The first champions have been crowned at the 2017 BCAPL National Championships! The 41st BCAPL National Championships started Wednesday at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. More than 5,000 players are participating in this year’s event, which has more than 40 divisions.
Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan snapped off the 9-Ball Challenge, an event open to anyone. The 92-player field was heavily peppered with top players from across the globe, many of whom had just played in the US Open 10-Ball Championships. But Pagulayan easily cut through the field, beating: Alex Olinger, 7-4; Sam Wu, 7-4; Jerremy Sossei, 7-4; Ahmed Aldulaimi, 7-2; and Jason Klatt, 7-4 before capturing the hot seat by sending fellow Pinoy Lee Vann Corteza to the loser’s bracket. Corteza returned to play in the finals by beating Alex Kazakis of Greece, 7-3. But Pagulayan kept control of the game during the finals and beat Corteza 7-4 to capture the win.
Veteran professional player Loree Jon Hasson of Greenville, S.C. won the Women’s 9-Ball Singles Platinum Division. Michelle Jiang of Harvard, Mass., who was the 2016 BCAPL Women’s 8-Ball Gold Division Champion, took second. Ashea Erdahl, of Las Vegas, Nev. placed third.
Marian Poole of Seattle, WA, won the Women’s 9-Ball Singles Gold Division, with Natalie Stanton of Ewa Beach, HI taking second and Christina Maher of Atlanta, GA placing third.
Las Vegas players Gary Lutman and Donny Branson made the most of their home field advantage. Lutman took first in the Mixed 9-Ball Singles Platinum Division and Branson placed second. Kelii Chuberko of Honolulu, Hawaii took third.
Another Hawaiian player, Mike Madamba, of Hilo, HI, was crowned champion of the 297-player Mixed 9-Ball Singles Gold Division. The runner-up was Evan Edwards, of Cathedral City, CA. John Halter of Mesa, AZ was third.
Bill Larson, of Ft. Atkinson, WI became champion of the inaugural 9-Ball Singles Wheelchair Division, with Daniel Henson of Charlottesville, IN placing second.
Daniel Sardoncillo of Puyallup, WA, who was the runner-up in the Junior 9-Ball Division in 2016, captured the title this year, beating Aryana Lynch of Dallas, TX.
The USAPL National Championships run concurrently with the BCAPL National Championships. John Hemphill of Albuquerque, N.M. won the 8-Ball Singles Gold Division on Thursday, with Rob Pole Jr., of Brooklyn, NY, placing second and Dave Pittelkow of Leesburg, FL placing third.
The 9-Ball Challenge, which features professional players from across the globe matching up with amateurs, will conclude today, as well as the Junior 9-Ball Singles.
Free live streams of the event are available by going to www.playcsipool.com/live-streaming and at badboys.tv.
The 41st BCAPL National Championships continues through July 29 at The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. The event features more than 5,000 amateur players representing 47 states, nine Canadian provinces and 11 countries, competing in approximately 40 divisions, on nearly 300 Diamond pool tables. Sponsors are Viking Cues, Predator, Omega Billiards, Cyclop, Diamond, the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, Kamui, and Simonis.
Rebecca Wagner wasn’t even planning on making the trip from Vegas to Phoenix for the AWBT’s second tour stop at Bullshooters on April 25th and 26th. It was only when she was able to get the weekend off work, that she agreed to accompany road partner Ashea Erdahl to the event. Wagner would end up mowing down a field of twenty eight players to earn first place in her first event of the new season.
Wagner would not have an easy path to the win however. Matches against Cynthia Haeffner and Tracie Hamman on Saturday were followed by equally tough matches against Jaye Succo and Bernie Store on Sunday. Wagner did not allow an opponent to the hill against her, and won two of those four matches 7-1.
Wagner’s opponent for the hot-seat, Store, would not have a path any easier. Store scored wins over Alicia De Leon, Jodie Villegas, Susan Williams and Erdahl before dropping the hot-seat to Wagner 7-4.
The one loss side on Sunday was a “who’s who” of top female talent, including Williams, Amanda Pulley, Justine Bishop and Susan Mello. After Susan and Susan scored wins over Pulley and Bishop, they were joined on the left side of the board by Erdahl and Succo. Susan Williams would keep her winning ways going, with a 7-2 win over Succo, but Mello would drop a hill-hill decision to Erdahl.
