Room owners Kim and Tracy Sanders welcomed pool aficionados to Round Rock, TX for their inaugural $14,000 added Skinny Bob’s Nine Ball Classic.
It was noted that in addition to the Americans, the field had players from all over the world representing Canada, Poland, Bulgaria, Mexico, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Venezuela, Switzerland, Japan, Indonesia, Iraq, the Philippines and Hong Kong.
Players and fans were treated to three main championships in addition to a banks ring game, a ladies ring nine ball game and an opening night nine ball mini. When the smoke cleared in the $500 added event, Fedor Gorst and Jeff de Luna chopped the cheese.
The event continued the following day with the $4,000 added One Pocket Tournament. Thirty seven players posted a $200 entry fee to compete – the format was double elimination with races to three.
Hot off claiming the Bayou State Classic One Pocket title, Roberto Gomez was still on fire. After receiving a first round bye and then dispatching Kristina Zlateva 3-0, Kash Keeton 3-0, Jerry (Alex) Calderon 3-2 and Roland Garcia 3-1, Roberto arrived at the hot seat match.
Meanwhile, Fedor Gorst was taking no prisoners as he tore through the bottom half of the chart. Mark Nanashee 3-0, Chip Compton 3-1, Billy Thorpe 3-0, Jeff de Luna 3-0 and Raed Shabib 3-0 were all sent west by the Russian.
The hot seat match was close but in the end, it was Gorst who edged out Gomez 3-2 to take his seat in the finals.
After being sent to the one loss side by Calderon 3-2, Roland Garcia eliminated de Luna 3-1 and Tommy Tokoph 3-2 to take on Roberto. Neck and neck, in the end it was Roland who won the match 3-2 and moved on to the finals.
Although he put up a good fight in the finals, Roland went down 3-0 and Fedor claimed another title!
Later that night, another $500 was added to the banks ring game and finalists Fedor Gorst and Blaine Barcus decided to split the cash.
The $300 added Ladies Ring Nine Ball game also began. Bulgaria’s Kristina Zlateva took top honors over Michelle Corteza with Jennifer Kraber and Kim Pierce taking third and fourth places.
The following day, the $7,000 added Open Nine Ball began. A full field of 128 players posted their $150 entry fee to play in this double elimination, winner breaks tournament – races were 7/7.
Although the field was packed with champions, it didn’t seem to matter to young Gabriel Martinez. He won his first match against Daniel Schneider 7-2 and barely survived against current Texas Open champ Vitaliy Patsura 7-6. Down went Steve Sheppard 7-5, Jon Demetand Joey Torres – both 7-2. Next was Blaine Barcus 7-4 – Gabe had arrived at the hot seat match.
However, in the other portion of the bracket, Fedor Gorst was on his way to the hot seat. He barely broke a sweat as he defeated Bart Czapla 7-4 and skunked Eric Aicinena and Roberto Gomez 7-0. Next was Naoyuki Oi who went down 7-2, Jesus Atencio 7-3 and Michael Schneider 7-1.
Gorst steamrolled Martinez 7-0, locked up his seat in the finals and sent Gabe west to await an opponent.
After being beaten by Gorst, Michael Schneider beatreigning Bayou State Classic 9 Ball champ, Roland Garcia and Blaine Barcus – both 7-4 – to face Martinez for the other slot in the finals.
Looking for a rematch with Fedor, Gabe eliminated Michael 7-3 and moved into the finals.
Since this was true double elimination, Gabe would have to win two matches to claim the title. Fedor was having none of that as he took the match & title 7-4.
Sakura Muramatsu
The final division of this event began on Saturday. A full field of thirty two players posted their $100 entry fees to play in the $2,500 added Ladies Nine Ball Championship. This was also double elimination with winner breaks and races to 7/5.
Known as “The Roadrunner,” young Savannah Easton shot out of the gate and without looking back, ended up in the hot seat match. On her way there, she defeated Crystal Jones 7-1, edged out Sakura Muramatsu 7-6, Kennedy Meyman 7-2 and Kim Sanders 7-4.
