Action Heats Up at U.S. Open

Putting the term "open" in the title of a major sporting event implies that anybody has a chance of lining up next to the world's finest. On Day 2 of the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship, three former champs were knocked out of the winners bracket by a trio of unheralded opponents.

2002 Open winner Ralf Souquet was bounced leftward by Chris Szuter. Souquet, who won the EuroTour's stop in Switzerland on Saturday, was never a serious threat to Szuter, whose best finish of '08 was 13th at August's Turning Stone event. The unheralded American easily finished off his upset over Souquet, 11-6.

Jeremy Jones and John Schmidt were also victims of the annual round of early upsets at the Open. Jones dropped a second-round hill-hill match to Mike Badsteubner after leading by as many as four games. Schmidt fell by an 11-6 score to Beau Runningen.

While former U.S. Open winners struggled, some reigning champions advanced without incident into the third round. Last year's winner Shane Van Boening topped Troy Miller, 11-7. Reigning 9-ball world champ Daryl Peach and recently crowned World 10-Ball titlist Darren Appleton also won their second-round matches.