Shane Van Boening (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)
Shane Van Boening will begin the defense of his World Pool Championship title against Japan’s Masato Yoshioka in Kielce, Poland from February 1-5 live on Sky Sports in the UK, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia and the Baltics, DAZN in the USA as well as Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide.
The American will look to become only the second player in history to defend the title following in the footsteps of Earl Strickland in a packed arena at Targi Kielce. 46 countries will be represented in the 128-player field as it is whittled down to the Last 64 over the first two days of action before it’s straight knockout to the end where one will claim the $60,000 first-place prize and the world crown.
The draw was completed with the top 64 players from the Nineball World Rankings against an unseeded player from the other 64 in the hat. Standout first-round ties include 2015 world champion Ko Pin Yi facing James Aranas of the Philippines whilst 2022 semi-finalist Abdullah Alyousef faces the tricky prospect of Johann Chua. 2004 world champion Alex Pagulayan was unseeded and will meet Michael Schneider.
World Cup of Pool winner David Alcaide takes on Billy Thorpe and Shane Wolford‘s mission for a spot on Team USA at the 2023 Mosconi Cup takes on Pia Filler. Francisco Sanchez Ruiz had a year to remember last year and will begin his Nineball campaign against So Shaw of Iran.
Double elimination matches are all race to 9, with all matches from the Last 64 a race to 11 except the final, which is a race to 13.
Table 1 will be live on broadcasters worldwide including Sky Sports in the UK, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia, Baltics, and the Netherlands, DAZN in the USA, Canada, and Italy, as well as on Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide. See where to watch here.
Table 2 will be live on Viaplay in selected territories as well as on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel.
Table 3 will be live on Viaplay in selected territories as well as on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube channel.
Shane Van Boening crashed out of the 2022 US Open Pool Championship in a hill-hill defeat to Alexander Kazakis as only 16 remain at Harrah’s Resort, Atlantic City ahead of the final two days of action.
Van Boening began the day on the hunt for a record-breaking sixth US Open but it was the case of the champagne being put on ice for at least another year. The World Champion came up Kazakis in full steam ahead mode as the Greek rattled up a 5-0 lead without breaking stride against the American great. Kazakis has had mixed fortune against Van Boening in recent times, defeating him in the final of the 2021 World Pool Masters in a whitewash before tasting defeat at the World Pool Championship semi-final stage back in April.
Kazakis lost his way in the middle of the match as Van Boening rallied to 5-5 and soon 7-5 to lead with an opportunity to reach the hill first. A scratch on the break for Van Boening though brought Kazakis back into it and 7-7. In the next rack, Kazakis missed the two ball and Van Boening reached the hill first.
At times, Kazakis has been doubted and questioned but today wasn’t going to be one of those days, back at the table at 8-8 breaking for the match, he was hooked when looking to make the two ball. One bank later from Kazakis and the table was clear for him to run out and secure a memorable win. For Van Boening, the wait goes on but all is not lost with the conclusion of the inaugural SVB Junior Open set to unfold tomorrow afternoon.
Skyler Woodward will have mixed emotions after today after the two-time Mosconi Cup MVP fell at the hands of Chang Jung-Lin who was on a rampage at times in a 9-4 win but with results going his way, the Kentucky Kid ensured a Mosconi Cup automatic spot to avoid leaving it up to Jeremy Jones‘ wild card picks. Greg Hogue was also in the Mosconi Cup reckoning for an automatic spot until defeat to Marc Bijsterbosch saw the American bow out 9-2. That news was good for Oscar Dominguez though who will return to the Mosconi Cup for the first time in five years off the Live Nineball World Rankings.
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz had a day to remember, before he even played Ralf Souquet in the Last 64, he knew he would be making his Mosconi Cup debut for Team Europe come November 30 to December 3 as the Spaniard secured the second automatic spot off the Live Nineball World Rankings due to Ouschan’s defeat to Szewczyk. On a high, Sanchez Ruiz took down Souquet and Wu Kun Lin to reach the Last 16.
