Owners Billy Sharp, Mark Avery and Jim Henry and their staff welcomed players to their 11th Annual Big Tyme Classic. Held in Spring, TX, a suburb of Houston, this $14,000 added event featured three divisions – Open 9-Ball, One Pocket and Ladies 9-Ball.
Local sponsors included attorney Joseph J. Long, Brutal Game Gear, Star City Amusements, Diamond Billiard Products, Simonis, Aramith, Savage Billiards, Jim Stinson of AM Inc. and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore as well as Big Tyme Billiards and PoolActionTV.com.
Kicking off on Wednesday evening was the $5,000 added One Pocket Championship. Sixteen players put up a $300 entry fee to play in this double elimination event. The format was alternate breaks and races to 4/3 with the finals being one extended race to five. After the players auction, meeting and draw, the matches began.
Hot off his victory over Tony Chohan in last week’s Champions Challenge One Pocket match and the reigning Bayou State Classic One Pocket champ, Billy Thorpe blistered Ryan Braselman 4-0. Defending champion Roberto Gomez showed no mercy against Tulsa’s Greg Hogue – also 4-0. Runner-up at this year’s Skinny Bob’s One Pocket Championship, Raed Shabib, edged out Baton Rouge’s Jeff Padilla 4-3. Current Midwest Billiards One Pocket champ, Sky Woodward, survived a 4-3 scare over Wayne Berry – also from Baton Rouge. This year’s Rack One Pocket champ, Tony Chohan, defeated Houston’s Nick Schipon 4-1.
Second round action saw Chohan over Calderon and Woodward over Shabib – both scores 4-0. Bayaua defeated Tokoph 4-1 and Gomez sent Thorpe west with a 4-2 win.
In a hard fought match to get to the hot seat match was Bayaua and Gomez – Ernesto won 4-3. In the lower portion of the chart, Woodward defeated Chohan 4-2.
The hot seat match winner was Woodward over Bayaua 4-2. Ernesto headed west to await an opponent.
On the one loss side and after losing his second match, Calderon defeated Hogue 3-1, Shabib also 3-1 and Gomez 3-2 until he faced Chohan. On the one loss side, Tony had scored revenge against Thorpe 3-0 and eliminated Alex 3-1. Chohan was now in high gear and even though he had played well the entire event, Bayaua was no match for Tony and lost 3-0. Ernesto finished with a well-deserved third place finish.
As mentioned previously, the finals were an extended race to five. Neck and neck all the way and tied at four apiece, Sky missed a tough bank and Tony ran out for the game and title. What a match!
Tony Chohan
The $8,000 added Open 9-Ball division began on Friday evening. Played on Diamond bar boxes, the format for this double elimination tournament was alternate breaks and races to 9/7 with the three foul rule in effect. Using the Magic Rack with the nine on the spot, players broke from the box. Nine on the break didn’t count in the racking corners.
Paying an $80 entry fee, 119 players were auctioned off and play began after a players meeting and draw.
To no one’s surprise, it was Jeffrey de Luna, Sky Woodward, Roberto Gomez and Johnathan Pinegar (“Hennessee”) who marched to the final four on the winners side.
In the upper portion of the bracket, De Luna had wins over Kyle Lowry 9-0, Mike Jones 9-2, Jeff Lovelace 9-1, Shahram Changezl 9-6 and Raed Shabib 9-1.
Woodward defeated Chuck Willie 9-2, Sherman Sylestine 9-1, Pablo Trinidad 9-3, James Davis Jr.9-5 and JC Torres 9-3.
Woodward faced off against de Luna and won 9-7. Sky moved into the hot seat match.
In the lower portion of the bracket, Gomez beat Hiep Hong 9-0, Greg Hogue 9-4, Derek Fontenot 9-6, Billy Sharp 9-0 and Jeff Sullivan 9-5.
Hennessee squeaked past Joyme Vicente 9-8 and then went on to beat Jesse Moore 9-2, Joey Bourgeois 9-3, Soledad Ayala 9-6 and Tony Chohan 9-7.