Things were not looking good for Williams in her next match, against Erdahl, as she trailed 5-2 in the race to seven. Williams had been in that position before though, and she drew on that experience to mount a great comeback for the hill-hill win.
The semi-finals between Williams and Store started out well for Williams, as she took an early 2-0 lead, but then it was time for Store to mount a comeback and she won seven of the next nine games for the 7-4 win and a rematch with Wagner in the finals.
The single race to nine extended final was closer than their earlier battle, but it ended in the same result, as Wagner defeated Store 9-6 for first place.
The win moves Wagner to second place on the AWBT points list, with Store still holding a comfortable lead over the rest of the list in first place. Williams, Haeffner and Barbara Lee fill out the top five positions on the list.
Although this event worked out well for Wagner, she still doesn’t see herself able to compete in many events this season due to work conflicts.
The AWBT has been forced to change their schedule, and the upcoming Stinger’s event has been moved to May 23rd and 24th.
The second chance event on Sunday saw Cynthia Haeffner beat Diana Leon for the hot-seat and then beat Tami Hathcock in the finals for an undefeated victory.
Assistant Tour director Tres Kane gave his thanks to Mike and Julie Bates, and the staff of Bullshooters for hosting and adding $300 to the main event and $100 to the second chance event, Jose Gonzales of Las Glorias Grille for adding $100 to the main event and his partner Kristie Ortega for running another fine event.
The Arizona Women’s Billiards Tour held their last event of the 2014 season on November 15th – 16th at Bullshooters, and in addition to crowning a tournament winner, a tour points winner was yet to be crowned. While 2014 Points List winner Bernie Store held a decent sized lead on the points list, three players (Rebecca Wagner, Susan Williams and Sara Miller) were all within striking distance of the top spot.
The pool gods showed their mischievous side on this weekend as Store, Wagner Williams, Miller and Arizona newcomer Tina Hess were all on the same side of the board. Toss in former event winner Jaye Succo, Leandra Gaff and Vegas’ Ashea Erdahl and the bottom half of the bracket was a veritable minefield for any players hoping to advance. The marquee matches got going early on Saturday with Wagner defeating Store 7-5, Succo beating Hess 7-6 and Miller sending Williams to the left side 7-2.
Wagner would find herself on the one loss side one round later, after a 7-4 loss to road partner Erdahl. Meanwhile, Miller was sending Succo west to fight it out on the one loss side.
A couple of big surprises on Saturday were the eliminations of Susan Williams and Amanda Pulley. Williams won three straight on the one loss side, before dropping a 7-4 match to Store. Pulley held a sizable lead over Barbara Lee on the winners side but couldn’t get over the finish line and dropped the match 7-6. Pulley then lost to Store in her first match on the one loss side 7-4.
Sunday play got underway with four players left on each side of the board. Tucson’s Tracie Hamman handed Barbara Lee her first loss 7-4, and Ashea Erdahl sent Sara Miller to the one loss side 7-5. The next round would see Erdahl take the hot-seat with a 7-2 win over Hamman.
Bernie Store guaranteed herself the points list win with a 7-4 win over Susan Williams in her first match on Sunday. That would be as far as Store would get though, as she lost her next match to Sara Miller 7-4. Rebecca Wagner also sent Barbara Lee back to California in 5th place with a quick 7-2 scoreline. Wagner didn’t stop there as she next eliminated Miller 7-3 to earn her spot in the semi-finals.
The semi-final match would turn out to be a heartbreaker for Hamman as she held leads at 4-1 and 6-5 but missed the case nine ball at hill-hill and couldn’t stop Wagner from winning the final game.
The finals were an “all Vegas” affair between Wagner and Erdahl. Although the scoreline made it look close, Wagner was never really in any danger of losing the match and faded a late comeback from Erdahl for the 9-6 win and her third title of the season. Wagner ended up 5 points behind Store on the points list, quite an amazing feat considering she played in two less events than anyone else in the top four.
The second chance tournament on Sunday saw Amanda Pulley bounce back from a hot-seat loss to Beth Orth and exact her revenge in the finals for first place.
Assistant Tour director Tres Kane gave his thanks to Mike and Julie Bates, and the staff of Bullshooters for hosting and adding $300 to the main event and $100 to the second chance event, Jose Gonzales of Las Glorias Grille for adding $100 to the main event and his partner Kristie Ortega for running another fine event.
