They’re crowd pleasers, participating and watching crowds. No denying that, even though as scintillating top-notch pool action, they generally leave much to be desired. They tend, too, to bring people to the tables – husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, fathers and sons – who might not otherwise participate in the general atmosphere of a regional pool tour stop, featuring an area’s best players. It has a way of ‘seeding the field,’ so to speak. Engaging newcomers to the intrinsic enjoyment of sports competition in the hopes that it might lead to individual participation. Maybe not, but Herman Parker, tour director of the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour, “gets requests for them all the time,” so he schedules Scotch Doubles tournaments, most recently this past weekend (Jan. 15-16), when the tour held a $200-added event that drew 19 teams to Corner Pocket in Fayetteville, NC.
The team of Jason Holmes and Sean Lee prevailed, although their road to the finals and event victory took a side trip to the semifinals, when the team of Josh Shultz and Tanya Willaford downed them in the hot seat match.
Holmes/Lee earned their place in that hot seat match with a 5-3 victory over Mike Soyka and Jason Williams in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Shultz/Willaford got there by sending Chad Weachter and Michael Shan to the loss side 5-2 in the other one. Shultz/Willaford punched Holmes/Lee’s ticket to the semifinals with a double hill victory in that hot seat match.
On the loss side, the Weachter/Shan team picked up the husband/wife team of Chris and Jacqui Rhoades, who’d recently eliminated Tyrone Davis and someone known only as “Lorenzo” in a double hill fight and then, defeated Chris Petoletti and Jason Rogers 5-4 (Petoletti/Rogers racing to 7). Soyka/Williams drew Justin Knuckles and Allie Tilley, who’d defeated Robert McDaniels and Kevin Williams, double hill, and Larry Moore and Lewis Croom 5-1.
The Rhoades family engaged their opponents in another double hill fight, but this time, their opponents – Weachter and Shan – won and advanced to the quarterfinals. Knuckles/Tilley joined them after handing Soyka/Williams their second straight loss, 5-1.
Knuckles and Tilley were able to advance one more step, downing Weachter/Shan 5-3 in those quarterfinals, but team Holmes/Lee had their sights set on a rematch and stopped Knuckles/Tilley 5-3 in the semifinals.
In what was reportedly their first outing as a team, Holmes and Lee moved on to the task of downing the hot seat occupants, Shultz and Willaford, twice. The opening set went double hill before Holmes/Lee finished it to even up the losses of the last two teams standing. Holmes/Lee won the second set 5-3 to claim the event title.
TD Herman Parker thanked the ownership and staff at Corner Pocket for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, BarPoolTables.net, Dirty South Grind Apparel Co., Realty One Group Results, Diamond Brat, AZBilliards.com, and Federal Savings Bank Mortgage Division. The next stop on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour will be a one-day affair, scheduled for this weekend (Jan. 22). The $500-added event will be hosted by Overtime Billiards in Columbia, SC.
In the absence of its last three champions (Jeffrey DeLuna last year and Dennis Orcollo, the two years before that), the 7th Annual Cole Dickson Memorial field of 104 entrants was, in a manner of speaking, wide open. In the midst of his best earnings year to date (according to our records), three-time state champion and the 2015 Billiard Education Foundation’s national junior 9-ball champion, California’s Chris Robinson came back from a loss in the hot seat match to win the $3,500-added event hosted by Family Billiards in San Francisco, CA on the weekend of June 29-30.
Robinson had to get by Rodrigo Geronimo twice, in the more or less traditional place for such double meetings; hot seat and finals. Robinson got into the hot seat match after a winners’ side quarterfinal victory over Shaun Kougioulis and a winners’ side semifinal win over Andrew McCloskey, both 8-6. Geronimo’s path went through Spencer Ladin (winners’ side quarterfinal) 8-3 and Jason Williams (winners’ side semifinal) 8-2. Geronimo claimed the hot seat 8-6 over Robinson and waited on his return.