In the other portion of the bracket, Tara Williams survived two squeakers against Liz Galvan and Jennifer Kraber 7-6. She then spanked former Texas Open champ Ming Ng 7-2 and the always tough April Larson 7-4 on her way to the hot seat match.
The hot seat match was all Savannah as she cruised past Tara 7-3 and waited for a finals opponent.
Meanwhile, after losing her second match to Savannah, Sakura mowed down both Melissa Smith and Ada Lio 5-1, Ming 5-2, Angie Payne 5-1, Kim Sanders 5-0, Music City Open champ Tina Malm 5-3 and Tara 5-0 to reach the finals.
Since this was true double elimination, the current Texas Open 9 Ball champ would have to beat Savannah twice – and she did. Sakura won the first set 7-5 and the second one 5-1 to take the title!
And, as usual, thanks again to everyone at Skinny Bob’s for a first class event! Big thanks to the local sponsors – they included Austin Pro, Diamond Billiard Products, GAF, Hanshew Custom Cues, Sanders Roofing & Exteriors, ABC Supply Co, Inc., Simonis, Aramith, Savage Billiards and Mints Amusements.
Thanks to Tournament Director Jason Hill for doing an exemplary job juggling multiple events.
And, as always, we’d like to thank our fans and sponsors! They include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Lomax Custom Cues, Aramith, Simonis, Diamond Billiard Products, Durbin Custom Cues, Savage Billiards, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the $12,000 added Midwest Open Billiards Championship III to be held at Michael’s Billiards in Fairfield, OH. Featuring six events – one pocket, 9 ball banks, open nine ball, a bank ring game, ladies 8 ball, a pro ten ball invitational and mini tournaments galore – Michael’s will also crown an all around champ! Dates are March 20th-26th – hope to see you there!
Skinny Bob’s Billiards in Round Rock, Texas was a buzz on the weekend of April 30th 2022 as the Predator Arcadia CenTex Pool Tour made its debut in the Austin-Round Rock area with its third stop at the wildly popular venue featuring 18 9-foot Diamond tables.
In the Open Division, 67 local and traveling players competed in the $1500 added 9-ball tournament with a $40 entry. The double-elimination event featured the Predator Arcos II ball set and Accu-Rack template racks with races to 7/5, alternative breaks, and 3-foul and 3-point rules in effect. This event attracted Diveney-sponsored touring professional, Chip Compton, Predator professionals Ruben Bautista from Mexico and Daniel Schneider, and Predator Junior Pro, Lazaro ‘Lil Laz’ Martinez III. A handful of local Austin heavy hitters joined in their ranks: pro Justin Espinosa, up-and-coming Noah Contreras and the seasoned champs Kevin Guimond and James Davis Jr. Several favorites from across Texas also made their way for this stop: Albert Luna, Matthew Shoemaker and Jon Giles from San Antonio, Andy Jethwa from Houston, Robert Perez from Corpus Christi and Sky Massingill and Curtis Tidmore from Odessa.
The opening rounds proved safe for the higher ranked competitors with exceptions for Kevin Guimond, who lost his first match to Lil Laz 4-7, and for James Davis Jr, who also suffered a first-round 4-7 loss by local player, John Wright. Sky Massingill from Odessa, Texas squared off against the formidable Chip Compton in his second match and was sent to the one-loss side after a 4-7 defeat. Jon Giles also found his way to the one-loss side in his second round by local player Kenney Nguyen 2-7.
In the concluding rounds, Chip Compton, fresh from his victory against Sky, secured his position on the winner’s bracket by defeating Daniel Schneider 7-3 on the streaming table. Albert Luna and Andy Jethwa also squared off in the fourth round where Albert capitalized on Andy’s shortcomings, sending Andy to the one-loss side with a 7-4 victory. Justin Espinosa overcame Matthew Shoemaker with a dominating 7-2 win. As the day drew to a close, Laz Martinez, Curtis Tidmore, Noah Contreras and John Wright completed their rounds unscathed to move onto the next day’s proceedings.