Styer’s journey ended at the hands of Mosconi Cup foe Filler leaving his Mosconi Cup hopes in Jones’ hands. The American put on a gutsy display to push Filler all the way before the World Pool Masters champion pulled away to a 9-6 win.
Defending champion Carlo Biado will go again on his hunt for the crown in back-to-back years against Konrad Juszczyszyn. Biado coming through in a repeat of last year’s semi-final against Naoyuki Oi 9-6.
The Union Jack of Great Britain will be kept flying tomorrow by Chris Melling who is experiencing something of a renaissance in the Diamond Arena. Melling seeing off Joven Bustamante 9-4 before an impressive 9-1 win over Badar Alawadhi. The Magician’s match-up with Corteza will kick off the TV coverage tomorrow from 10am ET. SCHEDULE
Carlo Biado, Shane Van Boening, and Joshua Filler were amongst the top seeds to progress through to the Last 64 of the 2022 US Open Pool Championship at Harrah’s Resort, Atlantic City.
Defending champion Biado was made to go the hard way to reach the Last 64 after falling to Joven Bustamante in Winners Qualification 9-6 before overcoming Chen Chia Hua in the Losers side to reach single elimination and face Petri Makkonen next up. Albin Ouschan also had to go through the losers section to progress after losing out to Hsieh Chia Chen 9-5 in the morning before beating Kristina Tkach to keep his hunt for a maiden US Open crown alive.
There was less trouble for Van Boening who moved through the gears to beat Mosconi Cup teammate Tyler Styer 9-2 and set up a repeat of the 2021 World Pool Masters final with Alexander Kazakis next. Shane Wolford‘s hopes of reaching his first Mosconi Cup were kept alive thanks to an impressive win over Ko Ping Chung whilst Oscar Dominguez, Greg Hogue, Styer, Chris Reinhold, Bustamante, and Skyler Woodward will also be eyeing a spot on Team USA as their journeys continue. Billy Thorpe‘s hopes of an automatic spot were ended by Jani Uski in a 9-0 defeat.
Filler will have to see off Kyle Akaloo if he is to continue a search for a second US Open crown whilst on Team Europe’s side for Mosconi places there’s still plenty to play for with the likes of Mario He, Kazakis, Jayson Shaw, Ouschan, David Alcaide and Francisco Sanchez Ruiz all in the hunt going into the final three days.
LIVE STREAM SCHEDULE
10 am
Table 1 – Jayson Shaw (GBR) vs Lee Vann Corteza (PHI) – Match No. 419
Table 2 – David Alcaide (ESP) vs Ko Ping Chung (TPE) – Match No. 425
NB 11:30 am
Table 1 – Fedor Gorst (ANA) vs Tyler Styer (USA) – Match No. 431
Table 1 – Shane Van Boening (USA) vs Alexander Kazakis (GRE) – Match No. 448
Table 2 – Chang Jung-Lin (TPE) vs Skyler Woodward (USA) – Match No. 444
The inaugural SVB Junior Open gets underway tomorrow inside the same Diamond Arena as the Last 64. All Junior competitors will receive an SVB Junior Open jersey free of charge from official apparel partner Onboard alongside the $10,000 prize fund. Van Boening’s official cue partner, Cuetec put up $5,000 alongside $5,000 from Matchroom to offer one of the most exciting prize pots in Junior Pool. The final is set to be streamed live on the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel to over 180,000 subscribers as the players enjoy a huge spotlight offered to them thanks to the main US Open being at the Last 16 and Quarter-Final stage during the last day of the Junior Open.
From Monday, 10 October to Thursday, 13 October fans will be able to enjoy the action globally on the Matchroom Pool Facebook and YouTube pages as well as Matchroom.Live with two tables streamed. Fans in China can enjoy all the action on our Weibo page.