On the loss side, Kevin Scheper, Harold Cajucom, Allen Lalic and Doug Whaley became the first cash winners in the event, falling to (respectively) Neal Vichiensaen (who finished 4th last year), Sargon Isaac, Bryce Avila and Ed Sinchai in the battles for 13th-16th place. Vichiensaen, Isaac, Avila and Sinchai advanced through the next round, in their battles against the recently-arrived competitors from the winners’ side quarterfinals. Isaac downed Spencer Ladin double hill, Avila defeated Kougioulis 6-2, Sinchai got by Robert Yulo 6-4 and Vichiensaen survived a double hill fight against Ernesto Dominguez.
Isaac then downed Vichiensaen 6-4 to pick up McCloskey, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Avila eliminated Sinchai 6-3 to draw Williams, who was looking to improve on his 5th/6th place finish last year (he’d won six on the loss side before being eliminated).
Isaac moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-2 win over McCloskey. Williams improved on his performance last year with a 6-4 victory over Avila that put him into the quarterfinals with Isaac. Williams’ run was ended by Isaac in the quarterfinals 6-3 (Williams would later chuckle at the notion that at his current pace, he’ll win the 10th Annual Cole Dickson Memorial in 2022).
Chris Robinson was having no part of a semifinal scenario that didn’t conclude with him facing Geronimo a second time. He allowed Isaac only a single rack in those semifinals and earned that second shot. He took full advantage of the opportunity, downing Geronimo 11-9 to win the 7th Annual Cole Dickson Memorial.
Tour representatives thanked Delbert Wong – a long-time personal friend of Cole Dickson and 32-year-owner of Family Billiards – and his staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Simonis Cloth, JB Cases, Jam Up Apparel, Joey Chin Custom Cues and West State Billiards. The event was streamed live and free on YouTube through the facilities of POVPool and Daniel Busch.
The draw for the 43rd US Open 9-Ball Championship has been made, with Jayson Shaw to begin his defense against Marcus Weston at Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas on Sunday, April 21.
The draw was seeded with a golf-style category system adopted, which took in rankings from across the pool world including WPA World Ranking, BCA Standings and Fargo Rating. As defending champion Shaw was seeded No.1, while five-time US Open champion Shane Van Boening is seeded second as the highest ranked American player.
Broadcast details for the 2019 US Open 9-Ball Championship will be announced shortly. Live rack-by-rack scoring will be available throughout the event at www.matchroompool.com thanks to Matchroom Multi Sport’s partnership with CueScore.
Note: Should any players featured in the draw not participate in the event, they will be replaced directly by the first player on the event waiting list to accept a spot in the tournament, irrespective of where the new player would have featured in any seeding category.
All matches at the US Open 9-Ball Championship takes place April 21-26 at Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas. Matches are race to 11, winner breaks, except the final which is race to 13. The draw and match schedule for the first stage of the tournament is available now at www.matchroompool.com.
Tickets for the 43rd US Open 9-Ball Championship are still available at www.matchroompool.com from as little as $10 with VIP packages also available for the final three days of the tournament.
The tournament will be split into two stages with the full field playing double elimination down to the final 16 from Sunday April 21st until Tuesday April 23rd across multiple tables. From Wednesday April 24th until Friday April 26th the final 16 players will play straight knockout in the TV Arena in front of a global television audience.
All things considered, the Philippines’ Jeffrey De Luna and the US of A’s Tony Chohan are pretty evenly matched. Their Fargo ratings are 36 points apart, with De Luna ahead (795-759). In races to 8, the odds are with De Luna at (approximately) 69% to 31%. Chohan has been at it longer, though not by much, and he certainly has a physical size advantage. They met twice – hot seat and finals – in the 6th Annual Cole Dickson Memorial Tournament, held on the weekend of June 30-July 1 at Family Billiards in San Francisco, CA, and De Luna won both matches to claim the event title. The event’s two-time defending champion, Dennis Orcollo, did not compete. The $3,000-added event, produced by West State Billiards and POVPool, drew 75 entrants, and was the first in a series of events (continuing on July 4th), collectively known as The West Coast Swing. The events were streamed live via the services of POVPool, with Daniel Busch and a variety of guest commentators throughout the weekend.
De Luna drew a bye in the opening round, and then defeated Von Ryan Mendoza, Jason Williams, Bonnie Og, and Yoli Handoko to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Ian Costello. Chohan, also awarded an opening round bye, got by Tommy Soria, Kevin Schiefer, Aldrin Geminano, and Ronnie Alcano to face Neil Vichiensaen in the other winners’ side semifinal.
