The Mezz West State Tour held its second stop in beautiful Northridge, CA over the weekend of May 9th and 10th. This 9 ball event attracted 90 players, including Mika Immonen, Oscar Dominguez, Rodney Morris and Vilmos Foldes. This event was held at Plush Pocket Billiards, which is an old school style pool room which has 17 nine foot tables and 3 Diamond bar tables. 

 

The event started with a heavy hitter top and bottom bracket. The top bracket held big gun players; Brian Parks, Fach Garcia, Oscar Dominguez, Mika Immonen and Johnny Kang. Making their way through the top half of the upper bracket was Fach Garcia who had wins over Justin Marks, Jaden Brock, Al Moreno and Attile Corsba. He was met in the final four winners by Oscar Dominguez who had wins over James Harris, Laurie Butera, Sal Butera, and Mika Immonen. Garcia was up early leading 7-2. But in true Dominguez style Oscar grinded back to eventually win 9-7 sending him to the hot seat match. 

 

The lower bracket was even tougher with heavy hitters like Rodney Morris, Melissa Herndon, Vilmos Foldes, Danny Gohkul, Dave Hemmah and Ernesto Dominguez. Melissa Herndon showed her dominance with wins over Dave Hemmah, Shaun Smallwood, Manny Herrea, Henry Bodt and Aaron Estrada. She was met in the final four winners by “Rocket” Rodney Morris who had wins over Dave Martineau, Jeremy Long, Danny Gohkul and Vilmos Foldes. This was tight match with it tied at 3, 4 and 5. Eventually the “Rocket” took off, winning 9-6.  

 

Meanwhile on the losers side, Beau Runningen, Billy Dyke, Brian Parks, Jerry Lin, Johnny Kang, Ernesto Dominguez and Dave Hemmah were all duking it out. Beau Runningen made a tough fight winning four matches on the losers side before being beaten by Attila Corsba, forcing him to settle for 9th-12th. Attila then moved on to face “Iceman” Mika Immonen who was on fire and ran through him 9-3.  Mika would continue his streak by beating Melissa Herndon and then Dave Hemmah. Dave Hemmah had a great run with wins over Fach Garcia, Aaron Estrada, Vilmos Foldes, Johnny Kang, Sal Butera, Lawerence Rocheda and Mark Anthony. His loss to Immonen forced him to settle for 4th place. 

 

The hot seat match between Rodney Morris and Oscar Dominguez was a nail biter, with several break and runs, along with phenomenal safety play. The match went hill-hill, with Rodney Morris coming away with the win. This sent Dominguez to the 3rd place match to face Immonen. This match was heavily one sided and we did not see Immonen in his best performance, allowing Dominguez to win 9-2 and sending him to a rematch with Morris in the finals. 

 

The finals are an extended race to eleven and both Dominguez and Morris both breaking and running almost every rack. Both players played what could have been a 900 Accu- Stats. The match was tied the entire time at 7-7, 8-8,  9-9 and 10-10 (hill-hill). In the hill-hill game Dominguez was breaking. Dominguez broke in 2 balls, but had a tough opening shot on the two. He opted to play safe, but Morris played a great safe back. Dominguez executed an incredible kick-safe. Morris then kicked but accidentally made the two ball and was hooked on the three ball. Morris made an incredible kick and left Dominguez a tough cut on the three down the rail. Instead of trying to fire the shot, Dominguez played a creative safety. Morris made a good hit and left Dominguez still in a tough spot. Dominguez made the three, the four and played safe on the five. Morris then jumped in the five and ran out, winning the hill-hill set. 

 

The Mezz West State Tour would like to thank all their sponsors: Mezz Cues (Miki-Mezz.com), West State Billiard Supply (WestStateBilliards.com), Zan Tips (Zan-Tip.com), Taom Break/Jump Tips (TaomTips.com), Andy Cloth (AndyCloth.com), PiUs Company, So Cal Tap, Kurzweil Country Meats, fast&loose desgins (fastnloosedesigns.com), Contact Point Media, Turtle Rack, NYC Grind (NYCGrind.com) and AZ Billiards (AZBilliards.com). 

 

We would also like to thank owner Steve, along with the entire Plush Pocket Billiards staff for hosting the event. We would also like to thank all the players for coming out and supporting the tour. 

Shooters Snookers and Sports Club in Toronto hosted the 2013 Canadian Cue Sports Championships from June 21st to July 2nd. The combination of heat and heavy rain paved the way for sicky conditions in the crowded room of players and spectators.

 

The event kicked off with 51 players in the amateur 9-ball event. Ontario player Marc Godin took the title with a 11-10 win over Serge Therrien from New Brunswick. In the Junior 9-Ball event, Charles Guimont from Quebec was undefeated as he took his first national title. Charles was the runner-up in last year’s event.

 

In the ladies events, Kayla Jones from London Ontario marched through the amateur 8-ball event beating Angela Carringan in the finals 9-7.  Brittany Bryant took her 3rd consecutive 9-ball title beating Naomi Williams in the finals.  Naomi was not left empty handed as she overcame New Brunswick’s Angela Belding to win her 3rd consecutive 10-ball title.

 

In the Men’s Open events, Jason Klatt got the ball rolling with a 11-3 score over Calgary’s Dave Martin for his 3rd national 8-Ball title.  In the 9-Ball event, Jeff Blais entertained the crowd with his fearless aggressive style.  Jeff lost a heartbreaking match to John Morra 11-10 in the A-side finals, and then lost his next match to Jason Klatt hill-hill in the B-Side finals.  Morra went on to win this event for his 1st national 9-ball title.  In the 10-ball event, John Morra continued his excellent play.  John outscored his opponents overall 63-26 for his 3rd 10-ball title.

 

The Canadian Championships continues at Shooters Snooker and Sports Club in Toronto. The Open 9-ball event had 34 players competing for the title with the winner guaranteed a spot in the World Championships. With many of the previous 9-ball champions not in attendance, the event was wide open.

Moving through the top half of the bracket was Jason Klatt with wins over Bruce Lilly (11-1), Andy Aupin (11-10), Brad Poorman (11-4) and Jason Thomas (11-7). In the lower bracket, Alex Pagulayan was in fine form after just winning the 8-Ball event. Alex had wins over Dwayne Thompson (11-4), John Morra (11-7), Rob Phillips (11-10), and Dave Martin (11-3).

In the “hot seat” match, Pagulayan made quick work of Klatt with a convincing 11-4 win. Klatt then faced Rob Phillips from Alberta in the b-bracket finals. Phillips would have to settle for 3rd place after losing to Klatt 11-6.

In the finals, Klatt then faced Pagulayan once again for a shot at the national title. With the match tied 1-1, Alex won 8 of the next 9 games leading the match 9-2. Jason managed to swing the momentum into his direction winning the next five racks to bring the score within two at 9-7. The players traded the next few racks before Alex closed out the match with a break and run in the last game. Pagulayan wins his third Canadian 9-Ball title with a 15-9 score.

9-Ball Open Results

1st – Alex Pagulayan

2nd – Jason Klatt

3rd – Rob Phillips

4th – Mario Morra

5-6th – Dave Martin

5-6th – Jason Thomas

7-8th – Andy Aupin

7-8th – Brad Poorman

This article originally appeared at thepoolscene.com