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Silver Anniversary Edition of the World’s Largest Pool Tournament a Sensation!How do you even begin to describe pool heaven?! Imagine a nine-day amateur event featuring 7,421 individual players, 10,483 entries, 240 tables, brand new Aramith pool balls and $736,290 in prize money. Adding to the luster of the event, you showcase the WPA-sanctioned $160,000 BCA Open 9-Ball Championships featuring 128 of the top men and women pros in the world, the $10,000 WPA-sanctioned World Artistic Pool Championship, the National Wheelchair Poolplayers Association-sanctioned BCA Las Vegas Open, the BCA-sponsored attempt to enter the Guinness Book Of World Records with 1,000 consecutive games of 9-ball, 56 vendor booths and 500+ mini-tournaments! If you have not been to the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in May, you have not experienced the world’s largest and most exciting pool event - the Billiard Congress of America’s North American 8-Ball Championships! This year’s 25th Anniversary of the Championships, May 11-19, blasted all previous records. With amateur competition in 21 divisions in two huge ballrooms - each the size of an airplane hangar, the Billiard Congress of America (BCA) hosts the best billiard show imaginable. The BCA Championships serve as a true North American amateur championship event; any amateur BCA Player Member may compete in singles divisions, while BCA league participation is required to enter Scotch Doubles or Team divisions. In Masters Scotch Doubles, the team of Scott Frost/Angel Paglia (Phoenix, AZ) outmatched 69 other master teams in an undefeated march to the title. They clipped the team of Al Mason/Linda Luhan (Dallas, TX) in the finals 5-4. Open Scotch Doubles, featuring 491 teams, showcased the team of Greg Cairns/Gloria McLellan (Calgary, AB) outpointing another Canadian team, David Joe/Katherine Siemens (Vancouver, BC), 4-2 in the title match. Singles play in seven different divisions totaling 2,922 players highlighted play in Open Men’s Singles (1,750), Open Women’s Singles (571), Master Men’s Singles (178), Master Women’s Singles (70), Senior Men’s Singles [age 55+] (208), Senior Women’s Singles [age 50+] (69) and Super Senior Singles [age 65+] (76). While BCA league players dominate these divisions, competition is open to any amateur player who is a BCA Player Member, and some of the top amateur talent worldwide vied for these titles. Jamey Bowman (Moline, IL) marched undefeated through the large field of the Open Men’s Singles until a first-match loss to James Henson (Alexandria, VA) in the finals 3-5. Bowman recovered with a 5-2 margin in the deciding set to take the crown and $6,000. Sherri Hudson (Houston, TX) likewise sailed undefeated through the Open Women’s Singles ranks and edged Stacie Bourbeau (Bernardston, MA) 4-3 to capture the title and $5,000. Lee Heuwagon (Forest Lake, MN) took off six straight matches to capture the Master Men’s Singles crown, completing his quest with a one-set purging of Dave Martin (Calgary, AB) 7-4 for the top prize of $7,000. English snooker enthusiast Kim Shaw (Bear, DE) made the most of her inaugural appearance in the Master Women’s Singles to outpoint eight straight opponents, including Tasha Thomas (Edmonton, AB) in the finals 7-2 and take home top honors and $5,000. In the Senior Singles divisions, Bobby Legg (Baltimore, MD) completed an undefeated ride to the Senior Men’s Singles crown by outpacing Robert Strachan (St. Ann, MO) 5-3 in the finals to gain the $3,000 top prize. Lauren Ward (Valley Village, CA) recovered from the B-side bracket to dispatch undefeated Nancy Henkhaus (Paradise, CA) in two sets with identical 4-1 scores to claim the Senior Women’s Singles crown and $1,800. In the inaugural Super Seniors (65+) division, Wayne Fate (Williamston, MI) outpointed Monte Beghtol (Muskegon, MI) 5-3 after B-side winner Beghtol clipped