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Van Boening Captures Premier League Pool Title in Connecticut

Shane Van Boening and Emily Frazer

Shane Van Boening lifted the Premier League Pool title on Monday evening, live from US 1 Billiards, West Haven, Connecticut on Matchroom.live and DAZN in the United States, defeating World Pool Master Ko Pin Yi 7-4 in the in the final.

For Van Boening, this marks his first Matchroom title on the World Nineball Tour since lifting the 2022 World Pool Championship, and adds to a collection of invitational titles alongside the Mosconi Cup, World Pool Masters and World Cup of Pool.

Stage 3

Defending champion Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and US Open runner-up Fedor Gorst had the most work to do heading into the final day, trailing the leading pack after 24 matches played. Sanchez Ruiz knew that he would have to be at his very best to overturn a two-point deficit across five matches, but a crucial error in his first match against Van Boening scuppered hopes of another semi-final showing.

Having trailed 4-0 to the five-time US Open champion, a resurgent charge to 4-3 switched match momentum, with the Spaniard at the table to take the match to hill-hill. However, a missed 7-ball into the bottom pocket allowed SVB to clean up and take a crucial result.

After not playing his best across the weekend, the point would prove invaluable for Van Boening, who limped into the final four via a Rack Difference advantage to Mosconi Cup teammate Fedor Gorst.

Gorst had admittedly not played at his best across the week, adapting to the fast-paced format of the Premier League for the first time. With a one-point disadvantage going into Monday, three wins – including against Sanchez Ruiz and Van Boening – would see the Ghost overtake World no.1 Ruiz and finish in 5th place.

Van Boening and Ko Ping Chung would play out the final group match of the week on Table 1. Chinese Taipei superstar Ko defeated the South Dakota Kid to finish top of the table, with Filler, Pin Yi and SVB following in suit.

Semi-Finals

The semi-final play-offs were seeded by finishing positions within the league table, with 1st placed Ko Ping Chung taking on Shane Van Boening in 4th. Derby City Classic ‘Master of the Table’ Joshua Filler, finishing 2nd in the table, would face World Pool Master Ko Pin Yi.

Van Boening, who had been so dominant in the earlier stages, had his form questioned after a string of defeats over the weekend. In the semi-final, any doubts hanging over the 40-year-old would soon disappear. Running up a five-rack lead in the Race to 7, Ko Pin Chung was only able to get onto the board through a rare banked miss from SVB. Two more racks would soon follow, but Van Boening would get chance on the hill after the US Open champion scratched off the break.

With ball in hand and the table laid out perfectly, Van Boening would cannon in a 2-9 combination to reach his first Matchroom final since winning the World Pool Championship in 2022.

His opponent would be Ko Pin Yi, contesting a first final since capturing gold at the World Pool Masters last year in Brentwood, United Kingdom. Pin Yi would defeat Joshua Filler, one of the main form players of the week, 7-3 in a tense affair on Table Two. A high level contest was to be expected, with both men clearing over 120 racks won across the week. However nerves would show, with both missing customary pots throughout before the Chinese Taipei man would grab the advantage and see out victory.

Final

In a first World Nineball Tour finals meeting between the pair, match momentum would shift throughout – a feat we have commonly seen in Major finals on the tour.

Ko Pin Yi would take the opening two racks, before Van Boening responded brilliantly to tie at two each. After receiving the ball from a push, the 40-year-old elected to jump two balls and pocket the two ball into the bottom corner. In clearing up, including a fantastic cut on the seven, the match was tied.

The match ebbed and flowed from there until it was 4-4, where Van Boening really kicked into gear. The former World champion would create one of the highlights of the tournament to get onto the hill. Caught in the top pocket, he produced a beautiful 2-9 carom into the far opposite corner to spark jubilation from the onlooking crowd.

This was his moment, and exchanging humorous retorts with the crowd, a break-and-run would see him over the line.

His exhaustion was clear, laying down on the table as the final nine was pocketed. Van Boening didn’t spend a second way from the table in eight days and it paid off at the most crucial time – a worthy champion after an incredible week of action of Connecticut.

