FargoRate Ohio Open
He Golden in Capturing Fargorate Ohio Open CSI Staff Writer- KEITH PARADISE
As crazy as it might sound, Mario He wasn’t exactly overflowing with confidence when he reached the final stages of this weekend’s FargoRate Ohio Open.
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he semifinal and finals matches would be played on the event’s main table which is specially lit for televised broadcasts. The more intense wattage gives the equipment’s cloth a more slippery slide and the rails a little different bounce, factors that the Austrian struggled with early on. As a result, He want into the last day of competition with one idea in mind: win both sets to avoid the extra-frame shoot out.
He would ultimately go a step further: avoiding playing an entire rack altogether, as He benefitted from back-toback pocketed 10 balls on the break to jump out to an early lead and defeat Roberto Gomez in straight sets, 4-4, 4-0, Saturday evening at Roberts Centre in Wilmington. The Austrian, who posted his first tournament victory since the 2019 Veldhoven Open, earned his first win on United States soil by surging ahead when opportu-
nities were presented while also benefitting from mistakes from his opponents. “Everything went well but it was not my best game,” said He, conceding that his stellar play was met with the occasional fortunate break during the four-day event. “You need some combination of all to win a tournament because there are so many good players.” Throughout his day of play on the table, He noticed that his break shot was causing a ball from the last row to kick the 10 ball towards the rail. The Austrian decided on hitting the cue ball at slightly less than full power to try and unleash solid contact. What he ultimately unleashed was not one, but two, “golden
Mario He
30 | Billiards Buzz • November 2021
