Lion Roars at Partypoker US Open 9-ball Championship

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Alex ‘The Lion’ Pagulayan will meet Jeff De Luna in the quarter-finals of the partypoker US Open 9-Ball Championship after both came through gripping last-16 matches at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino Convention Centre, Las Vegas, live on Sky Sports and DAZN.

Pagulayan, the 2005 US Open Champion, defeated Aloysuis Yapp in a hill-hill thriller which was exactly that – an entertaining battle which twisted and turned throughout.

It was Yapp who reached the hill first, at 8-10. However, the Singapore sensation missed on the 6 to allow Pagulayan what should have been a routine run-out. The Canadian misjudged the bounce off the rail playing position on the 9 but played an inch-perfect bank to the right middle to pull within one. A runout took him to the hill and he then played a controlled decided rack to complete the comeback and progress to the last eight, to the delight of the packed Diamond Arena.

2019 US Open 9-Ball Championship - Last 16 Alex Pagulayan defeated Aloysuis Yapp

Earlier, Jeff De Luna saw off England’s Imran Majid to set up a quarter-final against a familiar foe in the form of Pagulayan. The Filipino had trailed for most of the match but from 8-5 down found his form to win six of the following seven racks to take the match.

“I was really happy to win,” said De Luna. “This week I feel like my game had been at 95% but today I felt pressure at the start of the match. I got comfortable with the speed of the table and was able to come back. Imran was playing well, I have played him before but this was the best I have seen him play so I was really happy to be able to come back.

“I play Alex all the time in the Philippines in money games so I am very comfortable against him. He is a great player, a World Champion, but the table is anybody’s during a game situation.”

2019 US Open 9-Ball Championship - Last 16 Jeffrey De Luna defeated Imran Majid

LAST 16 FIXTURES:

April 24, Session 1 (9am)
Jayson Shaw 4-11 Joshua Filler
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 11-4 Ko Ping-Chung

April 24, Session 2 (1.30pm)
Jeffrey De Luna 11-9 Imran Majid
Alex Pagulayan 11-10 Aloysuis Yapp

April 24, Session 3 (6pm)
Hsu Kai-Lun vs. Lui Haitao
Chang Yu-Lung vs. Jeffrey Ignacio

April 25, Session 1 (9am)
Hsu Jui-An vs. Wang Can
Shane van Boening vs. Wu Jiaqing

Play continues with two more last-16 matches scheduled for Wednesday. All matches at the partypoker US Open 9-Ball Championship are race to 11, winner breaks, except the final which is race to 13. Live scores are available now at www.matchroompool.com.

Players are playing for their share of a $300,000 tournament purse. The winner will take home $50,000, the famous US Open green jacket and the newly-commissioned Barry Behrman trophy.

Tickets for the 43rd partypoker US Open 9-Ball Championship are still available at www.matchroompool.com from as little as $10 with VIP packages also available for the final three days of the tournament.