17th Derby City Classic Derby City Opens with 9-Ball Banks
by Ricky Bryant The 17TH Derby City Classic started on Friday January 23rd. The major sponsors were Diamond Billiard Products, CYCLOP Pool Balls and Simonis Cloth.The DCC three events are played on Diamond 9 foot tables covered with Simonis cloth and played with CYCLOP pool balls. On the TV table in the ACCU-STATS the measles cue ball was used. There opening DCC event, as always, was 9-Ball Banks. There was a field of 414 players. The event is a redraw format, where there is a re-draw of the remaining players after each round. Each player has one buyback that if used must be done so after the loss but before the draw for the next round. Most plays do buy-back but some don’t. Going into Monday, day 4, there were 30 players remaining to start round 8 of Banks. By the end of the day there was only three players remaining, John Brumback, Shannon Daulton and Efren
Daulton, Pagulayan and Kiamco tie the match at 2 all. In the final rack Reyes. All three players were on their Efren again took the lead but Shannon last barrel having one loss. Brumback caught a gear to put Efren out in third and Daulton are both previous winners place. Banks is the only Main DCC of the DCC Banks, Daulton winning in event that Efren has never won. 2000 and Brumback in 2009 and 2010. Shannon came in to the final with the The semi-final and final was scheduled same fire and desire he had shown in the for Tuesday night. With the re-draw previous match. He wins the lag and one lucky player would get the bye into takes the first 2 games. But Brumback the final. This year the final bye selecfought back in the third game to make tion was done at the table and not on the score 1 to 2. John took a timeout the computer. Three closed CYCLOP before the fourth rack. Brumback repool ball boxes were placed on the table and randomly shuffled. The three players turned from the timeout and was told he could break and start the game. But each lifted the lid of one box to see being a lifelong friend of Shannon he sewhich had BYE written inside. John lected to wait for his friend. The fourth Brumback got the luck box and the bye game went Shannon’s way to take the to the final. win 3 to 1. This makes Shannon’s Shannon and Efren faced off to see second DCC Banks titles coming 15 who would match up with Brumback in years apart. The first place prize money the final. Efren took the 2-0 lead in the was $10,000 . race to 3. But Shannon fought back to
9-Ball Goes to Kiamco by Ricky Bryant
T
he 9-Ball event started on Wednesday January 28th, the 6th day of the DCC. The event started with 314 players. They would play 13 rounds over the last 4 days of the DCC. The 9-Ball event was a BCA points ranking event. In support of BCA requirements for points-ranking events the match race will be 9 games. Matchroom Sport also uses the BCA points for the selection of the first 3 players for the US Marconi Cup Team. This makes the DCC 9-Ball the first points event for selection of the 2015 US Team. 6 PQB February/March
Five players were eliminated in the 9th round, Marco Teustscher, John Brumback, Scott Frost, Efren Reyes and Shane VanBoening. Three players were eliminated in the 10th round, Jason Klatt, Imram Majid and Skyler Woodward. This got the field down to five players Warren Kiamco, Alex Lely, Dennis Orcullo, Alex Pagulayan and Jeremy Sossei. Lely and Orcullo departed in the 11th round. Alex Pagulayan would get the bye in the 12th round. Jeremy Sossei would face Warren Kiamco who was undefeated. Jeremy played good but missed a few safety shots and lost 9 to 6. The final started with Warren Kiamco, still holding his buyback, against Alex Pagulayan. Alex was again the steam roller
form he was in a few nights earlier when he won the 1 pocket. Even though Warren had a lead of 4 to 3, Alex went into steam roller mode for the next 6. Alex would have a TPA of .961 and take the first set 9 to 4 over Warren with a TPA of .833. Warren returned from the buy-back window with a renewed look of determination. Alex would win the lag but scratch on the break and Warren would run out and the put together 2 Break an Runs to take a 3 to 0 lead. Alex would take the fourth rack and Break an Run the fifth rack to make the score 2 to 3. Warren would take the sixth rack then Break an Run the seventh and eighth rack to increase his lead to 6 to 2. After some nice safety play Warren took the ninth rack in-
creasing the lead, 7 to 2. Warren broke dry in the tenth rack and Alex would take the game. Alex makes a ball on the break in the eleventh rack but misses the next ball. Warren cleans up the table to go on the hill at 8 to 3. Alex seems to catch a gear and takes the twelfth and thirteenth racks. In true Killer mode Alex snaps the 9 on the break in the fourteenth rack then has a beak an run in the fifteenth rack to get the score to 8 to 7. Alex would have a dry break in the sixteenth rack. Warren tries a 2 – 9 combo but misses. The tension in the room mounted as Alex and Warren play safeties. Alex leaves the table open and Warren has a combo on the 9 but has to use the bridge. As the crowd held its breath Warren sinks the 9 to win the match and a nice $16,000 pay day.
