Orlando Open kicks off

Earl Strickland and Tony Crosby

The Orlando Open blew into Walt Disney World Wednesday evening with an open and women's 8 ball tournament. Players came from all over the world including New Zealand and Costa Rica.

Tommy Kennedy came to play and instruct a workshop for an enthusiastic crowd. Play continued into the wee hours of the night with plenty of action and mesmerizing table action.

The finalists for this last minute mini 8 Ball tournament were as follows:

Open Division
1st Place Jesse Bowman $500.00 plus auction $332.00
2nd Place Shane Van Boeing $350.00 plus auction $249.00
3rd Place Clay Carman $250.00 plus auction $166.
4th Place Tommy Hernandez $150.00 plus auction of $83.00

Women's Open
1st Place Ellen Van Buren $200.00 plus auction $100.00
2nd Place Nicole Rasmussen $150.00 plus auction $50.00
3rd Laura Lindaur $100.00 No auction

Thursday continued with an adult/child event with 15 active teams vying their youngsters against the seasoned adults. The fun lasted most of the day with the winners bringing home trophies and very generous gift certificates from Sterling Gaming.

The winners are as follows:

1st Place Team Tafoya 2nd Place Team Carman 3rd Place Team Nabhan

Friday kicked off with the juniors vying for more trophies and generous gift certificates. The youngsters continued throughout the day battling for the top prizes.

The winners are as follows:

Division 14 and Under 9 Ball
1st Place Mike Mallen
2nd Place Mark Tafoya
3rd Place Richard Jordan

Division 15 - 18 and Under 9 Ball
1st Place Nick Tafoya
2nd Place John Plate
3rd Place Ricky Lambert

Friday evening welcomed a boat load of players for all divisions of the long awaited 9 Ball events.

Players and more information to come!

Photo courtesy of Diana Hoppe - Pool Pics By Hoppe