Originally from Scotland, the man they call The Highlander – Del Sim – has chalked up two breakout performances in the past two weeks. On the weekend of April 9-10, he finished as runner-up to Jeremy Sossei at Stop #13 on the 2021/2022 Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour and then, this past weekend (April 16-17), he went undefeated to win the National Billiard League’s (NBL) 8-Ball Championships, hosted by the league’s flagship venue, Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ. Combined, those two finishes have earned Sim more than all of his (reported to us) payout finishes over the past six years. This past weekend was the only victory (reported to us) since he won a stop on the Tri-State Tour in 2016.
“Well, well, well. . . I finally snapped off a title,” he wrote on the NBL’s Facebook page. “Doesn’t happen very often.”
“I feel reborn,” he wrote later, noting that the victory meant a lot to him for reasons that went beyond the tables. In addition to 8-ball being his favorite game among the many available, the win brought back cherished memories of his father, who would “beam with pride” when he would win in league play as a younger player.
“(It’s been) 8 years since he passed, almost to the day,” he added, “and I feel he would have enjoyed this one the most, with lots of drama and high-level play by all.”
Arguably, the highest drama of the event came in the second set of the double elimination final. Having been defeated by Thorsten Hohmann 8-2 in the opening set, Sim stepped to the table, on the hill at 5-3, with all of his striped balls on the table. Six of Hohmann’s solids were ‘running interference’ against any hopes that Sim was harboring of running to the 8-ball and finishing things right then and there.
“I knew this could be my last opportunity,” he would say later, as he provided commentary to a three-minute video clip of the event’s final rack.
He stepped to the table and ran the rack. Game, set and match.
“Del played a great second set against me,” commented Hohmann, “and made a heck of an out to win.”
That ‘out’ entailed a planned route for the cue ball, which came off striking Sim’s last striped ball. The target ball dropped into a corner pocket, while the cue ball embarked on a journey that ran above, through and below four of the six solid balls still on the table, coming to rest in a position that allowed Sim to line up and pocket the winning 8-ball in the only pocket that it could have been done.
Del Sim and Thorsten Hohmann
The field of 32 for this NBL 8-Ball Championship, which, due to last-minute cancellations,became 29 by the time it got underway, was drawn from 13 out of 16 scheduled qualifying events that took place around the country over the past few months. It is a formula that was part of the plan from the beginning, according to league founder Ed Liddawi and employed to hold the league’s 10-Ball Championships this past December.
“The three slots that were available,” explained Liddawi, “were filled by a runner-up and two, third-place finishers from the largest-field qualifiers.”
“We ended up with 16 amateurs and 13 Pros,” he added.
The NBL was to have been launched at about the time the country began its ongoing battle against the pandemic. Its start was delayed and as it has slowly begun its re-launch, it has been designed with far fewer qualifiers and main events than originally planned; a circumstance that Liddawi is planning to rectify in 2023.
Everything at this 8-Ball Championship, according to Liddawi, went according to plan, with (as featured in December’s 10-Ball championships) live music, a comedian (Frank Del Pizzo, with, reportedly, some pool humor in his repertoire) and a mixture of amateurs and pros facing off against each other at various points throughout the event. Two amateurs battled for the hot seat, as, on the loss side, Thorsten Hohmann, was finishing up what would be an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that started with a 6-1 loss to amateur competitor Joe Dupuis and eventually, took him to the finals.
Lapena and Ussery locked up in a double hill fight that eventually sent Ussery to the loss side. Lapena was joined in the hot seat match by Sim, who’d sent Albaugh over 8-5. Sim claimed the hot seat 8-6 over Lapena and watched, no doubt with some level of anxiety, as Hohmann worked through the final stages of his loss-side run.
On the loss side, Albaugh drew Hohmann, who’d recently chalked up loss-side wins #4 & #5 against Frankie Hernandez 6-3 and Dennis Spears in a shutout. Hohmann got by Albaugh 6-4 and in the quarterfinals, faced Morra, who’d survived a double hill match versus Ussery.
Hohmann and Morra (predictably) locked up in a double hill match that did eventually send Hohmann to the semifinals, where he eliminated Lapena 6-2. The Pro vs. Amateur battle was joined. The recent Hall of Fame inductee versus a competitor looking for his first (recorded) win in six years.