by Ricky Bryant The DCC One Pocket event started on Sunday, day 3 of the DCC. The event started with 351 players. The event is a race to 3 and was played over 5 days with 14 rounds of play. The 10th round the field was down to 9 players with Francisco Bustamante getting a bye. Mike Dechaine was the only player without a loss and still holding a buy-back. The 10th round would see 4 players eliminated. Mike Dechaine over Brandon Shuff Justin Hall over Jeremy Jones Alex Pagulayan over Josh Roberts Efren Reyes over Cliff Joyner Round 11 was down to 5 players with Mike Dechaine still holding his buy-back. Justin Hall was the recipient of the bye and moving to the 12th round. Mike Dechaine would eliminate Francisco Bustamante and Alex Pagulayan would eliminate Efren Reyes.
Mike Dechaine got the bye in the 12th round moving to the finals still in possession of his buy-back. Alex Pagulayan and Justin Hall would play to see who advanced to the finals against Dechaine. Hall got caught in the steam roller, Alex Pagulayan, going down 3 to 0. This set up the finals with Alex having to defeat Dechaine twice. It seemed like after Alex’s loss to Shane VanBoening 11 to 2 in the Bigfoot on Monday night he was man with a mission. He took Dechaine 3 to 0 in the first set sending Mike to the buy-back window. This made the third 3 to 0 match win in a row for Alex and his 12th consecutive game win. After a short break the final was on with Alex still under full steam taking the first game. His 13th consecutive game win. But Mike with a lot of heart took the second game but it was not enough with Alex taking the next 2 for the 3 to 1 win. This was also a new DCC history mile stone. No player had ever won all 3 main titles in the 17 years of the DCC. But now Alex Pagulayan holds that title having won Banks and 9 Ball in previous years. The payday for win in One Pocket was $12,000.
Alex Wins One Pocket
2015 Derby City Classic Master of the Table
by Ricky Bryant The Master of the Table points are earned in the three main events of the DCC. The three main events are 9-Ball Banks, One Pocket and 9-Ball. The higher you finish the more points you receive. By Thursday there was a short list of players in the hunt for the Master of the Table and prize of $20,000 dollars. In the hunt were Shannon Daulton, John Brumback, Justin Hall, Efren Reyes and Alex Pagulayan(right). Hall eliminated himself when we over slept to miss his 9 ball match and also missed the buy-back. Imran Majid stopped John Brumback’s run for the title and Warren Kiamco stopped Efren Reyes. Shannon Daulton’s 55th place finish in the 9-ball eliminated him.
Before the start of the 9 Ball finals it was announced that Alex Pagulayan had secured his first Master of the Table. This also adds another mile stone accomplishment for Alex making him the First to hold all four of the Derby City Titles, having won the One Pocket earlier in the week and the other 2 in previous years. Congratulations Alex, Efren Reyes took second for $3,000 and John Brumback third for $2,000. February/March PQB 7
The One-Pocket Hall of Fame Banquet Tuesday was the evening for the One Pocket Hall of Fame dinner hosted by Steve Booth. This was a bitter sweet night honoring Friend, Player, Hall of Famer and Master of Ceremonies, Freddy “The Beard” Bentivegna,1940-2014. Freddy’s daughter Cat was in attendance. She and longtime friend John Bosnak put together a slide show that brought back many memories to those in attendance. John spoke about his friend and how people thought they were brothers and at heart they were. John even commented they spent so much time together they started to look alike. Following the tradition that Freddy started, a recording of Freddy reading the Pool Hustlers poem was played. Players and friends that shared stories and thoughts about Freddy included Scott Frost, Mary Kenniston, Angle Levine and Nick Varner and lifelong fellow commentators Billy Incardona and Danny Diliberto. Even though our hearts are a sad at missing our Friend he still brings a smile to our faces. There was a special guest in the house, legendary Marshall “Squirrel” Carpenter. Scott Frost told about The Tuscaloosa Squirrel being his first road partner. “Now, at 87, he’s still matching up!” The shout out “Do you have the nuts?” came from the floor? With the Squirrel firing back “I never had the nuts, I just liked to crack ‘em”. The surprise of the evening came with Bank Pool Hall of Famer Hogue at the Podium, he indicated it was time to honor the “Lifetime Pool in Action” award. “When I was a kid, this man had so much faith in me that he took me on the road as my stake horse and it took me six months to book a winner. He always stood by me. His whole
Master of the Table Pagulayan, Alex Reyes, Efren Brumback, John
$20,000.00 3,000.00 2,000.00
Banks • 411 players Daulton, Shannon Brumback, John Reyes, Efren Groce, Brian Hall, Justin Hunter, Bobby
$10,000.00 5,000.00 2,300.00 1,300.00 1,300.00 1,300.00
One Pocket • 350 Players Pagulayan, Alex
$12,000.00
life has been dedicated to allowing people to see the beauty of Pool‚” Greg Sullivan (left) the president of Diamond Billiard Products and the founder of the Derby City Classic. This was the best kept secret in the history of pool. Greg was over whelmed to tears as the room stood and applauded our Friend in Pool. Thanks Steve and everyone for the great event and sharing your memories. Everyone is looking forward to 2016.