Playing to get into the hot seat match, Gomez claimed victory over Hennessee 9-6.
The hot seat match was all Woodward as he locked up his seat in the finals over Gomez 9-4.
Over on the one loss side, Hennessee eliminated Alex Calderon 7-1, de Luna 7-6 and then Gomez 7-5 to claim the remaining berth in the finals.
Since this was true double elimination, Hennessee would have to defeat Woodward twice to win the tournament.
Hennessee won the first game and Sky tied it up. He then led most of the match with Hennessee mostly playing catch-up until Sky finally pulled away at five apiece and won three in a row to reach the hill. Woodward closed out the last game, winning 9-5, to take the title!
Eylul Kibaroglu
The $1,000 Ladies 9-Ball division began on Saturday night with a players auction, meeting and draw. Thirty nine players paid a $55 entry to play in this double eliimination event. Also played on Diamond bar boxes and using the Magic Rack, the format was races to 7/7 with alternate breaks. Play began the following morning.
From Turkey and now living in Houston, current Skinny Bob’s Ladies Nine Ball Classic and champ, Eylul Kibaroglu, San Antonio’s Mille Alvaraz, Houston’s Robyn Petrosino and Skinny Bob’s co-owner Kim Sanders rounded out the final four on the winner’s side.
After drawing a first round bye, Petrosino cut her way through the field with wins over Tuyen Nguyen 7-5, Jillian Nickerson 7-1 and Sara Bork 7-5.
Kibaroglu defeated Terri Resendez 7-3, Marle Clark 7-1, Trerenee Simpson 7-2 and Annie Swelgin 7-2 before meeting Robyn and beating her 7-3. Eylul moved into the hot seat match.
In the bottom of the bracket, Almaraz also drew a first round bye and followed that with wins over Eva Grigsby 7-1, Jaiden Barbour 7-2 and the always tough Kelly Isaac 7-4.
After another first round bye, Sanders defeated Cheyenne Valdez 7-3, Camille Campbell 7-1 and edged out Larissa Almendarez 7-6 before losing to Mille Almaraz 7-5. Mille then moved into the hot seat match where she was defeated by Eylul 7-2.
Waiting for Almaraz was Petrosino. Robyn went down 5-1 and Mille was in the finals!
Again, since this was true double elimination, Almarez would have to win two sets to claim the title, however, it was not to be. The finals were closer than the hot seat match but when the smoke cleared, it was Eylul who won the match 7-5 and took down the tournament!
PoolActionTV.com would like to thank Big Tyme’s owners Billy Sharp, Mark Avery and Jim Henry and their staff for doing, as always, a great job taking care of all the players and fans!
We’d also like to thank Tournament Director Teresa Garland for doing a great job running the various events.
And finally, PoolActionTV.com would like to thank our fans and sponsors. Our sponsors included attorney Joseph J. Long, JB Cases, Aramith, Simonis, Lomax Custom Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Hanshew Jump Cues, Savage Billiards, Durbin Custom Cues, Bull Carbon, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the 7th Annual Scotty Townsend Memorial held at Arena Billiards in West Monroe, LA. The dates are May 3rd-5th! Hope to see you there!
This year’s event began on Wednesday night with the One Ball One Pocket mini. Fourteen players posted a $200 entry fee to play in this single elimination tournament with races to four and alternate breaks.
Using a sixteen man bracket, Billy Thorpe and Derek Pogirski received the coveted first round byes. Also advancing out of the first round were current Buffalo’s Pro One Pocket champ Evan Lunda, Danny Smith, Marty Sawinski, Sergio Rivas, Sam Campbell and Jeremy Seaman. Jeremy survived a 4-3 squeaker over the always tough Redgie Cutler.
Second round action saw Campbell eliminate Pogirski and Thorpe beat Sawinski. Smith and Lunda duked it out – final score in both matches was 4-3 with Evan and Sergio taking the win.
Thorpe edged out Lunda and Rivas defeated Campbell in the third round. Billy and Sergio met in the finals with Thorpe taking it down with a 4-0 blowout.
