Immonen and Alcano Set for US Open Finals

Saturday, October 25, 2008

The finals of the 33rd Annual U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships are set, with Mika “Iceman” Immonen and Ronnie Alcano to return for their 7:30 p.m. match at the Chesapeake Conference Center in Chesapeake, VA.

Earlier in the day, Johnny Archer matched up with Warren Kiamco in the quarterfinal match, which ended up being one-sided in Kiamco’s favor. At 7-1 in Kiamco’s favor, Archer finally notched another rack and then switched from a head-on break to a cut break and jumped the cue ball off the table. Kiamco took that opportunity to three-foul Archer, going up 8-2. He then broke and ran two racks to reach the hill, at which point Archer made a bit of a run when Kiamco hung the 8. It was too little, too late, though, for Archer missed a jump shot on the 1 ball, and Kiamco won handily 11-4.

At the same time, the hot seat match between Immonen and Alcano was going on at the Accu-Stats table. They traded the first six racks, but then Alcano pulled ahead to 8-3, a large margin he created by excellent defensive play. Immonen rallied a bit, winning the next rack after Alcano overcut the 8 ball and then breaking and running the following rack. He came up empty on his next break, though, and Alcano ran out; however, Alcano made nothing on his next break, and Immonen cleared the table to make it 9-6. A missed jump shot on the 2 ball by Immonen gave Alcano the hill, and then when Alcano pocketed a ball on his last break, he was able to clear the table to win 11-6.

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