Carlos Jinez, Jon Rawlins, Dan Bowman and Scott Emory
Dependent on how any number of other players will have their winning points slotted into the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour’s standings, Daniel Bowman’s victory this past weekend (Aug. 20-21) could elevate him from his previous spot at #84 to among the tour’s top 10 competitors. Bowman, the “long-time player, first-time winner,” (noted tour representatives), accomplished this by going undefeated at the $1,750-added event that drew 93 entrants to Snookered Billiards in Frisco, TX.
The 554-Fargo-rated Bowman opened up with a win over the 678-rated Roman Bayda and followed up with wins over Don Bullard, Greg Hogue and TJ Thetford to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against the “17-year-old phenom, making a name for himself,” Carlos Jinez. Jonathan Rawlins in the meantime, survived a first-round double hill fight against Mike Ledford, advanced to meet and defeat Burke Garfias, shut out Jesus Sorto and got by Ray Hinton to meet up with Tina Malm in the other winners’ side semifinal. Malm, one of 10 tour-record number of women who competed, had downed the tour’s #1-ranked competitor, Daniel Herring in a third-round, double-hill battle and would finish as the ‘last woman standing,” adding $200 to her cash prize.
Bowman downed the youngster Jinez 6-2. He was joined in the hot seat by Rawlins, who’d sent Malm to the loss side 7-2. Bowman claimed the hot seat with a bit of a flourish, shutting Rawlins out and waiting on Scott Emory, who’d been sent to the loss side by Malm in the fourth round and was working his way back to the finals.
Four matches into his seven-match, loss-side winning streak that had included recent wins over Donald Weathersby 4-5 (Weathersby racing to 9) and Steve Smith, double hill (4-9; Smith racing to 10), Emory picked up a re-match against Tina Malm. Jinez, in the meantime, drew Ruben Adame, who was working on an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that was about to end and had recently included the elimination of Max Sun 6-3 and Monica Anderson, who put up a double hill fight that would leave her in the tie for 7th place and second-highest finishing lady in the event.
Jinez ended Adame’s loss-side streak 6-3 and in the quarterfinals, faced Emory, who’d restricted Malm’s loss-side effort to a single match, but not before Malm had battled to double hill and forced a deciding game. Emory then stopped Jinez 5-1 in the quarterfinal match.
Emory completed his loss-side trip with a 5-1, semifinal victory over Rawlins, who was racing to 9. Emory battled Bowman to within a game of double hill in the first set of a true double elimination final, but Bowman edged out in front at the end and won the only set he needed 6-3 to claim his first Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour title.
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Snookered for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Cuetec and Fort Worth Billiard Superstore. The next stop on the Cuetec DFW 9-Ball Tour, scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 17-18, will be hosted by Jeffro’s Billiards in Canton, TX.
Chris McMinn, Sherrie Glenn, Fedor Gorst and Tommy Tokoph
It doesn’t happen often. When a given event offers multiple opportunities to compete, there is often a fatigue factor which plays into the possibility that any one, two or three competitors playing in more than one of the events will succeed multiple times. They might finish respectably in two events, winning one and placing among the top five or so in another. But three competitors, finishing first, second and third in two events on the same long weekend? We searched for instances where it had happened before, but couldn’t find one, which is not an indication that it never happened, merely an indicator that it’s a rarity.
At the 8th Annual Junior Norris Memorial, held this past weekend (Aug. 10-14), offering $10k worth of total added-money that attracted (with some crossover) 233 entrants to Sikes Center Mall in Wichita Falls, TX, Fedor Gorst, Shane McMinn and Tommy Tokoph finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd in both the $5k-added, 82-entrant 9-Ball Open and the $2k-added, 44 entrant 10-Ball Open.
