LAKE SAINT LOUIS, MO (May 17, 2017) —Thousands of APA members made their way to the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino to compete for nearly $700,000 in cash and prizes at the APA Poolplayer Championships. The Poolplayer Championships consisted of both the 8-Ball Classic and 9-Ball Shootout, as well as the 8-Ball and 9-Ball Doubles Championships and the Wheelchair Championship.
The final round of the 9-Ball Shootout featured three championship matches, one for each Skill Level Tier, with two shooters in each tier competing for $10,000 in cash and prizes. In the Green Tier, Michelle Templeton of Carbondale, Ill., defeated Robin Hicks of Terry, Miss. In the White Tier, Rene’ Maurice of Sudbury, Ont., defeated Mark Lyons of Central Islip, N.Y. In the Black Tier, John Pasquarella of San Diego, Calif., defeated Matthew Walling of Ruffin, S.C. Mary Nicholas of Woodstock, Ala., received the Sportsmanship Award in the 9-Ball Shootout.
Each of the three Champions received a prize package worth $10,000. Runners-Up in each tier took home a prize package worth $5,000. More than 4,000 poolplayers made it to the Regional Level of the 9-Ball Shootout before the field was whittled down to the 370 who advanced to Las Vegas.
Nearly 6,000 players throughout North America qualified for Regional competition in the 8-Ball Classic, with 582 of them advancing to the championships.
In the finals of the 8-Ball Classic, five champions each took home a prize package worth $15,000 for their performances. In the Blue Tier, Taplia Renfrow of Atlanta, Ill., defeated Jared Bellino of Lake Charles, La. In the Yellow Tier, Benjamin Almazan of Chicago, Ill., defeated Matthew Soderlund of Westerville, Ohio. In the Red Tier, Jimmy James of Baltimore, Md., defeated Mark Cable of Somerville, N.J. In the Orange Tier, Kevin Grimes of Yorba Linda, Calif., defeated Wayne Galloway of Yazoo City, Miss. In the Purple Tier, Daniel McKenney of Petal, Miss., defeated William Gallagher, Jr. of Atco, N.J. HerLinda Moss of Whitewright, Texas, won the Sportsmanship Award in the 8-Ball Classic.
First Place winners received cash and prizes worth $15,000. Each Runner-Up received cash and prizes worth $9,000.
In the 8-Ball Doubles Championship, What the Baby Gonna Do 2 – Bobby Harvision and Tyshawn Foster – of Memphis, Tenn., defeated Newlyweds – Kyle Guo and Natalie Montoya – of San Gabriel, Calif. The victory earned them a $5,000 payday. As Runners-Up, Newlyweds took home $3,000.
In the 9-Ball Doubles Championship, Last Minute Decision – Chris Whitlow and Adam Wray– of Woburn, Mass., defeated Droppin Nines – Jacqueline Wargo and Matt Kornfeld – of Ft. Washington, Pa. The victory earned them a $3,500 payday. As Runners-Up, Droppin Nines took home $2,300.
In the finals of the Wheelchair Championship, Sonja Bennett of Kankakee, Ill., defeated Marland Redfield of Marshall, Mich., to take home $2,000 in prize money. Redfield received $1,200 as the Runner-Up.
The APA, based in Lake Saint Louis, Mo., sanctions the world’s largest amateur pool league, known as the APA Pool League throughout the United States, and as the Canadian Pool League in Canada. Nearly 250,000 members compete in weekly 8-Ball and 9‑Ball League play. The APA is generally recognized as the Governing Body of Amateur Pool, having established the official rules, championships, formats and handicap systems for the sport of amateur billiards.
The APA produces three major tournaments each year—the APA World Pool Championships, the APA Poolplayer Championships and the U.S. Amateur Championship—that, together, pay out nearly $2 Million in cash and prizes annually!
The APA and its championships are sponsored by Aramith, Action Cues and PoolDawg.
For more information on the American Poolplayers Association, visit www.poolplayers.com.
