Wiktor Zielinski sits top of the Premier League Pool table after day one at US 1 Billiards, West Haven, Connecticut, live on Matchroom.live, DAZN in the United States and networks around the world, with three wins from three, keeping up a hot streak of form that saw him secure a WNT Ranking Event title over the weekend.
The Polish star dropped just five racks all day to 15 won, coming out of the traps emphatically with a whitewash 5-0 victory over Hanoi Open champion Jayson Shaw – the Brit playing in his home pool room in West Haven. Two-time Mosconi Cup MVP Skyler Woodward was next in the firing line, who fell to a 5-3 defeat on Table 1, live on Matchroom.live.
Zielinski finished the day defeating Spanish Open champion Dang Jin Hu 5-2 to continue a great string of form. The 23-year-old comes to Connecticut off the back of lifting the McDermott Classic WNT Ranking Event in Boston, Massachusetts on Sunday, and with it a $9,000 top prize.
He is joined at the top of Premier League Pool by Ko Pin Yi, who also enjoyed an unbeaten start to his campaign. The World Pool Master edged two hill-hill thrillers with Mario He and David Alcaide in the afternoon. His final opponent of the first day was five-time US Open Pool Championship winner Shane Van Boening, who himself had yet to lose a match against Nguyen Anh Tuan and Michael Feliciano, setting up a monster clash to close out play for the day.
Ko would lead by two before Van Boening replied with three racks to edge ahead. The match momentum then switched as Ko Pin Yi found his groove to get onto the hill, but not without a late twist of drama. With the American Van Boening at the table, a miss on the pink four allowed World Pool Master Ko to clean up the rack and take the points. Despite having won three matches each, Zielinski tops the day by virtue of rack difference.
©Matchroom Sport
Meanwhile it was a memorable day for 19-year-old Filipino prodigy Bernie Regalario, defeating two World Pool champions on his debut on American soil. L’il Prince admitted his disappointment at succumbing to a 5-2 defeat to Albin Ouschan in Table 2’s opener, live on the Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube channel, but showed the mentality of a champion by responding with two of the biggest scalps of the game.
Joshua Filler, returning to the main event of a World Nineball Tour event since securing the MVP award at the 30th Anniversary Mosconi Cup last December at Alexandra Palace, London, was first in line, with current World Pool champion, WNT #1 and defending Premier League Pool winner
next in line. The two champions fell 5-3 and 5-4 respectively, giving the young Filipino a major platform to build on heading into day two.
Premier League Pool returns on Tuesday, 19 March from 11 EST on Matchroom.live, DAZN in the United States and networks around the world. Find where you can watch in your country here.
For the first time in the event’s history, spectators are in attendance at US 1 Billiards, West Haven, Connecticut. General Admission tickets are available on the door and start from $40.
You can track the action on all 183 matches at Premier League Pool via the WNT Live Scores website. Sign up for a free account and receive access to the Mosconi Cup priority ticket window here.