Ko Ping Chung and Fedor Gorst will contest the 46th US Open Pool Championship final at Harrah's Resort, Atlantic City - live on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom & Ireland and DAZN in the United States - after a history-making afternoon in New Jersey.
Appearing in his first-ever Matchroom major semi-final, Aleksa Pecelj took the moment in before walking into the arena. Opposite him stood Fedor Gorst, arriving to a rapturous ovation from the American crowd.
There was clear indication as to who the crowd was rooting for, but Pecelj was able to brush off and focus by establishing an early lead. The Serb brought out the spectacular, showcased with a fantastic full-table jump shot when hooked on the 1-ball to allow him to clean up the table. 1-0 down quickly became 5-1, and the 23-year-old looked to have established control.
But the man in the opposite corner was no ordinary player. 2019 World 9-ball champion Gorst has a plethora of experience despite his young age. In taking the seventh rack following a scratch from Pecelj, the ‘Ghost’ could settle into the match and find his rhythm on the grey baize.
What followed was domination as he clicked into gear. Across the next 11 racks, Gorst won 10 of them, as Pecelj could barely feature at the table. Even by his standards, this was an exceptional display by Gorst to see out an 11-6 victory and reach his maiden US Open Pool Championship final.
The same script wasn’t followed in the second semi-final, where Shark’s International Open winner, Ko Ping Chung, met 2021 US Open runner-up Aloysius Yapp. Despite a range of top-level experience across the globe, Chinese Taipei’s World Cup of Pool star Ko had never reached the final after losing out to Max Lechner hill-hill in last year’s semi-final.
He wasn’t in the mood to repeat history, producing one of the most dominant performances in the history of the World Nineball Tour. Yapp could only sit and admire as Ko dictated proceedings throughout, barely giving the Singaporean a sniff.
Making the one in the side pocket, in every single rack, the Chinese Taipei star produced seven break and runs – more than the total number of shots Yapp had in the entire match. From 11 racks, Ko Ping Chung has pocketed all 108 balls in this race to 11. Yapp had zero. One of the most one-sided clinics you will ever see on the World Nineball Tour.
Match Schedule
Sunday 30th September – 4:30pm Eastern
Final – Fedor Gorst v Ko Ping Chung (TPE) – Race to 13
LIVE SCORES
WHERE TO WATCH
Saturday, 30th September August – 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm
Sky Sports Arena – United Kingdom and Ireland
DAZN – USA, Brazil & Spain
Viaplay – Baltics, Scandinavia, Poland, Netherlands
Nova – Czech Republic, Slovakia
Sportklub – Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia
TAP – Philippines
VCT – Vietnam
Starhub – Singapore
Supersport – South Africa & Sub-Saharan Africa
AMC – Hungary
Fox Sports – Australia
Reddentes – Indonesia & Chinese Taipei
Matchroom.Live – Rest of the World
Matchroom Pool and Multi Sport YouTube – Rest of the World
Matchroom.Live for the rest of the world.. Adam Clapham Matchroom Multi Sport