Meanwhile, in the one-loss side, Jon Giles prevailed into the second day by edging Kevin Guimond and Daniel Schneider in back-to-back hill-hill battles. Andy Jethwa, after his loss to Albert Luna, eliminated James Davis Jr.5-0 and Patrick Perez, after his loss to Ruben Bautista, defeated Michael Taylor 5-1. Sky Massingill barely skated by Robert Sopha 5-4 in the third round and proceeded to conclude his day by eliminating Robert Perez 5-2 and Bill Regalis 5-1.
16 players returned for second day in the Open Division with 8 players scheduled to face-off in the winner’s bracket: Albert Luna vs Curtis Tidmore, Noah Contreras vs John Wright, Chip Compton vs Ruben Bautista and Justin Espinosa vs Lazaro Martinez, and another 8 players in the one-loss side: Jon Giles vs Patrick Perez, Matthew Shoemaker vs Cody Simko, Andy Jethwa vs Joe Cannata and Eduardo Ramirez vs Sky Massingill. Jon Giles, Cody Simko, Joe Cannata and Eduardo Ramirez’s run drew to a close in the 7th round of the one-loss side by the hands of their opponents and placing 13th- 16th. The remaining top 12 players were guaranteed a payout.
Albert Luna advanced into the 6th round of the winner’s bracket against Noah Contreras when Curtis Tidmore’s attempt to take the match to hill-hill with Albert was unsuccessful. However, Noah swiftly encapsulated his victory over Albert 7-1 to earn Noah his place in the hotseat match. Fresh to the one-loss side and in the 8th and 9th round, Curtis eliminated Patrick Perez 5-0 and Matthew Shoemaker 5-3.
Chip Compton and Ruben Bautista’s match quickly drew to a close as Chip overwhelmed Ruben with a 7-3 victory, allowing Chip to observe his next opponent between Justin Espinosa vs Laz Martinez. In Justin and Laz’s hill-hill match, attendants watched Laz Martinez execute a beautiful close-proximity jump shot, only to overcut the 6-ball and enable Justin to claim victory and advance to the next match against Chip. Laz Martinez was unrecoverable and was swiftly eliminated by Sky Massingill in a stunning 0-5 loss, placing Laz 9th-12th. Ruben also unceremoniously ended his run for the top, placing 9th-12th, when he was eliminated by Andy Jethwa. Meanwhile, Justin and Chip’s exciting battle for the hotseat match took a surprising turn as streaming viewers witnessed Justin, down 3-6 with Chip on the hill, fought his way to victory. Good friends, Noah and Justin fought a friendly but fierce match for the hotseat with Justin claiming the spot 7-4.
In the 10th round of the one-loss side for 5th-6th place, both remaining Odessa players were eliminated from competition as Chip briskly defeated Curtis Tidmore 5-0 while Albert Luna edged by in a hill-hill win against Sky Massingill 5-4. In a swift match for 4th place, San Antonio’s ‘GOAT’ Albert Luna escaped a hill-hill match against Chip 5-3 to face Noah once more. Afterward and in a tighter match between Albert and Noah for 3rd, Noah overcame Albert on the hill 5-4, and the Open Division tournament concluded with Noah and Justin splitting top place.
In the Women’s Division, seventeen bright and talented ladies competed in the 2-day double-elimination 9-ball event at the third stop of Predator Arcadia CenTex Tour that ran concurrently with the Open Division. The event was played on Skinny Bob’s Billiards’s 9-foot Diamond tables using Predator Arcos II ball set and Accu-Rack template racks. Rules consisted of races 5/4, alternative breaks and 3-foul rule in effect with a 100% payout to the top 6 players accumulated from the $25 player entries and additional $500 added to the event.
12 of the 17 competitors were first-time attendants to the Predator Arcadia CenTex Pool Tour, including formidable Skinny Bob co-owner, Kim Sanders, alongside her fellow local Austin frontrunners: Jennifer Kraber, Michelle Cortez, Nicole Mcdaniel and Kim Pierce. Travelling contenders included Houston favorite, Natalie Rocha, and challengers Crystal Jones and Jamie Wilson from Odessa, Texas and Mary Mikita from Corpus Christi.