Alex Pagulayan, Ray Hansen and Ruben Bautista (Photo courtesy of Pool Action TV)
Jones, Compton split 9-Ball Banks title, Villareal leads the Ladies, and Strickland takes Seniors
In a five-event, $10,000-added weekend that stretched from Thursday, May 28, until the early morning hours of Monday, May 31, a total of 250 entrants (with some duplication) battled for just over $29,000 in tournament prize money. Commencing with a 32-entrant, $2,000-added One-Pocket event on Thursday, the weekend moved on to a 32-entrant, $2,000-added 9-Ball Banks event on Friday. The 128-entrant, $5000-added main event, the Open 9-Ball Tournament, got underway on Friday, as well. On Sunday, 26 women competed in a $500-added Ladies Tournament, while 32 Seniors (55+) competed in a $500-added, Seniors tournament. All of which was hosted by Big Tyme Billiards in Spring, TX.
Alex Pagulayan came from deep on the loss side in the Open 9-Ball event to double dip Rueben Bautista in the finals. Skyler Woodward had sent him to the loss side in the early going, and he was able to avenge that early loss with a victory over Woodward in the quarterfinals. He completed his run with a win over Yu-Hsuan Cheng in the semifinals, and 7-2 and 7-3 double elimination wins over Bautista in the finals.
Pagulayan and Jeremy Jones opted out of playing a final in the One Pocket event, and split the $3,900 prize for the top two spots. Jones and Chip Compton did the same thing in the 9-Ball Banks tournament, splitting the same amount of money. The One Pocket and 9-Ball Banks events were single elimination tournaments, so the two who opted out of a final event in each, shared the event title.
Pagulayan defeated Daniel McKenney and Jeremy Jones eliminated Josh Roberts in the One Pocket semifinals. In the semifinals of the 9-Ball Banks, Jones downed John Morra, and Compton defeated Justin Hall.
Vivian Villareal went undefeated to capture the Ladies title, defeating Ricki Casper twice; once in the battle for the hot seat and again in the finals. In a similar fashion, Denis Strickland took home the Seniors title. He went undefeated and through Ronnie Wiseman twice. A 16-player Mini-tournament, held early in the proceedings, allowed two players – Charlie Bryant and Daniel McKenney – to split $800.
Sport 9 Ladies Tour stop #3 was held at 6 Pockets Billiards this past weekend, May 17th, 2014 drawing 16 players in the women’s and 36 in the men’s open bar table mini.
The ladies event began Saturday at noon and was played on 9' Diamond tables. The format was double elimination race to 7 on the winner’s side and race to 5 on the loser’s side. The field was very competitive as Sport 9 welcomed two new players, Tina Hess and Allison Hardwick and newly joined member, Dana Aft. Sunday the final 8 were brought back to battle for top 4 money spots. Going undefeated was Betty Lea out of Atlanta, GA. Dana Aft placed 2nd after defeating Ashley Nandrasy and Janeen Lee.
The men’s 9 ball bar table mini event was held in conjunction with the ladies event also producing some great matches with 36 talented players. The format was race to seven, alternate break double elimination. 'Lil D', Daniel McKenney, from Mississippi won the tournament after coming through the losers bracket. Sam Gilmer placed 2nd and Richard Andrews 3rd.
Congratulations to local player Justyn Cone 'Roadman', winner of the the Friday night bar table tournament.
Sport 9 would like to thank Paul McClain, owner of 6 Pockets Billiards for hosting another great event and look forward to returning July 26th weekend for the 2nd annual River City Open.
Sport 9 would also like to thank all tour sponsors listed below for their continued support and contributions.
The Big Tyme Classic held its 2nd Annual Event on March 20th – 23rd. It was a $10,000 added event in all. The event drew players from all over the United States and a few from foreign soil. There was 6 events held total and 5 of the 6 were full fields, the ladies event fell 2 players short of being full. The main event filled up last year and although it filled up again this year it was bigger and better then the last one. You know what they say everything is bigger and better in Texas.
The $1,500 Added One Pocket kicked everything off at Noon sharp on March 20th. It was a 32 player single elimination field to be completed in one day. The races were to 4 and there was plenty of stellar play along the way, by some great players. It paid out 8 spots. The players finishing 5th thru 8th for $300 each were Sylver Ochoa, Justin Hall, Skyler Woodward, and Robb Saez. Finishing in a tie for 3rd and $600 each was Richie Richeson and Jeremy Jones. The two finalists Josh Roberts and Justin Bergman chopped up first and second for a total of $1800 each, as the event was to pay $2,400 for first and $1,200 for second.
