23rd Annual Allen Hopkins Super Billiards Expo by Ricky Bryant
Jayson Shaw was working his way through the one loss side, having been sent there by his third round loss to Warren he 23rd annual Allen Hopkins Super Billiards Expo reKiamco on Friday night. Jayson had sent Alan Rolon and Lee turned to the Valley Forge area. The Expo was held at Kang to the one loss side in the first two winners side matchs. the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PennOnce in the one loss side Jayson eliminated, Jeremy Sossei, sylvania, for the second time, having been at this location in Hunter Lomardo, Darren Appleton, Johnny Archer and 2012. The four day event was Thursday April 16th through Warren Kiamco to get to the final four on Sunday. The other Sunday the 19th. This year the Expo had over a hundred player on the one loss side, in the final four, was Mike vendors, American Cuemakers Association Show and the TAP Dechaine. Mike Dechaine sent Robert Hart and Vilmos League Rally in the Valley, plus the following Pool and BilFoldes to the one loss side in his winners sides matches. Mike liards events: joined them with his them with his third round loss to Pro Pool Events: Open 10-Ball, Women’s Open 9-Ball and Thorsten Hohmann on Friday night. In the one loss side Mike Open One Pocket eliminated Jorge Rodriguez, Scott Frost, Kevin Clark, Mika Professor Q Ball 3-Cushion Events– Team Exhibition, ChalImmonen and Thorsten Hohmann. This setup the one loss lenge Matches and Clinics Sunday match with Jayson Shaw. The match was close but Open Pro-Am Bar Box 9-Ball Jayson prevailed with a 10 – 7 win. Amateur Events: Open Amateur, Women’s Division, Seniors Shane and Jayson would face off to see who would play Division, Super Seniors Division Dennis Orcollo, waiting in the Hot Seat. Shane jumped out to JR Events: Juniors 17 & Under and Juniors 12 & Under a 5-1 lead but Jayson kept grinding. Shane was also grinding to take the match to 8-6. Then it went down hill with Shane Pro Events scratching on a 7 ball. Jayson would win the Hill-Hill battle The three Pro Championships were directed by returning 10-9 to move to the final. Tournament Directory Doug Ennis, in his third year. Along Dennis took the early lead but the match was nip and tuck with Doug was emcee Frank Del Pizzo, returning as the voice at 4-4. Jayson then to the lead at 6-4 but Dennis would take of the Professional Players Championship. The Pro events were played on 9 foot Diamond tables with Simonis 860 Cloth back a game to get it to 6-5. Jayson again extended the lead by two again at 7-5. Dennis was not finished and Aramith Tournament balls with Measle but Jayson extended his lead by four games Cue ball. at 11-7 and just two games from the win. Open 10 Ball Pro Players Dennis started to grind it out knotting the The matches for the event were scheduled match at 11-11. But Jayson would take the over the full four days. There was a full field next game to go on the hill at 12-11. Jayson of 64 pleayers with a $500 entry fee. The broke dry in the rack that would have won format was non-call shot 10 ball, lag for the the match. Dennis missed and allowed break then rack your own alternating break. If the 10 is made Jayson back to the table. Jayson got loose on the 7 ball and on the break it was not a win but spoted. The race was to 10, missed, Dennis takes the match to Double Hill, 12-12. With double elimination, until the final which was a single race to the alternating breaks it was Dennis’s turn to break for the 13. The event was a Mosconi Points event for the selection of match. The result was a dry break by Dennis but Jayson didn’t the US Mosconi Team. have a shot and pushed out to a tough cut shot on the one. Shane Van Boening, who had won the event five times, was Dennis took the cut and ran out to win the title undefeated. back to defend the Championship. Shane moved throug the Payout: first three days sending Francis Crevier, Beppu Kenji, Corey 1st Dennis Orcollo $10,000 Deuel, Mika Immonen and Warren Kiamco to the one loss side. 2nd Jayson Shaw $5,000 The only close match was against Mika, who watched a 8 to 3 3rd Shane Van Boening $2,500 lead turn in to a Hill-Hill loss. On Sunday in the Hot Seat 4th Mike Dechaine $2,000 match Shane faced Dennis Orcollo. Dennis had sent Patrick 5th-6th $1,750 each Carosi, Danny Olson, Rodney Morris, Johnny Archer and 7th-8th $1,500 each Thorsten Hohmann to the one loss side. Dennis played great 9th-12th $1,250 each and sent Shane to the one loss side, 10 to 7. 13th-16th $1,000 each
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6 PQB June/July
Women 9-Ball Pro Players
