U.S. Open Pool Championship

Chesapeake Conference Center, site of the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship from 1997 to 2011

The U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships is an annual professional men's nine-ball pool tournament that began in its current form in 1976. The U.S. Open is one of the most sought-after titles in nine-ball and in pool generally. Traditionally, winners of the U.S. Open are given a green blazer and are awarded free entry fees to all future U.S. Open tournaments.

The Women's U.S. Open is a separate event, sanctioned by the Women's Professional Billiard Association (WPBA).

History[]

In its first official edition in 1976, the U.S. Open was contested by just 16 players. Over the years, the number of participants steadily increased, reaching its current level of 256 players.^[1]

The tournament is a male-only event, though it is otherwise a true "open" tournament, in that the only requirement is the payment of the entry fee, which was $1000 in 2015. The total purse for the tournament at that time was $200,000, where the winner was awarded $40,000.

Original U.S. Open promoter (right) with of (left) at the 2004 event.

The tournament's original venue was Q-Master Billiards pool hall, in Norfolk, Virginia, which hosted the event, other than one year, from 1976 until 1988.^[2] From 1997 to 2011, the U.S. Open Men's Division was held at the Chesapeake Conference Center in Chesapeake, Virginia.^[2] Q-Masters is still involved in the tournament.^[3]

Original promoter Barry Behrman died on April 23, 2016. His children, Brady Behrman and Shannon Behrman Paschall, took over operating the tournament until 2018, when it was sold to Matchroom Sport, who moved it to Las Vegas.^[4]

Format[]

The tournament format is essentially double-elimination (a player is out of the tournament after losing two matches) until two players remain. Most professional pool "double-elimination" events, however, are not true double-elimination formats, where the player who reaches the finals from the loser's side has to defeat the winner's side player twice for the title.

As of 2021, the tournament reverts to single-elimination from the last 16 onwards. At the U.S. Open, matches are played in races to 11, with the winner breaking. However, the final match, as is customary with most professional nine-ball tournaments today, is one extended race. At the U.S. Open, the extended race in the finals is 13 racks.

Past champions[]

Men[]

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Venue
2021	Carlo Biado	Aloysius Yapp	Harrah’s Resort, Atlantic City, NJ
2020	not held
2019	Joshua Filler	Wu Jia-qing	Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas, NA
2018	not held
	Jayson Shaw	Eklent Kaci	Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel, Norfolk, VA
2016	Shane Van Boening (5)	Chang Jung-Lin	Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel, Norfolk, VA
2015	Cheng Yu-hsuan	Karl Boyes	Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel, Norfolk, VA
	Shane Van Boening (4)	Dennis Orcollo	Marriott Chesapeake, Norfolk, VA
	Shane Van Boening (3)	Lee Vann Corteza	Marriott Chesapeake, Norfolk, VA
	Shane Van Boening (2)	Dennis Orcollo	Holiday Inn Virginia Beach Norfolk, VA
	Darren Appleton (2)		Chesapeake Conference Center, VA
2010	Darren Appleton	Corey Deuel	Chesapeake Conference Center, VA
2009	Mika Immonen (2)	Ralf Souquet	Chesapeake Conference Center, VA
2008	Mika Immonen	Ronnie Alcano	Chesapeake Conference Center, VA
2007	Shane Van Boening	Ronnie Alcano	Chesapeake Conference Center, VA
2006	John Schmidt	Rodolfo Luat	Chesapeake Conference Center, VA
2005	Alex Pagulayan	Jose Parica	Chesapeake Conference Center, VA
2004		Thorsten Hohmann	Chesapeake Conference Center, VA
2003	Jeremy Jones	Jose Parica	Chesapeake Conference Center, VA
2002	Ralf Souquet	Alex Pagulayan	Chesapeake Conference Center, VA
2001	Corey Deuel	Mika Immonen	Chesapeake Conference Center, VA
2000	Earl Strickland (5)	Takeshi Okumura	Chesapeake Conference Center, VA
1999	Johnny Archer	Jeremy Jones	Chesapeake Conference Center, VA
1998	Buddy Hall (2)		Chesapeake Conference Center, VA
1997	Earl Strickland (4)	Efren Reyes	Chesapeake Conference Center, VA
1996	Rodney Morris	Efren Reyes	Virginia Beach Convention Center, VA
1995	Reed Pierce	Efren Reyes	Holiday Inn, Chesapeake, VA
1994	Efren Reyes	Nick Varner	Holiday Inn, Chesapeake, VA
1993	Earl Strickland (3)	Tony Ellin	Holiday Inn, Chesapeake, VA
1992		Johnny Archer	Holiday Inn, Chesapeake, VA
1991	Buddy Hall		Holiday Inn, Chesapeake, VA
1990	Nick Varner (2)	Johnny Archer	Lake Wright Hotel, Norfolk, VA
1989	Nick Varner	Kim Davenport	Lake Wright Hotel, Norfolk, VA
1988	Mike Lebrón	Nick Varner	Q-Master Billiards, Norfolk, VA
1987	Earl Strickland (2)	Jim Rempe	Q-Master Billiards, Norfolk, VA
1986	(2)	Allen Hopkins	Q-Master Billiards, Norfolk, VA
1985	Jimmy Reid	Mike Lebrón	Q-Master Billiards, Norfolk, VA
1984	Earl Strickland	Mike Sigel	Lake Wright Hotel, Norfolk, VA
1983	Mike Sigel (3)		Q-Master Billiards, Norfolk, VA
1982			Q-Master Billiards, Norfolk, VA
1981	Allen Hopkins (2)	Mike Sigel	Q-Master Billiards, Norfolk, VA
1980	Mike Sigel (2)	Ray Martin	Q-Master Billiards, Norfolk, VA
1979		Steve Mizerak	Q-Master Billiards, Norfolk, VA
1978	Steve Mizerak	Jim Rempe	Q-Master Billiards, Norfolk, VA
1977	Allen Hopkins	Unknown	Q-Master Billiards, Norfolk, VA
1976	Mike Sigel	Unknown	Q-Master Billiards, Norfolk, VA