Also on Thursday night there was a 16 man mini tourney on the diamond bar tables. The entry fee was $50 and it was a race to 9, it was slated for winner take all ($800). The event drew the likes of Brandon Shuff, Warren Kiamco, Skyler Woodward and plenty of other heavy hitters. At the end of the night the last two players left standing was Joey Barnes and Manny Chau, it was late and they decided to split it up and get some rest before the next event at noon, the 9-ball banks event.
Friday, the busy day has arrived. We kicked it off at Noon with the $1,500 Added 9-Ball Banks and a full field of 32. This was a single elimination race to 5 to be completed in one day as well. Besides John Brumback this event was loaded with heavy hitting bank pool players. The list included Justin Hall, Skyler Woodward, Jeremy Jones, Manny Chau, Richie Richeson, Brandon Shuff, Cliff Joyner, and a slew of others. The event paid out the top 8 spots. Those finishing 5th thru 8th for $300 each were Joey Barnes, Jeremy Jones, Skyler Woodward, and Justin Bergman. Finishing in a tie for 3rd and $600 each were Ronnie Wiseman and Manny Chau. The two finalists Justin Hall and Warren Kiamco decided to chop up the top 2 spots and they both received $1,800 each. This event paid out the exact same as the one pocket event.
Also on Friday night the $5,000 Added 9-Ball Main Event kicked off at 7:00 with the players auction. The players auction lasted about three and a half hours and drew in slightly over $45,000. This topped last years event and we look to top this again next year, hoping to get up to the 60k mark, I think we would have hit that number this year if not for some last minute defections of a few upper echelon players. Nonetheless this was a super number and bigger then most anywhere except the one right down the road at White Diamonds. The players auction had two blind picks, the first one was Yu Usuan Cheng from Taiwan as he sold for $3,500. The second blind pick sold for $3,600 and was Warren Kiamco from the Philippines. This event was loaded with super star talent, besides the two I just named as the blind picks others in attendance was Team High Pockets (Justin Bergman, Robb Saez, Skyler Woodward, and Robert Frost), Cliff Joyner, Manny Chau, Jeremy Jones, Ronnie Wiseman, Justin Hall, Richie Richeson (Derby City Action Award Winner of 2014), BCA National Champion Mike Alonzo, U.S. Amateur Champion Ernesto Bayaua, Brandon Shuff, Josh Roberts, Rene Rendon, James Davis Jr.Sam Gilmer, Lil D Daniel McKenney, Sylver Ochoa, two WPBA touring pros in Vivian Villarreal and Brittany Bryant and a slew of others to fill the 128 player field. It was tough as nails.
The Main Event. Play started on the 16 Diamond Bar Tables after the Auction was over. We played 32 matches on Friday Night, and play started back up at 10:00a.m on Saturday morning and played down to the final 32 players. Matches were set up on a time schedule and the last round was started at roughly 8:00p.m. on Saturday night. There was some great matches and if you missed them you can find the streamed ones on poolactiontv.com. After we hit the final 32 players the second auction was held Saturday night and it drew in about 7.5k. The first auction paid 12 spots. Payouts were 9-12th $915 each, 7-8th paid $1,500 each, 5/6th paid $2,500 each, 4th paid $4,000, 3rd paid $5,000, 2nd paid $7,500, and the winner took home a hefty $15,000. The second auction paid 4 spots and paid out as follows. 4th paid $735, 3rd paid $1,100, 2nd paid $2,100, and the winners share paid $3,100.
The Main Events eventual winner was Skyler Woodward the young gun from Kentucky. This kids games is way beyond his years. He is well seasoned in all games and has a very bright future in this game of billiards. Congrats to you Sky and we look forward to seeing you back to defend your title next year as well. And yes your name will be on the shirt for The 3rd Annual Bigtyme Classic.
Sunday. The wild day with three events running at the same time. There was the final 32 of the main event starting at 1:00, the Ladies had a $1,000 added 9-Ball Event that drew 30 players and the Seniors had a $1,000 added 9-Ball Event that drew a full field of 32 players.
