The Silver Cup in Huntington Park was captured by Pedro Piedrabuena. He beat his eternal rival Hugo Patino in a one-sided final: 35-15 in 18, to defend his 2019 title.
We should not assume that Pedro always wins. Hugo has four national titles, and he has beaten Pedro many times. But it is the quiet man from Montevideo, now San Diego, who has the much better all-year general average, the precision, the temperament. And nine national USA titles, let’s not forget. Pedro is the strongest 3-cushion player on the continent, has been ever since he took over from the legendary Sang Chun Lee, and he’s not about to step down.
Ricky Carranco and Raymon Groot were the losing semifinalists, Groot eventually winning the play-off for 3d place. The Dutchie booked a character win over the very dangerous Harry Pena in the quarters. Pena did play the best match of the tournament: 35 in 12. Groot left some chances unused against Piedrabuena, Carranco, tournament director as well as player, found his Waterloo against Patino.
It was remarkable to see how many matches went to the wire, or “hill-hill” as the pool players would say. Even though handicaps were used (35 – 32 – 29 – 27 – 25 – 22), all the strongest players survived the group stage to create a high-quality final day. If anything was obvious, it was that players as well as spectators had been dying for this kind of action in the past year and a half.
The tournament was partly in honor of the recently deceased Luis Avila from Mexico, a top player who often participated in events on US soil. Kudos to Vicke Pineda, Hector Ocampo, Ricky Carranco, POV Pool and others to make a 72-player event possible.
The Vietnamese Contingent
Gilbert Najm
Kevin Pham
Abram Díaz / Cue Repair
Raymond Groot
Ricky Carranco
Hugo Patino
Carlos Cruz
Paul Feltman Jr. and Mazin Shooni
Hugo Patino
Hugo Patino vs Ricky Carranco / 3rd place match
Ricky Carranco / 4th place / Tournament Director
Young Gull Lee
Paul Feltman Jr. and Mazin Shooni
Terry Park and Javier Vera
Guillermo Sosa
Vicke Pineda and Paul Feltman Jr
Gilbert Najm & Hector Ocampo with Geraldine Thibodeau / POVPOOL
Raymond Groot
Ricardo Carranco Sr.
Pedro Piedrabuena
Kevin Pham
Hugo Patino, Hector Ocampo, Vicke Pineda and Ricky Carranco
Day one of four of the 2021 Tiger Silver Cup has commenced at Vicke Pineda’s Silver Cue-Billiards in Huntington Park California. With a powerhouse field of 72 players in attendance, the event was originally scheduled for only 50 players to compete in a ‘tiered entry fee’ event ranging from $365-$125 (based on skill level). The event earned responses from 79 willing competitors and was re-capped by tournament director, Ricky Carranco just prior to last night’s player meeting and flight draw. A wide range of talent consisting of both US and Pan-American champions have flocked from all corners of the Americas to battle it out on nine10 foot Verhoevens, maintained by the renowned table mechanic, Insoo Park.
The overwhelming support for the two promoters, Ricky and Vicke, shows an enduring strength of the sport of Three-Cushion Billiards in America, with the Tiger Products sponsored event boasting a star studded field of familiar names, defending 2019 ‘Cup’ recipient and champion, Pedro Piedrabuena, New York’s, Hugo Patino, former USBA president and founder of 3 CushionUSA’s, Mazin Shooni; Pan-American and Mexican Champions include, Javier Vera, Guillermo Sosa, Luis Aviega to name a few. Additional surprises are expected with names like Gilbert Najm, Raymond Groot, John Park, Stan Lee, Kevin Pham, Carlos Cruz and also the tournament promoters themselves (Ricky/Vicke) should cause a stir during these upcoming prelim rounds.
This year’s tournament format will consist of three days of preliminary rounds (May 13-15), 12 flights of 6 players each competing in ‘round robin’ to 35 points, followed immediately by a single elimination, final bracket of the top 12 or the winner from each group. The event will also be slightly seeded, issuing a ‘bye’ to the top player of each group.
This event is scheduled to be live streamed by Daniel Busch and Point Of View Pool Media at POVPOOL on YouTube, however due to some technical issues there is a possibility that the broadcast might migrate to Facebook Live instead. Please stay tuned for more news and updates on this as they develop.
