Maryland’s On the Hill Productions, under the leadership of Loye Bolyard, went “all in” with the full range of services offered by DigitalPool.com for the first time this past weekend (Feb. 4-5). Its MD State Fargo Rate 9-Ball Open, which drew 54 entrants to Choptank Bowling & Billiards in Cambridge, MD,featured all of DigitalPool’s technological capabilities designed to make tournament events easier to run and more accessible to an audience interested in following the event activities; live streaming with cameras and microphones at every table, score-tracking tablets and mounted monitors above the tables displaying scores of the matches taking place beneath them.
All that technological equipment and personnel, along with in-house spectators, witnessed Andy Downs go undefeated to the hot seat match and then, return from a semifinal to double-dip Cambridge, MD local Will Johnson in the finals. Downs had gotten by Adam Frank, Mike Etti, Jody Cahall and John Moody, Sr. to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Brandon Foster. Johnson’s path went through Matt Krah, Holden Moody, David Stanley and Joe Feuka to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal versus Mike Saleh.
Downs defeated Foster 7-4 and was joined in the hot seat match by Johnson, who’d dispatched Saleh to the loss side 4-8 (Saleh racing to 10). Johnson claimed the hot seat, handing Downs what proved to be his first and last defeat 6-4.
On the loss side, Foster picked up Choptank’s own Coen Bell, who’d been defeated 7-2 by Saleh in a winners’ side quarterfinal and then defeated Bethany Sykes 7-4 and Garrett Waechter 7-1. Saleh drew Coen Bell’s father, Danny Bell, who’d been sent to the loss side by his own son and embarked on a four-match, loss-side streak that had recently eliminated Huberth Alvarado 7-4 and John Moody, Sr. 7-5. Two potential, quarterfinal rematches hung in the balance as the 5/6 matches got underway, both dependent on Coen Bell, who would face either his Dad or the man who’d sent him to the loss side, Saleh.
Coen Bell accomplished his objective with a bit of a punctuation mark, shutting out Brandon Foster. Saleh, though, defeated Coen’s father 7-4, spoiling the anticipated father/son quarterfinal.Saleh and Coen Bell battled to double hill in their quarterfinal rematch before Saleh finished it and turned to face Andy Downs in the semifinals.
With Saleh racing to 9, Downs earned his two-set, double elimination rematch against Johnson with a 5-4 victory over Saleh in those semifinals. Downs took the opening set against Johnson 7-4 and completed his title-capturing run with a 7-2 victory in the second set.
On the Hill Productions’ (OTHP’s) Loye Bolyard thanked the ownership and staff at Choptank Bowling & Billiards and extended a ‘shout out’ to Isaac Wooten and Zach Goldsmith from digitalpool.com for “bringing all of the table streaming to Maryland” and to Dave Nangle, “who spends hours upon hours bringing us our very own stream.” He also thanked sponsors AlleyKat Cue Sports, AZBilliards.com, Aramith Balls, Simonis Cloth, TAP Chesapeake Bay Region, Safe Harbor Retirement Planners, Bull Carbon, Gina Cunningham and Keller Williams Integrity. The next event on OTHP’s calendar, set for the weekend of Feb. 18-19 will be a ‘599 and under’ Fargo Rate event, hosted by Brews & Cues in Glen Burnie, MD.
The opening rounds of the Action Pool Tour’s (APT) 2019 season opener on the weekend of January 19-20 featured a match between the winner of the 2018 APT Season Finale a little over a month ago (JT Ringgold) and the eventual winner of the opener, Reymart Lim. Between the preliminary round, and the second winners’ side round, seven of the APT’s top 2018 players participated, including the 2018 Tour Champion, Steve Fleming, runner-up Jason Trigo, and Reymart Lim, who finished 2018 in fifth place on the tour rankings. Lim went undefeated through the field, downing separate opponents in the hot seat (Kenny Miller) and finals (Ty Laha). The $200-added event drew 49 entrants to Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA.
When enough women had signed on to the opening event, APT’s tour directors opted to hold a Ladies’ season opener, as well. Seven women signed on to compete in the $150-added ladies event, including the 2018 VA State 8-Ball Ladies Champion, Bethany Sykes. Sykes went undefeated through the short field, playing two of her three matches against Liz Taylor, whom she faced in the hot seat match and finals (6-2, 7-1). Both Sykes and Taylor competed in the Open event, with Taylor cashing in both.
As noted above, the season opener’s main event began with a match between Reymart Lim and JT Ringgold. The two battled to double hill before Lim prevailed 7-6. Ringgold moved to the loss side and began a six-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the matches to determine the tie for 5th place. Lim, in the meantime, moved on to continue his seven-match, winner’s side streak that would eventually earn him the event title. Four matches in, he met his eventual opponent in the finals, Ty Laha, in a winners’ side semifinal. Kenny Miller, in the meantime, squared off against Bill Duggan in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Lim sent Laha to the loss side 7-3, where he ran in to an immediate match against Ringgold. Miller downed Duggan 7-2 and met up with Lim in the hot seat match. Lim won 7-2 and waited on the return of Laha.