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he Women’s Open event was a double elimination format scheduled for two days Saturday and Sunday. The field was limited to 32 players but only drew 28 players with a $300 entry. This was alternating break and the 9 on the break was not a win but spotted. The double elimination was only through the semi-finals, with the finals being a single race to 10, not an extended race as in the 10-Ball. The matches started at 11:30 on Saturday in the Pro Arena. Since the field was not full, four players got a bye in the first round, Erin McManus, Buffy Jolie, Eugenia Gyftopolous and Marianne Merrill. Saturday, Day 1 had four rounds on the winner side and six on the one loss side with the last starting at 11:30pm Saturday night. The last match of the night didn’t finish until almost 4AM Sunday. There was a bright light on Saturday in the play of National Jr player, 15 year old April Larson. April took a first round loss by Dawn Hopkins. Then on the one loss side April would eliminate, Nicole Fleming, Yomaylin Feliz, Denis Reeve and Emily Duddy. Then twice in the same day April had to face Dawn Hopkins and was eliminated. But Great Play by April Larson who is part of the Future of Pool in the United States. Dawn Hopkins had sent April Larson and Liz Lovely to the one loss side in the first two rounds. She herself went to the one loss side at the hands of Hiroki Horikoshi. Hopkings in the one loss side eliminated, Buffy Jolie, April Larson, and Kia Sidbury to advance to the final four on Sunday. The other player in the one loss side to advance to Sunday was Hiroki Horikoshi. Hiroki in her first three matches sent, Alicia Hoff, Marianne Merrill and Dawn Hopkins to the one loss side. She then joined them at the hands of Dawn Fox, and eliminated Brittany Bryant to move to Sunday. On the no loss side for Sunday we had Dawn Fox and Caroline Pao. Dawn had sent Tina Scott, Eugenia Gyftopolous, Emily Duddy and Hiroki Horikoshi to the one loss side. Caroline sent Borana Andoni, Denise Reeve, Erin McManus and Kia Sidbury to the one loss side. Sunday Caroline Pao defeated Dawn Fox to claim the Hot Seat. In the one loss match up Dawn Hopkins would prevail in a hill-hill match 10-9 over Hiroki Horikoshi of Japan. Hiroki was the winner of the 2014 Women’s Amateur Players Championship at SBE. This setup the semi-final match between Dawn Hopkins and Dawn Fox. Hopkins would take the win 10-6 and move to the final against Caroline Pao. The final was not an extended race but a single race to 10.
Pro Winners Dennis Orcollo and Dawn Hopkins The match was tight with multiple lead changes but Hopkins mis-cues leading 8-6. Pao took the opening and tied the match at 8 all. Hopkins would reach the hill first in the next rack but Pao caught up in the next rack to take the match to Hill-Hill. Hopkins had the break in the deciding game but scratched. Pao in her run out, got out of line on the 7 and played a failed safety. Hopkins could see just enough of the 7 to cut it the length of the table to set up the run out for the win 10-9. This was a sweet victory for Dawn who started the original Super Billiards Expo with her ex-husband Allen Hopkins. Payout: 1st – Dawn Hopkins - $3000 2nd – Caroline Pao (below)- $2400 3rd – Dawn Fox - $1800 4th – Hiroko Horikoshi - $1200 5th-6th – Brittany Bryant & Kia Sidbury - $800 each 7th-8th – Rorana Andoni & April Larson - $595 each
Runnerup Caroline Pao
June/July PQB 7
Open One Pocket Professional Players Championship
Jason Brown
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his was the second year for the 1-Pocket Championship at SBE. The event was originally set for 32 players but due to increased interest the field was opened up to 48. The format was double elimination until the final eight players, four from the winners’ side and four from the one loss side. The event was as $225 entry, rotate break, rack you own race to 4. The semi-finals and finals were a race to 5. The event was scheduled over three days. The final 8 players were, from the winners’ side – Jason Brown, Justin Hall, Warren Kiamco and Sklyer Woodward; then from the one loss side Corey Deuel, Adam Kielar, Sean Morgan and Phillip Wines. The single elimination round had the winners side and one loss side each playing to a single player for the final. Warren Kiamco would shut out Justin hall ( 4-0) and Jason Brown won double hill against Sklyer Woodward (4-3). The one loss side had Phillip Wines over Adam Kielar (4-2) and Corey Deuel over Sean Morgan (4-2). The semi-finals were a race to 5. This had Brown prevailing over Kiamco (5-4) from the winners’ side and Deuel over Morgan (5-4) on the one loss side. This set the stage for the final which was the second meeting of Brown and Deuel. In the first meeting in the double elimination rounds Brown had sent Deuel to the one loss side. Brown would prevail to take the championship 5-3.
