Probably the most prestigious annual event on US soil, the US Open 2017, has set sails on last Sunday already. This event is also pretty interesting for many overseas players. Not only US players but also Europeans, Asians and players from the Middle East have joined in an amazing lineup of pool titans from all over the World. A total of around 140 players have paid their 1.000,- US$ entry fee in order to get a shot at the 40.000,- US$ first prize. A total of 75.000,- US$ are added to the entry fees to get an amount of over 200.000,- US$ to be paid out to the contestants.
From the European angle, the tournament has its ups and downs so far. The Europeans are represented by the following nations and numbers:
| ALB | 2 |
| AUT | 2 |
| ESP | 3 |
| EST | 1 |
| FIN | 5 |
| GBR | 5 |
| GER | 5 |
| GRE | 2 |
| IRL | 1 |
| MNE | 1 |
| NED | 3 |
| POL | 3 |
| RUS | 1 |
| SCO | 1 |
| SRB | 2 |
| Total | 37 |
This includes European players that are permanently residing in the US such as Darren Appleton, Thorsten Hohmann, Jayson Shaw, etc.
So far, the first casualties who are already out of the event are Nikolin (SRB), Mscisz (POL), Kazakis (GRE), Siekkinen (FIN), De Ruyter (NED) and Giallourakis (GRE).
In the loser’s round, we have the following matches for survival: Marc Vidal (ESP) v Karen Corr (IRL). Juha Mallinen (FIN) v Can Wang (CHN). Imran Majid (GBR) v Reymart Lim (USA). Ruslan Chinakhov (RUS) v John Moody (USA). Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) v Haoxing Han (CHN). Nick van den Berg (NED) v Kun-Lin Wu (TPE). Petri Makkonen (FIN) v Allen Hopkins (USA). Benji Buckley (GBR) v Dennis Orcollo (PHI). David Alcaide (ESP) v Jiaqing Wu (CHN). Milos Verkic (SRB) v Bradley Shearer (USA). Mika Immonen (FIN) v Brett Stottlemyer (USA). Nick Malai (ALB) v Alex Borukhovich (USA). Ralf Souquet (GER) v Casper Matikainen (FIN). Denis Grabe (EST) v K. Cheng (USA). Can Salim (GER) v Yu-Lung Chang (TPE). Geronimo Weissenberger (GER) v Skyler Woodward (USA).
Waiting for an opponent on the loser’s side are Mario He (AUT), Joshua Filler (GER), Radoslaw Babica (POL), Chris Melling (GBR) and Niels Feijen (NED).
On the winner’s side, there are also several European left who wave their flag up high. They have the following matches to come up: Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (ESP) v Li-Wen Lo (TPE). Darren Appleton (GBR) v Eklent Kaci (ALB). Albin Ouschan (AUT) v Corey Duel (USA). Thorsten Hohmann (GER) v John Morra (CAN). Jayson Shaw (SCO) v Yukio Akagariyama (JPN).
So far, the balance sheet for the Europeans does not look so bad at all. With only 6 out of 37 players out of the event, chances are still there for a European triumph here at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. The upcoming days will determine whether our Euro-boys (and girl) can snatch the trophy and win this coveted title and prevent superstar Shane van Boeing (USA) to grab it for a 6th time after 2007, 2012, 2013, 2013 and 2016.
The EPBF will follow the path of the European players and keep you updated on the EPBF Facebook page with results, statements, interviews, pictures and more. Check out our page if you want to be part of the action. For watching the event LIVE on the internet, you can get pay-per-view access at http://www.accu-stats.com/
