NEUHAUSEN NO. 1 IN NEW HAVEN AFTER MAIDEN SUCCESS
Moritz Neuhausen is the latest entrant in the WNT Winners’ Circle after landing the CueLees Connecticut 9-ball Open – beating Chang Yu-Lung 13-6 in the final to secure a maiden WNT Ranking title.
The 19-year-old German delivered an incredible tournament at US 1 Billiards & Bar in New Haven, Connecticut, defeating the likes of five-time US Open champion Shane Van Boening, WNT No. 11 Ko Ping Chung and a phenomenal 9-0 whitewashing of European Open champion David Alcaide – with seven consecutive break and run-outs to boot.
Defeat to Carlo Biado last weekend in the Raxx Pool Room Open was the motivation to spur Neuhausen on, with success in Connecticut capping off a fantastic fortnight in the United States.
The $15,000 top prize moves the German prodigy into the WNT top 16 and Mosconi Cup contention for Team Europe, where a strong run at the US Open Pool Championship – with action getting underway from 10:00am ET Monday 25th September on DAZN in the United States – could see him secure the second automatic spot in December’s historic 30th edition of the trans-atlantic tussle.
Chang Yu-Lung showed the stacked 126-man field what he was made of en-route to the final. Wins over Team USA Mosconi Cup hopeful Billy Thorpe, European Open runner-up Anton Raga and WNT No. 4 Mario He lead the Chinese Taipei star to $8,200 WNT Ranking Points.
Van Boening carried the flag for the US – the only American to go beyond the last 16 before falling to Neuhausen in the semi-final. SVB’s brilliance was showcased with a magnificent 10-0 thrashing of Lee Van Corteza – featuring eight break and run-outs.
Tied on five titles at the US Open with the legendary Earl Strickland, a top-four finish puts the South Dakota Kid in strong-stead for a shot at the title in Atlantic City.