The Ladies Event drew 30 players and had some heavy hitters in it led by the Defending Champion the Texas Tornado Vivian Villarreal. Also there was three other WPBA touring players Brittany Bryant, Nicole Keeney, and Kim Pierce . This event was a one day event with races to 7 on the winners side and 5 on the one loss side. When the dust settled it was the defending champ repeating again, congrats to Vivian. This event paid out 8 spots. Finishing in a tie for 7/8th and $70 was Ricki Casper and Belinda Lee. Tied for 5/6th and $130 was Michelle Yim, and Mandy Hood. The 4th place finisher was Natalie Mans for $220. Third place and $330 went to Brittany Bryant. The top two that battled it out for the lions share was Nicole Keeney and Vivian Villarreal. Nicole ended up 2nd with $500 and Vivian took home first and $750.
The Seniors Event drew a full field of 32 players. Last year it was chopped between Jose Parica and Lanny Herrin. Jose was not back but Lanny was and trying to defend his share of the crown. This event is always the easiest going event of all, as all the players seem to really love the game of billiards and have played it for along time. The event paid out 8 spots. Finishing in a tie for 7/8th and $70 were C.W. Smith and John Turner. Tied for 5/6th and $140 were Charles Smith and defending champ Lanny Herrin. The 4th place finisher was Bob Guzik for $220. Third place and #340 went to Bob McFerren(Co-Owner of Big Tyme Billiards). The top two that battled it out in a dogfight till the end was Sonny Bosshamer and the man known around the world for his high stakes gambling action, Ronnie Wiseman. Sonny took home $525 and Ronnie got $775.
This event was filled with action for the 4 days as the room stayed open 24 hours. We saw $500 a game one pocket, we saw $1,000 a game one pocket played. We also saw sets of 10 ball for $1,000, $3,000, $5,000 and $10,000 and lots of other action going on. This is an event everyone should be trying to attend next year as they like to gamble it up in this area, so if you think you got what it takes come get your fill next March. We will be waiting.
We would like to thank all the sponsors of this event, Ace Roofing (Tracy and Kim Sanders), Star City Amusements (Roddy Lucio), APA of North Harris County (Roger Shuett), Omega Billiards (Michael Hoang), and Universe Clothing (Nick Bashizi), everything you did for the event is greatly appreciated.
Also a big thanks to the staff of Big Tyme Billiards for doing a great job on a very very busy 4 day event. The owners of Big Tyme Billiards deserves a big thanks as well for putting on this event each year, Bob McFerren, Mark Avery, Debbie Sharp, and Jim Henry.
Justin Hall Photo courtesy Dave Thomson – Mediumpool.com
There was plenty of excitement for the fans at the Harrah’s Casino and Hotel, in Tunica, MS, as the One Pocket tournament got down to the last four players standing.
The run to the finish was very tricky with some players having a buy back option, and others that had used up all their lives so to speak, and the last four players standing were Shannon Daulton, Ryan Stone, Justin Hall, and the local player who seemed to sneak under the radar, Daniel McKenney from Meridian, MS.
SHANNON DAULTON VS DANIEL MCKENNEY
It would be the job of the established Maestro of this discipline, Shannon Daulton, to end young Daniel’s run in the event. Although he played well enough to get to the last four, Daniel just did not have a game to match the experience of the seasoned player that he was matched up against, and quickly saw himself on the wrong side of a 3-0 score line. Daniel told me that he only started playing One Pocket four years ago, obviously will be a force to be reckoned with in future events.
SHANNON DAULTON VS RYAN STONE
In the next draw it was Justin Hall who got the bye, so we saw Shannon Daulton up against Ryan Stone. If Ryan lost he would be out of the tournament as he had used up his buy back, whereas Shannon who was still on the winners would go straight into the final against Justin if he won, but still could buy back if he lost.
On paper the pundits seemed to think that this would be a walk over for Mr. Daulton, but were we in for a surprise! Young Ryan defied the critics by coming back from 2-1 down and with Shannon only needing one ball at 7-3 in the fourth game. Shannon made an uncharacteristic mistake and Mr. Stone took down the match 3-2 with some gutsy or should I say non standard procedures. But, non the less got the job done, and forced Shannon to get his wallet out and buy his way back into the event.
SHANNON DAULTON VS JUSTIN HALL
This time the draw put Ryan Stone through with the bye, and now we had Justin Hall who had been praying that Shannon would win the previous match, and guarantee himself second place, but now found himself in a match he had not expected.