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Hung goes undefeated to claim her first WPBA title at $15k-added Fairfield Invitational

Kristina Zlateva and Meng-Hsia Hung

In the absence of the Women’s Professional Billiards Association’s top three competitors (Tzu-Chien Wei, Kelly Fisher and Jasmin Ouschan) at this past weekend’s (March 21-24) Fairfield Invitational, there was a clear opportunity for someone to step up and into the void created by their absence. The next 16 competitors on the WPBA’s rankings list (and beyond) from Margarita Fefilova (#4) to Joann Mason Parker (#18) were on-hand to see what they could do about that. Of those 16, none had a chance at overtaking either Tzu-Chien or Fisher for the top two spots, although Fefilova and Allison Fisher (#5) had a shot at edging ahead of the absent Ouschan, but would have needed to win to do that. 

What many likely did not expect was that a competitor who came to Fairfield as the #14-ranked WPBA competitor, Taipei’s Bean (Meng-Hsia) Hung, would win her first WPBA title, going undefeated through five opponents (one of them, twice), four of whom were among the top 16 who, like her, were on-hand to chip away at the substantial rankings lead of the tour’s top three. The $15,000-added Fairfield Invitational drew 48 entrants, who competed for the event’s Mad Hatter Cup at the Fairfield (Iowa) Convention Center.

There were any number of renewed, long-standing rivalries, first-time meetings and a host of  unexpected, though pool being pool, not exactly surprising events. Who, for example, would have bet against Allison Fisher following up her first WPBA win as a representative of the US at January’s Iron City Invitational with another win here? Or have expected half of Germany’s ‘pool-power couple’ (Pia Filler), to go ‘two-and-out’ at the hands of (in order) April Larson and Savannah Easton?

In races to 8, Bean Hung’s path to the win began with a shutout over Ashley Benoit and moved on to send Caroline Pao and Allison Fisher, both 8-3, to the loss side before picking up Brittany Bryant in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Like Hung, Bulgaria’s Kristina Zlateva opened up with a shutout, over Tarah Connor. She advanced to down Stephanie Mitchell (2) and Kristina Tkach (4) to draw Fefilova in the other winners’ side semifinal. 

Hung earned her place in the hot seat match with an 8-6 win over Bryant, as Zlateva and Fefilova battled to double hill in their match. Zlateva dropped the final 9-ball and then, moved to the semifinals when Hung defeated her 8-5 to claim the hot seat.

Upon the arrival of Fefilova and Bryant to the loss side of the bracket, the Fairfield Invitational was down to its final six, who were WPBA-ranked as #4 (Fefilova), #5 (Allison Fisher), #6 (Bryant) and #8 (Tkach); #7 (Zlateva) would be along shortly as #14 waited in the hot seat for one of them to return. Bryant drew Tkach, who’d followed her loss to Zlateva with wins over Caroline Pao and Kennedy Meyman, both 8-1. Fefilova picked up Allison Fisher, who’d followed her loss to Hung with victories over Stephanie Mitchell 8-3 and Briana Miller 8-1. One couldn’t have asked for a more taut, exciting conclusion to the event. 

Fisher defeated Fefilova 8-4, while Tkach and Bryant locked up in double-hill battle. Bryant won it to join Fisher in the quarterfinal. Fisher defeated Bryant 8-6 in that quarterfinal and was eliminated by Zlateva 8-4 in the semifinals.

With Fargo Rates of 730 for Hung and 690 for Zlateva, the odds for a victory in the race to 10 final were 73/27, higher than they’d been in the hot seat match race to 8 (70.7/29.3). Coming off her best recorded earnings year to date (with us here at AZBilliards), Hung made it happen, downing Zlateva, a second time, 10-6 to claim her first WPBA title. The victory put Hung just shy of being halfway to making 2024 her best year at the tables, with nine months to go. 

The WPBA thanked the ownership and staff at the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center for their hospitality along with sponsors Jacoby Cues, Diveney Cues, Iwan Simonis, Iowa City Women’s 8-Ball League, The City of Fairfield, Ottumwa Radio Group, Mad Hatter Billiards, Holt Family Dental Care, Outsville, Aramith Billiard Balls, JamUp Apparel, Diamond Billiard Products, Vic’s Autobody Repair and Frontline Print & Web.

The next WPBA event, scheduled for May 1-5, will be the Borderline Brunswick Invitational. It will be hosted by Janet Atwell’s new Borderline Billiards Brunswick Arena, a few doors down from her former Borderline Billiards location in Bristol, TN, where you can cross the street from Tennessee to Virginia.