Things didn’t look too good for the amateur in the opening set of the true double elimination final. The Hall of Famer took that set 8-2. Sim ‘caught a gear’ in the second set, getting out in front in the shortened race-to-6 and on the hill, two racks ahead at 5-3. In the final rack, which took a little less than four minutes and was later to be commented on by Sim himself, Sim stepped to the table and ran the rack, taking it, as always recommended, one step at a time. He finished with a commendable display of skill and proverbial nerves of steel that earned him the event title.
That display is on display as an archived match at the NBL Web site. It is recommended that you watch the live stream of it and switch to the NBL Facebook page to watch Sim run the final rack and comment on his thinking, from start to finish.
The NBL will begin its next season in December, with a schedule of to-be-determined dates at 64 sanctioned locations. The plan, as it was originally intended, will feature four Pro/Am main events, fed by a 2-stage series of eight qualifying tournaments. Further information can be found on the league’s Web site at https://www.nblusa.com/ and on the National Billiard League’s FB page. In addition to its immediate success, defined by accomplishing stated objectives with no apparent serious ‘glitches’ in the logistics of it all, this latest 8-Ball Championship is a model for Liddawi’s larger plan for the NBL.
“It was,” he said, “a ‘proof of concept’ event to show that this business model works.”
Action is fierce on the one-loss side today with six players battling it out for their share of the $28,000 prize fund available at this event. Fracasso-Verner will face John Morra on Saturday, with the winner taking on Ussery, and Thorsten Hohmann plays Dennis Spears with the winner playing Albaugh.
Matches will get back underway Saturday at noon (EST).
Fans can follow all of the action with online brackets at Digitalpool.com. They are also providing free online streaming of every table on their Facebook page.
Jonathan Pinegar (Photo courtesy Super Billiards Expo)
Davis tops largest SBE field of 1,024 to win Amateur Open
In its multi-discipline, varied-skill format that, with some overlap among 11 events, drew over 3,000 pool players to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks, PA over the weekend of March 28-31, the Super Billiard Expo’s Pro Am Bar Box Championships has always existed as something of a challenge. In 2018, they used the challenge in promoting the event, asking potential participants a simple question – How good do you really think you are?
Open to all levels of competitors, without restriction, its field is capped at 32 players, who play a ‘best of three set’ format with races to 6 in each set (all other Amateur events utilized the same format, although with races to 5 in each set). While encouraging and expecting a wide variety of players from the amateur to the pro, this year’s ProAm Bar Box Championships featured a field that was tipped somewhat toward the amateur end of things. Not completely, because it was won by 20-year veteran Jonathan Pinegar, who’s been winning and cashing in amateur and semi-pro events for nearly 20 years. Known throughout most of his career as “Hennessee from Tennessee,” Pinegar has, in recent years, been signing on to events with his given name. At this year’s SBE, he signed in as John Pinegar. This year’s runner-up was Demetrius Jelatis.
The posted brackets on the SBE Web site for all of the amateur events (including the ProAm Bar Box) do not indicate the scores of the individual sets, which masks the give and take of game-by-game scoring. Instead, each player is seen to have won their individual matches by only one of two possible outcomes; 2-0 or 2-1. There is no way of knowing, therefore, a given player’s game-winning percentage, only his or her set-winning percentage.
Pinegar won 10 of 12 sets he played over five matches. He opened with a 2-1 win over Alex Olinger, went 2-0 against Kevin West and allowed Scott Haas a single set in the third round, which brought him to a semifinal matchup against Justin Espinosa. Jelatis, in the meantime, won eight of the 12 sets he played over five matches. He opened with two straight 2-0 set victories over Shane Clayton and Alan Rolan, before giving up a set to Ryan McCreesh. This set him (Jelatis) up against Jorge Rodriguez in the other semifinal. Rodriguez is another one of those competitors who’s been competing at the semi-pro and pro-level for years.
Pinegar got into the finals with a 2-0 set victory over Espinosa. Jelatis joined him after a 2-1 set victory over Rodriguez. Pinegar completed his undefeated (in sets) run with a 2-0 victory over Jelatis.