The main event kicked off on Thursday evening as 31 players paid a $300 entry to compete in this double elimination event. Format was alternate break and races to three on both sides with one extended race to five in the finals.
Play began immediately following the players auction, players meeting and draw.
Aaron Toth drew the bye in the opening round and one notable match saw Rivas surviving 3-2 over Smith. All eyes in the second round were on the Tony Chohan-Evan Lunda match. Lunda took the win 3-1. Third round action saw identical 3-1 scores – Thorpe over Seaman, Issa Eadeh beat Marc Hosler, Lunda defeated Cutler and Rivas notched the win over Brian Butler.
Down to four on the winners side, Lunda skunked Rivas 3-0 and Thorpe edged out Eadeh 3-2. Lunda and Thorpe moved into the hot seat match with Lunda locking up his seat in the finals 3-1.
On the one loss side of the chart, Danny Smith went on a tear after losing a tough match in the first round. He eliminated Jason Minda 3-2, Toth 3-0 and Lawrence Everson, Cutler, Brian Butler and Eadeh – all with a 3-1 score.
On the lower portion of the bracket was Chohan who mowed through the field after losing his second round match. Down went Erik Beauchamp and Darin Ledbetter – both 3-1. Next to fall were Seaman and Mosler – both 3-0. Tony then faced Sergio and escaped with a 3-2 win.
No strangers to each other as both claim Buffalo’s in New Orleans as their home room, Chohan and Smith scratched and clawed their way through the next match. Chohan eliminated Smith with a score of 3-2 – Danny finished in fourth place.
Waiting for Chohan was Thorpe. They also duked it out and playing down to the last ball, Chohan knocked out Thorpe 3-2 and moved into the finals. Billy ended up in third place.
Red hot, Tony quickly won the first two games in the extended race to five. Evan won the next game to make it 2-1 but he always trailed – 3-2, 4-2 and 4-3 until Tony closed out the match 5-3 and took the title!
What an event! PoolActionTV.com would like to thank Issa Eadeh, his family and staff for rolling out the red carpet for both players and fans.
Thanks to Tournament Director Ray Hansen and his able assistant, Jason Hill, for an excellent job.
We’d also like to thank Larry Schwartz, Brian Butler, Frenchy Lunda and Ray Hansen for their topnotch commentary.
Special thanks to Joe Long who always contributes to one pocket prize funds all over the country! Much appreciated!
And, last but not least, thanks to all our fans and sponsors! Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Lomax Custom Cues, Savage Billiards, Durbin Custom Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Bull Carbon, Aramith, Simonis, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the Chohan vs Thorpe One Pocket Champions Challenge at Bayou Billiards in Baton Rouge, LA. Dates are April llth-13th – hope to see you there!
Modeled after the Mosconi Cup ("with a twist," according to organizers), Cue Sports Live (CSL) held its first Alberta Cup, on the weekend of June 16-18. The 10-ball event pitted two of that Canadian province's cities against each other in teams of seven players each, drawn from six months of qualifiers. The cities of Edmonton and Calgary were represented by teams consisting of five men and two women, selected by slightly different processes. This 1st Annual Alberta Cup, was hosted by The Hidden Spot in Calgary, and saw the city of Edmonton claim the first title 15-13 over the city of Calgary.
Edmonton sported a team made up of seven players, which included their captain Garry Hauck. Eight qualifiers were held from which four males (Hauck, Rob Phillips, Carlos Barbosa, and Roger Colbert) and one female (Sandy Badger) were chosen. Hauck selected one more male (Brian Butler) and one more female (Cathy Metzinger). Calgary did things just a little differently, ending up with a team of seven players and a non-playing captain, Barry Hooey, who was chosen before the qualifying players had been identified. As with Edmonton, the qualifiers produced four males (Jason Onespot, Eric Vargas, Ben Francis, and Albert Augustin) and a female (Joanne Ashton), after which Hooey added one male (Joe Spence) and one female (Bev Ashton)
Edmonton got on the board first in Day One by winning the team match 8-1 (the only match that went to 8; all others were races to 5). Alternating between scotch doubles and singles, Edmonton took the next four, as well, and were up 5-0, having won 21 of the 32 games played. With one match to play on this opening day, a singles match, Calgary was, psychologically at least, in something of a must-win situation. Calgary's captain, Hauck, chose his personal pick for the team, Joe Spence, who stepped up to the challenge and downed Edmonton's Carlos Barbosa 5-1, which was also the score of the day's matches with Edmonton on top.