Also, in a surprise announcement, Vicke Pineda has decided to raise additional funds for the family of the dearly departed Luis Miguel Avila, donating $1,000 of a $3,000 in-house cue raffle at the event and redirecting another $1,000 to the prize fund of the event, making this year’s Cup event; $4,000 added!
The Vietnamese Contingent
Gilbert Najm
Kevin Pham
Abram Díaz / Cue Repair
Raymond Groot
Ricky Carranco
Hugo Patino
Carlos Cruz
Paul Feltman Jr. and Mazin Shooni
Hugo Patino
Hugo Patino vs Ricky Carranco / 3rd place match
Ricky Carranco / 4th place / Tournament Director
Young Gull Lee
Paul Feltman Jr. and Mazin Shooni
Terry Park and Javier Vera
Guillermo Sosa
Vicke Pineda and Paul Feltman Jr
Gilbert Najm & Hector Ocampo with Geraldine Thibodeau / POVPOOL
Raymond Groot
Ricardo Carranco Sr.
Pedro Piedrabuena
Kevin Pham
Hugo Patino, Hector Ocampo, Vicke Pineda and Ricky Carranco
The top 3 cushion players in the country were back in action April 29th – May 2 at Carom Cafe in Flushing New York for another weekend of Scotch Doubles and Singles Carom action.
The scotch doubles event was played on Thursday and Friday, with a field of sixteen two player teams playing in groups of four teams each.
Group A saw the finalists from last month’s event, Hugo Patino and event winner Young Kyu Lee playing with their doubles teammates. Lee, along with teammate Joseph Hwang were winless in the group, with no chance to advance to the single elimination bracket. Patino and his partner Leo Chapparo posted a 2-1 record in group play (dropping their match against Mark Ahn & David Sohn) to earn them their spot in the final stage of the event.
Group B came down to the “total points” tiebreaker, with three teams tied with 2-1 records. Taking the top spot was Song Lim & Johnny Kim with a total of 69 out of a possible 75 points. In a round about way, Lim & Kim were also involved in which team would join them in the single elimination bracket, as their 25-9 win over Rufino Perez & Nestor Acha was just too lopsided for Perez & Acha to hope to qualify. Their 59 total points came out short, sending Sang Jin Lee & John Bak into the single elimination stage with 64 total points.
Eric Kwon & David Kim cruised through Group C with a 3-0 record and the remaining three teams all ended up tied with 1-2 records. The team to advance would be Sonny Cho & Hi-Suk Chung with a total of 64 points.
Group D was a little easier to figure out, with two teams tied at 2-1. With identical records, the teams of Carlos Mario Villegas & Luis Mejia and Kaya Bayramoglu & John Gudali knew they would be advancing to the next stage of the event. They would just have to go to the tie-breaker to determine team seeding. The “total points” tiebreaker didn’t determine anything, as both teams had 74 total points. The second tie-breaker was then used, based on head to head records, and Villegas & Mejia Were awarded the top seed.
To the surprise of the fans in attendance, the single elimination bracket saw all four of the #1 seeds being eliminated by their #2 opponents. The biggest victory saw #8 ranked Sonny Cho & Hi-Suk Chung defeating overall #1 seed Eric Kwon & David Kim 25-10. Cho & Chung kept up that level of play and eliminated Bayramoglu & Gudali 25-16 in the semi-finals. They would be joined in the finals by Patino & Chapparo, who defeated Sang Jin Lee & John Bak 25-21.
Cho & Chung’s dominance would come to an end in the finals, as Patino & Chapparo teamed up for a 25-16 win and first place.
The thirty two player singles event kicked off on Saturday with eight groups playing a compressed round robin format that would cut the field in half before moving to a single elimination bracket. While Group B saw Patino and Lee in the same group, they would not face each other because of the compressed format. Not only did Patino advance from that group with a 2-0 record, he would advance into the single elimination bracket as the overall #1 seed. Lee would also advance with a 1-1 record, by virtue of winning the “total points” tie-breaker over Eric Kwon, who he actually lost to in group play.