Davis goes undefeated in his individual bracket, advances to win Amateur Open
In the largest field of the SBE, the Amateur Open, 1,024 entrants initially split up into 16 brackets of 64 players each. Each of those brackets delivered a single player to a Final 16 bracket. Phil Davis didn’t lose a single set (best of three sets in races to 5) in his initial bracket, going 2-0 against Chris Garrett, Matt Clatterbuck, Mark Alicea, Paul Swinson, Richard Anderson and in his bracket’s finals, Jason Balas. He gave up his first set in the opening round of the single-elimination final 16 bracket, going 2-1 against Joe Wright. He went back to his 2-0 pattern against Mark Nanashee in the second round, which moved him into the semifinals against Julio Burgos.
Raed Shabib, in the meantime, gave up his first set, in the opening round of his 64-player bracket, to Christopher Balderson. He didn’t give up another one until his bracket finals, having gone 2-0 against Abel Rosario, John Hoge, Bill Mason and Randy Tate. He took the bracket final 2-1 over James Adams. He opened the Final 16 portion of his run with a 2-1 victory over George Crawford and then downed Brett Stottlemeyer 2-0, to arrive at a semifinal against Chris Bruner.
Davis and Shabib advanced to the finals with identical 2-1 set victories over Burgos and Bruner, respectively. Davis completed his undefeated run with a 2-1 victory over Shabib in the finals.
Amateur highlights
The next highest attended Amateur tournament was the Open Seniors event (for 50+), which drew 384 entrants. Originally split into eight preliminary brackets, yielding a single winner, the event was won by Bobby Connor. He advanced through the Final 8 field with set wins over Oscar Bonilla and Dennis Spears, both 2-1. He was met in the finals by Efrain Morales, who’d defeated Joe Armeni 2-1 and Chuck Ross 2-0. Connor didn’t give up a set in claiming the Open Seniors title.
Next up, with 192 entrants, was the Super Seniors (65+), who started in four initial brackets, yielding a very short final field of four. Ed Matushoneck downed Tom Acciavatti 2-1 to claim his spot in the finals, and was joined by Ronny Park, who’d defeated Nelson Rivera 2-1. Matushoneck claimed the Super Seniors title with a 2-0 win over Park.
The Amateur Ladies drew 188, just four less than the Super Seniors. Combined, those two events would have yielded an enormously entertaining field with just four less than the Open Seniors event. As it was, the 188 ladies, like the Super Seniors, started with four initial 64-player brackets (with a number of opening round byes) and ended with a final field of 4. Rachel Lang and Michelle Jiang advanced to the finals without giving up a set to either Marie-France Blanchette and Stacey Tonkin. Lang downed Jiang in the finals two sets to one.
In the 12 and under Juniors event, which drew 56 entrants, Parker Jakubczak downed 2018 11 & under Junior National Champion Kyle Yi in the finals 2-1. In the 17 & under category, which drew 76 entrants, two-time 14 & under National Junior Champion Nathan Childress defeated Ivo Linkin in two straight sets.
Jeff Crawford, Sean Morgan, Dennis Spears, Mike Miller, Ed Liddawi, Danny Basavich and Pat Fleming
Sean "Alaska" Morgan joined the ranks of Francisco Bustamante and Darren Appleton, winners of the first (2013) and second (2014) New Jersey State 10-Ball Championships. He had to get by Jeff Crawford twice to do it, with Crawford taking one against him in the finals. The $1,000-added event drew 35 entrants to Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ on the weekend of April 25-26.
Morgan almost got sent to the loss side in a winners' side semifinal against Joe Hong, but (if you'll excuse the pun) hung on to win the double hill match. Crawford, in the meantime, defeated Brian Maher 7-1. Morgan took the first of his three against Crawford 7-3 and waited in the hot seat to play the next two.
Maher and Hong moved over and were eliminated immediately; Maher, by Dennis Spears who'd reached him through Julie Ha, 7-0, and Michael Wong, 7-5 and Hong, by Mike Miller, who'd eliminated Ed Culhane 7-2 and John Smith 7-1. Spears defeated Maher 7-5. Miller took care of Hong 7-3.
Spears won the quarterfinal 7-5 over Miller, before he was eliminated 7-3 by Crawford in the semifinals. Crawford took the opening set of the finals 7-5 over Morgan, giving them each a single loss. Morgan broke the tie and captured the event title with a 7-4 win in the second set.