Those events were just two of the seven events that comprised the long-weekend memorial celebrating the “Texas Legend,” James “Junior” Norris, a Wichita Falls hometown hero, WWII veteran, generally acknowledged in his day as one of the top 9-ball players in the US and inductee into the Texas Billiards Hall of Fame in 1995 at the age of 70. Norris passed away in March of 2016 at the age of 91, having attended the first two of the Memorial events named in his honor. The event has expanded over the years to embrace multiple game disciplines and launch each year with a VIP Dinner at its start and a Birthday BBQ celebration (this past weekend honoring what would have been Norris’ 97th birthday). The memorial, which was originally just a family barbecue event which occurred around the time of two birthdays, Junior’s in June and his mother, Sadie’s on the Fourth of July, turned into a barbecue and pool tournament in 2014.
In addition to the two events won by Gorst, the 8th Annual Junior Norris Memorial Shootout featured a $1,000-added, 57 entrant, 575-and-under 8-Ball tournament, a $2k-added Women’s 9-Ball tournament and three junior events, for 14-18 Girls and Boys and a 13U event, to which $500 was added for all three.
Though the 9-Ball event’s defending champion, Edgie Geronimo did not compete, last year’s runner-up Justin Espinosa did. So did the event’s 2018 champion, Robb Saez. Fedor Gorst finished 4th in last year’s 9-ball event and 3rd in 10-ball. This year, he went undefeated in both. Among the opponents in his seven-match march to the 9-ball victory were Espinosa, whom he defeated in the third round 9-2, Greg Sandifer 9-4 in a winners’ side semifinal and finally, Tokoph in the hot seat and McMinn in the finals, both 9-2. Tokoph had sent McMinn to the loss side in the other winners’ side semifinal, double hill. On the loss side, McMinn downed Espinosa 9-6, Sandifer 9-7 in the quarterfinals and Tokoph 9-5 in the semifinals.
In the 10-Ball event, Gorst met McMinn twice, hot seat and finals. Gorst never gave up more than two racks to any of his six opponents in seven matches. McMinn got off to a good start in this one, benefiting from an opening round forfeit and a first-match shutout. He gave up three to Tyrel Blowers before running into a double hill battle versus Chris Reinhold. McMinn prevailed, and defeated Dalton Waters 7-1 for his first shot against Gorst in the hot seat match. Tokoph, in the meantime, had lost early and battled through six matches on the loss side, including victories over Reinhold 7-4, a double hill win over Greg Hogue and a 7-2 win over Vitaliy Patsura in the quarterfinals. A predictable double hill fight over who would face Gorst in the finals developed in the semifinals, with McMinn prevailing for his second shot at it. Gorst downed him a second time to claim the 10-ball title.
Cortez goes undefeated to win Ladies Open, Jinez from loss side, wins 8-ball & 14-18 Boys
In the absence of both defending champion Kristina Tkach and last year’s runner-up April Larson, Michelle Cortez stepped up and went undefeated through the field of 32 to claim the $2k-added Women’s 9-Ball. Cortez’ path to the winner’s circle went through five opponents in six matches; Renita Pierre, Christina Abel, Melissa Smith and in a double hill, winners’ side semifinal, Ricki Casper. Her eventual hot seat and finals opponent, Chris Fields got by Yvann Scott, Tisha Leslie (double hill) and in a second straight double hill match, the event’s 2019 champion, Tara Williams. She then downed Toby Stogner 7-2 to face Cortez for the first time.
Cortez claimed the hot seat over Fields 7-2. Williams, in the meantime, was working on a four-match, loss-side winning streak that had recently eliminated Christy Grigsby by shutout and double hill, Ricki Casper. Williams, two steps away from the final, got by the first obstacle, Stogner okay, 7-3 in the quarterfinals, but she and Fields battled to double hill in the semifinals before Fields punched her ticket to the finals rematch against Cortez.
Fields came within a game of making it double hill, but Cortez edged out in front to claim the 2022 Women’s Open title.