In the beginning rounds, Nicole Mcdaniel suffered an early loss from the redoubtable Michelle Cortez 1-5 and fought her way into the second day by eliminating Kim Pierce 4-0, Zoe Lozano 4-0 and Michelle Abernathy 4-2 from the one-loss side. Michelle Cortez, fresh from her win against Nicole in the first round, also sent accomplished Jennifer Kraber to the one-loss side with a 5-3 victory to conclude Michelle’s matches for the first day. Crystal Jones from Odessa, Texas impressively defeated Kim Pierce 5-0 and her traveling companion, Jamie Wilson 5-3 before being sent to the one-loss side herself from her defeat to Kim Sanders 3-5. Angela Miles remained undefeated at the conclusion of the first day with her victories against Rachel Hurst 5-3 and Natalie Rocha 5-4. Joining Angela, Michelle and Kim in the winner’s side, Mary Mikita defeated San Antonians, Zoe Lisa Bailey 5-3 and Zoe Lozano 5-1. Jennifer Kraber successfully persisted through the first day by eliminating Makenna Sanders 4-1 and Houston’s Natalie Rocha 4-3 from the one-loss side.
Six competitors returned for the event’s second day with a guaranteed pay-out for all places. On the winner’s side: Kim Sanders battled Mary Mikita on the streaming table and on the table adjacent, Angela Miles faced off against Michelle Cortez while Nicole Mcdaniel and Jennifer Kraber waited in the one-loss side. Skinny Bob’s Billiards’ locals Kim Sanders 5-1 and Michelle Cortez 5-3 defeated their out-of-town opponents to battle it out in the hotseat match. In the proceeding matches in the one-loss side, Nicole eliminated Angela Miles 4-3 and Mary Mikita ended Jennifer Kraber’s run for the top 4-1, placing Angela and Jennifer in 5th/6th place. In the 4th place match, Mary Mikita swiftly defeated Nicole Mcdaniel 4-0 to face-off against Michelle Cortez after Michelle’s hotseat match loss to Kim Sanders 2-5. The strategic 3rd place match between Mary and Michelle reached hill-hill with numerous back-and-forth safety plays where Michelle Cortez edged for the win and ended Mary’s first participation in the CenTex tours in 3rd place. Good friends Michelle Cortez and Kim Sanders fought an intense battle in the finale where, for the second time, Kim proclaimed victory over Michelle with an outstanding 5-3 win and was crowned winner of the Women’s Division 3rd stop and Michelle as runner-up.
The next stop for Predator Arcadia CenTex Pool Tour 2022 is scheduled for the weekend of June 11th-12th, 2022 as a $2000-added Jack-and-Jill Scotch Doubles 9-ball Tournament hosted by Banana’s Billiards in San Antonio, Texas.
Albin Ouschan got off to the perfect start as he began the defence of his World Pool Championship title at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes live on Sky Sports in the UK/Ireland and DAZN in the USA, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, and Italy as well as other networks worldwide including Matchroom.Live and Viaplay.
The Austrian faced a tricky opening encounter against Hong Kong’s Lo Ho Sum to begin proceedings on Table 1 and he lived up to expectations to deliver a 9-3 victory. Ouschan came into the tournament in hot form after winning the inaugural Premier League Pool title and he got off to the best of starts to amass a 6-3 lead in the Race to 9 contest. The Mean Machine continued his way to set up a Winners’ Qualification match against Daniel Maciol in which the Pole was no match for the two-time world champion as he romped into the Last 64 in a 9-1 win.
This year sees the World Pool Championship take on a new double elimination structure. The afternoon session saw all 128 players play their opening match. The losing 64 moved to tomorrow’s Losers’ Round 1 whilst winners faced off in Winners’ Qualification in tonight’s session. The losing players from the evening moved immediately into tomorrow evening’s Losers’ Qualification where they will meet the winners of tomorrow’s Losers’ Round 1 matches.
Two upsets involved two potential 2022 Mosconi Cup prospects for the USA as Skyler Woodward found himself on the end of a defeat to Italy’s Daniele Corrieri to fall into Losers’ Round 1 whilst there was joy for Shane Wolford. Wolford faced 2021 semi-finalist David Alcaide to book a place in the Last 64 and the American admitted after a thrilling 9-7 win from behind 7-5 down. Afterward, Wolford admitted it was perhaps his biggest win to date. Alcaide could have to face compatriot Jose Alberto Delgado but that’s only if Delgado beats Ho Sum.