The first round of single elimination play wasn’t nearly as surprising as the first round of scotch doubles play had been. The top six seeds all advanced to the next round, with the biggest upset of the round being #7 S.K. Hong dropping a 30-13 match against #10 Lee. On opposite sides of the board, Lee and Patino both won their quarterfinal matches and were joined by Carlos Mario Villegas and Kang Lee in the final four.
The finals came down to a repeat of March’s event with Patino defeated Villegas 30-15 and Lee getting by Kang Lee 30-16. The final match and the trail leading up to it can best be described by tournament director Ira Lee with the following text.
Young Kyu Lee, the repeat champion at the last PredatorCRM 3-Cushion pro-event at Carom Cafe, clearly struggling with his game, took an upset loss (27-30) from Eric Kwon in the preliminary round, and then found himself down 27-21 (30 point game) and on the brink of being eliminated by John Gudali, an avid local Turkish player who was having a terrific game. From the depths of despair, we all watched Young Kyu dig down deep, crawl back from out of nowhere, win that match 30-29, proceed to avenge his earlier loss against Kwon, and seize a spot in the top 16-player knockout stage on Sunday. He then systematically knocked out all challengers including heavyweights, Sonny Cho, Harry Pena, and Kang Lee in the semifinal, to take his seat in the main arena (again) with Hugo Patino in a repeat, all-PredatorCRM Revo, bout for the title. When he was behind 10-13 against the 4x US National Champion, Young Kyu made 14 points in 3 innings, with consecutive runs of 6 and 7, to take a commanding lead that would lead to his victory. Here is his impressive “out-shot” and humble interview from the deserving champion, who successfully defended his title in this exciting 3-cushion event.
Michael Kang, Young Kyu Lee, Carlos Mario Villegas, Kang Lee, Hugo Patino, Ira Lee
Young Kyu Lee, Carlos Mario Villegas, Kang Lee, Hugo Patino
Spectators at the event
Young Kyu Lee
S.K. Hong
Kang Lee
Kang Lee
Young Kyu Lee
Mark Ahn
S.K. Hong
Mr. Yoon (did not play)
Tae Kyu Lee
S.K. Hong
Kang Lee
Harry Pena
Young Kyu Lee
Tae Kyu Lee
Carlos Mario Villegas
Tae Kyu Lee
Carlos Mario Villegas
Harry Pena
Mark Ahn
Tae Kyu Lee and Carlos Mario Villegas
Young Kyu Lee
Carlos Mario Villegas
Tae Kyu Lee
Jong Min Lee
Sonny Cho
Young Ha Choi
Young Ha Choi
Harry Pena
(L to R) Ira Lee, Sang Min Nam, Jimmy Ruan, Young Gull Lee, Carlos Mario Villegas, Harry Pena, Edward Gomez, Young Ha Choi, Hugo Patino, Jong Min Lee, Tae Kyu Lee, Henry Chan, Danny Rhee, Young Kyu Lee, Kang Lee, Mark Ahn, Michael Kang
Carom Cafe in Flushing, New York was the place to be on the weekend of March 18 – 21 for back to back United States Billiard Association (USBA) 3-Cushion Pro events.
First up, was a sixteen team scotch doubles event with teams separated into four groups of four team in round robin play with the top two teams from each group advancing into a single elimination bracket. While Carom Cafe has historically kept with traditional 3-cushion competition formats, this event was their first foray in Scotch Doubles. With the overwhelming positive response by the players, look for more events like this at Carom Cafe in the future.
The top team in the group stages was Sonny Cho & Mike Chen, who won all three matches (90 total points) and allowed 55 points against. Two other teams turned in undefeated group records, Daniel Jeong & Harry Pena and Mark Ahn & Young Kyu Lee. The final group winner was Eric Kwon & Sang Jin Lee, who won two matches and lost a nail biter to Carlos Mario & John Guldali 30-28.
Kwon & Lee got the opportunity to avenge that close loss in the first round of the single elimination bracket, as they faced Mario & Guldali right out of the gate. It was an even closer match this time, with Kwon & Lee scoring a 30-29 win. All three of the other group winners pairs won their first round matches in single elimination play.
The semifinals were both close matches, with Kwon & Lee defeating Cho & Chen 30-28, and Jeong & Pena over Ahn & Lee 30-25.
