The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour kicked off the second half of it’s 2022/2023 season with a field of 51 players competing at the Northeast 9-Ball Open XXXIV at Sharpshooters Billiards and Sports Pub in Amsterdam, NY on February 18th – 19th.
The field included four of the top five players on the tour’s points list, with only 4th place Nate Marshall missing. Even with that firepower in the event, it was Canada’s Nick Charette who advanced through the field undefeated to score his first career Joss NE 9-Ball Tour title.
Charette made it clear that he meant business this weekend with his first three match wins (Brian Namulik, Aro Majumder and Ed Culhane) coming with a combined score of 27-3. He was tested in his next two, but still scored comfortable wins over Jordan Turner and #3 on the points list, Bucky Souvanthong.
Charette really made a statement on Sunday with a 9-0 whitewash over Dan Sharlow for the hot-seat.
On the one loss side, Ron Casanzio was showing everyone why he is the #1 player on the points list this season. After dropping a hill-hill match against Geoff Montgomery on Saturday, Casanzio strung together nine straight wins on the left side of the board to earn his shot at Charette in the finals.
While on paper, most would have considered Casanzio a big favorite, simply based on his experience in Joss Tour finals, Charette was not to be denied as the cruised to a 9-6 win in the first and only set of the finals.
Sunday’s second chance tournament saw Rohit Aggarwal hold off a charge from Joe Wysocki to win the second set of the finals 3-1 for first place. Wysocki lost to Mike Renshaw in the final four on the winners side, but won four straight, including a 3-2 decision against Aggarwal in the first set of the finals. It wasn’t enough though, with Aggarwal following up his hot-seat win over Renshaw with a second set in against Wysocki and first place.
Jungo wins roller coast final vs. Zielinski/Tkach defeats Corr in Women’s event.
You had to be there.
As it’s been for a number of years, the annual American Straight Pool Championships, held this past week (Oct. 24-29) at Q-Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA were not just about who beat who, by how much. Or the specifics of about how the male and female fields whittled down from 56 men and 15 women to Switzerland’s Dimitri Jungo, who won the Men’s event and Russia’s Kristina Tkach, who won the Women’s event; each, right after it was over, holding their 17th annual traditional clock and collecting their envelopes with $10,000 and $5,000, respectively.
It was, too, about the gathering of world-class competitors, kicking back in the highly-congenial atmosphere of this country’s largest pool room, regaling each other with stories of past exploits, current battles in their individual matches and where they’re headed next. It’s a pool player knocked out of the competition early, preparing for this week’s International Open, about 20 miles away, by practicing one type of shot (a corner-to-corner, stop shot) for hours. Or a female competitor describing the dancing skills of two female friends in a long-ago moment after an event that had an entire table of people in stitches. It’s about the photos of all the US Open Champions crowned in the room, the commendations from 50+ years of pool players, and of course, scores aside, the quality of play.
“The quality of play this year was just unbelievable,” founder and Chairman of the American 14.1 Straight Pool Championships, Peter Burrows told a packed arena at the conclusion of the Men’s event. “It’s why we come here every year.”
“(Jungo and Zeilinski) had a number of exquisite safety battles tonight that were really remarkable,” he added of the final match.
In his first time competing in these straight pool championships, Jungo revealed that it was only the second time that he had played the game competitively all year. He recalled being here in the US in 2001; a year he referenced as ‘9-11.’
“And now,” he said, shortly after claiming the Men’s title, “here I am, 18 years later.”
Though hesitant to single out one particular discipline as his ‘favorite,’ he admitted to an affection for straight pool that has lasted for a long time. He admits to playing it a lot more by himself than in competition.
“I like it,” he said. “When I play it alone, I can challenge myself.”
In the more-than-just-winning-or-losing department, he was impressed with the milieu associated with Q Master Billiards. He admitted to being enchanted by it and used a somewhat dated expression to describe it.
“I like the ‘groove’ here,” he said. “It’s like. . . pool, where it’s born. I feel like it’s home. The way they treat the people here is very special.”
“I was very comfortable here,” he added of the week he’d spent at the tables, moments after that week was over, “and I’m feeling good.”