8 PQB June/July
Payout: 1st – Jason Brown – $2000 2nd - Corey Deuel - $1500 3rd – 4th – Warren Kiamco & Phillip Wines - $1250 each 5th-8th – Justin Hall, Sklyer Woodward, Adam Kielar, Sean Morgan - $1000 each 9th-12th - $750 each
Allen Hopkins’s Amateur Players Championships The Amateur Players Championships and Juniors Championships were managed by returning Tournament Directory Cecilia Strain. There are seven events including the two junior events; Pro-Am Bar Table, Open Amateur, Women’s Amateur, Senior Amateur and Super Senior Amateur. All fields were full with the Open Amateur having to be closed at 960. The events are all 9Ball, single elimination on Diamond 7 foot table. The Pro-Am was a race to 6, best 2 out of 3 sets. The other four events were race to 5, best 2 out of 3 sets.
Charles Marshall Jr Pennsylvania Junior State Champion 12 & under
Shane Wolford Pennsylvania Junior State Champion 17 & under
The 2015 Pennsylvania Jrs State 9Ball Players Championship was partnered, for the first time, with the Billiard Education Foundation. There were two events 17 & Under and 12 & Under. Entry was Free but required advance signup The winner of each event got a paid entry into the 2015 BEF Junior National 9-Ball Championship. Also the top sixteen players are also qualified to compete in the BEF Junior Nationals. Top finishers in each event also received pool accessory prizes donated by sponsors and vendors. The format was single elimination, race to 4, best 2 out of 3 sets.
Winner - Alex Olinger Open Divisiom 960 players 1ST $ 5,000 2ND $ 1,600 3RD & 4TH $ 1,300
Warner Burton Super Seniors 128 players 1ST $ 1,000 2ND $ 700 3RD & 4TH $ 550
Justin Bergman Pro Am 32 players 1ST $ 4,000 2ND $ 2,000 3RD & 4TH $ 1,000
Dennis Spears Seniors 384 players 1ST $ 2,000 2ND $ 1,500 3RD & 4TH $ 1,000
Briana Miller Women 160 players 1ST $ 1,200 2ND $ 900 3RD & 4TH $ 700
Junior Events
June/July PQB 9
Long Way Around for Position
by Mark Finkelstein Pro at Slate and Eastside Billiards, New York City; Instructional Columnist
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here is a lot of conventional wisdom in pool that is right most of the time; however, every once in a while going against this common wisdom is the smart play. Take a look at this situation in the diagram1. By not getting fancy, we can pocket the 10-ball going one rail and be on the line for the 14. But let’s look at this a little more closely. First we could misjudge our spin and hit the 14, leading to sure trouble. We could also over hit the shot and be on the correct line, but much further away than we would like. If we hit the shot too hard, we even might fall off in the far corner pocket. But I think there is a better option. Here is the track line in Diagram 2. I came off the stun line with spin that opened the angle off the first rail. I was able to keep enough spin on the cue ball to last until the second rail putting the cue ball on a track line coming right at the 14. If I over hit the shot and hit the 14, I still have a chance to come out all right. Here is why I like playing this shot like this. I can stroke the cue ball instead of holding my stroke back, I’m coming at the 14 rather than going away from it, I’ve eliminated the chance of bumping the 14 off the first rail, and the outside spin helps eliminate the throw. As an experiment, try playing this shot both ways to see
what works best for you. Good luck and see you on the road.
