Stuart Bingham launched his Nineball career in sublime fashion as the 2015 World Snooker champion got the better of Lo Ho Sum and Sullivan Clark to reach Winners Qualification at the 2023 European Open Pool Championship in Fulda, Germany on day two live on DAZN in the USA and networks worldwide.
Bingham was pushed for large parts of his opening contest with former World Pool Masters finalist Lo before pulling ahead at 5-5 to a 9-5 win. A match-up with New Zealand World Cup of Pool representative Clark next if he was to ensure a safe passage to tomorrow's Winners Qualification.
Clark struggled to cope with Bingham's potting prowess as he ran into an early ascendancy. Bingham, who has followed Nineball for some time, looked right at home as he cleared up for a 9-1 victory and two-time Mosconi Cup MVP Skyler Woodward in his way to reach the Last 64 at the first time of asking.
Woodward meanwhile made tough work of his afternoon Winners Round assignment in Damien Massey for the tie with Bingham. The Bluegrass Bad Ass was made to sweat despite amassing an early lead before being pegged back to 8-7 in a cagey affair. For Woodward, though, it was a relief having had to find his way through the losers' side in the previous two tournaments to make the final stages.
World Nineball Tour No.1 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz downed Jani Siekkinen in under half an hour 9-0 before seeing off Giuseppe Iacobucci 9-4 to set up a tie with Emil-Andre Gangflot tomorrow for the last 64. The shock of the day came in recent Sharks International 9-Ball Open champion Ko Ping Chung losing his Winners Round 1 contest with Can Salim 9-4 to head to the losers half, where victory over Kalin-Feliks Stefanov of Bulgaria kept his tournament alive.
Mosconi Cup legend and veteran of the pool scene Oliver Ortmann won his opening match of the tournament before coming up against current WNT number six Mario He; where it was tough going as he kept close before the Austrian blew him away for 9-6. Ortmann was then knocked out by Ashik Nathwani of India 8-6.
Other Headlines
2021 World Cup of Pool winner with Germany Christoph Reintjes progressed to Losers Round 3
South Korea's Seo Seoa knocked out Maltese veteran Tony Drago 8-7
Chang Yu-Lung lost out hill-hill to Do The Kien meaning the former US Open semi-finalist was sent home
Session Times
The European Open Championship will take place from August 8-13.
All times are local (CEST)
8-11 August – from 10 am daily
12 August – 12 pm – 4:30 pm / 6:30 pm – 11:00 pm
13 August – 12 pm – 4:30 pm / 6 pm – 9 pm
The top 128 players in the field were seeded based on the 2023 World Nineball Tour Rankings, with Round 1 matches taking place over the opening two days.
Outright betting markets priced up Joshua Filler as the odds-on favourite at 8/1 alongside Shane Van Boening, with Sanchez Ruiz at 10/1 and World Pool Masters champion Ko Pin Yi at 14/1 Full odds are available on various online gaming websites.
Live rack-by-rack scoring will be available throughout the event at www.matchroompool.com, thanks to our partners PRP.
Wherever you are in the world, you will be able to sweat the action with broadcasters globally and live on the Matchroom Pool and Multi Sport YouTube channels in selected territories and on Matchroom.Live. UK and Ireland-based fans can see the final two days on Sky Sports, with the opening four on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom YouTube. Fans in the USA will be able to watch all six days live on DAZN, whilst those in Scandinavia, the Baltics, Poland, and Netherlands can watch live on Viaplay.
Fans in the Philippines, meanwhile will be able to sweat the action on TAP Go and those in Vietnam on VietContent channels. Those in Germany can see the final two days on Sport1.
Matt Lynch Matchroom Multi Sport
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