As well he might have, having just won a tournament that at its start a week ago, had other competitors ‘pegged’ for the win; among the others – Jayson Shaw, Fedor Gorst, the surging-in-Europe Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz, final European member of the 2022 Mosconi Cup Team, David Alcaide, Josh Filler and Filipino Lee Van Corteza, who would finish the Round Robin Phase of the event with the highest point differential (504) of the eight groups of seven players each. Jungo would finish third overall in that department at 460, behind Van Corteza and Josh Filler (498).
Poland’s Wictor Zielinski, in the meantime, was #1 in his group, as well, downing his own list of top-ranked pros – Thorsten Hohmann, Ralf Souquet, Denis Grabe, Bart Czapla and the USA’s Pascal Dufresne, who, when he done competing, became a statistician for the event, seated behind a computer, using a 14:Straight Pool program he had written to input analytic data about each match he was able to witness. Zielinski’s loss in the Round Robin phase was to Finland’s Jani Uski.
All four of the event’s semifinalists – Jungo, Zielinski, Mario He and Mieszko Fortunski – were #1 in their Round Robin groups. They, along with the other four top competitors to come out of the Round Robin phase – Josh Filler, John Morra, Francisco Candela and Lee Van Corteza were awarded opening round byes as second- and third-place competitors (16 of them) squared off in the opening round of the single elimination phase of the event, racing to 150. Gone at the conclusion of that opening round were (among others) Jayson Shaw, Darren Appleton and Albin Ouschan. In the final 16 round, Lee Van Corteza, Ralf Souquet, Sanchez-Ruiz (downed by Zielinski), The Lion (Alex Pagulayan) and Carlo Biado (defeated by Jungo) were gone as well.
The quarterfinal matches saw Jungo eliminate Morra, Mario He defeat Lebanon’s Bader Alawadhi, Mieszko Fortunski get by David Alcaide in the closest match of the tournament 150-148, and Zielinski wave goodbye to Joshua Filler (not literally) in the most lopsided match of the single elimination phase, 150-38.
The racing-to-175 semifinals, which guaranteed that one of the finalists would be from Poland, saw Zielinski down Fortunski 175-55. Jungo joined him after defeating Austria’s Mario He 175-85.
As noted by Burrows earlier, the final match was a bit of a roller coaster ride. If you weren’t aware that fouls can send scores moving in the opposite direction, you might have been surprised if you stepped away when the score was tied at 55-55 and returned to find out it had backed up to 54-53 in favor of Jungo.
“(Zielinski) got out to a lead early,” noted Jungo. “but I made it to 67 (ahead by 14), and then, we had those safety battles in the middle; four or five of them.”
Zielinski kept fighting back and took the lead back at the 131-130 stage of the game, at which point, the scores went backwards again, to 129-128. Jungo re-established the lead and expanded it to 147-136. With 28 balls to go, he got them all. At 162-136, right after his break had left 14 on the table, with only 13 to go, Jungo ran the table to claim the title.
Kristina Tkach
After protracted absence since 2019, Ireland’s Karen Corr makes it to Women’s final
Ireland’s Karen Corr has been making her presence known on the women’s circuit since her somewhat unofficial return from an unofficial absence since 2019. She’d appeared on the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour this year, finished 3rd at the WPBA’s Michigan Open (tied with Allison Fisher) and made an appearance at last week’s Sledgehammer Open, the 1st memorial tournament for Helena Thornfeldt. She ‘chose’ to record her highest return-finish in Virginia Beach at an event not without its favored competitors. Some were looking ahead almost from the start to a rematch between Tkach and the event’s defending champion, Kelly Fisher, who had matched up twice against each other at the Sledgehammer Open; Tkach taking the first in a winners’ side semifinal and Kelly, the second in the final.
Not so fast. There were three round robin ‘flights’ with five players each, from which Corr, Tkach and Fisher emerged undefeated. Joining them in an opening, single-elimination round were Bethany Sykes (vs. Tkach), Dawn Hopkins (vs. Corr), Billie Billing (vs. Fisher) and Bean Hung, squaring off against Pia Filler. Racing to 80, Tkach allowed Sykes one ball, Hung gave up 23 to Filler, Fisher gave Billing 42, while Corr and Hopkins played the closest match; won by Corr 80-50.
The potential Fisher/Tkach final was still on, but not for long. In the semifinals, Tkach downed Hung 100-49, as Corr was likely surprising Kelly Fisher with a 100-36 win that put her in her first (recorded) final in two years.
Tkach has won the European straight pool championships twice, though like many others, it’s not a discipline that she gets to play that often.
