Vann Corteza goes undefeated to claim US Open Banks title
Lunda completes seven-match, loss-side winning streak to challenge Vann Corteza in finals Previously, on the US Open Banks Championship events – Lee Van Corteza had advanced to the hot seat to do battle with Oliver Ruuger, while on the loss side, Evan Lunda and Sergio Rivas, along with Marc Vidal Claramunt and John Morra squared […]
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Lee Vann Corteza
Lunda completes seven-match, loss-side winning streak to challenge Vann Corteza in finals
Previously, on the US Open Banks Championship events – Lee Van Corteza had advanced to the hot seat to do battle with Oliver Ruuger, while on the loss side, Evan Lunda and Sergio Rivas, along with Marc Vidal Claramunt and John Morra squared off to do battle for advancement to the quarterfinals. Further details available in yesterday’s (March 11) posting.
Taking them in order of their occurrence, the loss side battles came up first. Lunda kept his four-match, loss-side winning streak alive with a 4-1 victory over Rivas. Claramunt added to his shorter, two-match, loss-side streak with a double-hill win over Morra. Lunda made it six in a row on the loss side with a 4-2 win over Claramunt and then, seven in a row, when he eliminated Ruuger in the semifinals 4-1.
It took nearly four hours (3:46) for Vann Corteza and Lunda to play the race-to-6 final. As a spectator experience, banks matches can be as grueling as One Pocket, with a great many shots being taken that have nothing to do with putting a ball in a hole. Played with a typical 9-ball rack, banks pool swings back and forth in individual games as each player attempts to be the first to pocket five banked balls. At about 20 minutes into the opening game, Vann Corteza was up 4-1 (balls pocketed). Lunda fought back to within one at 4-3. He tied and then won the first game by pocketing the same ball twice; the 4-ball, as it happened. Corteza had left him with a cross-side shot at it, aiming from the area of the left corner pocket. He made the shot, in effect, tying the game score, but the cue ball kept traveling and dropped the last ball on the table (the 3-ball), and left the cue ball sitting in the right corner pocket. It became an ‘illegally pocketed ball, which was to be re-set on the ‘spot’ (lead position in a normal 9-ball rack). As a matter of convenience, Lunda reached into the ball return area, picked up the 4-ball that he’d just dropped legally and re-set it on the ‘spot.’ Aiming from just outside the right corner pocket, he dropped it into the opposite side pocket from where he’d put it in the first time. Thus, finishing game #1, 25 minutes after it had begun, with Lunda in the lead 1-0.
Were we to delve that deeply into detail for each of the nine racks that were played, you’d likely still be reading when the US Open One Pocket final got started at around 9 p.m. (EDT) on Friday night (March 14). So, we won’t. Lunda would go on to take a 3-1 game lead over Vann Corteza, but the match turned around at that point. With all of the ups, downs and sideways that characterizes the game of Bank Pool, Corteza settled into his comeback; one rack, one ball at a time, just the way it’s laid out in Pool 101 for every game discipline. Just after midnight, earlier this morning (March 12), Corteza completed that comeback. Lunda didn’t win a game after taking his 3-1 lead, and Cortez went on to claim the US Open Banks title.
And speaking of the US Open One Pocket tournament, as of this writing, it is moving into its winners’ side quarterfinal stages, with all four of them set to commence at 8 p.m. (EDT) this evening. One match has been set (Tony Chohan versus Roberto Gomez), with another that will pit Mike Delawder against either Corteza or Payne McBride. Corteza opened his One Pocket campaign with a shutout over Phill Yee. As one would expect, if Corteza and Lunda are going to face each other, their first chance to do so in the One Pocket event, will be in the hot seat match, scheduled for Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. (EDT).
For his part, Lunda opened his One Pocket campaign with a shutout as well; over Adam Kroll. At 5:30 (EDT) this evening, Lunda will face Savannah Easton, with advancement to the winners’ side quarterfinal on the line. So far (at the moment), there have been no loss-side matches played.
If you’ve a desire to clear your schedule for a while, you can watch selected matches of this event, live or recorded, on GriffTV’s YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/@GriffsTV