De Luna downed Costello 8-4, as Chohan sent Vichiensaen west 8-3. In their first of two, battling for the hot seat, De Luna came out on top 8-6.
On the loss side, Vichiensaen picked up Jason Williams, who was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that had included most recent wins over Julio Burgos, double hill, and Geminano 6-2. Costello drew Lance Salazar, who was in the midst of an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that had most recently seen him eliminate Alcano and Gerald Bustos.
Salazar got by Costello 6-3, as Vichiensaen was busy shutting out Williams. Salazar took his impressive loss-side run one step further by eliminating Vichiensaen 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
Though he would fight Chohan tooth and nail to a deciding 11th game in their race to 6, Salazar was defeated by Chohan, who turned for a second shot at De Luna in the hot seat. The ‘second verse,’ was as same as the first. De Luna completed his undefeated run 8-6 to claim the 6th Annual Cole Dickson Memorial Title.
Event representatives thanked Delbert Wong and his Family Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Cohen Cues, Deflection Apparel, WestStateBilliards.com, KD Cues, Ariel Carmeli (AC) Cues, Tiger Products, and JB Cases. The West Coast Swing will continue, beginning on the 4th of July with a $5,000-added West Coast Challenge One Pocket event, and two days later (with some overlap), a $15,000-added West Coast Challenge 10-Ball event, both to be hosted by California Billiards in Fremont, CA. A week later, beginning on July 11, events on the West Coast Swing will shift to Tempe, AZ, where Freezer’s Ice House will host the $3,000-added 2018 Icehouse 1-Pocket Challenge and two days later (July 13, with again, some overlap), the $10,000-added, 2018 Icehouse 10-Ball Challenge.
Dennis Orcollo shoots under the watchful eye of Mika Immonen
"Cole Dickson was an icon from a bygone era, when pool was about the road; about rattletrap vehicles pulling into small towns, and road warriors hustling the locals for enough money to get to the next town with a stake." – Billiards Digest, 2013
It's hard to know how Cole Dickson and his contemporaries (Jimmy Mataya, Larry Schwartz, Billy Incardona and Grady Mathews, et al) would have fared had they emerged into the world of 21st century pool with its tournaments-all-over-the-place structure. Planes have replaced automobiles, and stepping into a given pool hall might expose you to a combination of the best in the country and world, instead of the hot shots within a country mile. As good as they all were, and some, to a degree, still are, they never had to walk into a pool hall in Iowa and face the likes of Dennis Orcollo from the Philippines, or Mika Immonen from Finland, neither of whom were born when Dickson was starting out on the road.
As the initial stop on a two-week blitz of West coast tournaments, known collectively as the West Coast Swing, the 5th Annual Cole Dickson Memorial Tournament was held on the weekend of July 1-2. Sponsored by West State Billiards and POVPool, the $2,500-added event drew 83 entrants to Family Billiards in San Francisco, and featured a finals matchup between the aforementioned (and defending champion) Dennis Orcollo and "The Iceman," Mika Immonen. Orcollo, coming off the heels of a five-match, loss-side winning streak, downed Immonen to claim his second straight Cole Dickson Memorial title.
With Orcollo already at work on the loss side, having been downed by Rodney Morris in a winners' side quarterfinal, Immonen advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Vilmos Foldes. Rodney Morris faced Family Billiards' room owner and long-time friend of Dickson, Delbert Wong in the other winners' side semifinal. Morris and Immonen advanced to the hot seat match; Morris 7-4 over Wong and The Iceman 7-2 over Foldes. Immonen claimed the hot seat 7-5 over Morris, and settled in for what proved to be a long wait for Dennis Orcollo to finish his loss-side campaign.
As if it weren't enough to be on the loss side at this stage of the proceedings, Orcollo opened that loss-side campaign against Francisco Bustamante, who'd just survived a tough double hill fight against a local veteran, Jason Williams. Orcollo eliminated Bustamante, and then, Lee Brett, to draw Foldes. Wong picked up Steve Lingelbach, who'd advanced past Santos Sambajon and Gus Briseño.