Matchroom Pool YouTube fans were treated to a vintage Jayson Shaw display in the afternoon as he overcome Vincent Halliday 9-2 on Table 2, but the two-time Mosconi Cup MVP faltered against Michal Gavenciak in a 9-7 loss. The loss means Shaw will face the winner of Jakub Koniar and Roman Hybler in Losers’ Qualification tomorrow evening.
Live (2023) Nineball World No.1 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz danced through his opening matches relatively unscathed with a 9-0 whitewash over Albania’s Besar Spahiu before closing out Table 1 action in a satisfying 9-3 win over Dang Thanh Kien of Vietnam. Sanchez Ruiz’s efforts see him get a day off tomorrow and a Last 64 tie with Corrieri on Friday morning.
Action returns tomorrow with Wiktor Zielinski in Table 1 action against Bulgaria’s Kristina Zlateva from 11 am UK time on Sky Sports Arena, DAZN, Viaplay, and networks worldwide.
Thursday 7th April – 11:00 am UK time – Afternoon Session
Of all of the vacation and convention destinations in the world, Las Vegas usually isn’t particularly kind to most of its visitors.
After all, most of the city’s legendary and luxurious casinos certainly aren’t able to stay open because visitors keep breaking them with big jackpots. “The house always wins,” as the saying goes.
But the city has been particularly unlucky as of late for Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famer Darren Appleton, who was winless in his two previous visits to Vegas, posting back-to-back two-and-outs before heading home.
Competing in the fourth annual Alfa Las Vegas Open this weekend, it appears his luck might be starting to change. Appleton survived back-to-back shootouts – including a sudden-death thriller against reigning United States Open Pool champion Carlo Biado – to remain unbeaten in the four-day, 192-player tournament being held at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino.
After an opening round bye and a 4-3 sudden death win against Duong Quoc Hoang, Appleton reached the third round where he faced off against Biado, who drew first blood when his opponent scratched on the break in the opening rack. The Hall of Famer tied the score when the Filipino failed to pocket a ball on the break in the next rack, then rattled off three more wins to seal the set, 4-1.
The following frame was practically a photo negative, as Biado capitalized on two openings left by his opponent to an early 2-0 lead before Appleton narrowed the deficit with a successful combination shot on the 10 ball in the third game. Appleton appeared to tie the set at two games each when he pocketed the 10 ball again on a combination shot, but he failed to call the 10 ball to be pocketed. What looked like a tied set resulted in Appleton essentially playing a safety on himself when the 10 ball was re-spotted, with the cue ball’s path to the 1 ball now blocked. After Appleton scratched during a safety exchange, Biado cleared the table and then added another rack to close out the set, 4-1.
After each player missed a ball in the first two innings of the shootout, both competitors executed back-to-back shots to send the set into sudden death. With the cue ball now moved back a diamond, Appleton again made back-to-back shots while Biado missed his attempt in the seventh inning to hand his opponent the victory.
Appleton will now face Pin-Yi Ko in the next round, who needed a shootout of his own to defeat Poland’s Mieszko Fortunski.
Hours earlier, Appleton’s friend and reigning Mosconi Cup Most Valuable Player Jayson Shaw wasn’t as fortunate.
Facing Dimitri Jungo of Switzerland, the two competitors battled throughout the first set, with Jungo taking an early 2-0 advantage after his opponent left openings in back-to-back games. Shaw snagged a pair of games to tie the score thanks to a successful combination shot on the 10 ball in the third rack and a Jungo miss in the next game, but handed the table back to his opponent when he scratched in the fifth game. Jungo had an opportunity to close out the set but failed to pocket a ball on the break in the sixth game, as Shaw won back-to-back racks to seal the victory, 4-3.
The Scotsman climbed onto the scoreboard first in the second set when his opponent scratched, but Jungo would claim the next two games thanks to an unforced error by his opponent and a successful carom shot on the 10 ball in the third rack. Shaw tied the score in the fourth game after his opponent missed the 10 ball, but a missed 3 ball in the following game would relinquish the table to Jungo for the remainder of the set, as he cleared the table and then broke-and-ran to secure the set, 4-2, and send the match to a sudden death shootout.
