World 10-Ball Championships Underway

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World 10-ball Championships Underway

World 10-ball Championships / Jacksonville, FL
by Rick Davis
The World 10-ball Championships got underway May 24 at Bank Shots in Jacksonville, FL, and will continue until Sunday, May 27. The event has a full 96-player field that spans top touring national and international pros, as well as a host of others who were able to throw their hat in the ring.
Starting with double-elimination play the 96-player field will reach the top 16 on Saturday when the players will be randomly shuffled into a single-elimination chart for which the top 8 will return for the event’s final day of play. The long races to 10, paired with the alternating-break format, are helping to hold off any lopsided matches, although it is keeping the event moving at anything but a rapid pace.
Action on the first day saw the field’s two youngest players, Landon Shuffett and John Morra, stay alive on the one-loss side. Morra headed west quickly after a 10-7 defeat by Wayne Catledge, while Shuffett took an early win before heading over. Another young gun is Germany’s Fabian Breuer, who also took a first-round win before getting the axe 10-8 by Niels Feijen.
Not everyone was begging for scraps at the table, though, as Northeast terror Mike Davis defeated Dave Broxson and Raj Hundal bested Steve Moore, both matches going double-hill. In the previous round Moore had cut down top pro Santos Sambajon Jr. 10-5, though now an uphill battle is ahead. Other notables include Shane Van Boening, who crushed Alvaro Valientie 10-2 and Ignacio Chavez, who drilled Russian world-beater Evgeny Stalev 10-4.
Play starts early and runs late in order to thin out the big field, so stay tuned to insidepoolmag.com for the latest news and updates.