Calgary had some work to do on Day Two and they started off on the right foot, winning three straight double hill matches. Calgary's Joanne Ashton then downed Edmonton's Cathy Metzinger 5-2 to knot the teams at 5-5.
Edmonton wasted no time getting back into the swing of things, as Day Two progressed. Edmonton Captain Garry Hauck and his scotch doubles partner Rob Phillips defeated Calgary’s Ben Francis and Jason Onespot 5-2 to retake the team lead at 6-5. Edmonton went on to win five more, including a shutout by Edmonton’s scotch doubles team of Brian Butler and Sandy Badger over Calgary’s Erik Vargas and Joanne Ashton. Each team chalked up one more win to complete the Alberta Cup's second day, which ended with Edmonton up 12-6; three more matches away from victory.
As they'd done the day before, Calgary came to the tables on the final day (featuring all singles matches), looking to make up lost ground, and promptly chalked up four games to cut Edmonton's lead to 12-10. Calgary's Joanne Ashton, hoping to get her team within one, was on the hill in game #7 in this match (4-3) against Edmonton's Cathy Metzinger, when she (Ashton) scratched, shooting at the 9-ball. Metzinger closed out the game, putting the two of them at double hill (4-4). Metzinger broke dry and with eight of the 10 balls in holes, Ashton found herself looking at an almost identical layout from the one she'd faced in the previous game.
"Well, this shot looks familiar," Ashton called out, as she took aim at the 9-ball. For the second game in a row, Ashton scratched shooting at the 9-ball, but this time, it cost her not only the game, but the match. It was Edmonton's first win of the final day and gave them the momentum shift they'd been looking for.
Calgary chalked up match #24 to draw them back to within two at 13-11. Edmonton's Carlos Barbosa got to the hill first in game six (4-2) of match #25, but in game seven, missed a tough cut to give Calgary's Jason Onespot the break he needed to finish the rack and draw within one. Onespot broke and ran to force a deciding game. In that deciding game, Barbosa got to the 8-ball, looking at an easy layout on the 9-10, when he miscued and sunk the 8-ball in the wrong pocket. Onespot sunk the 9-ball, and left himself with perfect shape on the 10-ball. He sunk it to cheers from the Calgary fans in attendance, because the team was within one at 13-12.
At 3-3 in match #26, Edmonton's Rob Phillips, playing against Calgary's Erik Vargas, broke and ran to reach the hill first. In game #8, Phillips got as far as the 8-ball, poised to win the game, but scratched. Vargas finished the game, forcing a ninth and deciding game. Phillips promptly broke and ran to win the match, and put Edmonton on the hill at 14-12.
With the Alberta Cup on the line, Calgary's captain Brian Hooey put up the team's eventual MVP and his personal team pick, Joe Spence. Edmonton countered with Roger Colbert. Spence won 5-3, and, as the saying goes, the hometown and room Calgary crowd went wild, with their team now a single game away from double hill at 14-13.
Match #28 pitted Edmonton Captain Garry Hauck's pick, Brian Butler, against Calgary's Ben Francis. Butler took a quick 3-0 lead, but Francis came right back and chalked up two. Francis broke in game six and ran to the 8-ball, before rattling it in the hole, and allowing Butler to finish the game and reach the hill first at 4-2. Francis fought back in game seven to draw within one at 4-3.
