Marco Teutscher crowned the 2019 US Open 10-Ball Champion
Marco Teutscher has won the 2019 US Open 10-Ball Championships in Las Vegas, taking out top players from around the world in the biggest pool competition win ever for a New Zealand player.
On his way to the top, Teutscher took out world class players such as 2018 Mosconi Cup MVP Skyler Woodward; multiple world title holder Shane Van Boening; three-time World 9 Ball Champion and five-time World Straight Pool Champion,Thorston Hohmann: Filipino professional Jeffrey De Luna; and former World 8 Ball Champion Dennis Orcollo.
After winning his 2019 US Open 9 Ball rematch against Skyler Woodward 9-8 in a thrilling game, he moved on to play one of the current greats, Shane Van Boening, who he beat 9-7 putting him into the top five.
Teutscher continued to stay composed throughout his matches, beating Thorsten Hohmann with the same 9-7 score. After losing a life in the double elimination format tournament to Dennis Orcollo, who played the perfect match with almost zero unforced errors, he played Jeffrey De Luna to win a place in the final.
There he again met Orcollo, this time coming out on top as the 2019 US Open 10-Ball Champion.
This history-making win follows a string of great results by Dutch-born Teutscher in 2019, finishing 17th out of 256 players in the US Open 9 Ball championships earlier this year. He also won the top spot at the national 8 Ball championships held back in New Zealand in May.
Teutscher plays out of the New Lynn (Auckland) branch of the cue sports club, Massé. On top of his own training and running a family billiards business in Glenfield (Auckland), Teutscher also coaches the New Zealand Junior Pool Team that competed at the VNEA world pool championships in Sioux City, Iowa in July.
Teutscher practices pool for 20-30 hours a week, on top of regular running and meditation to keep his mind clear and “in the right space.”
Teutscher said in May that his ultimate goal was to win a major event like the world championships within the next two years, and so has achieved that goal within only a few months.
Massé general manager Bernie Endres says it’s hard to emphasise how big this achievement is in New Zealand and world cue sports.
“Marco has pulled off an incredible win that makes us all proud, both at Massé and around New Zealand. Just looking at the big names he took out during the competition shows how significant this accomplishment is.
“Marco has proven he’s a world class player, and we’re excited to welcome him home and celebrate this win.”
Marco arrives back in New Zealand on Friday morning, where a group of pool players will be waiting to welcome him back into the country.