Tri-State at Steinway Billiards
Mike Strassberg wins goes undefeated in Tri-State at Steinway Billiards. Mike’s tournament trail included wins over Pat Mareno 6 - 5; Ramon Feliciano 7 - 5; Raul Calderone 6 - 3; Ambi Estevez 6 - 3 and Ron Gabia 9 - 7 for the Hot Seat. Meanwhile Miguel LaBoy who lost a first round match to Kapriel Delimelkonoglu 7 - 5, won 10 matches in a row, defeating Ron Gabia 7 - 3 to reach the Finals. Due to the late hour and both players being exhaused, Mike and Miguel decided to call it a night, with Mike receiving the well deserved win. Special recognition goes to Ron Gabia for his solid performance and 3rd place finish. Payouts 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5 / 6th 7 / 8th
$750.00 $470.00 $290.00 $180.00 $110/$110 $90/$90
10 PQB June/July
3rd place, Ron Gabia, 1st Place Mike Strassman 2nd Place, Miguel LaBoy
2015 “M ake It Happen” One-Pocket
The Votes Are In!
Alex Pagulayan Shane Van Boening Efren Reyes Scott Frost These four superstars were voted in by supporters of the “Make It Happen” One-Pocket Invitational scheduled for June 25-28, 2015. They will join two young superstars, Justin Hall and Danny Smith, who were chosen by Accu-Stats. Although the voting is over, there is still time to say “I made it happen.” Only the best are invited to “Make It Happen” tournaments: Efren Reyes: Six Time DCC One-Pocket Champion Shane Van Boening: DCC/Accu-Stats One-Pocket Champion Alex Pagulayan: Current DCC OnePocket Champion Scott Frost: DCC One-Pocket Champion Justin Hall: DCC One-Pocket, & Banks, Champion Danny Smith: Respected One-Pocket High Stakes Competitor This 4 day round-robin event will be staged in the Aramith/Simonis Arena at Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, New Jersey. Everybody plays everybody and every match is of “finals” caliber. Sixteen matches, all races to three, will be played on the regulation 9-Foot Diamond Pro Am Table with Simonis 860 Cloth and Pro Aramith Balls. The best commentators in the business, Bill Incardona and Danny DiLiberto will be providing the play by play. 12 PQB June/July
This is the sixth event in the “Make It Happen” series produced by Accu-Stats. Please go to http://www.accu-stats.com/2015MIH1P.pdf and see what you will receive by supporting this event. Then call me personally at 800-828-0397.
Chico Billiards Academy
by Jacqueline Karol • House Pro at Oais Bar & Grill Chico Ca., League Operator & Tournament Director .
Winning isn’t always winning
by Meredith Cooper • Guest Writer It’s not whether you win or lose; it’s how you play the game. We’ve all surely heard this at one time or another. I always took it to mean: Don’t obsess over the outcome of a game; as long as you play your best, you’ll leave knowing at least you tried. Recently I’ve taken it to mean something else altogether. A couple of weeks ago, while playing in a coed 8ball league, I was matched up against someone who is widely accepted to be better than I am. That doesn’t intimidate me—in fact, I play my best games against my toughest competitors. On this particular night, my opponent wasn’t at the top of his game. He missed a couple of shots, giving me more than one chance to beat him. The last chance he gave me, we each had four balls left on the table. I ran all four of mine, leaving myself a difficult—but makeable—8-ball slice into the side pocket. I missed. Now, my opponent should have been able to run the rest of the table—he had no problem balls and I even left him with perfect shape one at least one of them. But he shot and missed—by a full 6 inches—giving me yet another
chance. This shot was quite a bit more difficult, but I came close, rattling it in the corner pocket. Again, my opponent missed his shot, by a mile, and at that point I sunk the 8. I went to shake my opponent’s hand and I said, “I feel like you gave me that game.” There was no reason for him to have missed those easy shots. He said, simply, “I did.” I took exception to this—I don’t want to win because someone took pity on me. I was angry, because while I’d played my best game, I had missed that 8-ball shot—I’d lost the game. I told this to a friend of mine and she said, “He was probably upset that he wasn’t playing his best game and you were on top of yours. He probably felt you deserved to win because you’d outplayed him.” I thought about that reasoning for a minute, and it reminded me of the saying about how you play the game. Perhaps my friend was right; perhaps he gave me the win because he thought I’d played a better game. That doesn’t excuse his behavior. No one wants to be given a pity win. But it certainly gave me a better perspective on winning and losing. Sometimes you might not sink that 8-ball, but you’ve still outplayed your opponent. And they know that just as well as you do.