It seemed as though Shannon was still in the shock mode from his loss in the last match, as he never really established any authority in this match and soon found himself on the wrong side of a 3-0 score line. It must be said that Justin Hall played great shot after great shot to get the win, and looked to be in fine fettle to take down not only the One Pocket title, but clinch the All Around Southern Classic Title as well.
JUSTIN HALL VS RYAN STONE (FINAL)
This final match was all Justin Hall from the outset, and it was obvious who wanted this title the most. It must be said that it looked as though Ryan fizzled out in the final and settled for second place, as he had a good chance to level the match to 2-2, but made just too many mistakes that allowed Justin to win the Title with a score of 3-1.
Not only has Justin won the Bank Title and the One Pocket Title, but has clinched the All Around Title as well, and still has a very good chance to take down the 9 Ball event, which is actually his best game.
Congratulations to Justin Hall on what will be an event that he will never forget, and It’s not over yet.
The 36th BCAPL National Championships rolled into the Riviera Hotel and Casino Wednesday, May 10th. Approximately 7,000 players congregate each year in Las Vegas to compete in the event known as “The Greatest Pool Tournament in the World.”
Produced by CueSports International (CSI) and taking place over 11 days, the group of events include; 23 BCA Pool League (BCAPL) divisions, three USA Pool League (USAPL) divisions and two professional tournaments (the 13th US Open One Pocket Championship and the 4th US Open 10-Ball Championship).
The BCAPL competition began with three 9-Ball singles events: the Men’s Open 9-Ball Singles, the Women’s Open 9-Ball Singles and the 9-Ball Challenge.
The Men’s Open 9-Ball saw a full field of 256 players compete for over $15,000 in prize money. Daniel McKenney (league #1073) from Texas beat out Matt Beckwith (league #23) from Wisconsin for the $2,100 first place check.
The Women’s Open 9-Ball Singles had 83 competitors. Jennifer Polik (league #1152 and 719) from Michigan reigned as the winner beating Valerie Franiel (league #497) from Alberta, Canada and taking home the $900 first place prize. Both 9-Ball Open events followed a single elimination best two out of three sets per match and are only for open rated BCAPL league players and CSI player members known to be open level.
The 9-Ball Challenge welcomes both league and CSI player members of all ratings. The more traditional double elimination race to 7 format event had 147 entrants. Known to attract a roster of seasoned players, this year’s champion was Arizona top gun Mitch Ellerman. Also a former Jay Swanson Memorial winner, Ellerman pocketed $2,600 and only lost a total of 16 games out of 9 matches beating out Marc Vidal-Claramunt, Nick Malaj, Melissa Little, Ramesh Gokhul, Phil Burford, Heath Bartley and Chad Lovelace.
As the 9-Ball Singles competition concluded, the Scotch events began with the Open Scotch Doubles kicking off May 11th at 7 pm. This year a new Advanced Scotch Doubles division was added and it and the Master Scotch Doubles started Friday, May 12th. All Scotch Doubles divisions will conclude Tuesday, May 15th.
Saturday saw the start of the highly competitive BCAPL Singles 8-Ball divisions. There are 11 total divisions and 2,295 entrants in the 8-Ball singles competition. The Grand Master 8-Ball Singles will conclude today and the other 8-Ball singles divisions will conclude Tuesday.
To view online all of the brackets for the 36th BCAPL National Championships, the 2nd USAPL National Championships, the 13th US Open One Pocket Championship and the 4th US Open 10-Ball Championship visit the CueSports Tournament System at www.ctsondemand.com. You may search a player or team by name or can view by division or tournament.
For more information about the BCAPL visit www.playbca.com.
CueSports International (CSI) is dedicated to creating more choices for all players. In the past seven years CSI has directly paid out approximately Seven Million Dollars to players. CSI is the parent company of the BCA Pool League and the USA Pool League. CSI also produces independent events such as the US Bar Table Championships, the Jay Swanson Memorial, the US Open One Pocket Championship and the US Open 10-Ball Championship. Visit www.playcsipool.com, www.playbca.com and www.playusapool.com for more information about CSI and its divisions.
CSI leads the billiard industry in the development of technology. For more information on the state-of-the-art software systems for league and tournament management visit www.leaguesys.net and www.ctsondemand.com.
