Andy Segal Wins 2004 Las Vegas Open

With the audience on the edge of their seats for most of the final round, Andy "The Magic Man" Segal tied his own World Record of 241 out of 333 points, to win the 2004 Las Vegas Artistic Pool Open.

The tournament was held at the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, in conjunction with the APA National Team Championships. Of the 24 player field, 9 of the top 10 players were in attendance, making this one of the toughest fields yet. Some new faces were welcomed by the audience and players, including Jose Rivas from Wisconsin. Rivas, only 14 years old, captured the hearts of many as he performed beautifully, and made 5 out of 5 shots in the follow discipline, winning the gold medal for that category.

Mike Massey was the leader in the clubhouse with 198 points, while the final flight of players, Tom Rossman, Steve Geller, and Andy Segal, prepared for their last round. The jump and masse shots prove to be the most difficult and exciting as the tournament winds down. The three stayed together for most of the match, with Andy Segal coming out on top with 241 points. Tom Rossman finished second with 207 points, and Steve Geller ended up with 194 points, finishing 4th to Massey's 3rd.

This event was produced by IAPA and sanctioned by the WPA. Thanks goes out to all of our sponsors for this event, including Brunswick, Championship Cloth, Aramith, APA, Shooter's Billiards, GTS, WebTec Hosting, Mike Massey, and Dr. Cue Promotions.

2004 Las Vegas Artistic Pool Open Results

Position	Player	Location	Points	Prize Money
1	Andy Segal	New York, USA	241	$1,675
2	Tom Rossman	Indiana, USA	207	$1,370
3	Mike Massey	Utah, USA	198	$1,005
4	Steve Geller	North Dakota, USA	194	$805
5-6	Nick Nikolaidis	Quebec, Canada	185	$600
5-6	Stefano Pelinga	Rome, Italy	185	$600
7	Lukasz Szywala	Krakow, Poland	183	$400
8	Bruce Barthelette	Massachusettes, USA	181	$310
9	Charles Darling	Missouri, USA	176	$300
10	Ben Hogan	Connecticut, USA	169	$290
11	Mark Dimick	Oklahoma, USA	163	$280
12	Jamison Neu	Missouri, USA	147	$270
13	Ken Aylesworth	Washington, USA	139	$260
14	Sal Conti	Connecticut, USA	134	$250
15	Bogdan Wolkowski	Jaworzno, Poland	131	$240
16	Matt MacPhail	Massachusettes, USA	124	$230
17	Jose Rivas	Wisconsin, USA	110	$220
18	Marcell Kaiser	Ratheim, Germany	107	$210
19	Paul Danno	New Jersey, USA	102	$200
20	Michael Murray	Massachusettes, USA	98	$190
21	Rick Hawkinson	Indiana, USA	80	$180
22	George Middleditch	Michigan, USA	77	$170
23	Jim Garabedian	Connecticut, USA	62	$160
24	Gerry Woodlief	New Jersey, USA	59	$150

Discipline Champions

Discipline	Player	Points
Trick and Fancy	Tom Rossman	35 of 40
Prop / Novelty / Special Arts	Andy Segal	38 of 48
Draw	Andy Segal	39 of 42
Follow	Jose Rivas	31 of 37
Bank / Kick	Lukasz Szywala	36 of 39
Stroke	Tom Rossman	40 of 41
Jump	Tom Rossman	38 of 40
Masse	Andy Segal	32 of 46
Sportsman	Matt MacPhail

On Thursday, August 26, the players had a break in the action. Most took the day off, but 9 players went over to the Cue Club for an ESPN style knock-out tournament, where 12 shots are selected and each player gets 3 attempts at each shot. The first semi-finals had Nick Nikolaidis and Lukasz Szywala squaring off. Both Nikolaidis and Szywala will be appearing for the first time in the ESPN Trick Shot Magic tournament, scheduled for October 5-7, 2004 at the New York New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Szywala got by the Canadian champion and advanced to the finals. The other semi-final match was a repeat of the 2003 Trick Shot Magic event, with Mike Massey and Andy Segal meeting once again. This time, Segal was able to pull out a close victory. The finals saw close friends Lukasz Szywala and Andy Segal trading shot for shot. With 2 shots to go, the score was tied. Szywala selected a 9 point shot and came close on all 3 attempts. Segal, making it on his second attempt, mathematically eliminated Szywala and secured the win.

A special thanks goes out to Victor Conte and the Cue Club for sponsoring this event.

Cue Club Knock-Out Tournament - August 26, 2004

Position	Player	Prize Money
1	Andy Segal	$720
2	Lukasz Szywala	$360
3-4	Mike Massey	$185
3-4	Nick Nikolaidis	$185
5-8	Paul Danno
5-8	Charles Darling
5-8	Mark Dimick
5-8	Gerry Woodlief
9	Steve Geller

Stay tuned for the next event, ESPN's Trick Shot Magic, featuring the following players:

Charles Darling (USA)
Sebastian Giumelli (Argentina)
Mike Massey (USA)
Nick Nikolaidis (Canada)
Stefano Pelinga (Italy)
Tom Rossman (USA)
Andy Segal (USA)
Lukasz Szywala (Poland)