Carlos Jinez came from the loss side, winning three, to claim the 575-and-under (Fargo rate) 8-ball event. He’d lost his winners’ side semifinal to Glenn Miller, who advanced to meet Jacob Pena in the hot seat match. Pena and Miller battled to double hill before Pena prevailed to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Jinez defeated Nicholas Garrett 3-1, while Terry Moser was busy eliminating the Women’s Open winner, Michelle Cortez by the same score. Jinez and Moser fought back and forth to double hill in the quarterfinals before Jinez closed it out. Jinez then defeated Miller 3-1 in the semifinals.
Jinez made something of a statement in the first set of the double elimination final, defeating Pena by shutting him out. In the shortened race-to-three second set, they battled to double hill before Jinez finished it to claim the 8-ball title.
In the junior events, the 13-and-under division proved to be the largest, with 9 entrants. The hot seat and finals featured a pair of literal and figurative ‘aces.’ Ace Acevedo claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Ace Smith and once Smith had downed Leigha Noble 5-2 in the semifinals, Acevedo downed him a second time 9-3.
Eight-ball winner Carlos Jinez had to come from the loss side to win the five-entrant 14-18 boys title, as well. Tyrel Blowers claimed the hot seat over him 7-4, but after defeating Dalton Waters 5-2 in the semifinals, Jinez returned to defeat him in the finals 9-6 to claim his second title of the weekend; his first, actually, the 8-ball title was won later that night (Sunday).
Mary and Eva Grigsby
The Grigsby sisters, 17-year-old twins from Temple, TX, Eva (left-handed shooter) and Mary (right-handed) battled it out in the finals of the four-entrant, 14-18 Girls event. Eva won her first round 7-4 over Peyton Thompson, while Mary lost to Raynie Schroeder 7-3. Eva claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Schroeder. On the loss side, Mary won a double hill fight against Thompson and then, in the semifinals, defeated Schroeder 5-3. The event finished late and in lieu of a double elimination final, the twin sisters played a single match to 7, won by Mary.
The annual event featured a customary Sportsmanship Award. This year’s prize went to the 9-Ball and 10-Ball event’s third-place finisher, Tommy Tokoph.
Conflict between expectations and event reality stirs controversy
Greg Hogue of Tulsa, OK, has had two good (recorded) earning years at the tables. They stand as bookends to a 15-year pool career that began in 2006, which remains on record with us here at AZBilliards as his best earnings year. It continues with what is now his second-best earnings year, this one, thanks in large measure to his undefeated performance at the 2022 Sandcastle Open last weekend (June 4-5). The $2,500-added event drew 32 entrants to Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ.
Hogue had to face South Dakota’s Danny Olson twice in this event. Olson, as it happens, is in the midst of his best recorded earnings year since he first showed up in our player database back in 2011. At the end of the Sandcastle Open, while Hogue had moved up to a career-high spot on our AZB Money Leaderboard (#100), Olson moved up to his career-high spot on the board to #72.
They met first in the winners’ side second round. As Hogue was working on an opening round, 7-4 victory over Alex Vangelov, Olson had his hands full with a double hill fight against one of the top players in the world, Jayson Shaw. Olson won that battle, only to be sent west by Hogue 7-4. Hogue advanced to win his third straight 7-4 victory, over Levie Lampaan and pick up Jonathan Pinegar (aka Hennessee from Tennessee) in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Meanwhile, Oscar Dominguez from the West Coast had been busy downing his young protege Adrian Prasad, Alex Osipov and Josh Thiele to arrive at his winners’ side semifinal battle against Raymond Linares.
Dominguez added another 7-4 win to the batch of them, downing Linares to earn his spot in the hot seat match. Hogue joined him after sending Pinegar to the loss side 7-5. Hogue sent Dominguez to the semifinals, claiming the hot seat 7-5.
On the loss side, Pinegar picked up Danny Olson, four matches into the seven-match, loss-side streak that would end in the finals against Hogue. He’d recently eliminated Mhet Vergara 7-2 and Shane Wolford 7-3. Linares drew Derek Daya, who was working on a six-match, loss-side streak that included victories over Lampaan 7-5 and knocked Jayson Shaw out of the tournament 7-4.