“When I was very young, about 16 or 17, I played a full-year of straight pool every day,” she said, noting that her coach at the time was trying to get her to that oft-elusive first run of 100 balls, “but I was at a different level back then, too.”
“It is a game that you play maybe once a year,” she added, “but once you learn how to play it, it’s like riding a bicycle. Once you understand it, it’s really just about making balls.”
She got on the bike, made the balls and claimed the second American Women’s 14.1 Straight Pool Championship Title.
Many of the competitors who were in Virginia Beach over the past week have already moved on to Norfolk, VA, about 20 miles west of Q Master Billiards, to compete in Pat Fleming’s International Open, which began on Friday, Oct. 28 with a $10,000-added One Pocket tournament (to which many knocked out of the straight pool at Q Master Billiards migrated). The One Pocket will conclude today (Sunday, Oct. 30) and give way to the $50,000-added 9-Ball Tournament set to begin tomorrow (Monday, Oct. 31), which should make for an interesting Halloween night. Later in the week, the Junior International Championships will conclude their 2022 season with championship tournaments for the 18 & Under Boys and Girls divisions of the series.
And a final unofficial and unquoted word from Peter Burrows about the 18th Annual American 14.1 Straight Pool Tournament next year, which he has promised (with a little help from his friends) will be bigger and better with more players and more money.
Huge match-ups kickoff Day 1 of the historic Andy Cloth World Tournament of 14.1 . Some of the big marquee line-ups include a savory Van Boening vs Harriman at 6:30pm and a finale feature with defending champion Appleton vs Strickland! A who's who of world class players will be in attendance to etch their name into history's elite of the father of all pool games. Darren Appleton, Thorsten Hohmann, Stephan Cohen, Shane Van Boening, Johnny Archer, Earl Strickland, Mika Immonen, Tony Robles and many, many more. The main event will take place once more in New York City. As usual, a star studded field is expected this year at Steinway Billiards Cafe, who is once more hosting this world class event. The World Tournament Official Equipment include Viking Cue with all matches played on Andy Cloth. Event partners include Mr.Tom Gleich, Dr. Gregory Diehl, Mr. Greg Hunt of Amsterdam Billiards, & Mr. Jim Gottier of Greenleaf's Pool Room. Patron sponsors include Mr. Harold Siegel of Excelsior Graphics, Dr. James Heller, Mr. Charles Eames of Charles Eames Photography, Frank Scharbach of Frank's Billard Cafe, Focused Apparel and the National Amateur Pool League.
The World Tournament will be live streamed on AZBTV , order by going to www.worldstraightpool.com . Official media partners are www.NYCGrind.com , Pool & Billiard Magazine, & tech support by Gotham City Technologies.
Complete group schedule at www.worldstraightpool.com for all matches. Tickets to watch live in person sold on site.
Each of the three players will have to play 6 matches each in the first stage of the championship. If they qualify in their respective groups, they advance to a double elimination knockout stage. If they advance again, they qualify for the final stage of 16 players in a single knockout stage, but with longer match races. The finals will be a race to 300 balls made first, which could take as long as 6 hours.
In addition to the World Tournament will be the 5th Annual Straight Pool Hall of Fame. A gourmet banquet dinner along with speeches from celebrity guests will take place July 15th at 8pm at Steinway Billiards. A special video presentation of each inductee will be produced and presented by www.NYCGrind.com's Jerry Tarantola. The HOF Live Streamed for FREE at www.Ustream.tv/channel/azbtv
Support straight pool and the 14.1 Hall of Fame by joining the World 141 Club & for a very inexpensive sponsorship, become one of the 141 special people joining the 141 Club which will fund this year's events. The list of benefits & gifts are huge. Goto http://worldstraightpool.com/tickets.html . Tickets will be sold at the door during the event. Sponsors and private contributors can still join this year's event. Final added money and fundraising for the 5th Annual Straight Pool Hall of Fame are still being generated. To help be a part of this treasured event, please contact Dragon Promotions and join the World 141 Club.