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Poland’s Daniel Maciol Wins Polish Dynamic Billiard 10-Ball Open

Daniel Maciol

Daniel Maciol brought glory to his home country, with a win at the Polish Dynamic Billiard 10-Ball Open. Maciol defeated Estonian Denis Grabe 8-4 in the semi-final. In the final match, he had to face the sensational Sanjin Pehlivanovic, who had defeated the Finn Petri Makkonen 8-6 in the previous round. The Pole and the citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina created a great show in the final, ending with a score of 8-7 for Daniel Maciol. The player of the DaSo Team Dekada Sosnowiec club won, even after trailing the match 7-3! 

It was “a huge rollercoaster” commented Daniel Macioł, who dismissed seven opponents on the way to the final.  “First of all, it was a match at a very high level and I am glad that such a match took place in the final. Sanjin played great, I lost significantly but I managed to make up for the loss and win” he added.

Marcin Krzeminski, president of the East European Billiard Council and director of the Polish Dynamic Billard 10-Ball Open – KIELCE 2024 tournament, was “most pleased with the sporting and organizational success. We have a double success. Guests, players and our organizational staff are all happy with how the event turned out. We received comments from many countries around the world appreciating the efforts made in Poland in organizing the World Cup tournament. We also achieved sporting success.”.

The tournament took place on March 14-17 at the Grand Hotel Kielce. This is where 128 competitors from over 30 countries around the world competed for a prize pool of USD $$80,000.

The main Sponsor of the tournament was Dynamic Billard Company.

Partners: Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship, City of Kielce, Polish Tourism Organization, Ministry of Sport and Tourism.

Sponsors: NOSAN, Targi Kielce, Predator, Kamui, CUETEC and Hotel GRAND.

The organizers: Polish Billiard Association, Swietokrzyskie Stowarzyszenie Sportowe, East European Billiard Council, Mak Marketing.

Media patronage: TVSPORTS.PL, SPORTKLUB Poland, TVP 3 Kielce, Radio Kielce, Radio EM, Radio ESKA, CKsport.pl, TV Swietokrzyska, wKielcach, Touch Magazine, BILLIARD.TV, PRO9.CO.UK, 77 Billiards, AZBILLIARDS.

The tournament was sanctioned by the WPA and counted in the world ranking.

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Hennessee & Lovely Make Sweet Music

Jonathan Hennessee

Ricky Gamble, owner of the legendary JOB Billiards Club in Madison, TN – just outside Nashville – welcomed players and fans to the $8,000 added 36th Annual Music City Open. Featuring several minis in addition to the Open and Ladies Nine Ball divisions, there was something for everyone!

JOB’s and PoolActionTV.com joined local sponsors including Diamond Billiards Products, Aramith, Simonis, Savage Billiards and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore in presenting this event.

In attendance was BCA Hall of Famer Kim Davenport, defending champs Roberto Gomez and Tina Malm, Jonathan Pinegar (“Hennessee”), Chip Compton, Robb Saez, Josh O’Neal, Chuck Raulston and Liz Lovely among many others.

Played on seven foot Diamonds, the action kicked off on Wednesday night with a single elimination race to seven mini tournament. Played down to two players, Roberto Gomez and Greg Taylor split the pot. Other minis included Saturday night‘s three minis – Liz Lovely defeated Kelly Wyatt to take the ladies mini, Matt Moore beat Robert Wilkerson to win the open mini while Josh O’Neal and Chip Compton split the pot in the 8 man mini. The last of the minis was held on Sunday night – Ricky Evans and Mark Krech also split the pot.

Thursday evening, a players auction, meeting and draw was held for the $6,000 added Open Nine Ball Championship. A full field of 128 players entered this double elimination, race to eleven, winner breaks event.

On his way to the hot seat match, Michael Banks recorded wins over Kyle Stack 11-1, Bobby Day 11-4 and Michael Jackson 11-3 before a squeaker over Josh O’Neal 11-10. Down went Scott Roberts 11-6 and Bobby Conner 11-3 where he awaited an opponent from the lower portion of the bracket.

Matt Wisely began his march to the hot seat match with victories over Mike Newberry 11-6, Bernard Walker 11-2, Ricky Chitwood 11-8, Rick Patterson 11-5, Ryan Williams 11-4 and the always tough Hennessee 11-6.

In dead punch, Banks sent Wisely packing to await an opponent on the one loss side. Score – 11-5.

After being unceremoniously dumped into the one loss side in the third round by Robb Saez 11-8, Roberto Gomez drew a forfeit and then sliced through the bracket to meet Chip Compton. Chip went on a winning streak after a first round loss but Roberto was too much for Chip – he lost 11-7. Next up was Hennessee and that was it for the defending champ. He went down 11-8.

Next up for Hennessee was 1990 Billiards Digest’s Player of the Year, Kim Davenport. Kimmer was eliminated 11-4 and finished in fourth place. Matt Wisely was next – he was defeated 11-3 and recorded a third place finish.

Hennessee advanced to the finals and since this was true double elimination, he’d have to defeat Michael Banks twice to claim the title. Banks lost the first set 11-6 – now to the decider!

Mike shot out to a 5-0 lead and it looked like Hennessee was toast. However, he clawed his way back into the match and won the first set 11-8.

One set for it all!

This time, it was pretty much all Hennessee as he stretched out to an 8-2 lead. The final few games were neck and neck but the gap between the score was too much for Mike to overcome. Final score – 11-6 Hennessee!

Congratulations to both for a great tournament!

Allison Hardwick and Liz Lovely

Friday evening was the $1,000 added Ladies 9 Ball Championship. A full field of 48 players entered to play in this double elimination, race to seven, winner breaks tournament. After the players auction, meeting and draw, play began.

No stranger to the winner’s circle, Liz Lovely shot out of the gate with a first round bye followed by victories over Beverly Cook 7-3, Amber Jordan and Dawn Christian – both 7-1 and then Allison Hardwick 7-3 to meet Tina Malm at the hot seat match.

Tina’s path also included a first round bye and then wins over Alex Smith, Kim Giglia and Joanna Marr – all 7-1 and finally, April Dobbins 7-2.

The defending champ kept it close but was defeated 7-5. Liz locked up her seat in the finals and Tina headed west to see who would emerge from the pack.

Her opponent was Allison Hardwick and dealt Tina a tough loss – score 7-6. Tina finished in third place and Allison advanced to the finals.

She had her work cut out for her as she had to defeat Liz twice to win the tournament but it was not to be. Liz won the match 7-5 and claimed the title!

Congratulations to both Liz and Allison for a great event!

PoolActionTV.com would again like to thank Ricky Gamble and his staff for another great event. We’d also like to thank Tournament Director Jason Hill for another great job!

We’d also like to thank our Larry Schwartz, Kim Davenport and Ray Hansen for their excellent commentary.

In addition, we’d also like to thank our sponsors and fans. Our sponsors include JB Cases. Lomax Custom Cues, Aramith, Simonis, Hanshew Jump Cues, Savage Billiards, Durbin Custom Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Inc., Bull Carbon, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.

Our next stop is the 25th Annual Derby City Classic in Elizabeth, IN – dates are January 19th-27th. As always, we hope to see you there and in our Aramith Action Room!

PoolActionTV.com would again like to thank Ricky Gamble and his staff for another great event. We’d also like to thank Tournament Director Jason Hill for another great job!

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Roberts goes undefeated to take Round 1 of Rack Race: Season 2 in Augusta, GA

Josh Roberts and BJ Ussery

Previously on The Rack Race – Josh Roberts, Jr. finished Season 1 with his sixth win of the 15-event season on the weekend of August 19-20, 2023. He and Mike Davis, Jr. battled three times for the title, once in the hot seat and twice in the finals. Roberts took two out of three – the hot seat match and second set of the true double-elimination final – to grab the event title.

Season 2 of The Rack Race got underway in Augusta, GA at Rack & Grill II with a $2,000-added event that drew a full field of 64 entrants. Josh Roberts, Jr. opened the new season the same way he’d finished the last one. With a win. This time, he went undefeated to the hot seat and downed BJ Ussery, Jr. in the only set necessary of a true double-elimination final. 

A quick recap of the Rack Race before delving into the details of its first event of the 2024 season: The Rack Race is the brain child of Michael Newsome and his wife, Avery Palmer, who explained (individually and separately) that it was basically created to answer Michael’s question about what he could do to get pool players to attend his regularly scheduled tournaments at each of this three Rack & Grill locations; two in the area of August, GA and one in Aiken, SC. The Rack Race evolved out of tournaments that in Georgia were held on the first Saturday of every month. When Newsome opened his third location in Aiken, he scheduled tournaments on the third Saturday of every month. The Rack Race alternates its three locations throughout the series.

The Rack Race, cleverly associated with a comic ‘rat’ logo and a suggestion that players “GET THAT CHEDDAR” is based on a points system and an individual event format that offers prizes for both. The individual events offer their own cash prizes, whether you play in a single event or all of them. Three of the 15 are designated as ‘major’ events at which money-added figures make them more attractive than others. This year, those will be a $4,000-added stop #3 next month (Feb. 17-18), a $6,000-added Stop #9 (May 18-19), and an $8,000-added Stop #15 (Aug. 17-18), all hosted by Rack & Grill III in Aiken, SC. Regular Rack Race stops #5, 7, 11 & 13 will also be at Rack & Grill III. The remaining seven in the series, between February and August, will be hosted by Rack & Grill II in Augusta, GA. You’ll find these events listed in our AZBilliards calendar. 

There is, as well, a concurrently-running points system that offers competitors the opportunity to win cash in the individual events and to accumulate points throughout the season. At the end of the season, the points leader will collect a $1,000 cash prize as the series’ Most Valuable Player, while the runner-up in points will receive $500.

At this most recent event, Josh Roberts opened his campaign for a second straight Rack Race title with four straight 6-2 wins over Jim Jennings, Darrel Williams, Yong Yang, and Mike Wise to draw Dave Cook in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Nick Van Allen in the meantime got by Frank Bell (4), Jeff Blatell (double hill), Donnie Ray (2) and George Spires (4) to draw BJ Ussery in the other winners’ side semifinal. 

Cook put up a double-hill fight against Roberts, but it was Roberts who advanced to the hot seat match. Ussery put up a double-hill fight, too, but Allen prevailed to face Roberts. Roberts defeated Allen 6-4 to claim the hot seat.

On the loss side, Cody Sones, who’d lost his opening match, double hill, to Keith Bennett set out on an eight match, loss-side streak, eliminating George Spires 5-3 and Todd Blackwell, double hill, ahead of drawing Cook. Ussery drew Mike Wise, who’d followed his loss to Roberts with victories over Keith Bennett 5-2 and Calvin Le, double hill.

Wise and Ussery battled to double hill before Ussery advanced to the quarterfinals. Sones joined him after eliminating Cook 5-3. Ussery ended Cody Sones’ loss-side run in a double-hill quarterfinal and then, in a successful rematch sent Van Allen home 5-3.

A single match was all it took. Roberts and Ussery came within a game of making it a double-hill final, but in the end, Roberts got out in front and claimed the Rack Race’s season opener 6-4. 

Michael Newsome thanked sponsors Newsome Distributing, Salazar, Filta Environmental Kitchen Solutions, Predator, JTs Automotive Group, Pepsi, CSRA Machine Fab, DigitalPool, National Billiard Academy and Simonis Cloth. The next stop on the Rack Race, scheduled for the weekend of Feb. 3-4, will be hosted by Rack & Grill II in Augusta, GA.

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Gorst Defends Turning Stone Classic Title

Fedor Gorst and Mike Zuglan

The Turning Stone Classic has seen its fair share of multiple event winners. Jayson Shaw has nine career Turning Stone Classic titles. Shane Van Boening and Johnny Archer both have six. Mika Immonen and Francisco Bustamante both have two career Turning Stone Classic titles, and they are now joined by Fedor Gorst, after a dominating 13-5 win over Jayson Shaw in the finals of the Turning Stone Classic XXXVIII, held on January 4th – 7th at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, NY.

Gorst and Shaw both came into Sunday play undefeated, along with BCA Hall of Famer Rodney “The Rocket” Morris and Canadian “Big Red” Erik Hjorleifson. Shaw made quick work of Morris in a 9-5 match that really wasn’t as close as the scoreline would indicate, and Gorst made even quicker work of Hjorleifson 9-2.

The hot-seat match looked like it was going to be a lopsided win for Gorst, as he led Shaw by the score of 4-0, right out of the gate. Just as quickly as Gorst raced to that 4-0 lead though, Shaw quickly knotted things at 4-4 and then pulled ahead at 6-5. Shaw kept control of things and got to the hill at 8-5. Gorst clawed back one rack to 8-6 but a dry break by Gorst led to a safety battle that was won by Shaw as he ran out for the 9-6 win. 