On the loss side, Laha drew Ringgold, who’d recently chalked up loss-side wins #5 and #6, defeating Danny Bell 6-3 and Dave Hunt 6-2. Duggan picked up Mac Harrell, who’d just eliminated RJ Carmona 6-3 and Coen Bell 6-2.
Laha ended Ringgold’s run 6-4 and in the quarterfinals, faced Harrell, who’d defeated Duggan 6-1. Laha and Harrell fought back and forth to double hill in those quarterfinals before Laha prevailed 6-5. Laha’s subsequent match, the semifinals against Miller, wasn’t as obviously difficult. Laha defeated Miller 6-1 to earn a rematch against Lim in the finals.
Lim was on the verge of starting 2019 the same way he’d started 2018, as the winner of the APT season opener. He won two on the APT last year, won the NC State 9-Ball Championships in March and was runner-up in the state’s 10-Ball Open. He completed his 2019 season-opening run with a 9-2 victory over Ty Laha in the finals.
Eight players signed on to a second chance event. It was won by Derek Davis, who the APT’s 2018 Player Champion Steve Fleming in the finals.
Tour directors Kris Wylie and Tiger Baker thanked the ownership and staff at Q Master Billiards, as well as sponsors Diamond Billiard Products, Viking Cues, Predator, Tiger, Kamui Tips, Ozone Billiards, Simonis Cloth, and George Hammerbacher Advanced Pool Instructor. The next stop on the 2019 Action Pool Tour, scheduled for February 16-17, will be hosted by Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA.
It was, by far, his most productive year at the pool tables. In the five years that Reymart Lim has been showing up on our tournament payout lists, his 2017 reported cash earnings in 11 tournaments were six times what he’d earned in any previous year. As we reported in December, he chalked up wins on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour (two, including the NC State Open 10-Ball event) and finished the year by coming from the loss side to win the Action Pool Tour’s season finale on the weekend of December 9-10. A little over a month later, Lim was back on the Action Pool Tour, and once again, coming from the loss side, he completed a run through 41 entrants to defeat a hot seat occupant (R.J. Carmona, in this case) and win the APT’s season opener, held on the weekend of January 13-14, and hosted by Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA.
Lim was challenged early and often in this one. An opening 7-3 win over Dwight Cherry was followed by two matches that went double hill, against David Lassiter and Nilbert Lim (no relation, though close friends), before advancing him to a winners’ side semifinal against Eric Moore. Carmona, in the meantime, opened his bid for the season opening title with a 7-2, preliminary-round win over Chris Pyle, defeated Jeremy Wyatt 7-3, and then won two 7-4 victories over Steve Fleming and Tuan Chau to face Danny Bell in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Moore downed Lim 7-5, as Carmona chalked up his third straight 7-4 win and sent Bell to the loss side. Carmona claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Moore, and waited on Lim’s return.
On the loss side, Lim picked up Tim Colvin, who, after a winners’ side quarterfinal loss to Bell, had defeated Mark Lacson 7-2 and survived a double hill battle versus Tuan Chau. Bell drew Nilbert Lim, who, after defeat by his friend, Reymart, went on to defeat Greg Sabins, double hill and Jason Trigo 7-3. The two Lims advanced to the quarterfinals for their second match; Reymart eliminating Colvin 7-5 and Nilbert, with a 7-5 win over Bell.
Though their first match had been a double hill fight, their second proved to be a little easier for Reymart. He gave up only two racks to his friend and advanced to a semifinal re-match against Moore. Reymart gave up three to Moore and advanced to the finals against Carmona. A 9-6 win in those finals allowed Lim to chalk up his first (and presumably not his last) 2018 tour victory.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Q Master Billiards, as well as sponsors Kamui, Diamond Billiard Products, Simonis Cloth, Aramith, Tiger, Predator, Viking, Ozone Billiards, Cue Sports International (CSI) and George Hammerbacher Instruction. The next stop on the Action Pool Tour, scheduled for February 10-11, will be the VA State 10-Ball Championships, hosted by Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA.
The APT also announced some major changes for 2018. In recognition of the fact that in previous years, the ‘points race’ for the title of Tour Champion (and runner-up), in competition for free entry, hotel and airfare to a major event the following year, had, by mid-season, become irrelevant to most players, the APT announced the creation of a “$10,000 Top 64 Shootout” event. Players with an active one-year membership on the tour will be competing throughout the year to be among the top 64 players in tour rankings. At the end of the tour season (on a date to-be-determined), those 64 will be invited to the “Shootout,” which will feature a total prize fund of $10,000. Those who finish among the top 16 in that “Shootout” will be guaranteed $500, with the winner guaranteed $2,500.
“We are confident,” notes the tour’s Web site announcement of this event, “that this will keep the points race interesting for more players.”
The tour also announced that the VA State 10-Ball and VA State 8-Ball Championships will be restricted to the first 64 paid entries. The women’s events in both will be restricted to the first 16 paid entries. As noted in the 2017 Season Finale report, separate women’s events will not be held in 2018, although the APT has reinstituted the Top Female Bonus, which will grant the top-finishing female in each event a bonus cash award, based on the number of women in the field. This will range from $100 (with 3-5 women in the field) to $600 (with 18-20 women in the field).
