10-ball challenge wraps up at Derby City

Roberto Gomez Takes Down the Bigfoot 10-Ball Challenge at the Derby City Classic

In the exciting finale of the Derby City Classic’s Diamond Bigfoot 10-Ball Challenge, one of the Philippine’s most dominant names in pool faced off with the 17-year-old phenom from Russia, Fedor Gorst.

While Gomez has become a frequent top finisher in many international events, Gorst had made a name for himself at the Derby as one of the most destructive forces to come out of Europe. Young Fedor Gorst took out some of the sport’s toughest names in this event, impressing the Derby’s veteran pool fanatics.

In his run to the final, none of Fedor Gorst’s opponents posed much of a threat. To start, he took out Alex Pagulayan 11–7, then went on to convincingly defeat Jeff DeLuna 11–4 and John Morra 11–5 in the semifinal.

Meanwhile, Roberto Gomez had his work cut out for him on his path to the final. Gomez started out with a narrowly-won match, knocking out Ronnie Alcano 11–10. He then surpassed German sharpshooter and 2017 Mosconi Cup wunderkind Joshua Filler, 11–6. In the semifinal, Gomez then played against Finnish champion Mika Immonen. This was a remarkable match, where out of the gate, Gomez took a 5–1 lead and looked to be in good form to make a run to the final. Gomez then advanced his lead to 8–3, just 3 games away from the win.

However, Immonen was not yet finished, and he fought back to only trail by two games, 8–6. They traded racks to make it 9–7 after Immonen broke and ran out, and he then made it 9–8 after some incredible shot making. After some high-pressure exchanges, Immonen got to the hill first, 10–9, but, Gomez then fired back to tie it 10–10, then finally secured the winning game to take the match.

Gomez then faced off with Fedor Gorst for the title, in another dramatic match-up. The two talented players battled back and forth the whole match, keeping it closely tied before Gorst took a 8–6 lead. Although Gomez won the following game to trail by one, he then missed a critical combination shot, allowing Gorst to go up 9–7. At this point, nerves were starting to show for both players, and Gorst missed an open shot and opened the table for Gomez to run out and make it 9–8. The arena was packed with fans and players on the edge of their seats, and the match again came down to 10–10. Both players had opportunities to win the final game, but a missed shot from Gorst allowed Gomez the chance, and he executed a number of difficult cut shots to run out and claim the title. The dramatic finish then turned into a great celebration for Roberto Gomez, who was presented with a check for $16,000 for his efforts. Gorst took home a prize of $8,000, while 3rd/4th place finishers John Morra and Mika Immonen claimed $4,000.

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Alison Fischer
ChalkySticks Contributor