Orcollo downed Foldes 7-3, advancing to the quarterfinals. Wong joined him after a double hill win over Lingelbach. Though home room support went to the man who owned the room, Orcollo ended Wong's run 7-2, and then turned to what proved to be an epic re-match against Morris in the semifinals. The two battled to double hill before Orcollo finished it for a shot at the Iceman.
Though the final race-to-11 would show early, back-and-forth signs of becoming Orcollo's second straight double hill match, Robocop (as he's occasionally known) pulled away at the end to secure an 11-8 win and his second straight Cole Dickson Memorial title.
Skyler Woodward added 28 points to his Mosconi Cup ranking total on the weekend of October 7-10, with an undefeated run in the Men's Division of the 4th Annual Chinook Winds 10-Ball Championships. Woodward is 77 points behind the Mosconi Cup rankings leader, Shane Van Boening, and 32 points ahead of Rodney Morris, who finished in the tie for 5th. The $10,000-added event drew 100 entrants to the Chinook Winds Resort & Casino in Lincoln, OR. A $4,000-added Ladies Open event (still ongoing as of this writing) was run concurrently, and drew 29 entrants.
Woodward also won the Friday night "Warm Up" event, which drew 73 entrants, and featured three matches between Woodward and Morris; the hot seat match, won by Woodward, and the finals, which they split, with Woodward winning the decisive last match.
In the main event, two preliminary brackets yielded 16 competitors advancing to a final bracket of 32, 16 on each side. With memories of Friday night's "Warm Up" in place, Woodward and Morris were still in play to battle it out for the title (and Mosconi Cup points), though Morris, originally defeated, double hill, by Dan Louie in one of the preliminary brackets, was on the loss side.
In a winners' side quarterfinal, Woodward downed Todd Marsh 7-3 and advanced to face Chris McDaniel. Filipino Antonio Lining, in the meantime, survived a double hill battle versus Max Eberle to face Amar Kang in the other winners' side semifinal. Kang got by Lining 7-4 and in the hot seat match, faced Woodward, who'd sent McDaniel to the loss side 7-3.Woodward defeated Kang 7-4 and waited in the hot seat for what turned out to be Lining.
On the loss side (final bracket, after winning three in the preliminary bracket), Morris had gotten by Ruben Silva 7-5, Chris Byers 7-1 and Ramil Gallego 7-5 to draw Lining. McDaniel drew Chris Eberle, who'd defeated Christ "Spike" Airdo 7-3, and Jason Williams, double hill, to reach him.
The potential for a Woodward/Morris matchup in the finals was thwarted by a double hill win for Lining, who advanced to the quarterfinals. He was met by McDaniel, who defeated Eberle 7-2.
Lining gave up only a single rack to McDaniel in those quarterfinals, and turned for a re-match against Kang in the semifinals. He eliminated Kang ??-?? to earn a shot against Woodward. To no avail, as it turned out. Woodward made it a single set final with a double hill win to claim the event title.
With two more events having played out over the past weekend, veteran Rodney Morris still leads in the 28 event series as the chase for the three automatic spots on Team USA continues. With 12 events gone, there is everything to play for
With overseas players filling six of the top eight spots at the West Coast Challenge, it was Jason Williams who was the best placed American, finishing third with 28 points. Oscar Dominguez earned 18 points for his 7th place finish which was enough to maintain his second spot in the ranking and close the gap to just five points.
Elsewhere, on the Mid-West 9 Ball Tour in Olathe, Kansas it was veteran Robb Saez who bagged the top spot and with it 35 points to break in to the top ten. Skyler Woodward, who came in third place, moves up to fourth overall and is well positioned with plenty of events to come.
The 2016 Mosconi Cup takes place at the Alexandra Palace in London from 6th to 9th December. Three of the five spots on Team USA will be allocated to the three highest placed players on the ranking list following the conclusion of the US Open in October. A full list of all ranked players is available at http://www.matchroompool.com/mosconi-cup/#teamUSA
The roster of events has been significantly expanded from 2015 and this year there are now a total of 28 events which carry Mosconi Cup points. These events have been grouped into three categories: Category One is major international events both in the USA and overseas; Category Two is events played on 9 foot tables in the US and Category Three is events taking place in the US played on 7 ft tables.