Daya chalked up his sixth in a row against Linares 7-5, while Olson was defeating Pinegar 7-3. Olson then stopped Daya’s run 7-3 in the subsequent quarterfinals.
Olson punched his ticket to the finals with a 7-5 win over Dominguez in the semifinals. Though Olson would chalk up one more rack than he’d managed against Hogue in the second round, Hogue claimed the Sandcastle Open title 7-5.
Old story, new day . . .
The 32-entrant field, which resulted in the promotional, expected figure of ‘$5,000-added’ being reduced to the reality of ‘$2,500-added,’ didn’t sit well with the players who showed up. Sandcastle Billiards owner, Ed Liddawi, wasn’t too happy about it either. Prior to the event, 55 players had registered to compete. By the time the event started, that number had dwindled to 32, with only two of the 23 players who did not compete, providing reasonable explanations regarding their inability to attend.The flyer promoting the event made it clear that the ‘$5,000-added’ figure was contingent upon a field of 64 entrants and in the end, Liddawi returned the entry fees to all of the players who had submitted an entrance fee, to include some who reached out to him, in less than reasonable ways, while he was in the middle of conducting the event they had failed to attend.
In comments that surfaced on our own AZBilliards Forums, some players made the point (in a variety of ways) that financial considerations dictate whether or not someone is going to sign on to compete (entry fees, green fees, calculated travel and living expenses, weighed against the potential for winning enough cash to offset those expenses and hopefully, more). Thus, plans to compete are often contingent on there being sufficient money at stake to make attendance worthwhile. A subsequent and substantial reduction in the amount of prize money available has a way of altering the cost/benefit analysis to the point where not only might a player have to face the reality of not making any money, he/she might end up losing money.
That said, room owners, tour directors and event promoters, like Ed Liddawi, are conducting the same sort of cost/benefit analysis built on the financial burdens they have to assume when considering the creation and promotion of a given event. When, through no fault of their own, some of the math is thrown off track, then they, too, have to face the reality that instead of an event, that as planned, was designed to benefit their own financial expectations, as well as theexpectations of the players, they have to make hard decisions that inevitably impact both sides of the financial equations. Just like the players, they can end up losing money, too.
Not an ideal set of situations for anybody.
The debate, articulated in the Forums and in some cases, personally to us here at AZBilliards is not new and in a polarizing way, familiar to anyone who follows politics these days. It’s not enough apparently to just state a given case, it becomes necessary to demonize one’s opponents; to call a room owner/event promoter ‘greedy,’ or complain, in general, about how much ‘these people’ work toward making a player’s life miserable by ‘stealing’ from them with no regard as to what they, the players have to deal with, or, conversely, that players ‘don’t understand or care’ about what it takes to organize and ultimately run an event and are ‘only interested in themselves.’
Those are NOT quotes from any particular individuals, merely examples of the sort of close-minded debate that contributes little or nothing to the solution of a central problem that has plagued pool longer than AZBilliards has been around. Part of the problem is, of course, that there have been in the past and continue to be room owners/event promoters who are greedy, cheat players out of money and act in bad faith, caring little about the fate of the players they’re hosting at a given event. But there are also players who act out of bad faith, too, assume they’re being cheated and start with that as a premise when they engage in any sort of discussion about a specific controversy.
The specifics of this decades-old controversy, to include actual quotes from players and room owners can be found in our Forums, stretching back over the years, with a great deal of regularity. Complaining falls under the umbrella of individual and “inalienable rights,” afforded to greedy room owners/event promoters and self-centered, whining pool players alike. But you can’t paint all room owners/event promoters and players with the same brush. It should be noted, as well, that many room owners are players themselves at varied levels of proficiency (Jayson Shaw and Oscar Dominguez, who attended this event, as two examples, and Ed Liddawi, who put it on). Responsible, reasonable room owners/event promoters and responsible, reasonable players do not tend to join the acrimonious debate, especially when it devolves into senseless name-calling and baseless accusations. It is not anyone’s intent to censor the commentary or the Forum community, but it should be incumbent on individuals in both ‘camps’ to seek reasonable solution(s) to the varied and apparently intractable problems represented in the debates themselves.
Pool fans in the Northeast will have what might be their last chance to see one of the greatest cue artists that we have ever seen, as Efren Reyes’ 2022 Northeast Tour stops in Massachusetts, Maine, and Connecticut.
The first stop will be on January 15th at the Red Dragon Billiards Club and Training Center in Harvard, Ma. Fans interested in attending can contact Roy Pastor at 978-660-3677 for more information.
Reyes will make two stops in Maine on January 16th and 17th. The stop on the 16th will be at American Pool & Billiards in Portland, Maine and the 17th stop will be at TJ’s Classic Billiards in Waterville, Maine. Reyes will be playing Mike Dechaine in challenge matches on both nights. Fans can contact Jerry Guitard at 207-776-0215 for info on the American Pool & Billiards stop, and Howard Fogg at 207-478-0858 for info on the stop at TJ’s Classic Billiards.
Finally, the tour will end on January 19th at Yale Billiards in Wallingford, Ct where Reyes will face young gun Lukas Fracasso-Verner in an exhibition match. More information on this stop can be obtained by contacting Bobby Hilton at 203-631-2428.
If exhibition matches aren’t your thing, Reyes will face Red Door Den Training Center instructor Greg “Spanky” Hogue in a $4000 one-pocket challenge match at the Red Door Den Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma January 10th. This match will be streamed on Facebook for only $4.99 with commentary by Sean King. Fans can check out the stream at https://www.facebook.com/RedDoorDen/
Reyes is widely thought of as the “Greatest Of All Time” when it comes to professional billiards, and his appearances in major events are becoming rarer and rarer. Fans are encouraged to lock up their spots at these exhibitions as soon as possible.
Neight Mindham, with the Cue It Up Podcast, has continued to announce players for his upcoming virtual event. The event also has a title sponsor and will now be the “Poison VG 10-Ball Championship”.
The latest players to join the field for this 32 player virtual event are Jeffrey De Luna, Nick van den Berg, Wojtek Szewczyk, Nick Malaj, Danny Olson, Demetrius Jelatis, Chip Compton and Greg Hogue.
The event will kick off on September 29th and run until October 13th, with 32 players competing for a first prize that is expected to be $6000.
Mindham has also announced that his field is not full. Players interested in competing in this unique online event can contact him on his Facebook page to enquire about entering the event.
Johnson takes two against Subelka to go undefeated in short-field Ladies event.
One week ago, on the weekend of April 9-10, Greg Hogue made it to the hot seat during a stop on the Midwest 9-Ball Tour, only to have the person he'd defeated in that match (Chip Compton) come back from the semifinals and defeat him twice in a double elimination final. The scenario was described here as a hot seat occupant's "worst nightmare."
On the weekend of April 16-17, Hogue, at a $2,000-added event that drew 34 entrants to Astros in Lawrence, KS, found himself in the hot seat for the second week in a row, re-living the 'nightmare,' as it were. This time, Hogue sent Dustin Gunia to the semifinals, but this time, Hogue woke up. Although Gunia would force him to play a deciding 17th game in the opening set of a potential double elimination final, Hogue won that deciding game, and after (one presumes) an enormous sigh of relief, claimed the event title.
In a concurrently-run, $500-added Ladies event that drew only 7 entrants, Kerri Johnson defeated Morgan Subelka twice to claim that title. Johnson defeated Subelka in the hot seat match 7-5. On the loss side, Deb McWhirk came off a quarterfinal victory over Jacelyn Booher to challenge Subelka in the semifinals. Subelka earned a second shot against Johnson with a 7-3 victory over McWhirk. Johnson completed her four-match, undefeated run with a 7-4 victory over Subelka in the finals.
The first match between Hogue and Gunia in the Open event, vying for the hot seat, followed a 9-1 victory by Hogue over Steven Wyatt, and a 9-3 victory by Gunia over Mike Goscha. Hogue claimed the hot seat, double hill, and waited, as (no doubt) thoughts of a week ago played out in his head.
On the loss side, Wyatt picked up Dave Matlock, who'd gotten by Rafael Munoz 9-4 and Toby Noll 9-6 to reach him. Goscha drew Sharik Sayed, who'd eliminated Lance Schofield 9-7 and Taylor Anderson 9-6. Matlock and Sayed handed Wyatt and Goscha their second straight losses – Matlock 9-6 over Wyatt and Sayed 9-1 over Goscha – and advanced to the quarterfinals.
Sayed gave up only two racks to Matlock, and advanced to the semifinals against Gunia. Gunia shut Sayed out in those semifinals, which almost certainly gave Hogue something to think about as he prepared for the opening set of the true double elimination final. Though Gunia would once again force a deciding 17th game, Hogue won it to claim the title.
It is, of course, a hot seat occupant's worst nightmare. After all the effort, time, energy, and sometimes a lot of waiting to arrive at 'last winner' status, a loss-side opponent (more often than not, someone already defeated previously) steps up to the plate in the finals and negates (at least, psychologically) all that work by snatching an event title away. On the weekend of April 9-10, at a stop on the Midwest 9-Ball Tour, Greg Hogue was the hot seat occupant and Chip Compton was the nightmare. Compton took two out of three against Hogue to win the $1,900-added event that drew 51 entrants to Jamaica Joe's in Midwest City, OK.
On the Ladies' side, Tara Williams avoided the 'nightmare' by downing Brittany Maynard twice to go undefeated and claim that title. The $600-added Ladies tournament drew 16 entrants.
Compton and Hogue met first in the hot seat match. They'd both defeated opponents 9-6 to get there; Compton, defeating KC Massey and Hogue, downing Jacob McMichael. Seemingly hooked on the 9-6 idea, Hogue defeated Compton to claim the hot seat and waited on his return from the semifinals.
On the loss side, Massey picked up Daniel Herring, who'd defeated Lawrence Sanders 9-4 and Bobby Coston 9-5 to reach him. McMichael drew Joey Gray, who'd been sent to the loss side 9-1 by Compton in a winners' side quarterfinal, and defeated Jeff Williams 9-5 and Norman Small 9-4. By identical 9-7 scores, Massey and Gray advanced to the quarterfinals over Herring and McMichael.
Gray downed Massey 9-3 in those quarterfinals to earn himself a re-match versus Compton in the semifinals. Gray put up more of a fight the second time around, chalking up six racks, but Compton prevailed for his own second and then, deciding match against Hogue in the hot seat.
Compton took the first of the two, double elimination matches 9-3. Hogue fought back in the second set, but a single game away from a double hill game, Compton finished it at 9-7.
Tara Williams' path to the winners' circle in the Ladies' event went through Brittany Maynard twice. She downed her in the hot seat match 7-4. On the loss side, Renee Young defeated Rachel Peterson 7-1 in a quarterfinal match that set her up to face Maynard in the semifinals. Maynard prevailed 7-5 for a second, and potentially third shot against Williams in the hot seat. Williams rendered the second set point moot with a shutout over Maynard in the finals.
The next stop on the Midwest 9-Ball Tour, a $2,500-added event, scheduled for this coming weekend (April 16-17), will be hosted by a new-to-the-tour room – Astros, in Lawrence, KS. On the long weekend of June 2-5, the Midwest 9-Ball Tour will play host to another Mosconi Cup qualifying event, the latest of which, in Raleigh, NC, drew 128 entrants and featured the sport's top opponents. The event will feature a One Pocket tournament, and, as the Mosconi Cup qualifying event, a 9-Ball tournament.