The finals were expected to be another close match, but it turned out to be the biggest blowout of the event, with Jeong & Pena running over Kwon & Lee 30-16 for first place.
Jeong & Pena collected $2200 for first place, with Kwon & Lee settling for $1800. Cho & Chen and Lee & Ahn finished tied for third and earned $1000 for each team.
After crowning the scotch doubles winners, a thirty two player singles event got underway, with eight groups of four players each. To no one’s surprise, the top players from the scotch doubles event also flexed their 3-cushion muscles in the single event. Five of the final eight scotch doubles players qualified for the single elimination singles board with Young Kyu Lee leading the way.
Lee continued his strong play from the group stages and defeated John Park 30-22 and then Harry Pena 30-25, to make his way to the semifinals. He went on to win his semifinal match against Carlos Mario 30-20, to earn his spot in the finals against Hugo Patino.
On paper, the final match did not look attractive for Lee. The former US Nationals runner up was facing a 4 time USBA Nationals Champion in Patino. Patino came out on fire and quickly led the match 7-1. While Lee tried to stay with him, Patino pushed that lead to 11-3. Patino looked to be in complete control as he led 14-6, but that was when Lee started his comeback. Lee fought back to tie the score at 19-19. Lee held a small 21-19 lead, but Patino hadn’t won six Pan American Games titles by giving up when an opponent shoots back at him. Patino regained the lead at 22-21, but that would be his final lead of the day. Lee scored the next two points and then extended his lead to 28-23. Patino fought back to 28-26, but Lee then took the match 30-26.
Lee earned $2400 in first place prize money, with Patino taking home $1500 for second place. Carlos Mario and Kang Lee finished in a tie for third and won $1000 each.
Fans who are interested in the matches from these two events can watch over fourteen hours of top level 3 cushion with full commentary on YouTube. Singles Matches (YouTube) / Doubles Matches (YouTube).
The tournament director, Charles Brown, co-operated the event remotely with Michael Kang, the owner of Carom Cafe, who ensured a safe environment to hold this 3-cushion competition. HighRock produced the livestream.
Event organizers Michael Kang and Ira Lee would like to thank Predator CRM carom cues, Predator Arena Billiard Light, 3CushionCues.com, and the USBA for making this event possible.
Predator launched the Revo CRM 3-cushion carbon fiber shafts in March 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic. Perhaps, not coincidentally, the two players that have switched from wood to the Predator Revo CRM shafts, both made it to the final table in this first Carom Cafe event since the start of the pandemic. When asked about the new Predator carbon technology, Champion Young Kyu Lee said “It’s only been a month since I was practicing with the new Revo cue – I think it’s great… I think it helps me a lot with my game.”
Young Kyu Lee
Young Kyu Lee
Hugo Patino
Sonny Cho
Carlos Mario
Tae Kyu Lee
John Park
Marianna raffled off two Predator cues to help the event
Young Kyu Lee and Kang Lee
Michael Kang, Young Kyu Lee, Ira Lee and Hugo Patino
Young Ha Choi
Tae Kyu Lee, Ira Lee and Young Kyu Lee
left to right: Young Ha Choi, Hugo Patino, Won Sik Kim, Harry Pena, John Park, Young Kyu Lee, Danny Rhee, Michael Kang, Ira Lee, Carlos Mario, Sang Jin Lee, Sonny Cho, Tae Kyu Lee, Kang Lee, Eric Kwon, Nesto
Malden Massachusetts is home to what professionals are calling the most exclusive Billiard Club in the country – A'Mazin Billiards.
A'Mazin Billiards is a members-only billiard club tailored for the professional player and features elite equipment such as Breton 2001 carom tables, Breton pool tables, Brunswick Gold Crown pool tables and Tiger Cues.
It started with a dream shared by a local entrepreneur and a legendary billiard player – to take the sport of carom and pool in the United States out of the bar and into a space reserved for the professional player. To Kevin VanStry and Mazin Shooni, A'Mazin Billiards is all about the sport.
“The professional pool and billiard player in the United States needed a place to play where the equipment was top-notch and distractions were kept to a minimum,” commented Mazin Shooni. “So we gave them the best – the Bretons, the Gold Crowns – and we keep them in perfect playing condition.”
The atmosphere and equipment has not only attracted local league play, but some of the top contenders in the country. Members get free lessons from Mazin Shooni, known as the Amazing Mazin for his awe-inspiring performance at the 3-cushion tables, including 95 tournament wins. Three-cushion champions such as Mazin, Sonny Cho, Hugo Patino, Miguel Torres and renowned Carom Café Owner Michael Kang have battled it out on the Bretons. Famous artistic legends Mike Massey and Tom Rossman (Dr. Cue) have entertained members with exhibitions.
A'Mazin Billiards is a full-service club. Breton pool and billiard tables are available for sale from the club, which also features mechanics to install the equipment. Tiger cues and equipment, and pool/billiard accessories are also sold. A’Mazin Billiards mechanics also offer cue repair.
The USBA has partnered with Kozoom to broadcast matches live at the Verhoeven Open Tournament to be held at Carom Café in Flushing, New York from July 16 to 20.
Kozoom is the leading live streaming presence on the Internet for billiards. In addition to broadcasting the World Cup tournaments and the World Championship. Kozoom also live streams various European tournaments throughout the year. Its Website (www.kozoom.com) is the premier Carom site on the web with an extensive library of videos, a latest news section, a store, a chat room and an instructional feature.
According to USBA President Andrew Janquitto, helping Kozoom come to the United States to feature the summer International tournament at Carom Café was a "win-win." The summer tournament at Carom Café, Janquitto explained, is the premier billiard event in America, surpassing in many minds even the USBA National Championship. "The Carom Café tournament brings the best players from around the world," Janquitto said, and "gives US players the chance to play against world ranked opponents. Having Kozoom there to broadcast the event helps promote billiards in the United States and gives Kozoom the opportunity to introduce its product to the American market."
The Verhoeven Open will feature the likes of Torbjörn Blomdahl and Frederic Caudron, currently ranked 1st and 2nd in the world, respectively. They will be joined by Eddie Merckx (No. 5), Roland Forthomme (No. 20) and Eddie Leppens (No. 21) as well as many other players from Europe and America. Returning for the United States will be six time and current US National Champion Pedro Piedrabuena who triumphed against Torbjörn Blomdahl in this same event in 2012. Expect to see some well-fought battles as the top US players including former champions Mazin Shooni and Hugo Patino vie to make their mark on this International group.
Immediately before the Verhoeven Open, a women's tournament will be held featuring, among others, current world champ Natsumi Higashiuchi, former world champ Orie Hida, Therese Klompenhouwer (whom many consider the best player), and always dangerous Karina Jetten. Some of these players may also play in the men's open tournament as well.
For more information about the Verhoeven Open Tournament and many other three cushion events here in the US, check out the USBA Tournament Calendar.
The USBA 2009 National 3-Cushion Championship was underway with a field of 42 players from all over the country at Carom Café Billiards in Flushing, NY from February 18-22, 2009.
The tournament was played on 10 Verhoeven billiard tables, all outfitted for the tournament with fresh 300 Rapide billiard cloth, generously donated by Iwan Simonis, Inc. Also, Saluc, the manufacturer of Aramith Billiard Balls, donated 15 sets of Super Aramith Pro-Cup Carom Billiard Balls featuring spots on each of the yellow and white cue balls, allowing the spectators to more easily see the spin on the balls as the top 3-cushion players in the United States demonstrated their ability to make the balls dance wondrously at times.
Defending National Champion Miguel Torres, 2008 runner-up Pedro Piedrabuena along with Mazin Shooni, Sonny Cho, Hugo Patino and Michael Kang were the six seeded players. Format in the Preliminaries was six flights with 7 players each, race to 25, with the 3 top players from each flight advancing to the semi-finals along with the best two 4th place finishers. The semi-finals, 20 players in all, was divided into 4 flights with 5 players each, 35 point matches, with the top 2 finishers of each flight advancing to an 8-player round robin finals, 50 point matches. The 3rd place finishers of the semi-finals then played 50 point single elimination matches to determine 9th through 12th place overall.
