Derby City Classic XVIII, Day Five
David Thomson, MediumPool.com
Jan. 27, 2016
John Brumback, photo courtesy of Dave Thomson, Mediumpool.com
John Brumback, photo courtesy of Dave Thomson, Mediumpool.com

LIVE from the Horseshoe Southern Indiana Resort and Casino, Elizabeth, IN

DCC Bank Pool Championships: There were 375 players on Friday but by Tuesday at 10 am EDT, there were 9. Only two had a buy-back; 2-time Bank Pool Champion and 2010 Master of the Table, John Brumback and young gun, Billy Thorpe.
 
Alex Olinger sent Billy to the buy-back counter as Earl beat Bustey, Dennis got JJ and Shaw, still on a roll from BiGFoot, thought he was on a bar box and ousted Dueul. Brumback drew the bye.

Olinger then eliminated Orcollo, Brumback sent Billy packing, and Shaw showed Earl the exit sign. The three remaining players redrew and it was Brumback vs. Olinger in the Accu-Stats Arena for the semi’s. Shaw lucked the bye.

“I hope Olinger wins as Brumback still has a buy-back.” joked Jayson.

But that wasn’t to be. Congratulations to Olinger on his impressive wins over Orcullo and Thorpe but, under the pressure of the Accu-Stats TV Cameras, he was clearly out of his realm. Brumback, the back-to-back 2009 and 10 DCC Bank Pool Champion, didn’t allow Alex a game: 3-0.

Shaw was not quite as intimidated. He was still stoked about his 10-Ball win over Van Boening. Free stroking, he won the first game, 5-4. Back and forth they rallied and, at 2-1, and up a few balls, Shaw was almost expecting to dispatch John to the buy-back booth. But you Derby City fans know John; he doesn’t rattle. He scrambled to tie the match.

From the hill, Brumback didn’t look back. He broke and ran 3 balls. Shaw attempted a bank, and John deposited another. “I’m just looking to make one ball at a time. I’m not even thinking about shape. Patience will win this for me,” John commented later.

Shaw missed again and Brumback, strategy intact, closed the game, set, and match at 5 balls to zero. Elated, he’d secured his 3rd DCC Banks Championship…and 120 bonus points toward his second Master of the Table title.

“I’m so happy to have won as I really didn’t expect to get this far. A couple days ago, or was it yesterday,” he pondered, “I was really lucky to have escaped in my match with Gabe(Owen).”

Shaw was happy too. “I really had fun out there.” You know, he really did. He had nothing to lose. And he really didn’t expect to get this far. Yet, you can be of one thing, next year, he’ll be a lot more respectful of the safety aspects of Kentucky’s favorite game. Jayson got 100 points and Olinger, 80.

DCC One Pocket Championships: 397 entrants. 73 remain.

Pagulayan ended today’s opening encounter with a 3-rail attempt that Pinegar couldn’t quite overcome. Alex’s match winning ball slowed just inches short of the hole as the cue ball nestled in neatly behind the 5. Johnathan cued to combo the hanger while, hopefully, sending the 5 off the table. The strategy being to create a foul which would have caused Alex’s ball, plus one of Pinegar’s previously pocketed balls, being re-spotted. Unfortunately, John only made Alex’s match ball. “Thank you very much,” said Alex, extending his hand.

Mosconi Cup teamster Justin Bergman had a most productive day with wins over Mike Delawder and Ralf Souquet. “I think I played my best match yet against Ralf. I have so much respect for his game, I had to.”

Scott Frost sent Mike Dechaine to buy back as did Danny Olsen with Shannon Daulton, Tommy Tokoph with Max Eberle, Deuel with Mike Massey while Jason Bowman eliminated Danny Smith as did Shane with Earl.

Earlier, Jeffrey Ignacio defaulted as a no-show for his noon match with Tommy Tokoph. Schmidt also defaulted.

BTW: The Chinese are gone: Maybe next year?

Alex, Efren, Bustey, Shane, Frost, Bergman, Brumback, Orcullo, Hall, as expected, are all undefeated.

The cream of tomorrow’s matches will be presented via PPV, LIVE from the Accu-Stats Arena.

Visit accu-stats.com.

The George Fels Memorial Straight Pool Challenge:  There are now at 56 entrants striving for the top 8 high runs that will allow them entry into the final, single elimination phase starting Thursday.

56 players is an incredible response and proof of popularity for what was once the game of choice for pool’s world title.

“About 10 years ago, when (Billiards Digest Columnist) Bob Jewett initiated the event at DCC, only the greatest 14.1 players would enter. Now, it’s the greatest players,” enthused event co-director Bill Maropulos. “Shane’s here for the first time. He ran an 84–not quite the 300 plus he ran in practice at the World Tournament–the Chinese have also signed up. Evening sessions are supposed to be cut-off at midnight. Now, we might be up till dawn!”

As was mentioned yesterday, this morning, Thorsten Hohmann actually arrived at 8:30, all fresh from his workout, and ran a 151!

Due to time constraints, Orcollo requested to make his attempt on one of the busy “Action Room” tables. No problem: Multiple distractions are part of the training program in the Phillipines.

Dennis ran 154!
Thorsten has 151
Konstantin Stepanov, 149
Mike Davis, 141
Carlo Biado, 140
Nick van den Berg, 140
Niels Feijen, 130
Alex Lely, 127.

Then Johnny showed up and changed everything!

Holding court, he ran a very eventful 10 racks including, after the break shot at 141, getting stuck with a back-cut as thin as he is. He pocketed it at such speed–as is common with such cuts– that the cue ball was sent careening into the cosmos to land, frozen, between two balls. It looked like his run was over.

Fortunately, one of them was almost straight in. Legally, one can push through frozen balls which is exactly what he did. The orb dawdled across the table to wobble back and forth before, much to the standing room only crowd’s delight, it dropped into the pocket. Phew, 142! Into the night, his run continued to an enviable 179!

Johnny is now assured of a spot in the last 8.  So, add him to the top of the list and delete Lely. You can be assured of one thing, being European, Alex will be waiting, with his coffee, around 7am, yes Johnny, in the morning. No worries. Now, you can sleep well!

Who knows what time zone the Ko brothers are on. They, too, will be competing tomorrow.

Wednesday is the closing day for the high run segment of the event. Due to the high number of entrants, play begins at 7  - all the way round the clock until 2 am!

Thursday, the top 8 will progress into single elimination.

For continuous LIVE coverage, on 2 tables, visit tvmike.tv.

Diamond Billiard Products thanks its sponsors: The Horseshoe Southern Indiana, Simonis Cloth, Cyclop Balls, and BadBoys Billiard Productions.

Accu-Stats thanks its Arena Sponsors: Simonis Cloth, Cyclop Balls, Cue and Case, MEZZ Cues, McDermott Cues, National Billiard Academy, OB Cues, Outsville.com, and Samsara Cues.