Get the latest news and complete results of all years at www.worldstraightpool.com and daily year round updates on www.facebook.com/Worldstraightpool . Follow Dragon Promotions news at www.twitter.com/Dragonpromoter
Vendor spaces are also available, for more information on player registration, sponsorship, or if you would like to submit a comment, please email worldstraightpoolchampionships@gmail.com or contact Dragon Promotions at 1-407-782-4978. Full event info is atwww.dragonpromotions.com
The stars will be shining during the historic Andy Cloth World Tournament of 14.1 . A who's who of world class players will be in attendance to etch their name into history's elite of the father of all pool games. Darren Appleton, Thorsten Hohmann, Stephan Cohen, Shane Van Boening, Johnny Archer, Earl Strickland, Mika Immonen, Tony Robles and many, many more. The main event will take place once more in New York City. As usual, a star studded field is expected this year at Steinway Billiards Cafe, who is once more hosting this world class event. The World Tournament Official Equipment include Viking Cue with all matches played on Andy Cloth. Event partners include Mr.Tom Gleich, Dr. Gregory Diehl, Mr. Greg Hunt of Amsterdam Billiards, & Mr. Jim Gottier of Greenleaf's Pool Room. Patron sponsors include Mr. Harold Siegel of Excelsior Graphics, Dr. James Heller, Mr. Charles Eames of Charles Eames Photography, Frank Scharbach of Frank's Billard Cafe, Focused Apparel and the National Amateur Pool League.
The World Tournament will be live streamed on AZBTV , order by going to www.worldstraightpool.com . Official media partners are www.NYCGrind.com , Pool & Billiard Magazine, & tech support by Gotham City Technologies.
Results of the final qualifiers for the World Tournament:
NAPL Qualifier at Amsterdam Billiards : Eddie Kwok (NY)
Each of the three players will have to play 6 matches each in the first stage of the championship. If they qualify in their respective groups, they advance to a double elimination knockout stage. If they advance again, they qualify for the final stage of 16 players in a single knockout stage, but with longer match races. The finals will be a race to 300 balls made first, which could take as long as 6 hours.
3 spots open. Contact Dragon Promotions at 407-782-4978
In addition to the World Tournament will be the 5th Annual Straight Pool Hall of Fame. A gourmet banquet dinner along with speeches from celebrity guests will take place July 15th at 8pm at Steinway Billiards. A special video presentation of each inductee will be produced and presented by www.NYCGrind.com's Jerry Tarantola.
Support straight pool and the 14.1 Hall of Fame by joining the World 141 Club & for a very inexpensive sponsorship, become one of the 141 special people joining the 141 Club which will fund this year's events. The list of benefits & gifts are huge. Goto http://worldstraightpool.com/tickets.html . Tickets will be sold at the door during the event. Sponsors and private contributors can still join this year's event. Final added money and fundraising for the 5th Annual Straight Pool Hall of Fame are still being generated. To help be a part of this treasured event, please contact Dragon Promotions and join the World 141 Club.
Get the latest news and complete results of all years at www.worldstraightpool.com and daily year round updates on www.facebook.com/Worldstraightpool . Follow Dragon Promotions news at www.twitter.com/Dragonpromoter
Vendor spaces are also available, for more information on player registration, sponsorship, or if you would like to submit a comment, please email worldstraightpoolchampionships@gmail.com or contact Dragon Promotions at 1-407-782-4978. Full event info is atwww.dragonpromotions.com
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.
Will there ever come a day when the appearance of Earl "The Pearl" Strickland on an event roster will not drop fear into the heart of every competitor on the list? Today's 'young guns' and quite a few wily veterans will deny this, of course (the "I ain't scared o' nobody" school of thinking) and point out that the 54-year-old Strickland can and has been beaten, a lot over the years. The fact, however, remains. The most common response to his name on a sign-in sheet is "Uh, Oh!"
On the weekend of April 11-12, Strickland added a victory to that reputation of his with an undefeated run on the Predator Tour. The $500-added, Open/Pro portion of the event drew 19 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria (Queens), NY. A concurrently-run, $500-added Amateur event, won by Brooke Meyer (see separate story), drew 68 entrants.
As is usually the case, the winners' side semifinals of the Predator's Open/Pro event was a small-sample "Who's Who?" of the New York area's top competitors. Strickland squared off against Jorge Rodriguez, while Frankie Hernandez met up with Mhet Vergara. Strickland sent Rodriguez to the loss-side 7-2, while Hernandez did likewise to Vergara 7-5. Strickland claimed his gazillionth hot seat 7-2 and waited on what turned out to Vergara's return.