Fate 5-4 to force the deciding set. Fate took home $1,800 for his efforts in this division that attracted an impressive 76 contenders in its first year. The opening day of team competition (May 16-19) was an awesome sight, as 5,868 players worked the tables in the various divisions of Master, Open and Trophy team divisions, depending on the skill level of each team. 978 teams competed in six 5-person team divisions: Men’s/Mixed Master Team (29), Women’s Master Team (16), Men’s/Mixed Open Team (710), Women’s Open Team (137), Men’s/Mixed Trophy Team (66) and Women’s Trophy Team (20). Playing round-robin format in four flights with $15,000 in added prize money, eight teams emerged in the Men’s/Mixed Master Team division for the final double-elimination bracket: Rocky Mountain Masters (Ft. Collins, CO), Jet Setters (Calgary, AB), Worst Nightmare (Dallas, TX), RIP (Minneapolis, MN), four-time national champion Pour House (Hartford, WI), Clean Team (Portland, OR), Classic Qs (Pueblo, CO) and Billiard Street Mavericks (Blaine, MN). In the end, Pour House (Captain John Abruzzo, Mike Bandy, Steve Hayes, Jeff Sergent and Claudio Parrone) won the B-side over Clean Team (Captain Brad Gowin, Russell Pettis, Khampane Kanlaya, John Morabito and Glenn Atwell) 13-10 and earned the opportunity to match up with undefeated Billiard Street Mavericks (Captain Ty Wilson, Mario Parayno, Mohd Omar, Gene Lowe and Nick Hanson). Billiard Street Mavericks continued their momentum in the finals by turning back Pour House in one set 13-8 to capture the most prestigious amateur team championship title and $10,000. The Women’s Master Team competition also featured $15,000 in added prize money and two round-robin flights of eight teams each, with a final four reaching the double-elimination bracket: ‘N Stroke (Calgary, AB), Mud Honey (New York, NY), Fatal Attraction (Dallas, TX) and Fox Force Five (Surrey, BC). Fox Force Five (Captain Brenda Willis, Regene Springett, Mary-Ellen Homenchuk, Jennifer Wishinski and Katherine Siemens) captured the A-side bracket by outracing Fatal Attraction (Captain Karen Goettlicher, Melanie Koger, Leslie Ann Rogers, Julie Stephenson, Orietta Strickland and Linda Lujan) 13-7. Fatal Attraction claimed the B-side bracket over Mud Honey (Captain Lara Rossignol, Andrea DeDomenico, Jennifer Barretta, Nicole Monaco, Gina Kim and Heather Hatt) 13-10 and earned another shot at Fox Force Five, but “the force” took down the title match in one set by a 13-11 margin to claim the championship and $6,500. In the Men’s/Mixed Open Team competition, Wood Slivers (Surrey, BC - Captain Gord Gervais, Larry Wilson, Dave McEvoy, Jim Masterman, Blair Wentzell, Rob McDonald and Simon Pickering) came out of the B-side bracket to beat A-side winner The Canadian Invasion (Toronto, ON - Captain Jody Matheson, Brian Belobradis, Bill Lockerby, Andrew Attard, Dave McMahon, Scott Soroko, Ron Wilson and Bill English) twice for the title and $9,000. Chicaro’s Ladies (San Antonio, TX - Captain Renee Benton, Amanda Lampert, Sophia Lopez, Audra Carter, Kawamie Watson and Laura Sanchez) marched undefeated to the Women’s Open Team championships, capping the finals with an 8-4 win over runner-up Just For Fun (Austin, TX - Captain Sharon Townsend, Shayla Neris, Heather Pulford, Rachel Ross, Athala Wyllys and Kimberly Tipton). Other division winners include:
Men’s/Mixed Trophy Team: Snooker John’s #2 (Camdenton, MO) The Billiard Congress of America appreciates the sponsorship of Aramith; the Riviera Hotel & Casino; McDermott Cue Mfg.; Stealth, KC Innovations; Viking Cue Mfg., Inc.; Westar International; Frank’s Center, Inc.; Team Schuler; Tom’s Q-Stix; Phoenix Custom Cue; Q-Sports America; and BCA Canada Billiards and looks forward to hosting “The Greatest Pool Show on Earth” again May 10-18, 2002 at the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada! |
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