After both competitors pocketed their opening shot of the extra frame, Shaw missed on his second attempt. Meanwhile, Jungo remained perfect throughout the deciding set, successfully executing four straight shots to pull off the upset.
In other notable matches that took place, Poland’s Wojciech Szewczyk fought back from an opening round 4-1 loss to Mika Immonen to claim the second set, 4-2, and beat the Hall of Famer in a shootout, 3-1. Spain’s Jonas Souto, who upset Shane Van Boening the day before, continued his hot play with a straight sets victory against Daniel Schneider, 4-1, 4-3. Poland’s Wiktor Zielinski defeated fellow countryman Konrad Juszczyszyn in straight sets, 4-1, 4-1 and Alex Montpellier took down Ping Han Ko in a shootout, 3-2.
Matches can be watched on Billiard.TV and also on World Billiard TV, the official YouTube channel of CueSports International.
The Alfa Las Vegas Open takes place March 23-26. The Alfa Las Vegas Open is followed by the Predator World 10-Ball Championship, which runs March 28-April 1 and The Alfa Women’s Las Vegas Open, which runs March 30-April 2.
The events coincide with the CueSports International Expo, which brings thousands of amateur pool players for the BCA Pool League World Championships as well as the USA Pool League National Championships.
Three weeks ago, Estonia’s Denis Grabe pitched a 4-0 shutout in first set of the semifinals of the Diamond Las Vegas Open only to lose out to Wu Kun-Lin in a sudden death shootout.
Playing in the second round of the Michigan Open Wednesday night, history basically repeated itself against Poland’s Konrad Juszczyszyn. Grabe breezed through the first set, narrowly lost the second, then watched the match slip away in a sudden death shootout, as Juszczyszyn came from behind to stay on the winner’s side four-day event being held at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek.
After receiving a bye in the opening round, Grabe used some stellar shot making and safety play to jump out to an early 2-0 lead. Juszczyszyn had an opportunity to cut the deficit to 2-1 but missed a 3 ball, allowing his opponent to tack on another rack. The upcoming young star from Poland secured the fourth game after Grabe left an opening on a safety, but the Estonian closed out the set, 4-1, after another victorious safety exchange.
Juszczyszyn, who opened the tournament with a first round victory against Russia’s Ruslan Chinahov, was far from finished, jumping out to a 3-1 lead in the next set thanks to sound safety play of his own paired with an unforced error by his opponent. Grabe cut the lead to 3-2 and tied the match at three games each thanks to – what else? – a victorious safety battle. Looking to win the set and avoid a shootout, Grabe failed to pocket a ball on the break, allowing Juszczyszyn to punch the 1 ball into the corner pocket and execute a combination shot on the 10 ball to win the set and force sudden death.
Grabe struggled in the shootout, missing the spot shots on his second and third attempt, while Juszczyszyn pocketed three out of four balls to secure the win.
Grabe now moves to the one-loss side of the bracket, where he will meet Sharik Sayed Thursday morning.
Later in the evening, Spain’s Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz narrowly avoided a shootout against Daniel Schneider, winning in straight sets, 4-0, 4-3.
Despite failing to pocket a ball on the break three times in the opening set, the Spaniard was able to take advantage of a handful of missed shots from his opponent along with a break-and-run of his own to secure the victory. Things appeared to be secure for Sanchez-Ruiz in the second as he built a 3-1 lead, but gave up back-to-back racks to Schneider after he misplayed a safety then missed the 4 ball in the side pocket in the sixth game. When Sanchez-Ruiz misplayed a safety on the 1 ball in the deciding rack a shootout seemed imminent, but Schneider missed the object ball in the corner pocket. The Spaniard cleared the table, winning the match and escaping a trip to the loser’s side of the bracket.
In other matches from the day, United States Open Pool Championship runner-up Aloysius Yapp defeated Warren Kiamco in straight sets, 4-1, 4-0, and World Pool Masters champion Alex Kazakis blanked Mohammad Ali Berjaoui, 4-0, 4-2. World 10-Ball champion Eklent Kaci also defeated Russia’s Kristina Tkach, 4-0, 4-1.
