Francisco Sanchez Ruiz is rated higher than Dimitris Loukatos when the two players enter the match for the Peri Open Pool 2024 championship on the evening of October 4.
Once ranked No. 1 on the World Nineball Tour with the world 8-ball and 9-ball championships, the 2022 US Open, the 2022 World Cup of Pool, the Spanish player is one of the candidates for the championship of this year's Peri Open...
Loukatos was not mentioned much before he won the right to the final of Peri Open Pool 2024
Ruiz started the match as expected, quickly taking a 4-0 lead, while Loukatos' reaction was slow, despite a few chances.
But when Ruiz was more than halfway through, leading 8-5, he started to have some really bad situations, and Loukatos started to prove why he beat the likes of Alex Kazakis, Chang Yu Lung, Jefrey Roda, Luong Duc Thien, Aleksa Pecelj or turned Fedor Gorst into a former champion.
The Greek player was very confident and took advantage of every small opportunity, gradually narrowing the gap, equalizing the score and taking the lead 11-10 to have a favorable opportunity to go up the hill. Unfortunately, the situation of eating the 2nd ball and playing the 3rd ball incorrectly in the 22nd game took away the Peri Open 2024 trophy from Loukatos.
Ruiz, at the decisive moment, had very precise offensive and defensive moves to win the match 13-11.
Ruiz’s victory was convincing as he showed consistent form throughout the tournament. He overcame Duong Quoc Hoang, veteran Thorsten Hohmann, Robbie Capito, European Ope champion Mickey Krause, and finally deciphered the phenomenon Loukatos to win the $25,000 prize money of the 2024 Peri Open.
With 2 representatives of Vietnam, they both had to stop after the quarter-finals. Nguyen Hoang Tuan could not overcome Krause when he lost 6-10 in the end. Duc Thien lost to Loukatos with a score of 9-10.
Peri Open Pool 2024 ended with success in all aspects. For the first time, Da Nang welcomed most of the world's pool names, including the top 100 players of the WNT rankings, and the top players of Asian and Vietnamese pool.
During 4 days with more than 500 matches, Peri Pool Arena welcomed thousands of fans to watch live, and millions of online views on platforms.
Mr. Nguyen Hoang Nhat, Head of the Organizing Committee of Peri Open Pool 2024, shared: “Peri Open Pool is organized with the desire to create opportunities for Vietnamese athletes to improve their rankings on the WNT rankings to participate in major international tournaments, specifically the World Championship next year.
In addition, this is also an opportunity for Vietnamese players to compete with the world's top players.
Peri Open Pool is also proud to contribute to the strong development of 9-ball pool in Vietnam. Bringing the tournament to Da Nang this year is also the goal of the Organizing Committee to spread and develop this sport throughout Vietnam.
