2023 U.S. Open Pool Championship
The 2023 U.S. Open Pool Championship was the 46th edition of the U.S. Open Pool Championship. Organized by Matchroom Pool as part of the World Nineball Tour (WNT), the tournament took place from September 25 to 30, 2023, at Harrah's Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Chinese Taipei's Ko Ping-chung won his maiden U.S. Open title by defeating Fedor Gorst 13–6 in the final match. Ko earned the $50,000 first-place prize out of a total tournament purse of $300,000.
Format
The tournament featured a 256-player open field comprising international professionals and qualifiers. The tournament was executed across two main phases:
- Opening Phase (25–28 September): A double-elimination tournament format was utilized until the field was narrowed down to the final 64 players.
- Knockout Phase (29–30 September): The remaining 64 players competed in a single-elimination knockout bracket.
Matches in the final single-elimination stages were played as a race to 10 racks, with the semi-finals played as a race to 11, and culminating in a race-to-13 championship final.
Tournament summary
Defending champion Francisco Sánchez Ruiz was eliminated in the round of 32 following a 10–5 defeat to Poland's Daniel Maciol.
Ko Ping-chung advanced to the final by scoring knockout victories over Alexander Kazakis (10–8), Jeffrey de Luna (10–3), Joshua Filler (10–5), Max Lechner (10–6), and Aloysius Yapp (11–0) in the semi-finals. Fedor Gorst reached the final after overcoming Billy Thorpe (10–4), Sanjin Pehlivanović (10–6), Carlo Biado (10–7), Robbie Capito (10–7), and Aleksa Pecelj (11–6) in the semi-finals.
In the final match, Ko Ping-chung established an early lead and pulled away to secure a 13–6 victory over Gorst to take the title.
Prize fund
The total prize pool for the event was $300,000, distributed as follows:
Placement |
Prize Money (USD) |
|---|---|
Winner |
$50,000 |
Runner-up |
$25,000 |
Semi-finalists (×2) |
$13,000 |
Quarter-finalists (×4) |
$6,750 |
Last 16 (×8) |
$4,500 |
Last 32 (×16) |
$3,000 |
Last 64 (×32) |
$1,750 |
Total Prize Fund |
$300,000 |
Final stages bracket
The results from the quarter-final stage onwards are shown below: