(l to r): Ed Hobbs, Eddie Mataya, Tim Tweedell, Cindy Sliva, Damian Pongpanik & James Davee
In what might me a harbinger of things to come, two pool teams from the northwest corner of the country got together to play a Mosconi-Cup-style team tournament in Auburn, WA last weekend (April 7-8). According to Washington State’s captain, Damian Pongpanik, the event, won by his team 11-5 over Oregon, is likely to be the first of many more to come.
“I’ve played singles pool for a long time, and I’ve never seen an atmosphere like this,” said Pongpanik. “This kind of event is the kind of thing that is eventually going to drive players, fans and sponsors to the game.”
“It creates an exciting atmosphere that people can really rally behind,” he added.
This 1st Northwest Cup competition had a predecessor. Three months ago, a team from Las Vegas faced off against a team from Phoenix, AZ in what was labeled The Desert Cup. Organized by CSI General Manager Ozzy Reynolds, following up on a brainstorming idea generated by CSI staffer Jack Murray and an Arizona friend of his, Junior Flores, they selected teams, “anointed” Reynolds as the Las Vegas team captain and determined at the start that each team’s total FargoRate be capped at 3,900 points (a practice repeated in the Northwest Cup event).
“I actually argued that there shouldn’t be a cap at all,” said Reynolds, “but the guys in Arizona at the time felt that there was no way that they could compete against the quality of players here in Vegas.”
As it turned out, Phoenix didn’t have a lot to worry about, as they went on to defeat the Las Vegas team 11-3 in the 1st Desert Cup. As it also turned out, the defeated Oregon team, the day after the Northwest Cup, reached out to Reynolds to determine interest in an Oregon/Las Vegas matchup sometime in the near future, perhaps within the next month or so. At the end of the live stream of the Northwest Cup, a commentator said “Congratulations to Team Washington,” and then, speaking unofficially for Team Arizona, called the hypothetical toin coss for a future match (Tails). As a CSI Executive, the event model is of interest to Reynolds.
“I’m a huge fan of the concept,” said Reynolds. “I could see it as something that CSI could get behind.”
There are, Reynolds noted, a “few flaws” in the concept as it is playing out at the moment, but he is already working on ways to fine tune it. He describes CSI’s current interest as being at “the concept stage of building a viable model” for such competitions.
The 1st Northwest Cup drew two teams of six players from each of the two states. Oregon had a seventh, non-playing captain, Matthew McInnis, whose company, Big Ern Billiards Productions and Events, along with Pongpanik’s firm, Jam Up Apparel, sponsored the event. An entry fee of $200 per player was supplemented by $1,200 of added money, contributed by Big Ern, Jam Up Apparel and the venue, The 15th St. Grill, in Auburn, WA. The winner-take-all prize purse was $3,600.
Formatted, like the Mosconi Cup, as a race to eleven team wins, with a variety of individual match formats from full-team, to Scotch doubles and singles, the event opened on Saturday with what seemed like an interminable match between all of the players on both of the teams, playing one right after another, in a 9-ball race to 7 (all other matches were races to 5). It was a back-and-forth opening session that stretched beyond two hours of what turned out to be 11 hours of broadcast time by Rail2Rail Productions (available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_BGcDnWPu0). Oregon pulled out ahead at the end to win the opening team match.
The Washington Scotch Doubles Team of Pongpanik and Davee then took the first of three straight for their team 5-2. Davee won a singles match against Dietchman 5-3, before Hobbs and Silva chalked up third straight win 5-3 against Zack/Marquez. Zack won Oregon’s second, 5-2, in a singles match against Mataya.
A Scotch Doubles win for Tweedell/Davee against Oregon’s Gates/Walding was followed by a shutout singles win by Pongpanik over Walding. The Oregon Scotch Doubles team of Marquez/Hefner won that team’s final match of the opening day 5-3 over Washington’s Davee/Mataya. Two straight Scotch Doubles wins for Washington ended the day, with Washington ahead 8-3 in the race to 11.
Marquez opened Day Two with one of Oregon’s two remaining victories, downing Tweedell 5-3. Washington took the next two, putting them on the hill, ahead by six, 10-4. Oregon’s Bob Zack won his team’s last match, double hill, over Pongpanik, before Washington’s Davee closed the proceedings with a 5-2 win over Oregon’s Darin Walding.
“You know,” said Pongpanik the day after the victory, “I’ve played in front of a lot of people, in a lot of (event) finals, and this was a pressure, unlike anything I’ve ever felt.
“It’s a different kind of pressure when you’re representing your state or city,” he added, “and pool could use something like this, to be honest.”
On October 11-17, 2011 the 14th Annual Western BCA Regional 9-Ball Championships were hosted at Chinook Winds Casino & Resort in Lincoln City, Oregon. Players from Washington, Oregon and Idaho converged at what is fondly called “Da Beach” to compete for their share of over $75,000 in prize money. While Western BCA volunteers organized the event, Bad Boys Productions set up the 80 Diamond Pool Tables and tracked all results both on the paper brackets that lined the halls and the online brackets available at www.ctsondemand.com. A moment of silence was held for former Western BCA volunteer Alex Stroup, who succumbed to lymphoma on May 28, 2011. Many players who knew him well dedicated their performance to him. Western BCA dedicated the tournament to his memory and extends their love to his family. The stage was set for the best competition in the Northwest.
Forty-six teams signed up for Master Scotch Doubles and top prize was $1950. With payouts only including the top of the field, competition was fierce. The only restriction teams faced was that only one Grand Master was allowed per team. In a race-to-6 format, alternating break, both teams needed to start out strong to increase their odds of victory.
Out of the 46 teams, only one team had jointly claimed the title previously, and they were defending champions Mike Stevens and Cindy Doty. After a fifth round loss to Glenn Atwell/Shari Ross, their hopes of a repeat performance were dashed by national grandmaster Dan Louie and 1st year regional master Jessica Orth. Louie/Orth would go on to defeat their next opponents Seal/Olson, but then came up short when Atwell/Ross, fresh off their hot seat loss to Violette/Jensen, ground out a gutsy hill-hill nail biter to earn their spot in the final. The first set of the final would also go hill-hill, but this time in favor of Violette/Jensen, who after earning their first titles as Masters, were surrounded by friends and fellow competitors in celebration of their brilliant breakthrough performance.
CINDERELLA SPOTLIGHT: Both Leo Violette and Angela Jensen were playing in their first event as regional masters. Leo won the Open A Singles and Angela took 4th place in the Women’s Open Singles at the Western BCA’s Regional 8 Ball Championships in March. Neither player had any sort of expectations about their performance; however, the way in which they maintained their composure against some of the toughest players in the region, expect to see more titles to come their way. Congratulations to you both!
Open Scotch Doubles featured 83 couples and a top prize of $1550. The final four teams on the A side included McDonald/Adams, Coomes/Sleight, Desmarais/Pridgen, and Fenn/Karpins. Jackson McDonald and Robin Adams continued their strong play defeating Coomes/Sleight, while Fenn/Karpins defeated Desmarais/Pridgen. McDonald/Adams then defeated Fenn/Karpins 5-1 to earn their spot in the final. The final four teams on the B side included Anderson/Beach, Hostak/Morfin, Nguyen/Hughes, and Cadena/Wilson. Hostak/Morfin advanced through the B side of the board, surviving three hill-hill matches and one 5-3 match to earn their shot at the title. Jackson McDonald/Robin Adams had other plans as they defeated Dennis Hostak/Faith Morfin 5-0 in the first set to earn their first scotch doubles title. Great shooting!
Seventy players signed up for Men’s Masters and top prize was $1250. Only eight players made it to the final board. On the A side Clark Smith vs. Rick Copeland and Miguel Morfin vs. Eddie Carrido. Rick and Eddie both continued on the A side to battle it out for the hot seat, which Eddie won 8-4. Dillon Standley defeated Miguel Morfin to earn a spot in the B side finals. Rick, too, was determined to earn a rematch against Eddie, and ended up defeating Dillon 8-3 to play in his first Master singles final. Rick was shooting well and defeated Eddie in the first set of this true double elimination final. He appeared to be in position to close out the second set as well; however, Rick sat on the hill, 7-3 in a race to 8, as Eddie rallied back to tie the set at 7. With Eddie winning the flip for the second set, he would break in the final game. Eddie broke and pocketed a ball. With an extremely tough backcut on the 1, Eddie opted for a 1-9 carom shot on the 9, which he made to win the match and top prize.
Thirty-seven ladies signed up in the Master division and the top prize was $950. The final four ladies on the A side included Shawn Wolf vs. Susan Preston and Suzanne Smith vs. Jessica Orth. Shawn and Suzanne defeated their opponents 7-5 and 7-3 to advance to the hot seat match, which Suzanne won in her closest match of the event 7-6. The remaining ladies on the B side included Barb Thompson vs. Regene Lane (first time Western BCA participant) and Shari Ross vs. Jo Woodward. Barb and Shari would continue in the event, defeating their opponents 7-4 and 7-3. Barb would continue on to defeat Susan, and then Jessica (fresh off her win over Shari.) The only thing in between Barb and another shot at a title was Shawn. Shawn played great and defeated Barb 7-4 to earn a rematch against Suzanne in the final. It was a true double elimination format, so Shawn would need to beat Suzanne twice. Suzanne took an early 4-1 lead, but then faltered when a position error and a poorly executed safety allowed Shawn to get within 1 game. At 4-3, Suzanne and Shawn exchanged racks, neither lady able to get an edge. That 4th game was the last that Shawn would get, as Suzanne played consistently to run out the final two racks from the 5 and the 4 to earn her first Master Singles Title.
One hundred and eight players signed up in the Men’s Open A Division and top prize was $1000. On the A side, Greg Odal played John Brown for the hot seat. Both players had been shooting extremely well. Greg survived three consecutive hill-hill matches prior to the A side final, while John had dispatched his opponents by a larger margin. Greg shot with determination and sent John to the B side by a score of 7-3. On the B side, Phong Nyugen played Roy Garza to earn a spot in the B side final. Phong defeated Roy handily to advance. Phong, who had received his first loss from Greg (hill-hill) a couple rounds earlier, then succumbed to John by the same score. The final was a rematch of the hot seat, with a similar outcome. Greg shot with great determination and focus defeating John in the first set, 7-2. Welcome to the Masters Division, guys!
One hundred and forty-four players entered the Men’s Open B Division and top prize was $750. On the A side, match ups were Brent Kirschenmann vs. Chap Cook and Gary Lewis vs. Mayolo Munoz. Brent and Gary defeated their opponents to square off for the hot seat. Brent then defeated Gary 6-3 to earn his spot in the finals. On the B side, Scott Perry played Paul Bennett and Larry Nathan played Dave Avegio. Scott and Dave both advanced through their matches 6-2 and 6-5, respectively. Chap and Mayolo were eager for redemption and handed Scott and Dave their walking papers 6-4 and 6-0. Chap then defeated Mayolo 6-4 and Gary 6-5 to earn his spot in the final against Brent. Brent was fiercely determined to earn the title and did not let Chap have a game in the first set, winning top prize by the score of 6-0. Welcome to the Open A, gentlemen!
Ninety-eight ladies signed up for the Open event and top prize was $775. Topping the A side, Bernie Foster vs. Rebecca Easley and Kathy Stanley vs. Sara Moore fought to play for the point. Rebecca and Kathy both survived hill-hill battles to earn a shot at the hot seat. Both ladies shot well; however, Kathy edged out Rebecca 6-4. On the B side, final board match ups included Julie Stallings vs. Michelle Hughes and Suwanna Kroll vs. Lynda Moore. Michelle and Suwanna both defeated their opponents, and it seemed that momentum from their wins carried them through their next rounds, where Michelle defeated Sara and Suwanna defeated Bernie. Michelle then played Suwanna and defeated her as well to earn a spot against Rebecca in the B side final. Rebecca was hungry for a rematch with Kathy and defeated Michelle 6-3 to advance. The first set of the final was an epic battle, when tied at 5-5, Kathy made the 9-Ball on the break to win the set and earn the title. Great job ladies and welcome to the Masters!