Billiard Congress of America Proudly announces its Team to face the Europeans during the Inaugural staging of the Atlantic Challenge Cup.
This long-awaited event will take place July 1-4, 2015 in Rankweil, Austria. The first of the selected players for the U.S.A. team includes junior state and nationals champion Nick Evans. Evans has been a key part of the U.S.A. team during the past two WPA World Junior Championships with both top 6 and top 8 finishes. Evans is joined by three more seasoned young men: Lindenwold scholar Nick Niepoetter, and top regional players Tyler Brandom and Josh Franklin. All three boys have proven themselves not only in junior events but have numerous top finishes in open adult events between them. Junior pool stars April Larson and Taylor Hansen make up the two girls for the team with their extensive list of tournament wins and accomplishments both academically and at the table. These bright young ladies are both fierce competitors bringing a multitude of skills and experience to the table. Larson has faced and defeated some of the top European junior players and competed in several world junior events. Team U.S.A. (alternates) Team U.S.A. (starters) River Burke, age 18 Tyler Brandom, age 18 (Harvard, MA) (Andalusia, IL) Nick Evans, age 18 (St. Peters, MO Manny Perez, age 17 Joshua Franklin, age 17 (Creve Coeur, IL) (Overland Park, KS) Drake Niepoetter, age 18 (Albers, IL) Taylor Hansen, age 16 (Mankato, MN) April Larson, age 15 (Bloomington, MN) 14 PQB June/July
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18 PQB June/July
2015 American Cuemakers Association (ACA) Awards
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here were two awards presented at the annual member’s dinner. The annual members awards dinner is held on Saturday night at the Super Billiards Expo. As always the room was filled with some of the best Cuemakers in the United States. But it should be noted the Cuemakers have a diverse background some coming from other parts of the world before settling in the United States. This year was the induction of David Paul Kersenbrock into the Hall of Fame. David was previously inducted into the International Cuemakers HALL OF FAME in 2009. David was unable to attend the dinner. The following is from Left to Right -Cleiton Rocha (Rep. of J.Pechauer) - Pete Tonkin - Pat Deveney his induction in 2009: “David started building cues in 1972. David has worked with several cuemakers including Hall of Fame members Bert Schrager and Jerry Franklin. He also built cues with Omega/DPK from 1990 to 1996. David popularized the 3/8-11 thread wood to wood joint. It had the flat bottom minor diameter thread like Harvey Martin had used, but David put a starter pilot and center hole on the end of the pin. David pushed manual pantograph inlaying cues to new levels by free handing inlays instead of using template patterns. He used high magnification optics and a very steady hand to accomplish this. David and Jerry Franklin developed the table saw tapering machines that are popular today. David also wrote a cue building manual and hired himself out as a trainer to many smaller cuemaking shops over the years. His cuemaking designs, styles and methods have greatly influenced the custom cuemaking industry across in the USA and around the world.”
People’s Choice Cue Award
This year the participants told me the on arriving at the show they thought they were in the running. But the J. Pechauer Team had moved the bar to a higher level. The Cuemakers seemed to be in agreement before the announcement that the J. Pechauer, Diamond encrusted cue, named Regalia, would win. The Regalia has a total of 1272 inlays, 1125 Ivory, 92 Abalone, 25 Ebony and 30 Authentic diamonds totaling 2 ¼ carats. The cue is valued at $30,000 which is down from their 2013 winner, Empyrean, valued at $50,000. Congratulations to the J. Pechauer Team and for all they do for Pool in the United States. And congratulations to the ACA for a great awards ceremony and for the fine support the members do for Pool in the United States and around the world.