Hopkins wins Women's Open 9-Ball, Brown takes One-Pocket Title
Dennis Orcollo went undefeated through a field of 64 entrants, on-hand for the 23rd Annual Super Billiards Expo's $9,000-added Open 10-Ball Professional Players Championship, held on the weekend of April 16-19 at the Greater Philadelphia Center in Oaks, PA. Over the past three years, Shane Van Boening had defeated Stevie Moore (2012), Thorsten Hohmann (2013) and Tommy Kennedy (2014) in the finals of this event. This year, however, Orcollo defeated him in the hot seat match, and Jayson Shaw foiled his attempt at a rematch against Orcollo by defeating him in the semifinals.
Orcollo's path to the hot seat went through Patrick Carosi, Danny Olson, Rodney Morris, Johnny Archer, and, in the winners' side semifinal, Hohmann, before he handed Van Boening his first of two straight losses. Van Boening had gone through Francis Crevier, Beppu Kenji, Corey Deuel, Mika Immonen and, in the other winners' side semifinal, Warren Kiamco, before he ran into Orcollo, never to return.
The other two runner-ups from the last three years were on-hand, as well. Tommy Kennedy, last year's runner-up went two and out, falling to Scott Frost in the opening round, and Yu-Huan Kevin Chang in the first loss-side round. Moore, 2012's runner-up, was defeated in the opening round by Kevin Clark, and then, defeated Raj Vannala, Michael Yednak and Dan Cintron, before falling to Corey Deuel in the fourth loss-side round. Hohmann defeated, in order, Tim Murray, Justin Bergman, Mike Dechaine and Darren Appleton to earn himself a winners' side final four matchup against Orcollo. Orcollo sent him west where he picked up his second straight loss versus Mike Dechaine.
Shaw, who faced Orcollo in the finals, defeated Alan Rolon, and Lee Kang on the winners' side before Warren Kiamco sent him to the loss side. Shaw then ran the gauntlet through a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that was arguably as tough as any set of opponents faced by any of the event's competitors. He got by Jeremy Sossei, Hunter Lombardo, Darren Appleton, and Johnny Archer, before successfully navigating his re-match against Kiamco. He then defeated Dechaine and Van Boening to earn his spot in the finals.
The Open 10-Ball Professional Players Championship was the marquee event of four held over the weekend. Dawn Hopkins came from the loss side and defeated Caroline Pao in the finals of the $2,800-added Women's Open 9-Ball Players Championship that drew 28 entrants, and Jason Brown took the $2,200-added One Pocket event that was expanded to include 48 entrants.
The weekend also featured four Amateur events; an Open event, won by Alex Olinger, that drew a record-breaking 960 entrants, a Senior Division (age 50+), won by Dennis Spears, that drew 384, a Super Seniors Division (age 65+), won by Warner Burton, that drew 128, and a Women's Division, won by Brianna Miller, that drew 160.
Further detailed reports on the Super Billiards Expo, to include more complete reports about the Women's, One-Pocket and Amateur events will follow, soon.
It's started. The world's oldest, longest running pool tournament has begun with this morning's matches featuring an all star lineup!
The ANDY CLOTH 74th World Tournament is taking place on August 4th-9th, 2014. Dragon Promotions and Dr. Michael Fedak are pleased to bring the 74th production of the oldest billiard event in the world . Also sponsored by Andy Cloth, Kamui Brands, OB Cues, Amsterdam Billiard Club, Realrealcool.com, Pool & Billiard Magazine , Aramith Balls, and George Beckman Kinetic Sculptures. Official patron 14.1 aficionados are Stu Mattana, Tom Gleich, Harold Siegel, and Dr. Greg Diehl Plastic Surgery. A star studded field has made it back once again to the 14.1 extravaganza taking place at Steinway Billiards Cafe, who is once more hosting the world's greatest straight pool championship.
Watch online Pay Per View at www.worldstraightpool.com and order tickets for the 14.1 Hall of Fame Banquet.