Gorst went out to another early 4-0 lead in the semi-final against Erik Hjorleifson, but this time he didn’t stop. Gorst was on the hill at 8-0 before Hjorleifson could win a rack, and all Hjorleifson could do was get back to 8-2 before Gorst finished off the match at 9-2. 

Fans at the Turning Stone Casino are familiar with the dominance of Jayson Shaw in the finals, but this time, it appeared to be a much less comfortable Shaw in the finals. He led the race to 13 extended final match at 2-1 early, but uncharacteristic misses combined with Gorst’s stellar play, led to an early 8-2 lead for Gorst. Gorst extended that lead to seven racks at 11-4. Both players were making balls on the break with ease and coming back from a seven rack deficit was too much, even for Jayson Shaw. Shaw got the score back to 12-5, but that would be his last surge with Gorst finishing off the match 13-5 for his second straight Turning Stone Classic title. 

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Everything You Missed As Press Conference Launches The Duelbits Mosconi Cup

The Duelbits Mosconi Cup was officially launched on Tuesday with the annual pre-tournament Press Conference, ahead of the 30th anniversary of the trans-atlantic spectacle. Held at Alexandra Palace, London between December 6th to 9thviewers can watch live on Sky Sports in the UK & Ireland, DAZN in the United States and various broadcasters around the world.

The action kicked off with the official Duelbits Mosconi Cup Press Conference, as Team Europe and Team USA came face-to-face for the first time at Alexandra Palace.

Hosted by Matchroom Multi Sport CEO Emily Frazer, special guest Matchroom Sport President Barry Hearn OBE was in attendance to mark the 30th iteration of the contest.

Hearn said: “We are getting stuck into this game properly, the Mosconi Cup brings together 30 years of the best players in the world, without a shadow of a doubt. The support globally has been incredible and it is only going up. 30 years is not the end of this journey, this is the beginning.”

The 75-year-old, who declared he will take part in the US Open for the very first time next year, also announced the formation of the game’s first professional world tour, starting from January 1st, where the World Nineball Tour Ranking’s top-128 players will be invited to join the journey as a full-time professional player.

The Duelbits Mosconi Cup sees Team USA, under the stewardship of Jeremy Jones, take on Team Europe, captained by Ralph Eckert for the first time at the tournament. On his appointment, Eckert said: “I’ve always wanted to be a part of the Mosconi Cup, I’ve watched it from home for 30 years. Finally I’m here, I didn’t expect it so soon but I’m here now and ready. I’ve got a nice collection of number one players around me which makes this week even better – I might be the highest paid ball racker in the world!”

Jones, who is returning for the fourth year as Team USA captain said: “The team have been great leading up to the week. We had a great training camp before coming out here. We’ve put in a lot of work, had a lot of fun, and we’re in a great place. The Mosconi Cup has always been something special to me. I’ve looked forward to it every year regardless if I’m involved or not.”

Skyler Woodward and Jayson Shaw were named as vice-captain’s for the tournament, a role both men are familiar with. Woodward, who was MVP on the last two occasions the Americans have won said: “I love being vice-captain and helping out Jeremy, I’m here to help and push everybody. I like team sports, so I love the line up aspect of this event, I think about it all the time and what can be done to help the team ahead of this week.”

Shaw, who qualified for the Duelbits Mosconi Cup with victory at the Hanoi Open added: “It would be great to win five cups back-to-back, it’s not going to be easy though. We know they’ve got a great team this year. I’m not feeling any extra pressure with a new Captain, we’ve been having a lot of fun with the practice room.”

The Glaswegian had a brief exchange with counterpart Fedor Gorst, who this year lines up for Team USA after switching his allegiance from Europe in October.

Gorst said: “It really has been an incredible year for me. I didn’t expect to be sitting here on this side of the room at the start. I’m really happy with the way things have ended though. I’m looking forward to my new journey.”

Having represented Team Europe behind closed doors in 2020, London marks the first time Gorst will step out in front of a European crowd since declaring for the Stars and Stripes. He added: “I’m trying to prepare for the atmosphere as best as I possibly can, but we will see how it goes down tomorrow!”

World Nineball Tour #1 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, who revealed he has signed new-exclusive deals with WNT sponsors Cuetec and Rasson, will mark his first appearance in front of a home crowd at the Mosconi Cup this week. He said: “It’s going to be very special for myself and David (Alcaide) with so many Spanish fans traveling to London, but I don’t feel extra pressure to perform in front of them, there is enough pressure already! I’ve never been here as a fan in London. I cannot wait to get out there.”