Calgary's Francis broke rack #8, and though he sunk the 7-ball, he had no shot at the 1-ball. Francis opted to play safe, looking to take advantage of the three-foul rule to get on the hill with Butler. He reckoned, though, without Butler's experience with the game of snooker. Francis tried twice to put Butler in a foul situation, and not only did Butler foil both attempts, but in the second attempt, he left Francis tough, forcing him to foul. With ball in hand, Butler sunk the 1-ball, and the 2-ball, before lining up and making a 3-10 combination that gave him the match win and his team, the 1st Alberta Cup. The Edmonton team pocketed $4,000 and each team member will have his/her name inscribed on a trophy, which will be held in the winning city until further competition. MVP awards went to Edmonton's Cathy Metzinger, who won four of her five matches, and Brian Butler, who won five out of seven, including the championship match. Calgary's Joe Spence picked up an MVP award, as well, for his five out of seven victories. All three of the MVPs were captain picks for the teams.
Event director Valerie Franiel thanked the owner of the Hidden Spot, Joanne Ashton, for her hospitality during event qualifiers and the actual Albert Cup competition, along with sponsors Cuejo Custom Cues (Darcy Musurichan), Fuss Cupcakes (Kostas Broumas), Recreation World (Jay MacDougall for the Olhausen balls), Elaine Hicks-Reaper from ReMax, Spruce Grove, Discount Custom Apparels (Tim/Ron), Barry Hooey, David Harding, AZ Billiards (Promotions), E&B Plumbing, ScoreSaloon (Jenny Lucas), Fuze Graphics (Curtis Lea), and Jerry W. Briesath.
The entire event was streamed live, courtesy of CueSportsLive, with commentary by Dave Harding, PJ Massicotte, Jim Wych, and a number of participating members from both teams.
According to Franiel, this 1st Annual Alberta Cup featured 213 games, and 33 hours of play, supported by (among other things) endless hours of work by volunteers. There will, she said, be more to come.
The 2012 Canadian Championships concluded yesterday – Hats off to Shooter Snooker and Sports Club and the Canadian Billiards and Snooker Association crew for putting together this year’s successful event. Thanks also to the CPA Southern Ontario Pool League for providing 16 days of non-stop live streaming coverage of the event. John Croft and Rod Babin did an excellent job sharing the Canadian talent across computers, laptops and mobile devices all over the world.
Below are the results of the final events.
10-Ball
After Alex Pagulayan clinched the National 8-ball and 9-ball titles earlier in the week, the question asked by everyone in tournament room was “Who is going to stop him?”. Last year’s champion Jason Klatt marched through the a-bracket with wins over Chris Fawcett (10-3) and Tyler Nearing (10-2) before running into Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan. Klatt put an end to Alex’s winning streak sending him to the b-side with a 10-5 score. Jason Klatt continued his run for the title beating Rob Phillips and Mario Morra to secure his spot in the finals.
It was John Morra that put a stop to Pagulayan’s hopes of a clean sweep, eliminating Alex from the event with a 10-7 victory. Having the biggest obstacle out of his way, John went on to win the tournament ousting Klatt in the finals 13-9.
In the snooker event, Alex had no difficulty changing from the collared shirt downstairs on the 9-foot tables to the formal vest and bow-tie upstairs on the 12-foot snooker tables. This kind of adaptability comes only from travelling the world and playing in a wide range of conditions under pressure. Alex lost only one game in the preliminary round robin stages (16 wins – 1 loss). His excellence continued in the elimination round knocking out Pat MacCarthy (5-0), Brian Butler (5-1) and John Everekian (6-1).
Alex then faced Tom Finstad from Alberta in the finals. The very experienced Finstad has been to the finals 11 times in the past with 3 titles under his belt. On his way to the finals, Tom had wins over Robin Peterson (5-0), Vito Puopolo (5-2) and Floyd Ziegler (6-5). Alex knew he had his hands full after Tom came out of the gate winning the first two games. A few missed opportunities from Tom opened the door for Alex as he moved ahead winning the next 3 before the break. After the break, Alex took control winning 3 of the next 4 frames to clinch the Canadian Snooker title for the second straight year.
Alex will be having his 34th birthday next week with plenty to celebrate. He has added 3 National titles to his resume within a week. As they often say “You can’t win them all”, but 3 out of 4 ain’t bad.
This article and photo originally appeared at www.thepoolscene.com