For their third consecutive year, Sandcastle Billiards hosted a qualifier event for the World Tournament of 14.1 Continuous Straight Pool. Only one slot remained available in the 16 man double-elimination qualifier tournament. The top 2 finishers were to be awarded a seat in the prestigious main event being held this year in New York from August 4th. A very talented and bloodthirsty field came out from various neighboring states to compete on this 12th with players by Noon time as they began practicing till the first round was called at 1pm.
Fans and players can attend the once a year special event August 4th-9th, 2014 at Steinway Billiards Cafe or watch online at www.worldstraightpool.com . $50 All Event Pay Per View special for the ANDY CLOTH World Tournament of 14.1 !! Price goes up on Aug 2. It will be a star studded gala with billiard super stars such as Mika Immonen, Shane Van Boening, John Schmidt, Stephan Cohen, Johnny Archer, Darren Appleton & many more with Charlie Williams as the event MC. The ANDY CLOTH World Tournament of 14.1 is sponsored by ANDY CLOTH, Kamui Brands, OB Cues, Amsterdam Billiard Club, Realrealcool.com, Pool & Billiard Magazine , Aramith Balls, and George Beckman Kinetic Sculptures. Official patron 14.1 aficionados are Stu Mattana, Tom Gleich, Harold Siegel, and Dr. Greg Diehl Plastic Surgery. Dragon Promotions and Dr. Michael Fedak are pleased to also bring the 4th Annual Straight Pool Hall of Fame inducting "King" James Rempe and Frank "Sailor" Stellman. Since 1912, this will be the 74th production of the oldest billiard event in the world.
The pills had been drawn at random and the first round matchups were as follows;
Although any one of these competitors were very capable of winning this event, only two of these cue proficient warriors would be awarded the honors to advance and compete in the 74th World Tournament of Straight Pool.
The first to receive those honors by ripping through the field undefeated for the 3rd in a row was Sandcastle’s very own house player, Dennis Spears aka “Spider”. With victories over NJ local player, Geovani Hosang 100-19, then 100-32 over Eddie Culhane also from NJ, then a close one over a very impressive Dominic Noe 100-87 and finally over World Tournament veteran and solid player Bob Madenjian 100-39, Spears once again defended his home turf and rightfully claimed the 1st spot.
The other valiant contender took a very scenic route with a first round loss. After getting sent to the one-loss side of the charts by Dominic Noe, Jeff Crawford originally from Elkhart, Indiana and currently residing in Parkesberg, Pennsylvania clawed his way through a gauntlet of skillful and commendable opponents.
Crawford’s first round loss to Noe was followed by a 2nd battle began. First taking down the fierce Sean “Alaska” Morgan of NY with a score of 100-60, then Sandcastle’s own Gerard Soriano 100-41, he went on to defeat Raxx Pool Room owner, Holden Chin 100-45, then the well revered NY player, Flaco Rodriguez 100-34 and finally being victorious over the unyielding Bob Madenjian, Crawford claimed the 2nd year slot into the main event.
Special recognition goes out to Sean Morgan and Holden Chin as they had a nail biting final score of 100-95 in their match. Congrats to Michael Franzyshen, Sandcastle In-House 14.1 handicapped league 3 –Time Champion for stepping up to the big leagues and also squeaking out a 100-95 victory over Sean Leinen. Acknowledge Gerard Soriano, long overdue for getting his feet wet. It’s not the last time you’ll see his name for sure. Thank you Sean Leinen and Bob Madenjian for making those long trips out to compete once again, Don Montalvo for doing what it took to make it possible to come out, Geovani Hosang and Jim Heller for your continued support and improved games as you entered the battlegrounds, the well respected Flaco Rodriguez, always a pleasure to have, Gene Ok and Dominic Noe, such a pleasure meeting you. I hope to see you all at the main event.
Sandcastle Billiards would like to thank all those who came out to compete this year and all of its loyal regular patrons that continue to work to improve their game and share the same passion for the game enjoying the beauty of its complexity, poetry, high demand for focus and freedom of individual expression and style of play. “We’re not here just to make a dollar- we’re here to make a difference!” Good luck and play well.
Leading the top half of the bracket was Adam Kielar with wins over Antonio G.9-7, James Conn 9-3, Lee Holt 9-8 and TJ Moore 9-5. Leading the bottom half of the bracket was Darren Appleton with wins over Mike Couvetter 9-5, Ed Culhane 9-4, Dennis Spears 9-5, and Matt Krah 9-9.
