Sossei to defeat American, 4-3, 4-3.
After Morra jumped out to an early 2-1 advantage, Sossei tied the score with a successful combination shot on the 10 ball, then took the lead with a victorious safety exchange after the break. The American had a chance to clinch the set but failed to pocket a ball on the break in the sixth rack, allowing Morra to use a safety exchange and a break-and-run to steal the opening set.
Joshua Filler｜©Pro Billiard Series
Morra was plagued with positional problems throughout the next frame, allowing his opponent to grab a commanding 3-0 lead before a scratch on the break allowed him to climb on the scoreboard. Now leading 3-1 with a chance to close out the set and send the match to a shootout, Sossei missed a sharp cut on the 3 ball into the side pocket that allowed the Canadian to pull to within a single rack. He then used safety exchanges in consecutive games to come from behind and steal the second set and remain undefeated.
In other notable matches, former World 9-Ball champion Joshua Filler cruised by Donald Adams, 4-2, 4-0, then defeated LJ Briesath, 4-0, 4-2. Reigning Derby City Classic Master of the Table Fedor Gorst also took down American Jeffrey Jandrt, 4-1, 4-1, in the first round and took down Tarek Hamdan, 4-0, 4-2 in the following round.
The second day of competition for the men continues at 2:30 p.m. local time for the men and the women’s Apex Wisconsin Open starts at 9 a.m. local time, with Kristina Tkach of Russia matching up against Mayte Ropero of Spain, Canada’s Brittany Bryant taking on Veronika Ivanovskaia of Germany and reigning Alfa Las Vegas Open champion Seo Seoa meeting American upstart Kennedy Meyman. Later in the evening, the competitors who were granted opening-round byes – including Hall of Famers Kelly and Allison Fisher and reigning World Women’s 9-Ball champion Chieh-Yu Chou – begin play.
©Pro Billiard Series
The Apex Wisconsin Open is the second tournament of the season for this year’s Predator Pro Billiards Series schedule. The Pro Billiard Series is a series of open, professional events held around the world to provide more opportunities for professional and aspiring pool players to compete in high-quality events, earn more income, sharpen their skills, and earn their way into the Predator World 10-Ball Championship held in Las Vegas each year as part of the CueSports International Expo.
Watch Live on World Billiard TV YouTube channel, Billiard TV and at tv.kozoom.com
Brackets and scores can be found at https://probilliardseries.com/
Follow @probilliardseries on Facebook, @probilliardseries on Instagram or @PBilliardSeries on Twitter.
Mika Immonen｜©Pro Billiard Series
2023 美洲豹美國職撞系列賽第二站於威斯康辛州的 Ho-Chunk 賭場酒店開打。BCA 名人堂球員，芬蘭名將 Mika Immonen 在首戰贏來美國未來之星 Sam Henderson 的挑戰，Mika Immonen 2-4 丟掉首盤後，第二盤以 4-1 拿下並進入點球大然，Henderson 在點球大戰中發揮穩定，以 3-2 擊敗對手， Immonen 則慘吞首敗。緊接著 Immonen 在敗部對上 Evan Lunda，同為一敗的兩人都試圖地避免自己早早就慘遭淘汰。這次 Immonen 率先贏下首盤 (4-1)，然而第二盤隨後被 Lunda 以 4-1 拿下，Immonen 再次進入點球決勝，此次 Immonen 再點球中連進三球，而他的對手僅僅打進一球，終場 Immonen 憑藉點球勝出並倖免於被淘汰的出局。
衛冕冠軍 Alex Kazakis 首場以直落二擊敗美國選手 Guido Joost 後，第二場迎戰越南選手 Anh Nguyen Tuan；Kazakis 3-4 輸掉第一盤後，將第二盤 4-1 拿下，雙方打成平手進入點球大戰；最終 Kazakis 在點球的以 3-4 丟掉該盤輸掉比賽，Kazakis 下一場的對手將是來是吉爾吉斯的 Iliyas Adamov。
John Morra breaks｜©Pro Billiard Series
John Morra 在勝部以兩個 4-3 直落二打敗 Jeremy Sossei (美國) 進入勝部資格賽，Morra 下一場將對上烏克蘭新生代球員 Vitaliy Patsura。前 9號球世界冠軍 Joshua Filler 與俄羅斯好手 Fedor Gorst 都兩場比賽均以直落二贏得比賽，雙雙晉級下一輪。
威斯康辛男子公開賽開打同時，女子公開賽也將於美國當地時間 5/18 上午 9點正式展開。Kristina Tkach (俄羅斯) 首戰將對陣西班牙選手 Mayte Ropero，拉斯維加斯公開賽冠軍 “南韓小天后” 徐序亞 (Seo Seoa) 則將出戰美國選手 Kennedy Meyman。台灣選手方面，江水淨 vs Stephanie Mitchell (美國)、蘇憶雲 vs Sara Rocha (葡萄牙)、王婉菱 vs Skylar Hess (美國)。
賽事直播方面，主桌可於 World Billiard TV YouTube頻道與 Billiard TV 觀看，所有比賽桌次則可於 tv.kozoom.com 上付費收看。(與台灣時差 -13 小時。)
簽表、賽果 & 即時比分 Brackets and Live scores