It was Vergara and Rodriguez advancing to the quarterfinals; Vergara with a 7-3 victory over Zvi, Rodriguez winning a double hill battle versus Lombardo. Vergara took the quarterfinal match 7-5 and then benefited from an 'illness' forfeit by Hernandez in the semifinals.
Uh Oh!
"The Pearl" closed out his undefeated run and picked up his first victory on the 2015 Predator Tour with a 7-1 victory over Vergara in the finals.
Two of Koka Davladze's last three wins on the Tri-State Tour have come as the result of making it to the hot seat match and deciding, with a finals opponent, not to play a last match. A little over a year ago (September, 2013 in Brooklyn), he split the top prize with Chris DeCaprio. In March, this year, he went undefeated again; this time, playing and winning a final match against Keith Diaz. On Sunday, October 27, Davladze found himself in the hot seat again, and this time, opted out of a final match against Keith Adamik. The $1,000-added event drew 45 entrants to Steinway Billiards in Astoria, Queens.
Davladze opened his six-opponent, undefeated run with victories over Carl Yusuf Khan, Ed Culhane, Chumreon Sutcharitakul and a 7-4 win over Adamik. This set him up for a winners' side semifinal against Miguel Laboy. Jaydev Zaveri, in the meantime, met up with Eric Hummel. Davladze sent LaBoy (7-5) to a loss-side meet-up with Adamik. Zaveri sent Hummel over 7-4. Davladze chalked up his sixth and final win against Zaveri 9-8.
On the loss side, Adamik, having moved past Stewart Warnock 7-6 and Sutcharitakul 7-5, met and defeated LaBoy 7-2. In the quarterfinals, he faced Ramon Feliciano, who'd gotten by Tony Ignomirello 6-2 and Pat Mareno 6-4, before eliminating Hummel 7-4.
Adamik defeated Feliciano 8-4, and then, in what proved to be his final match, downed Zaveri in the semifinals 8-6. Davladze and Adamik, who opted out of a final match, are among the tour's top five "A/A+" players. Going into the event, Adamik (A) was in second place behind Miguel LaBoy (A+) whom he'd defeated in the 5/6 matches), with Davladze (A+) in fifth place, behind Eric Grasman (A+) and Jose Mendez (A).
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Steinway Billiards, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Bartron, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics , and Focus Apparel. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, at BQE Billiards in Jackson Heights, NY is scheduled for November 2.
Omar Alli faced five opponents and played six matches during his recent undefeated run through a field of 34 entrants, on hand for the August 23 stop on the Tri-State Tour. The first three were male, the last two were female – Rhio Anne Flores and Kim Meyer-Gabia; two of the tour's toughest, having finished fourth and sixth among the tour's top 36 women in the 2013-2014 season. The $1,000-added event on Saturday was hosted by the Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Following victories over Juan Guzman, Kapriel Delimelkonoglu, and Lidio Ramierez, Alli ran into his first lady, Flores, in a winners' side semifinal match. The other (Meyer-Gabia), in the meantime, squared off against Tony Ignomirello. Alli prevailed over Flores 7-6, and in the battle for the hot seat, faced Meyer-Gabia, who'd defeated Ignomirello 6-5. Alli sent Meyer-Gabia to a semifinal matchup against Flores, and waited in the hot seat for her to return.
Flores had moved to the loss side and for starters, drew Ed Culhane, who'd defeated Ramierez 7-5 and Chumreon Sutcharitakul 8-4 to reach her. Ignomirello picked up T.J. Aguis, who'd gotten by Christine Pross 6-4 and Bob Toomey 6-5. 'Annie' gave up only a single rack to Culhane, and moved into the quarterfinals against Aguis, who'd eliminated Ignomirello 6-3.
Two close, double hill matches followed, both of them won by the ladies. Flores downed Aguis in the quarterfinals and was defeated herself by the same score in the semifinals against Meyer-Gabia, who earned a second shot against Alli. It was a shot that wasn't fired. Alli and Meyer-Gabia opted out of a final match due to the lateness of the hour, and split the top two prizes. Alli, as the undefeated player, laid claim to the event title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff of The Cue Bar, as well as sponsors Ozone Billiards, Sterling-Gaming, Qpod, Kamui Tips, Ron Vitello, Focus Cases by John Batron, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics, and Focus Apparel. The next stop on the Tri-State Tour, scheduled for August 30-31, will be hosted by Amsterdam Billiards in Manhattan, NY.
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.