Playing for the hot Seat was Adam Kielar vs Darren Appleton this was a great match that went hill hill but it was Appleton coming away with the win 9-8 and sending Kielar to the one lost side, Waiting for Kielar on the one lost side was Krah this was a good match that had Adam Keilar pulling away half way through the match to a 9-5 win and a rematch with Darren Appleton.
In the finals it was Adam Kielar VS Darren Appleton this event is a true double elimination so Kielar would have to win 2 set in order to win the event. It only took Appleton one sett as he won easily 9-5 to capture 2014 NJ State 10 Ball Championships.
I would like to thank all the players that came out to play I also would like to thank the following sponsors Mezz Cues, Gamblin Clothing Kumi Chalk, Allen Hopkins Super Billiards Expo, John Barton JB Cases, Jab Cues & Thing, Billiard Life USA, Inside Pool Magazine, and Mike Ricciardella
New York, New York – One of USA's top guns Dennis Hatch and rising Asian star Wang Can have gone undefeated in all their respective 5 round robin matches. This year's World Tournament of 14.1 has all 48 players battling in the round robin stage inching closer to the oldest title in the world. Dragon Promotions and Dr. Michael Fedak have brought another globally star studded field at this year's 73rd Olhausen World Tournament hosted by Steinway Billiards in New York onAugust 19th-24th,2013. Live stream broadcast will be on www.insidepool.tv
Dennis Hatch has been a freight train and demolished Johnny Archer, Charles Eames, Holden Chin, Robb Saez, and Scotland's Jayson Shaw. He has won his Group #6 and will be one of the top 8 seeds in the next stage of the event in which he also earns one of the 8 available byes.
"I grew up playing straight pool as a kid. Jimmy Mataya was one of my early influences and we played straight pool. So the World Tournament 14.1 is like going back to my roots", explained Hatch.
China's Wang Can has just learned 14.1 on this trip to America, and his straight shooting pool skills has not faltered him in learning fast. Wang has beaten NYC local legend Danny Barouty, Craig Houghton of GA, Jim Gottier, and squeaked by qualifier winner Dennis Spears 100-97. Then he had his biggest 14.1 win as of yet when he took down Oliver Ortmann 100 to 61 in his final match. Wang Can will now be seeded in the top 8 for the final 24 field cut.
Today's marquee TV table lineup includes:
Matches on TV stream today:
1130am Ortmann GER v Spears USA
1pmStrickland USA vs Cohen FRA
230pm Van Boening vs Williams
7pm Group Picture of 2013 World Tournament Players & 14.1 Hall of Fame Banquet starts!
Matches continue today and the round robin completeson Wednesdaybefore the evening 14.1 Hall of Fame Banquet honoring Oliver Ortmann and Gene Nagy. Tickets still on sale onlinewww.worldstraightpool.comand at Steinway Billiards.
Through additional support from such sponsors such as Olhausen Tables, Championship Cloth, Aramith Balls, Amsterdam Billiards, Pool & Billiard Magazine, Master Chalk, and now FURY Cues, the absolute best pool players from around the world will arrive on the birth country of 14.1 once more to attend this prestigious event. All to vie for the coveted title of greatest straight pool player in the world.
Krah advanced to the hot seat match with victories over Anthony Cassaro 7-3, Ed Culhane 7-3, and Dennis Spears 7-5. Wong moved up to meet him, defeating Wali Muhammad 7-3, Travis McKinney 7-5, and Frankie Hernandez 7-2.
Wong pulled away late to win the hot seat battle 7-5, sending Krah to the semifinals. Waiting for Krah was Frankie Hernandez, who'd just dropped Dennis Spears into fourth place. Krah defeated Hernandez 6-2 for a second chance against Wong, but the two decided against a final match, splitting the top prizes.
Tour director Joe Burgos thanked all participating players, the owners and staff at Sandcastle Billiards, as well as sponsors Mezz Cues, Kamui Chalk, Gamblin' Clothing, Allen Hopkins Super Billiards Expo, Jab Cues & Thing, Billiard Life USA, Inside Pool Magaine, and Mike Ricciardella (RE/Max Pros)