Records[]

• Earl Strickland and Shane Van Boening, all from the U.S., share the record for winning the Men's U.S. Open the most times: five. Strickland in 1984, 1987, 1993, 1997, and 2000. Van Boening in 2007, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2016.^[5]
• Van Boening holds the record for the most consecutive wins: three. (2012, 2013, 2014).
• Van Boening is the winner of the largest first-place prize ever offered at the event, for the time, with a prize of $50,000, in 2007. Van Boening remained undefeated in the field of 233 players, beating Ronato Alcano 13–10 in the final.^[6]
• The oldest pool player to ever win the men's tournament to date is Mike Lebrón of Puerto Rico, 54 years old at the time of his victory. The youngest is Joshua Filler of Germany, aged 21 years old at the time of his victory.^[7]

Top Performers[]

Rank	Name	Nationality	Winner	Runner-up	Finals
1	Shane Van Boening	United States	5	0	5
	Earl Strickland	United States	5	0	5
2	Mike Sigel	United States	3	2	5
3	Nick Varner	United States	2	1	3
	Allen Hopkins	United States	2	1	3
		United States	2	1	3
	Mika Immonen	Finland	2	1	3
4	Darren Appleton	United Kingdom	2	0	2
	Buddy Hall	United States	2	0	2
5	Efren Reyes	Philippines	1	3	4
6	Johnny Archer	United States	1	2	3
7	Alex Pagulayan	Canada	1	1	2
	Corey Deuel	United States	1	1	2
	Jeremy Jones	United States	1	1	2
	Ralf Souquet	Germany	1	1	2
	Mike Lebrón	Puerto Rico	1	1	2
	Steve Mizerak	United States	1	1	2

• Active players are shown in bold.

Women[]

Unlike the men's tournament, the U.S. Open is not a true "open" event. Each female player must qualify through the Women's Professional Billiard Association, the professional women's billiards tour based in the United States, in order to compete in this annual event.

Year	Winner
2016	Ga-young Kim (4)[8]
2012	Allison Fisher (6)[9][10]
2011	Allison Fisher[9][10]
2010	Ga-young Kim (3)[8]
2009	Ga-young Kim[8]
2008	Kelly Fisher[11]
2007	Allison Fisher[9][10]
2006	Allison Fisher[9][10]
2005	Allison Fisher[9][10]
2004	Ga-young Kim[8]
2003	Karen Corr[12]
2002
1999	Allison Fisher[9][10]
1994	Jeanette Lee[13]
1992
1991	Ewa Laurance[14]
1990
1989	Loree Jon Jones
1988	Ewa Laurance (2)[14]

References[]

External links[]

• US Open official website