Competition resumes Thursday, with live matches being broadcast on Billiard TV as well as WorldBilliardTV’s YouTube page beginning at noon eastern time. Notable matches include Russia’s Fedor Gorst taking on Kaci and Canada’s John Morra matching up against Poland’s Oliver Szolnoki at noon as well as American Tyler Styer meeting Austria’s Mario He at 5 p.m.
This event also is the third stop of the U.S. Pro Billiard Series, which features five open professional events between July and the end of the year. Created by Predator Group and amateur league operator CueSports International, these tournaments will run in tandem alongside of CSI league amateur events being held throughout the country. The winner of each competition receives a guaranteed spot in the $125,000-added 2022 Predator World 10-Ball Championship, which will be held March 28 through April 1 in Las Vegas at the Rio Hotel and Casino.
This competition is played on Predator Pro pool tables covered with Predator Arcadia performance cloth, with Predator Arcos II precision balls, and under the Predator Arena billiard lights.
For more information on the U.S. Pro Billiard Series or amateur leagues, visit www.playcsipool.com.
Brackets are drawn and matches are scheduled to kick off at 4pm Eastern Time. Upstate Al is streaming select matches for free all week, and we are again providing online brackets and real time scoring for the event.
Bern, the capitol city of Switzerland, hosted the Mezz Women’s Swiss Open, the country’s largest women’s tournament of 2016. The women’s pool scene in Switzerland has been steadily dwindling over the past years and the Swiss Championship qualifying tournaments reached very low numbers in the 2015 season. Tournament organizers, Cristina Tschudi and Daniel Schneider, wanted to hold an event that would inject some life into women’s pool in this region and raise the level of competition.
With 58 players representing 11 different nationalities, the tournament featured a star-studded field with multiple Swiss and European medal holders. This two-day 9-Ball event paid a prize fund of 5200 CHF and over 3000 CHF in additional prizes including products donated by Turtle Rack, Zan Tips, Shot Pad and the event organizers. In addition to the main event and the men’s side event, players competed in one-on-one shoot outs and break and run contests to win the additional prizes like Swarovski jewelry sets and pool equipment.
Day one had many close matches and tough competition. Top European players came out strong on day one with Kristina Zlateva (Bulgaria), Claudia Von Rohr (Switzerland), Pia Blaeser (Germany) and Veronika Ivanovskaia (Germany) advancing to day two on the winners side. Other notable results were Swiss players, Noc Steiner and Franziska Jakob, who placed 9th which is their highest finish in a large international women’s event. The four local favorites, Christine Feldmann, Yini Gaspar, Claudia Von Rohr and Cristina Tschudi, did not disappoint as all four advanced to day two and the final 8.
On day two, Zlateva squeaked past Swiss Champion, Yini Gaspar, with a 7-6 win in the first round sending Gaspar to the one loss side. Gaspar made a good run eliminating the other Swiss Champion, Von Rohr in another hill-hill match but the junior German sensation, Blaeser, was too much for her in the next match and Gaspar went out in 5th place. Blaeser faced her road partner, Ivanovskaia, in the first round of the final 8 and lost with a score of 4-7. Blaeser then won over Gaspar but would have to settle for 3rd place as Zlateva ousted her with a decisive 7-1 win in the semifinals. Also finishing in 3rd place was American 8-Ball Champion Cristina Tschudi who lost in the first round of the final 8 to Pia Blaeser but fought her way back with 7-3 and 7-5 wins over Christine Feldmann and Yvonne Ullmann.
Zlateva dominated throughout the weekend losing only 15 games in the entire race to 7 tournament. She steadily ran through the winners’ bracket going undefeated to eventually win the tournament with a dominant 7-3 win in the finals. Also reaching the finals was Veronika Ivanovskaia with wins over Feldmann, Blaeser, and Tschudi. The 22 year old Bulgarian, Zlateva traveled from her home in Madrid, Spain to capture this title. Congratulations to her on this impressive win.