Watch the 30th Anniversary Duelbits Mosconi Cup Press Conference in full here.

There are a limited number of tickets remaining for the opening two days (Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th) of the Mosconi Cup this week at Alexandra Palace. Secure your seat now!

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Kelly Fisher Defends The Title

Fisher defeated Chieh-Yu Chou in 2 sets to claim her second consecutive Michigan Open victory.

The final day in Battle Creek, Michigan couldn’t have been more exciting, with women’s Final 4 showcasing an outstanding level of play.

The opening semifinal faced-off Chinese Taipei stars Chieh-Yu Chou and Tzu-Chien Wei. Reigning world 9-Ball and 10-Ball champion Chou took the opening set 4-2. Wei Wei, last year’s Michigan Open runner-up, played flawlessly in the beginning of the second set, but made a couple of unforced errors to go on the hill. Chou capitalized on Wei’s miss on the 9-Ball to steal the second set 4-3 and advance to the final.

Remarkable performance from Chihiro Kawahara, the tournament’s underdog, who reached the semifinals without dropping a match. until she encountered defending champion Kelly Fisher. Kawahara, who was 3-2 up in the first set, assisted to a carom masterclass by Fisher making 2 unbelievable early 10-balls that turn around the score. Fisher ended up winning the crucial first set 4-3. The second set was full of safeties from Fisher and stunning escapes from Kawahara. One of them, an incredible 2-rail kick shot, could easily be the shot of the tournament. Kawahara tied the match winning the second set 4-2 but couldn’t hold Fisher in the third set (4-2).

Final started shaky for both players. Chou took advantage and clinched the first set 4-1. Despite Fisher’s struggles at the beginning of the match, she found another gear in the second set and started flying towards her back to back victory. 4-1 in both second and third sets for Fisher, who couldn’t believe it: “I’m absolutely delighted to have won that tournament. Who would have known? Coming in, I didn’t really have any expectations. I just came in and was going to play my best. I’ve been in China a lot, playing Chinese pool and not as much 10-Ball, so I’m absolutely thrilled. Honestly, I really can’t believe it. So happy to have won it two years in a row.”

The Michigan Women’s Open presented by Samsung TV Plus had a tough field of 48 players and a total prize fund of $60,000. Champion Kelly Fisher took $18,000 first prize, while Chou earned $10,500 as runner-up. This victory means that Kelly Fisher not only becomes the two-times defending champion but also holds the record for the most Pro Billiard Series titles with a total of 5. Fisher won the Austria Open in 2021, Las Vegas Open and Germany Open in 2022, and two back-to-back titles in Michigan.

The Michigan Open was the third stop of the year for the Predator Pro Billiard Series. The Series will host three WPA World Championship events in Austria in October: The Predator WPA World 8-Ball Men’s Championship, Predator WPA World 10-Ball Women’s Championship, and Predator WPA World 10-Ball Junior Championships. The year ends in San Juan, Puerto Rico with the Medalla Light Puerto Rico Men’s and Women’s Opens and the WPA World Teams Championship

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Bean Hung wins the Inaugural Pennsylvania State Women’s 9-Ball Championship

Meng-Hsia (Bean) Hung

The Inaugural Pennsylvania State Women’s 9-Ball Championship presented by PA Pro-Am Pool and the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour (JPNEWT) was held this past weekend (Sept 16th-Sept 17th) at Bluegrass Billiards in Philadelphia, PA. The $1,500-added event for the new, highly coveted “Doris Sciarra Women’s Championship Belt,” supplied by TrophySmack.com., drew 65 women from four different countries and 12 states. When the dust settled, Bean Hung from Brisbane, Australia had gone undefeated, besting JPNEWT’s tour director, Briana Miller in the finals to claim the event title.  

Hung opened with a surprising first-round, double hill match against Giovanna Napolitano. She advanced from that promising start to give up only five racks over the next four matches. She shut out Kristen Gore and gave up two to Eugenia Gyftopoulos before coming up against Miller for the first time in a winners’ side quarterfinal. Hung took the first of her two against Miller 6-2 and then, advanced to the hot seat match with a 6-1 victory over junior competitor Sofia Mast in one of the winners’ side semifinals.