1st Place J. Pechauer Custom Cues The second award for the annual People’s Choice Cue 2nd Place Tonkin Custom Cues Award is actually three awards. This is presented for 1st, 2nd 3rd Place Diveney Custom Cues and 3rd place or as the emcee says Win -Place- Show! The cue makers make something special to put on display at the Expo each year and visitors to the ACA booth vote for their choices.
20 PQB June/July
Young Guns Take Coles’ Carom Room 2015 Spring Classic
by Ricky Bryant The Carom Room 2015 Spring Classic was a three day event, The event was co-sponsored by Behnke Enterprises & Jacoby Custom cues and streamed by Ray “Big Truck” Hanson on PoolACTIONTV.com. There were two tournaments played on 7 foot Diamond, bar box, tables, with Aramith balls and Delta 13 racks. Due to time constraints the players were limited to only playing in one of the two events. The Main Event was a 16 player, $2000 entry, Double Elimination 8 Ball. The second was a 32 player, $200 entry, Double Elimination 10-Ball. Each tournament had a Calcutta (Player Auction). The 8-ball event had one of the largest prize funds ever for a 16 player field on 7 foot tables (bar boxes). This was based on $32,000 player entry, $4,000 added and $40,400 Calcutta for a total $76,400. The 10-ball had a total prize fund of $total, based on $6,400 player entry, $1,000 added and $17,350 Calcutta for a total $24,750. The 8-Ball was a race to 15, lag for break, rack you own – winner breaks, take what you make. There were two players, Jayson Shaw and Danny Smith, originally in the players list that had to withdraw from the 8-ball before Friday. But there was a waiting list and the 16 players were: Darren Appleton, Johnny Archer, Bergman, Jesse Bowman, Corey Deuel, Eric Durbin, Scott Frost, Chris Gentile, Warren Kiamco, Jason Klatt, Bobby McGrath Jr, John Morra, Larry Nevel, Dennis Orcullo, Shane Van Boening and Skylar Woodward. There was one round of play on Friday night after the Calcutta. The following took first round losses and moved to the one-loss side: Johnny Archer, Eric Durbin, Scott Frost, Warren Kiamco, Jason Klatt, Bobby McGrath Jr, Larry Nevel, and Dennis Orcullo. On Saturday and Sunday the doors opened by 9 AM and matches were called for 10 AM. The players eliminated in the first round on Saturday were Eric Durbin, Bobby McGrath Jr, Larry Nevel, and Dennis Orcullo. And moving to the one-loss side were Justin Bergman, Jesse Bowman, Chris Gentile and John Morra. The 6 PM round on the un-defeated side had Shane Van Boening over Darren Appleton (15 – 11) and Corey Deuel over Skylar Woodward (15 -13). Shane and Corey would have the rest of the evening off. The one loss side had one more round for the day scheduled to start at 10 PM, Darren Appleton over Jesse Bowman (15–14) and Skylar Woodward over Justin Bergman (15-4). This set up the opening matches for Sunday at 10 am, Shane versus Corey for the hot seat and Darren versus Skylar on the one-loss side. Sunday was a shock, as Darren Appleton over slept and forfeited. Darren was forfeited out in fourth place.and also this
kept him out of the Calcutta which was paying 1st through 3rd. Shane took the hot seat defeating Corey, 15-13. Skylar finally in his first match on Sunday got by Corey 15-12 to move to the final. The format was True Double Elimination so for Skylar to win he would have to defeat Shane twice. Skylar won the lag and took an early lead of 9-1 before Shane ground back. But Shane’s break was MIA and Skylar took the first set 15-13. The players agreed to a 15 minute break before starting the final round. Shane took the time to work on his break, commenting “I found the problem and know what to do.” Again Skylar won the lag but Shae would take the early lead of 5-1, then things tightened up. After 16 racks the match was knotted at 8 all, then Skyler took the lead to never look back winning 15-10. Sky, commented “I knew I had to play my best pool to have a chance to double dip Shane”. 1st – Skyler Woodward - $16,000 + $20,200 = $36,200 2nd -Shane Van Boening - $10,000 + $12,120 = $22,120 3rd – Corey Deuel - $6,000 + 8,080 = $14,080
