Yapp topples world No. 1

He was trembling before and after his match, but crucially, Aloysius Yapp was steady during it.

With firm hands and a cool head, the Republic's top pool player extended his incredible run of form by beating US world No. 1 Shane van Boening 11-5 on Friday in the last 16 of the US Open 9-Ball Pool Championships in Atlantic City.

Yapp, 25, carried the momentum from that win into the quarter-final, where he eliminated Rodrigo Geronimo of the Philippines 11-6.

He then recovered from a 3-0 deficit against Geronimo's compatriot Denis Orcollo before winning eight straight racks to prevail 11-6 in their last-four clash yesterday.

The Singaporean world No. 8 faced either a third Filipino, Carlo Biado, or Japan's Naoyuki Oi for the top prize of US$50,000 (S$67,460). The results of the second semi-final and final were not available at press time.

Regardless of silverware, Yapp can reflect on some breakthrough performances. Besides the victory over van Boening, he has claimed other impressive scalps.

He beat Scotland's world No. 3 Jayson Shaw at last week's World 10-Ball Championship in Las Vegas and knocked out second-ranked Joshua Filler, the defending US Open champion, in the competition's third round on Wednesday.

Yapp, who will compete in events across the US until the end of next month, said the magnitude of his rare feat had not sunk in yet.

Asked whether he ever imagined beating the world's top three players in quick succession, he replied with a chuckle: "Definitely not! And in all honesty I haven't thought much about it, really.

"I'm just happy because it shows that the work I've done on the mental side of things over the one year-plus, with my coach and a sports psychologist, has worked out well.

"I'm happy I believe in myself and my own abilities more now."

Still, he admitted to feeling nerves ahead of his match with van Boening, who won the US Open a record five times from 2007 to 2016. Yapp had lost both previous encounters in 2014 and 2019.

"I was shaking before and after the match," he said. "I can't explain it. Maybe it was just nerves."

He was able to quickly shake off the tension, though, and raced into an 8-0 lead, which helped him see out the race-to-11 format match.

Yapp, who first rose to prominence in 2014 when he won the Junior World 9-Ball Championship, said he would "definitely love" a first major senior title, but added: "I'm just taking it easy, and I'm going to focus on my own game and enjoy the experience."