George Fels Memorial 14.1 Challenge The Challenge was played on Diamond 9 foot tables. Eight players qualified by competing in a high run competition. Jayson Shaw had the highest run for the week at 227. The top eight would match up in a single elimination, random draw bracket, and race to 125. The first round match up with results was: Jayson Shaw over John Schmidt (Schmidt conceded leading 118 to 6) Warren Kiamco over Nick VanDenBerg ‚Äì 125 to 97 Ruslan Chinahov over Dennis Orcullo ‚Äì 125 to 32 Mika Immonen over Konstantin Stepanov ‚ 125 to 15 The semi-finals were delayed due to some of the players were still in the 9-Ball. Jayson Shaw defeated Warren Kiamco in one semifinal and Ruslan Chinahov eliminated Mika Immonen in the other. The final was set for Saturday January 31 in the Accu-Stats Arena on the TV table. Ruslan took the early lead with Shaw get mounting a comeback. But the lead was too much as Ruslan finished out at 125 and Shaw at 50. Ruslan Chinahov (above) is from Russia and collected $4000 for first. Jayson Shaw received $2500 for second. Third/Forth collected $1300 each and Fifth/Eighth received $800.
Dechaine, Mike Hall, Justin Bustamante, Francisco Reyes, Efren
6,000.00 4,000.00 2,600.00 2,600.00
Nine Ball • 310 Players Kiamco, Warren Pagulayan, Alex Sossei, Jeremy
$16,000.00 8,000.00 4,750.00
Van Boening, Shane Corteza, LeeVan Pagulayan, Alex
$16,000.00 8,000.00 4,000.00
BigFoot 10 Ball Challenge • 16 players
Ignacio, Jefferey
Bank Ring Game • 6 players
4,000.00
$6,000 3,000
Hall, Justin Morra, John Total 2015 DCC Payouts Mini Tournament Payouts Bank Ring Game BigFoot 10 Ball Challenge Master of The Table Grand Total
$181,350 $7,000 $9,000 $32,000 $25,000 $254,350
February/March PQB 9
Two Rails First
by Robert Byrne From “Byrne’s Complete Book of Pool Shots” with permission
B
illiard players call this a backup ticky. Aiming closer to the corner pocket with little or no English runs the risk of caroming too sharply off the 3-ball as shown by the dashed line. In this particular position, your chances of pocketing the 9-ball are increased by using right English and aiming as shown – the cueball will rebound off the second rail and hit the 3-ball at a more favorable angle.
The “Eyes” (and Heart) Have It! by Tom Rossman • drcue@artisticpool.org Contributing Writer
I
n this New Year I can think of player after player that has made a specific resolution to enhance his or her personal “game and life” journey. Good intention often turns into a diminishing return for the resolve created due to a host of disruptive factors. Foremost of these is more attention being given to the “analytical” component of development and little, if any, focus on the “trust / heart” side of what a player already knows as the “right thing to do. To maximum results and to “enjoy the roll” more, there must be a healthy blend of leftbrain quality input and a right brain assured and repetitious “free flight” performance with heart.
and even those that weren’t paying attention, can describe in detail what an 8 –ball looks like – sight unseen! How is this possible? For pool players this is a “no brainer” – they have seen an 8 – ball so many times with the left brain sense of vision that they know exactly what it looks like even when it is not physically in front of them. This “imagined vision” is engrained in the “mind’s eye” of the right brain with clarity, developing a special “trust / heart” attachment (without debate) to the “mental gift” of an 8 – ball image easily shared. One of the many keys to success for anything in your game (or even in life) is using the left-brain analytical senses (not just the eyes) to input correct and high quality components that you desire. Then, do it enough times to program the rightbrain “mind’s eye” so the “trust / heart” to a specific item of focus can be released in “free flight” motion or projected success without interference; hence achieving “dead stroke” for the job at hand.
