In his first win on the Garden State Pool Tour, and as far as we know, his first win anywhere, Sebastion Kas became the tour’s Amateur 8-Ball Champion last weekend (Sunday, May 1). Kas worked his way through the field of 47, downing Julie Madlener twice; hot seat and finals. It was Madlener’s second recorded victory on the tour, having finished in the tie for 9th at a stop in Rockaway, NJ this past February. The $400-added Amateur 8-Ball Championship was hosted by Shooter’s Family Billiards in Wayne, NJ.
Kas’ path to the winners’ circle went through Deo Alpojara, Jimmy (Silky) Acosta and Mikhail Kim to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Hunter Sullivan. Madlener, in the meantime, had bested Al Lewis, Kervens Francois, and Ginny Lewis to arrive at her winners’ side semifinal matchup versus Frank Kasetta.
Kas and Madlener advanced to their first (recorded) tournament hot seat match. Kas had sent Sullivan to the loss side 6-2, as Madlener was busy shutting Kasetta out to earn her spot in the winners’ side final. Sebastion claimed the hot seat 7-4 and waited on Madlener’s return.
On the loss side, Sullivan and Kasetta downed the first opponents they faced on that side of the bracket and squared off in the quarterfinals. The match went double hill before Sullivan prevailed. The two competitors who met in the semifinals were both battling for a second chance against Kas, waiting in the hot seat for one of them. After trading racks throughout the contest, Madlener advanced for a second shot at him.
Each of the finalists added a rack to their performance against each other in the hot seat match. Kas completed his undefeated run to claim his first Garden State Pool Tour title and its 8-Ball Championship.
Tour representatives thanked Kris Consolvo Kemp and her staff at Shooter’s Family Billiards, all the players who competed, and tour sponsors Kamui, Billiards Engineering, and John Bender Custom Cues. The Garden State Pool Tour will set up two separate events for its next stop. On Saturday, May 21, there will be an ABCD 9-Ball event and on Sunday, May 22, a CD 9-Ball event, both hosted by Players Billiards in Eatontown, NJ.
The Mezz West State Tour traveled to San Francisco, CA to the Billiard Palacade owned and operated by the enormously generous and kind, Murcia. A great field of 73 players came from all over California, Nevada, and even from Europe. The 5th stop of the tour was 10 ball to be played on the 13 beautiful AMF antique tables which Billiard Palacade had refelted specifically for this event.
The top half of the bracket was dominated by World Cup of Pool team India member, Amar Kang. The Sacramento, California ace has had excellent results on the tour and for years on the west coast with elite players. Some of his victories included a strong win over Filipino champion, Rodrigo Geronimo, Deo Alpojara, Johnny Kang, and Oscar Dominguez for the hotseat. As previously mentioned, Oscar Dominguez came up short to Kang in the hotseat but not before disposing of several strong local talent and Romanian expat, only known as Babken on the bottom half of the bracket.
On the losers side, several upsets took place including the fairly early departure of tour points leader, Rodrigo Geronimo by Hungarian young gun, Attila Bezdan after defeating his best friend and road partner Vilmos Foldes. In addition, former junior national champion, Beau Runningen, fought valiantly on the losers side after a loss to Deo Alpojara. Beau went on to defeat the always tough Justin Logan, Johnny Kang, and Babken until he ran into Dominguez who stopped Beau, from going to the finals.
The finals between Amar and Oscar would be a true double elimination where Oscar needed to win twice for the victory while Amar needed to only win once. After a strong start by Kang to lead 7-2, Dominguez forged a comeback to win 9-7 and force a second and deciding set. The duo agreed to call it a night as it was 3 am and it would be safer for all parties driving home that night.
Also, the Mezz West State Tour would like to congratulate Emilyn Collado on her Top Female finish!
The Mezz West State Tour would like to thank their sponsors: Mezz Cues, West State Billiard Supply, Kurzweil’s Country Meats, AZBilliards, NYCGrind, Fast&Loose Designs, ZAN tips, POVPool, and Turtle Rack. Also, a very special thank you to Francisco Murcia and his entire family for their warm hospitality and generosity to promote the sport we all love. Next stop is at On Cue Billiards in La Mesa, CA. We hope to see you there and be sure to tune in to POVPool.com to watch all the action live and free!