For further information on the Action Pool Tour, including its plans to begin streaming its events on an APT YouTube Channel, on which all events will be stored for later viewing, visit the tour Web site at http://www.actionpooltour.com.
Brandon Shuff and Mike Davis have a bit of history, much of it unrecorded, one would suspect. They met in the finals of a stop on the Action Pool Tour in March of 2013; Davis won. In April, of that year, Davis took the hot seat away from Shuff in the VA State 8-Ball Championship. Shuff did not return from the semifinals of that event. Davis won again when they met in the finals of another APT stop in August. It hasn't always gone Davis' way. Shuff's won a few stops on the APT in which Davis finished fourth (March, 2012, and November, 2011, for example).
On Labor Day weekend, Shuff took command of their long-standing rivalry and defeated Davis twice to capture the 3rd Annual Labor Day Bar Box Championships in Cambridge, MD. The $500-added event drew 41 entrants to Great Slates Billiard Cafe in Cambridge.
They met first in the hot seat match. Shuff had defeated Jeff Crawford 7-2, as Davis was busy sending Joe Wright to the losers' bracket 7-3. Shuff took the first of his two against Davis 7-3 and waited in the hot seat for him to return.
Crawford and Wright moved to the losers' bracket and got right back to work, against Steve Fleming and Kevin West. Fleming had defeated Brian Abrams and Brett Stottlemeyer, both 7-5 to meet Crawford. West had gotten by John Moody, Jr. 7-1 and Roland Freolo 7-4 to draw Wright. Crawford downed Fleming 7-3, as Wright was eliminating West 7-2.
Crawford took the quarterfinal match against Wright 7-3, and then, by the same score, was eliminated by Davis in the semifinals. Shuff completed his undefeated run with a 9-6 victory over Davis in the finals to claim the event title.
Tour Director Danny Bell thanked room owner John Moody, Sr. and his staff at Great Slates Billiard Cafe for their hospitality.
Brandon Shuff won five straight on the loss side to meet and defeat Tour Director Ozzy Reynolds twice in the finals of the Action Pool Tour stop on the weekend of April 14-15. The event, streamed live via The Big Truck Show, drew 40 entrants to Break Time in Salisbury, MD.
Shuff was challenged immediately at this event, surviving a double hill battle versus Chris Garrett in the opening round of play. He went on to defeat Mike Mcnaughton 9-5, and then got caught up in a second double hill battle; this time, against Brett Stottlemyer. At double hill, Stottlemyer actually sunk the 9-ball, but the cue ball traveled multiple rails, and hung in a pocket, before dropping in to essentially give Shuff the victory. Shuff then ran right into Brian Deska and a third straight double hill match that sent him to the loss side.
Deska moved on to face Reynolds among the winners’ side final four. Joining them were Fred Scott and Danny Bell. Reynolds downed Deska 9-7, and moved into the hot seat match against Bell, who’d defeated Scott 9-6. Reynolds survived a double hill match against Bell, and for the first time since April of 2011 on the Great Southern Billiard Tour, he was in the hot seat.
Deska moved over to face Kevin West, who’d defeated Jeremy Perkins 9-6 and Paul Helms 9-2. Scott picked up Shuff, who, following his defeat at the hands of Deska, had defeated Josh Brothers 9-3 and Derek Schwager 9-1. Shuff downed Scott 9-5 and was denied a quarterfinal re-match against Deska, when West defeated him 9-3. Shuff defeated West 9-7 in those quarterfinals, and followed that with a 9-6 win over Bell in the semifinals.
In the opening set of the true double elimination finals, Reynolds appeared to be on his way to a single set victory. Shuff took the opening game, but Reynolds ran four straight, including two break and runs to take an early 4-1 lead. They traded racks to 6-3, and Reynolds added another to stretch his lead to four games at 7-3. Shuff won two in a row to narrow that lead to two games, and Reynolds won the 13th rack to reach the hill first. Shuff came back to win four straight and force a second set.
Reynolds opened the second set with a win, but Shuff came back to break and run the second rack and add five more for a commanding 6-1 lead. Reynolds took the next game, but it proved to be his last. Shuff won three in a row to win the second set.
Cheryl Sporleder claimed the 8-entrant Second Chance Tournament title on Sunday, defeating her husband, Sean Sporleder twice to do it. He’d defeated her in the hot seat match 5-2, and she’d gone on to shut out Paul Oh in the semifinals. She returned to double dip him in the finals.
Local favorite, Matt Krah avenged an earlier loss to Andy Lincoln to win the Planet-Pool Tour event at Cue & Cushion Billiards in Newark, DE by the score of 9-7 and 9-8 in the double elimination finals. Krah picked up $700 for first while Lincoln took $350 for second. Max Eberle and Danny Bell filled out the top 4 spots.
On the ladies side, Linda Shea came from the one-loss side to win her 6th tournament of the year.