Aside from the main story of the finalists and their immediate predecessors, Mast and Brianna Aristeo were two of the event’s other major stories. Mast, known as The Pink Dagger, is a seasoned-veteran, not yet out of high school, who arrived to the winners’ side semifinal against eventual winner Hung, having given up only four racks to reach her and securing advancement to Day Two of the event. 

Aristeo entered the tournament with an APA skill level of 3, having never played in a tournament before, let alone a state championship with players of the caliber she faced at this one. She came with a personal goal of winning a single match. She won three on Day One by an aggregate score of 18-10 and then, in a winners’ side quarterfinal, drew Karen Corr. Nerves no doubt played a role in her shutout loss to the legendary Hall of Famer. Aristeo went on to win two on the loss side. Her second, on Day Two, was her last as she fell to Giovanna Napolitano 5-1 and finished in the tie for 7th place.

Corr followed her victory over Aristeo, with a winners’ side semifinal, 6-1 win over Lai Li, which put her into the hot seat match against Hung. In a match that could have been a Main Event at any women’s tournament in the world, Bean downed the Irish Invader 6-1 to claim the hot seat. 

Meanwhile on the loss side, Briana Miller was running a five-match gauntlet of races to 5, against top-notch competitors, destined to get her into a rematch against Hung in the finals. She started with a 5-2 win over the famed Dawn Hopkins and then, defeated WPBA star Emily Duddy in a double-hill thriller. She picked up Lai Li, fresh from her winners’ side semifinal loss to Corr, defeated her 5-1 and then, eliminated The Pink Dagger, Sofia Mast, 5-1 in the quarterfinals.

Next up for Miller, Karen Corr in the semifinals. Though likely not as ‘breezy’ as the score might indicate, Miller, who was five-years-old when Corr won her first WPBA title in 2000, defeated Corr 5-2 and turned to her rematch against Hung in the finals. Miller and Hung squared off with a crowd of over 100 in attendance and over 300 watching on the PA Pro-Am Live stream which collected $1,000 in donations during the broadcast towards the University of Pennsylvania’s Cancer Research center. Bean prevailed to complete her undefeated run with a hard-fought 9-6 win to claim the inaugural Pennsylvania State Women’s 9-Ball Championship title.

Tournament Directors Frank Maialetti and Briana Miller thanked the ownership and staff at Bluegrass Billiards for their hospitality along with sponsors Integrity Cues, J. Pechauer Custom Cues, Kamui Tips, TrophySmack.com, Forth Worth Billiards Superstore, InTheBox Sports Apparel, Salotto and Advanced Pool Instructor George Hammerbacher. The next event for PA Pro-Am Pool is the $2,500 added Pennsylvania State 9-Ball Open at Bluegrass Billiards in Philadelphia, PA  on Oct 7th-8th. The next event on the JPNEWT (Stop #8), scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 21-22, will be a $1,000-added event, hosted by Eagle Billiards in Dickson City, PA on October 21st -22nd .

Live stream recordings of the Pennsylvania State Women’s 9-Ball Championship matches, presented by PA Pro-Am Pool and the JPNEWT can be seen at youtube.com/@paproampool. Brackets for the event can be found at https://digitalpool.com/tournaments/pa-state-womens-9-ball-championship-hosted-by-jpnewt-and-pa-pro-am-pool/overview

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Ralf Souquet Announces New Cue Sponsorship With Arthur Cues

Marcus Dienst and Ralf Souquet

Ralf Souquet has had a career that a lot of players can only dream of. World Championships in 8-ball and 9-ball, a US Open 9-Ball Championship and a record six World Pool Masters Titles are just the top of a very impressive resume. For the last sixteen years, Souquet has been winning those titles with a Predator cue, but he will be winning future titles with a new cue and a new cue sponsor.

Souquet recently announced the end of his sponsorship with Predator and the beginning of a new deal with longtime friend Marcus Dienst from Arthur Cues.

“With my deal ending with Predator, I thought it was a good time to try something new and different than before“ said Souquet. “I’ve known Marcus for over 30 years and he made a cue for me a few months back. I liked the way it played and after a couple small changes, I was ready to give it a serious long term try”.

Souquet will have more than enough opportunities to give his new Arthur cue a serious long term try, with nearly a dozen events on his upcoming scheduled, including the Connecticut 9-Ball Open, US Open 9-Ball Championship, American 14.1 Straight Pool Championship and International 9-Ball Open coming up.

More information on Arthur Cues can be found online at https://www.billard-dienst.de.

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