The battle for the two last remaining spots in the 2014 World Straight Pool Championships took place this past weekend at a poolroom truly worthy of hosting it. Amsterdam Billiards, home to the world’s oldest and largest 14.1 league has seen its share of great straight pool over the decades and this tournament would be no exception.
The field was filled with qualifier winners from past years including Holden Chin, Bob Madenjian, Sean Morgan, Gary O’Callaghan, Jude Rosenstock and Jonathan Smith but it was clear from the start that the polished professional yet new-comer to straight pool was certain to make an impact. Hunter Lombardo was here to play.
With a bye in his first round match, Hunter began his journey through the bracket with the lone shut-out of the tournament, dispatching Holden Chin 100-0 while posting a 50+ consecutive run along the way. The Hunter locomotive continued past veteran local player Ed Culhane in a decisive 100-19 victory but was immediately stalled by the field’s most accomplished straight pool player, 178-ball runner, Jonathan Smith. It was clear, Hunter’s path to the finish just got a lot more difficult.
First to meet Hunter on the B-Side of the bracket was Holden Chin who had just narrowly eliminated Brian Lau from the tournament. A rematch from the second round, Holden rebounded from his early loss and proceeded through Jim Murnak, Gene Ok, BoB Zak and Lau to earn his chance to revenge his shut-out but it was not to be. Hunter, on his own rebound, returned to form and handed the Raxx House Pro another loss. This time, he won by the score of 100-36, sending his journey into Sunday to meet Gary O’Callaghan.
Gary had been here before; the second day, the finals in sight. This was familiar territory for the Irish-born pool player who boasts a cash-finish in his first World Championship appearance. To say Gary was comfortable would be an understatement. His four victories on Saturday were won in an average of 55 minutes and his only loss was delivered by none other than Society Billiards house pro, Jonathan Smith. Storming out of the gate, Gary set the pace, quickly depositing the first rack of balls but ran into trouble in the next. Hunter managed to come back and take the lead momentarily but Gary served-up another batch of balls and looked destined for the finals, taking a 90-73 lead but facing an awkward break-shot. It didn’t take Gary long to decide the risk was not worth the reward and instead of thinly slicing his break-ball, he opted to play safe which proved costly. Hunter went on to win the safety battle and, in spite of the long break between offensive opportunities, came up with one great shot after another to win 100-94 and face Sean “Alaska” Morgan.
This was Sean’s second opportunity to secure a spot. The night before, in the midst of all the B-side action going on, he lost to Jonathan Smith in the Winner’s Side Finals. Jonathan truly earned his spot having gone through Gary O’Callaghan, Hunter Lombardo and finally Sean Morgan but Sean remained optimistic about his chances even though he would have to go through Hunter to get there.
Sean opened the final match with a textbook perfect safety, forcing Hunter to foul twice in a row and earning the first lead. That lead, established in the third inning, would expand to a 34-point margin inning with the score at 91-57 in Sean’s favor. It was at that moment, the game would come to a grinding halt for Sean. Hunter began by running off 16 balls and playing safe. The battle for control continued with both players taking fouls and playing safe while picking off open shots during the process. All the while, Hunter was gaining ground and then finally, the pivotal moment worthy of Hollywood happened.
Up by the score of 95-92, Sean played an aggressive safety, further opening the table while leaving the cue-ball frozen and tucked neatly away from any direct shots but an unpredictable kiss would send the 10-ball dangling over the side pocket. It was clear; Hunter would have to try and kick the 10-ball in. Leaving it was too risky and the scattered balls nearly insured that this lone shot would determine the outcome of the tournament. After taking a moment to measure the shot, Hunter opted for a soft kick, pocketed the 10-ball cleanly and positioned perfectly to run the final seven balls to win the final qualifier spot. Undoubtedly, this was the most dramatic ending ever seen at any previous Amsterdam qualifier. Hunter Lombardo and Jonathan Smith will go on to compete in the main event.
August 4-9, hosted by Steinway Billiards in Astoria, Queens, New York City. This will be Jonathan’s 9th appearance and Hunter’s first. Note from Dragon Promotions: Special thanks to Jude & Cate Rosenstock who did an excellent job directing the event and updating live score brackets for 14.1 fans around the world. And many thanks once again to Greg Hunt, owner of Amsterdam Billiard Club for his staunch sponsorship and support of the World 14.1 since its revival in 2006.
