The Iceman Claims Inaugural Diamond Seniors Pro Players Championship

Story by SKIP MALONEY - AzB Staff / Photos by ERWIN DIONISIO

Among the many intriguing possibilities that did not emerge from last weekend’s (April 13-16) Super Billiards Expo’s two Pro events (Open & Seniors) was the potential for Mika “The Iceman” Immonen to have played in both of them.

He wouldn’t have been alone; Frankie Hernandez and Jimmy Rivera played in both events and both advanced to the semifinals. The reason that Immonen didn’t sign on to the Open event was not for lack of interest, but circulating misinformation about whether or not it was allowed.

“Someone told me you couldn’t, that they weren’t allowing it,” said Immonen, moments after capturing the in- augural Seniors Pro Player Championship title on Sunday afternoon. “And then, someone else told me that the Open Pro was full.”

Neither turned out to be true. The Open Pro Players Championship drew 56 entrants and awarded eight byes in its opening round to the highest ranked competitors. So, plenty of room on the bracket for the likes of Mika Immonen to have tossed his hat into that ring. And as it turned out, the fact that the ‘powers that be’ (ultimately, that would have been Allen Hopkins) were allowing players to compete in both, created a few minor