Thirty-six men signed up for the Senior Singles event and the top prize was $440. The A side final four include matchups of Owen Miller vs. Bill Ruddick and Vernon Joe vs. Mike Knight. Owen and Vernon both advanced through their matches 6-5 and 6-3, respectively. Vernon shot with amazing intensity and defeated Mike 6-0 to earn a rematch in the final against Owen. Owen, however, had plans of his own and with consistent shotmaking and safety play defeated Vernon 6-0 in the first set to earn his Senior Singles Title.
The tournament finished off with the three team divisions: Women’s Team, Men’s/Mixed Team and a brand new division, Men’s/Mixed Open B Team.
Men’s/Mixed Team started with 102 teams fighting for a $3,000 1st place payday. Men’s/Mixed Teams are allowed 1 Master or Grand Master per team. Little Dutch Inn (Tim Desmarais, Clayton Foran and Nick Lopez) a team of all OPEN A players, punished many of those teams with a Master, on their way to an final 14-7 victory over Lloyd’s Team (Joe Landi, Brent Langley and Stan Tourangeau).
The new division, Men’s/Mixed Open B Teams, featured 40 teams for its first time and Probable Cause (Dave Mackey, Jose Velasquez and David Zelany) started winning and never looked back. Facing team Egitserp (Prestige spelled backward–Paul Bennett, Brent Kirschenmann, Martin Seguin and Steve Kesting) in the finals, Probable Cause continued their streak defeating Egitserp 11-9, winning $825.
The Women’s Team event whittled 48 teams down to the final 2 on Sunday. The Gatekeepers (Michelle Barkdoll, Faith Morfin, and Andrea Saenz-Maes) played strong and consistent to make their way to the finals. Like the Men’s Teams, the Open players in this final really stepped up their game; Andrea attributes their wins to Faith and Michelle. The Gatekeepers emerged victorious over Marco… (Shari Ross, Talya Makus, and Kathy Stanley), and earned $1,710 by beating them with a score of 11-7.
Grand Masters Challenge
The Grand Masters Challenge Division was created to give the top 8 men and women Grand Masters and Masters in Western BCA a tougher challenge with a Round-Robin format tournament. At this Regional event, the men played 10-Ball and the women played 9-Ball. The players played sets of 8 games, with the scores tallied at the end. After 3 days of stellar shooting and grueling safety battles, Liz Cole rose above the ladies’ field and Glenn Atwell topped the men’s division to capture the titles of Grand Masters Challenge Champions.
It was Liz Cole who came out on top after the first day. Her opponents noticed her exceptional play early on, with her amazing combos and awesome run-outs, and they knew she would definitely be the one to catch at the end. 2011 8-Ball GMC Champion Linda Carter came within 3 points of catching Liz, but was unable close the gap. In a show of gracious sportsmanship, Linda presented Liz with her beautiful glass Championship trophy.
Likewise on the Men’s side, Glenn Atwell started out strong and never let up as he charged to his pending victory. His steady stroke, calm demeanor and deadly accuracy gave him a strong lead. Dan Louie, who won the Men’s GMC at the 2011 8-Ball Championships, made a valiant attempt to surpass Glenn in points, but fell short by 4 points. In an equally impressive example of sportsmanship, Dan Louie presented Glenn with his Championship trophy.
Western BCA and all of the Grand Masters wish to thank Tiger for their sponsorship and generous donation of a cue stick for a raffle. Scott Virgin of Cherry City League won that raffle drawing. Congratulations Scott! And, Congratulations to our Grand Masters Champions, Liz Cole and Glenn Atwell!!
All the players and winners at this event exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and competition. Congratulations to all the winners! For a more detailed version of this article and complete results, please visit www.westernbca.org. Western BCA looks forward to seeing you all next year at the 8-Ball Championships in March, 2012!