Nationals List of Players:
1) Miguel Torres
2) Pedro Piedrabuena
3) Mazin Shooni
4) Sonny Cho
5) Jim Shovak
6) Andrew Janquitto
7) Tom Rossman
8) Dave Van Lokeren
9) Joe DeAmato
10) Gilbert Najm
11) Leonard Collibee (Von Duprin)
12) Young Gull Lee
13) Michael Kang
14) Min Jae Pak
15) Eric Hughes
16) Spencer Winston
17) Bob Page
18) Walt Scott
19) Darrel Stutesman
20) Jamil Isreal
21) Mike Bengels
22) Antonio Rivera
23) Armando Wong
24) Bassel Elshaar
25) Felipe Razon
26) Hugo Patino
27) George Ashby
28) Dan Kolacz
29) Paul Frankel
30) Bill Johnson
31) Gary Elias
32) John Cristiano
33) George Theobald
34) Charles Brown
35) Jim Watson
36) Robert Raiford
37) Don Sperber
38) Juan Elizalde Sauz
39) John C. Park
40) Francisco Loaiza
41) Mark Jarvis
42) Gary Eake
After 2 days of sterling play in the preliminaries, 20 players made it to the semi-final rounds. Event highlights from the qualification rounds revealed 6 players with perfect 6-0 records: Pedro Piedrabuena, Mazin Shooni, Michael Kang, Felipe Razon, Sonny Cho and defending champion Miguel Torres. The balance of the semi-final field demonstrated great resolve on the road to the championship finals.
The semi final matches started right on schedule with each match presenting the finest in 3-cushion poise and skill being demonstrated. In one of the semi-final brackets, Young Gull Lee posted a perfect 4-0 record, playing brilliantly as he defeated Pedro Piedrabuena, who otherwise demonstrated top form in each match of the tournament previously. Hugo Patino, Michael Kang, and Felipe Razon also went 4-0 in their respective brackets.
Rounding out the field of the 8 top players that matched up in the final round robin group were Pedro Piedrabuena, Sonny Cho, Mazin Shooni, and the 2008 defending champion Miguel Torres. Each of these determined competitors finished the semi-finals with win-loss records of 3-1.
The 3rd place finishers in each bracket played in a single elimination shootout to determine the 9th thru 12th payout and ranking places. These players were George Ashby, Min Jae Pak, Jim Watson, and Bob Page. Other players from the semi-finals were Mark Jarvis, Antonio Rivera, Mike Bengels, Darrel Stutesman, Gilbert Najm, Juan Elizalde Sauz, Charles Brown and Tom Rossman.
The 1st day of the finals created quite a flurry of excitement among both the players and the fans. Brilliant play and intricate adjustments to each shot tested each veteran in their resolve, focus, and patience with the 50 point goal of each game. Patino and Piedrabuena completed their first 4 matches in stellar fashion with perfect 4-0 win-loss records. Michael Kang held a 3-1 win-loss record and Sonny Cho held a 2-2 win-loss record. The Nationals were also live-streamed on the internet for the whole world to see at CaromTV.com. A special thanks to Jan Carl for setting up the webcam and audio as well.
Last day of the finals: Hugo Patino ran a very impressive “14? in his early morning match against Sonny Cho. Sonny made a valiant comeback with 2 great runs to make things close. The final score was Patino 50 to Cho 44 in 40 innings!!
Going into the final match it was Pedro and Hugo. Pedro was undefeated and Hugo had one loss. Hugo needed to win their 50-point match in order to stay alive. Hugo played brilliantly and won the match 50 to 49. This forced a playoff match between Hugo and Pedro, also 50 points. The winner would be the Champion. Once again, Hugo played brilliantly and won the playoff match 50 to 48 and became the 2009 USBA National Champion. Congratulations to Hugo Patino!!!
2009 Nationals Sponsors:
A special thanks to Kilby Cues and Schuler Cues for donating beautiful cues for the raffle. Jim Shovak won the Schuler Cue and Najiv Ramirez won the Kilby.
The Nationals wouldn’t have been possible without the following sponsors: Carom Café, Bob Jewett, David Levine, Jim Shovak, Bruce Warner, Aramith Balls (Saluc),
Iwan Simonis Cloth, Choice Hotels International, Kilby Cues and Schuler Cues.
And last, but certainly not least, thanks to Charles Brown and Min Jae Pak who ran the show from start to finish. Photos by Professor-Q-Ball. As usual, thanks again guys!!!
