UK Open Pool Championship: Ko Pin Yi and Ko Ping Chung progress, Eklent Kaci targets title defence

Kaci secured his spot by defeating the Danish viking Mickey Krause with a solid 9-6 victory, joining top World Nineball Tour players like Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Shane Van Boening, Fedor Gorst, and Joshua Filler in the last 64.

Tough matches for both Mosconi Cup captains, with Skyler Woodward making a terrific comeback winning 5 racks after being down 8-4.

Meanwhile, Jayson Shaw narrowly secured his place, after capitalising on Besar Spanhiu missed a 6-9 combo at 7-7, allowing Shaw to execute a carom to win the rack and take back control.

Ko Pin Yi and Ko Ping Chung delivered dominant 9-3 victories side by side on tables one and two to secure their places, while Ko Ping Han fell short against Petr Urban, losing 8-7 and exiting the tournament.

Kledio Kaci, brother of the defending champion, maintained his winning momentum with a convincing 9-2 win over Thorsten Hohmann from Germany. Carlo Biado also advanced to the last 64, dominating the table once more with a commanding 9-0 victory over Phuong Nam Pham.

James Aranas and the Austrian Trio Albin Ouschan, Mario He, and Max Lechner fell into the loser brackets but rallied in their 'second chance' matches to secure spots in tomorrow’s single elimination stage.

Snooker champion Garry Wilson clinched a tense 9-8 victory over two-time World Pool Masters champion David Alcaide, advancing further in the tournament. Alcaide moved into the losers’ qualification but failed to find redemption, losing to Tobias Bongers.

Amongst the casualties on the third day were Ralf Souquet, Pia Filler, Sanjin Pehlivanovic, Moritz Neuhausen, and Karl Boyes.

The last-64 draw was done at the completion of play with the pick of the round including a tasty encounter between defending champion Eklent Kaci and Mario He.

Other stand out ties include Jayson Shaw against Tobias Bonger and Wiktor Zielinski against Alvin Anggito.