To help you better understand the process in your quest for “dead stroke”, I would like to give you an amazing and yet very simple catalyst for success. Let’s start with the left-brain as it provides analytical feedback to you via your visual sense. I often use an 8 – ball for an illustration when I do an instructional clinic since it is probably the most recognizable pool ball in history! Holding it in front of everyone present, you can see You can also reverse the process to achieve what you “would the ball in infinite detail – It is round and black for the most like to actually see”. Close your physical eyes and let your part with a white circle and the number “8” inside it. The “mind’s eye” imagine what you want – do this frequently with a sense of vision via the “eyes” approves the presentation and strong heartfelt conviction. Whatever your goals might be in confirms we are truly looking at an 8 – ball. Frankly speaking, 2015 – to play better pool, to enhance your work duties or to an 8 – ball is as real as it can get before your “eyes”. get a new job, to make new friends or to repair broken relationships, or simply to lighten the load of life and experience Then, I take the 8 – ball and put it in my pocket – “out of more “joy” in the journey, let “the eyes (and heart) have it”. sight”, but NOT “out of mind”. It is amazing that everyone that was paying attention to the 1st part of my presentation
February/March PQB 15
Ga Young Kim Master Class at Women’s International Pool Championship
N
ew York City- The finale of the 6 day Andy Cloth Women’s International Pool Championship saw a colorful field of 64 women narrow down to the two best performing players in the tournament in Vivian Villarreal of Texas, USA and Ga. Young Kim. The pro tournament is the longest women’s billiard event of any kind with a round robin event that evolves into a final single elimination chart where players started out races to 10 in 10-Ball and eventually rise to races to 11,13, and 17 in the finals. All activities took place at Steinway Billiards Cafe and sponsored by Andy Cloth, J.Pechauer Cues , Viking Cues, Steinway Billiards, Olhausen Balls, Pool & Billiard Magazine, the NAPL & Focused Apparel. Patron sponsors include Dr. Greg Diehl, Tom Gleich, and Dr. Michael Frank. Media partners include PKE Partners, IB Sports, NYC Grind, Gotham City Technologies, Nona Photography, and Charles Eames Photography. 7 days of live pool was filmed and streamed by Inside Pool TV. The Championship was sanctioned by the WPBA Women’s Pocket Billiards Association. The unprecedented race to 17 finals began with Vivian winning the first game quickly off a 2/10 combo but GYK came right back with a run out to tie at 1-1. Vivian came back the next game to take the lead again, and once again GYK tied at 2-2. Then Kim took the lead, but Vivian won the next 2 to take the lead back. The match was going back and forth with both players making great shots but also some errors. It was apparent both players felt the pressure of the finals. Eventually the match stood at 6-6 and Villarreal had a golden chance to re-take the lead again but scratched behind a carom on the 10-Ball. This is where the momentum switched to GYK’s favor. Kim took the next rack and then hooked herself. She studied the shot and kicked the ball in and ran out. Kim would kick in a total of 3 balls in the finals not to mention numerous kicks that maneuvered her out of harm’s way. Villarreal had a golden opportunity to get within one game again at 8-6, but could not take advantage of a rare ball in hand given from Kim to Vivian. Another rack had Villarreal make a routine 9-Ball but overran position and froze the cueball to the 10-ball with no offensive option. She played safe and left GYK a long off angle bank. Kim banked the ball long rails perfectly. Kim would take the next 4 racks including a run-out with a beautiful behind the back Bustamante-like shot
12 PQB February/March
l-r, Vivian Villarreal, Ga. Young Kim, and Jennifer Barretta
Photo’s by Joe Ratke
and end the score at 10-6 her favor at the intermission. Thirty minutes later the match resumed, and the break worked in Villarreal’s favor slowing down Kim’s 5 game win streak. The Texas Tornado would win the next 2 games and brought the score to 10-8. But Kim turned up the notch further with some spectacular jump shots, kicks, and superior breaking power. At one point, she even took her bridge out and her jump-cue, and proceeded to make a jump shot extended with a bridge. The score extended to 13-8 GYK’s favor. Villarreal would continue making errors on shots and position until the score reached 15-8. Vivian would notch another game at 15-9. GYK went to the hill at 16-9. Villarreal made a crucial out off a GYK break to get to the double digits at 16-10. Thus far Villarreal had already surpassed the most games won against GYK in the event (her next closest match was 11-6 over Helena Thornfeldt) Villarreal made another great run-out and seemed to be coming into a new rhythm when the unthinkable happened. Vivian missed a straight in 10-Ball. Stunned, Vivian paused and stayed at the table after the miss for a few moments before deciding to concede the game. A bitter ending for Villarreal, but well earned victory for Kim. To event producer Charlie Williams started the closing ceremonies and introduced the Bronze Medalist Jennifer Barretta of NYC. Denise Wilkinson of New Zealand also received the Bronze but had to depart on her 22-hour flight earlier that day. Villarreal was awarded the Silver Medal and runner-up plaque. She was greeted by a consoling hug from Williams. All in all, it was a week full of amazing matches and unforgettable memories and friendship amongst new players and old foes. Ga Young Kim started the event as the #1 seed, won 12 matches in a row and ended it with the crown of champion amongst a field of international stars. She continues to prove to the world that she is the best there is and what she does.
30 PQB February/March
February/March PQB 31
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