Feijen Advances Over Hundal

Feijen Advances Over Hundal
U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships / Chesapeake, VA

by Lea Andrews

Niels Feijen, who fell in round one to Ramil Gallego 11-8, blew past Curtis Coleman 11-0 to face Raj Hundal in a tight elimination-round match on day four of the 34th Annual U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships. Feijen is one of the field of 216 that is gathered at the Chesapeake Conference Center in Chesapeake, VA, October 18-24, though that field is steadily dwindling.

Feijen opened up by getting ahead 3-0 over Hundal, but Hundal used some safety play to tie it up at three apiece. Feijen took rack seven, but his break, which is powerful and controlled, nevertheless did him no favors in the next three racks, though he was able to work around it with push-outs and safeties to make it 7-3. His break worked well for him in rack eleven, and he ran out to take a five-game lead. Rack twelve went to Feijen, but thirteen went to Hundal, and it was 9-4, at which point Hundal began putting the racks together. Three straight break and runs put Hundal on the path to a comeback 9-7, but he couldn’t see the 1 ball after the break in rack eighteen and chose a kick-safe, though it left Feijen a shot, which he pocketed and followed up with a safety on the 2 ball. Although Hundal managed to hit it, Feijen was out and on the hill, and a 9 ball that sailed into the head corner off of a ball sealed the match.

View the U.S. Open 9-Ball Double Elimination Tournament Brackets 1 (updated continuously)

View the U.S. Open 9-Ball Double Elimination Tournament Brackets 2 (updated continuously)

View the 2009 U.S. Open image gallery

View the LIVE STREAM from ACCU-STATS

“It was nice,” said Feijen, who’d found himself in a similar situation in 2006 in the World Pool Masters against Hundal, though there situations were reversed—in 2006, it was Hundal on the hill. “It was the same nine ball break in the same corner, but his hit one more ball,” he explained. Feijen, who feels he’s getting more and more in stroke after getting some practice in the past couple of days, is ready to just “keep playing and keep enjoying it.” Hundal joins a growing list of those out of the running, including CJ Wiley, Jerry Calderon, and Shaun Wilkie, who fell 11-9 to Scott Tollefson after being up 9-8.

Upcoming winners’ side matches include Corey Deuel versus Rodney Morris, Roberto Gomez versus Kim Davenport, who sent Shawn Putnam west 11-8, Ralf Souquet versus Abdullah Alyousef, and Shane Van Boening versus Jose Parica.

Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

photo courtesy Rodney Andrews