4th - Darren Appleton $4,000 The 10-Ball played down to Sergio Rivas and Gary Lutman. Rivas and Lutman had a hard fought Hill-Hill battle for the hot seat with fifteen year old Rivas winning, sending Lutman to the one loss side. Lutman would face Kyle Boers, who had also been moved to the one loss side by Rivas. Lutman would prevail over Boers to get a second shot at Rivas. This was also a True Double Elimination so Lutman would have to win twice. The first match, as with the hot seat match, went Hill-Hill and Rivas took the 10-Ball undefeated. 1st – Sergio Rivas – $2,900 + $7,710 = $10,610 2nd- Gary Lutman – $1,800 + $4,820 = $6,620 3rd- Kyle Boers - $1,150 + $2,890 = $4,040 4th -Gene Albercht - $650 + $1,930 = $2,580 5th-Scott Cohen $450 Coles’ Carom Spring Classic would go the young guns – 21 year old Skyler “SKY” Woodward (8-ball) and 15 year of Sergio Rivas (10-ball) June/July PQB 21
2015 PartyPoker World Pool Masters Superstar field announced for Manchester, England
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ith Masters set to take place at the iconic Victoria Warehouse, Manchester, England from 14th to 16th of August, Matchroom Sport can announce the field for the 23rd annual pocket billiards showdown. Sporting a $20,000 top prize, the Masters aims to bring together some of the biggest names from around the world to contest what is the game’s most sought-after title. Heading the field will be defending champion Shane Van Boening (USA) as well as former champs Darren Appleton of England and Holland’s Niels Feijen, winners in 2009 and 2013, respectively. Making his Masters debut is current World No.1 Carlo Biado of the Philippines and he will be joined by fellow Asian players Ko Pin Yi of Taiwan, the current WPA World 10 Ball champion, and China’s Liu Haitao, the current World No. 6. Scotland’s Jayson Shaw, currently one of the form players, will be competing as will Karl Boyes who closed out 2014 with wins at the World Cup of Pool and the Mosconi Cup. John Morra, who last played as a qualifier in 2010, is back to represent Canada. 2014 runner-up Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) will be back as will Waleed Majid, representing Qatar and the Middle East. James Georgiadis of Australia, who came so close to upsetting Van Boening last year, returns as does 2012 runner-up Mateusz Sniegocki of Poland. Finally, all-time Masters legend Ralf Souquet of Germany makes a welcome return. A big favourite down the years with UK audiences, ‘the Kaiser’ has been crowned Masters champion on no less than six occasions. To make up the 16, there will be a fourth British player to be determined, as well as a top champion from South America who will be announced shortly. There are eight first round matches which complete on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon and evening, then the four quarter-final games on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. The tournament culminates on Sunday evening with the two semi-finals followed by the championship match. All matches are race to eight, winner breaks. The Masters will once again sport a $20,000 top prize, and the event will be produced by Matchroom Sport Television who will be making 15 x 1 hour programmes of the tournament for international syndication.
Darren Appleton
Niels Feijen
Shane Van Boening Aramith. Diamond is the supplier of the Official Table.
The 2015 PARTYPOKER World Pool Masters is sponsored by PartyPoker, the world’s leading online poker site. Cloth is supplied by Iwan Simonis and the Official Balls are Super
June/July PQB 25
Dechaine and Shooni Win the Team Challenge at the Super Billiard Expo.