Through the Poison Cues brand, the Predator Group is sponsoring the Billard Sport-Club Bümpliz (BSCB) Junior Training Program for the 2014-2015 season. BSCB runs the largest junior training program in Switzerland which has a great track record for grooming up and coming talent. The current members range from 8-18 years old with several sibling duos.
BSCB conducts weekly trainings, led by former Bronze Medalist from the 2013 World 9 Ball Championships, Daniel Schneider. Schneider started in the BSCB Junior Training Program when he was 11 years old along with his younger brother, Michael Schneider. Daniel went on to win multiple Junior and Men’s Swiss Championships while he was a Junior. Younger brother, Michael , is on pace to make just as big of an impact on the pool community in Europe. In 2014 Michael medaled in every discipline of the Men’s division of the Swiss Championships (2 Gold & 2 Silver medals) at only 15 years old. Other notable players from the BSCB training program include the 2014 Swiss Junior 8-Ball Champion, Yannis Bätscher, and newbie Elias Kübli who recently began earning points for the national rankings.
“We are very thankful to have the support of Poison Cues. Predator has a great reputation in the pool world in Europe and the enthusiasm of the juniors has definitely been raised with the new sponsorship,” remarked Daniel Schneider. “We’ve implemented a new training system with Poison Cues as the prizes. This has given them a new level of excitement to reach their training goals. We have players of all levels so we set individual goals and trainings based on each player’s individual pace and motivation.”
For more information about Billard Sport-Club Bümpliz visit the website at www.bscb.ch or click here for more information about the BSCB Junior Training Program.
Jayson Shaw and Ron Mason went undefeated in their respective appearances on the Predator Tour's Open/Pro and Amateur events on the weekend of November 1-2. The $1,000-added events ($500 each) drew 37 amateurs and eight Open/Pro players to Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
Mason got into the hot seat of the Amateur event by virtue of a forfeit. He'd survived a double hill, winners' side semifinal fight against Chickie Romero, and was preparing to face Koka Davladze, who'd sent Juan Guzman to the losers' bracket 7-2. Davladze, though, arrived some 20 minutes late to the hot seat match, and was, by rule, forced to forfeit the match to Mason.
Moving to the loss side, Guzman picked up the youngster, Thomas Rice, who'd defeated Brooke Meyer and Daniel Schneider, both 7-4, to reach him. Romero drew Julie Ha, who'd gotten by Eddie Perez 7-5 and Jaydev Zaveri 7-3. Rice defeated Guzman 7-5, and in the quarterfinals, faced Romero, who'd eliminated Ha 7-3.
Romero defeated Rice 7-5, and turned to face a this-time, on-time Koka Davladze in the semifinals. Davladze got what should have been his second, but was actually only his first shot against Mason with a 7-5 win over Romero. The final match came within a game of being extended to 10 games, but Mason reached eight first to complete his undefeated run.
Jayson Shaw got by Predator Tour Director Tony Robles twice to capture the Open/Pro title. After battling to double hill against Hunter Lombardo in a winners' side semifinal, as Robles was busy sending Juan Guzman west 7-1, Shaw shut Robles out in the hot seat match.
On the loss side, Lombardo ran into Spanky Kava, who'd shut out Chris Hogan to reach him. Guzman drew Kevin Guimond, who'd eliminatEd Scott Simonetti 7-5. Lombardo gave up only a single rack against Kava, and in the quarterfinals, faced Guimond, who'd given up only two defeating Guzman.
Lombardo gave up another single rack in the quarterfinals, which ended Guimond's day and then faced Robles, who gave him a much more significant challenge. They battled to double hill, before Robles prevailed to earn the second shot against Shaw.
It started out well for Robles, with two break-and-run racks. As the balls scattered across the table during the break of the third rack, one of them kicked the cue ball in. Shaw stepped to the table, completed that rack and then ran four more to take a 5-2 lead. Robles narrowed the lead to two, but Shaw responded to reach the hill at 6-3. Robles fought back and won three to force a deciding game. He broke, and was looking at a decent table to run out. He was, he said "a little off, shooting at the 3-ball," and the cue ball took one of those all-too-common bounces off the corner of one side pocket, and landed in the other side pocket. Shaw picked it up and finished the rack to claim the Open/Pro title.
