2026 US Open Pool Championship Results: Sánchez Ruiz Wins a Hill-Hill Classic
The US Open 9-Ball Championship is the biggest title in American pool, and in 2026 it produced the closest possible finish. Francisco Sánchez Ruiz of Spain trailed Robbie Capito 12-10 in a race to 13, came back to force a final rack and ran out to win 13-12. It was the first US Open final to go to a deciding rack since Buddy Hall beat Dennis Hatch in 1991.
2026 US Open at a glance
- Champion: Francisco Sánchez Ruiz (Spain), his second US Open after 2022
- Runner-up: Robbie Capito (Hong Kong)
- Final: 13-12, Sunday, August 30, 2026, live on ESPN2
- Where: Embassy Suites by Hilton, Frisco, Texas (August 25-30), the event's new home
- Field: 256 players from more than 40 countries, including 124 Americans and 16 former champions
- Prize fund: $500,000, with $100,000 to the winner and $50,000 to the runner-up
- Format: 9-Ball, double elimination down to the last 64, then single elimination
The upsets: Yapp, Biado and Van Boening go out
The big names fell early. Defending champion and world No. 1 Aloysius Yapp lost in the last 64 to Spain's David Alcaide. World champion Carlo Biado lost in the same round to six-time World Pool Masters champion Ralf Souquet.
The match everyone was watching came in the last 32. Five-time champion Shane Van Boening, chasing a record sixth title after winning the Florida Open weeks earlier, met 2024 champion Fedor Gorst in a rematch of the 2024 final. Gorst, playing through an illness, won again, 10-7. "I actually said before the match that if I lost, I would be rooting for Shane to get his sixth title," Gorst said. (Read more about Van Boening's career in our Shane Van Boening story.)
Sánchez Ruiz's comeback run
Sánchez Ruiz almost didn't make it out of the early rounds. He lost in the second round to Croatian veteran Ivica Putnik and had to fight back through the one-loss side. He won three hill-hill matches on the way to the title, against Finland's Petri Makkonen, Germany's Joshua Filler and Capito in the final.
The Filler quarterfinal was the first big escape. Filler reached the hill first at 9-7, but a dry break gave Sánchez Ruiz the table, and he ran the last two racks to win 10-9. In the semifinal he beat his friend and countryman Alcaide 10-6. "It's never nice beating your friend, but that's sport," he said.
Capito's path to the final
Capito was the story of the week. He beat Gorst 10-8 in the quarterfinals, ending Gorst's run of three straight US Open finals and making it six wins in a row over him on the World Nineball Tour. He then took a 7-0 lead over Phoenix Open champion Aleksa Pecelj and won 10-5 to reach the biggest final of his career.
The final, rack by rack
It swung back and forth all afternoon. Sánchez Ruiz won the opening rack with an escape from a safety battle that potted the 1-ball. The score was tied at 4-4, 5-5 and 7-7. A superb safety on the 7-ball in the 11th rack forced a Capito foul, but a scratch on the break by the Spaniard let Capito win three straight racks and lead 10-8.
Then came the shot of the match: a clutch 3-9 combination by Sánchez Ruiz to make it 10-9. He tied it at 10-10, but Capito reached the hill first at 12-10, one rack from the title. A missed 5-ball by Capito let Sánchez Ruiz back in, and he fought back to 12-12.
In the deciding rack, Sánchez Ruiz chose to push out instead of shooting a hard shot. Capito took on the 2-ball, missed and left the table open, and Sánchez Ruiz ran out to win, then climbed onto the table to celebrate. "When he was on the hill, I just stayed focused, believed in myself and trusted my game until the very end. I never gave up," he said.
Best shots and moments
- The 3-9 combination in the final that started Sánchez Ruiz's comeback from 10-8 down.
- The push-out in the last rack. A smart tactical choice under the most pressure in pool. (New to the push-out? See our 9-Ball rules.)
- Two racks to finish off Filler after Filler reached the hill first in the quarterfinals.
- Capito's 7-0 start against Pecelj in the semifinals.
- Gorst beating Van Boening again in a rematch of their 2024 final.
What it means
Sánchez Ruiz became only the tenth player in the event's 49-year history to win the US Open more than once, and moved up to No. 3 in the world rankings. Like Mika Immonen and Darren Appleton before him, he is a European Mosconi Cup star with two US Open titles. He carried that form to Manila, where he was named MVP of the 2026 Reyes Cup, beating Capito's Team Asia. He also leads Europe's qualifying list for the 2026 Mosconi Cup.
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Sources
- AZBilliards / World Nineball Tour: event guide, final eight report, semifinals, final
- Absolute Pool: La segunda for Sánchez Ruiz
- Kozoom: final report