Professor-Q-Ball Promotions held several special events in 3cushion billiards at the 23rd annual Super Billiards Expo April 16-19. Two Gabriel’s Imperator tables were brought in to do the events and set up by Master Mechanic Yura Ra. (Yura’s Nothing But Billiards). The highlight event was a Team Challenge Match. The players for the event were Shane Van Boening and Mike Dechaine, both well known pool players and Mazin Shooni and Hugo Patiño, both previous National 3-Cushion Champions. The pairing for the event was Dechaine and Shooni against Van Boening and Patino. The format was Scotch doubles (alternating shots) in a race to 30 pts. The match was close with neither team having a clear advantage in the early part of the match. The score seesawed back and forth until tied at 20 points. Then Dechaine and Shooni started to pull away winning the match with a final score of 30-23. Hugo Patiño and Mazin Shooni played two exhibition matches to 30 points. Hugo prevailed in both matches finishing 30-22 in 26 and then upped his game for the second match with a score of 30-15 in 16 innings. Additionally, Mike Dechaine and Shane Van Boening played a match against each other with Mike Dechaine winning 20-13 in 31 innings. On Saturday Mazin Shooni held a clinic for youths 18 and under which was well received. He spent two hours discussing three-cushion, showing them some shots and letting them try the game. The juniors, all of them were there to compete in the Juniors Players Championships 17 & Under pocket pool
Mazin Shooni, Mike Dechaine, Paul Frankel (Professor-Q-Ball)Patino & Shane Van Boening events for youths at the Expo. Shooni was helping them with fundamentals to improve their stroke as well. All participants received a special certificate for taking part in the clinic. 28 PQB June/July
Merrill Hughes, USBA Treasurer, enthusiastically gave assistance in the youth clinics. Throughout the event we also had a ‘Race to 3, Challenge the Champion’ program. Players paid $10 and got the break, if the player won, he got a Hanbat billiard cue. 68 players participated, 17 cues were awarded.
IBS Open Tournaments Sponsored by Yura (Nothing But Billiards) Three separate events in the evenings – Race to 5 - $20 Entry - Single Elimination and the top 3 winners receiving trophies in each event. Total of 66 players, Professor-Q-Ball and IBS added $440. Day 1 18 players $140 added 1st Joe DeAmato $300 • 2nd Chulwon Kantg $140 Yura and Paul 3rd Mazin Shooni $70 Bonus for “Break & Runout” Sponsored by John Palmer of On The Level Billiards Mazin Shooni Break & Run Bonus $100 Day 2 25 players $140 added 1st Xavier Romero $360 • 2nd Chris Bartzos $200 3rd Arturo Reyes $80 Day 3 25 players - $150 added 1st Eric Kwon $350 • 2nd Tony Martzakis $200 3rd Chris Bartzos $100 Tournament Director Charles Brown was on hand all the time to make sure all the events ran smoothly as well as Tom Paley, USBA Secretary, and Merrill Hughes, USBA Treasurer. I would like to thank all the players, participants, and sponsors who helped make these historical events possible.
Plaques of Appreciation
I
n a private ceremony with the team of supporters, Paul Frankel presented plaques of appreciation to those team members who have stepped up to make the past 5 years a successful Expo Event. All recipients were honored to receive this recognition and honored to be a part of Professor Q-Ball Promotions at the 2015 Expo. Left to Right- Charles Brown, Tom Paley, Yura Ra, Paul “Professor-Q-Ball” Frankel
Upcoming USBA Tournaments June 12, 13 Fri, Sat., and Sun Dubuque Tournament Entry fee $125 IN ADVANCE For details, email bob@byrne.org Byrne at 563 557 8970. Entries will be cut off at 18.
“ USBA Membership”
To become a USBA member and receive the PQB publication for free, fill out and return this form.
USBA Membership • Dues $50
New Member ____________Renewal __________ PRINT PLEASE Name: ___________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________
June 19-21 USBA TOUR INTERNATIONAL OPEN Million Dollar Billiards 12135 Victory Blvd North Hollywood, California 91606 USA Contact RICARDO CARRANCO - 323-490-8075
City,
__________________State ____ Zip: __________
Home Phone: _____________________________________ Cell Phone: ______________________________________ E-Mail Address: __________________________________ Referred by ______________________________________
July -26 19-21 The Verhoven Open Carom Café Flushing Queens, NY Preceded by an International Women’s Tournament from July 18-20 718-358-8585
Send completed form and check or money order payable to USBA to Merrill HughesUSBA Secretary 16 Peartree Lane • Huntington Station, NY 11746
June/July PQB 29
30 PQB June/July
44 PQB June/July
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