The next events on the ranking list are the US Open 10 Ball and US Open 8 Ball at the Rio in Las Vegas from 20th to 25th July.
Going into the 8th Annual Chuck Markulis Memorial Tournament, an official Mosconi Cup Team USA ranking event, Rodney Morris was at the top of the rankings list that will be used to determine the members of the Mosconi Cup Team, set to compete in December. When it was over, Morris remained at the top of that list, adding points to his total as the runner-up to Hungary's Vilmos Foldes, who came back from a hot seat defeat at the hands of Morris to beat him in the finals. The $10,000-added event drew 78 entrants to Hard Times Billiards in Sacramento, CA on the weekend of May 14-15.
As organizers of the Mosconi Cup, Matchroom Pool sets standards regarding the varied tournaments that qualify as ranking events. Based on a variety of factors (money-added, participants, etc.), each qualifying event falls into one of three levels, each divided into separate grades. The Markulis Memorial fell into a Level Two, Grade Two category, which allots 40 ranking points to the winner, and 32 to the runner-up. According to Mosconi Cup captain Mark Wilson, these figures could be adjusted slightly, if, for example, an event failed to deliver on a stated amount of money-added, or total participants. In addition to the 32 points that Morris earned as runner-up in the Markulis Memorial (pending any adjustments), Oscar Dominguez, who came into the tournament in third place in the rankings (behind Morris and Mike Dechaine) picked up 22 points for his finish in the tie for 5th place. Hunter Lombardo, who entered the tournament at #7 on the rankings list, added 14 points to his total.
Morris and Foldes played their first match (together) of the Markulis Memorial, battling for the hot seat. Morris had just survived a double hill match against Tony Chohan, in which he'd been forced to come back from a major deficit. Foldes, in the meantime, sent Skippy Nikakis to the loss side 11-7. Morris claimed the hot seat over Foldes with an 11-5 win that proved to be his last.
On the loss side, Chohan picked up Oscar Dominguez, who'd chalked up a win against his father, Ernesto, by forfeit (the two never compete against each other in tournaments, the father always deferring to the son) and then, defeated Francis Ritarita 9-6. Nikakis drew Amar Kang, who, following a defeat at the hands of Morris, had eliminated Jason Williams 9-6 and Rudy Estoque 9-5.
Kang defeated Nikakis 9-2 and advanced to the quarterfinals against Chohan, who'd defeated Dominguez 9-2, stopping Dominguez' quest for added Mosconi Cup ranking points at 22. Kang then ended Chohan's weekend with a 9-6 victory before himself being eliminated by Foldes in the semifinals 9-3.
Foldes turned his attention to a re-match against Morris. In a strong reversal of fortunes, Foldes defeated Morris 13-4 in the single set final.
Going into the tournament, Foldes was not among the top 11 players vying for ranking points for selection to the European team, nor was the Markulis Memorial among the qualifying events for selection to the team (the US Open 9-Ball Championship is the only American qualifying event among 13 for selection to that team). There are 27 qualifying events for ranking points leading to a selection for the US team, three of which are overseas – The WPA World 9-Ball Championships in Qatar, The WPA China Open in Shanghai, and The WPA Kuwait Open. A full schedule of qualifying events for the US team can be found here at http://www.azbilliards.com/news/stories/12484-mosconi-cup-team-usa-qualification-schedule/. The schedule for European events can be found at the Matchroom Pool Web site – http://www.matchroompool.com/mosconi-cup/#teamEurope.
The Mezz West State Tour is back after a successful end to season 2 with some improvements for season 3. Traditionally, MWST were $2000 added, however, with the addition of several sponsors, we were able to push that added money to a standard of $2500 each event, with 18 events scheduled.
The first stop proved to be a successful one with 106 players from all over the west coast assembling at one of America's finest pool rooms, Hard Times Billiards. Room owners Mike and Karen Markulis are some of the biggest supporters of tournaments for decades and their love for their players continues. The MWST is proud to have three events this season at Hard Times and all the players have rave reviews on playing on their pristine equipment.
Leading the top half of the field was Stockton, CA young gun, Francis Ritarita. Francis, rated a 7 on our tour, has improved dramatically as his play is steadily becoming more consistent. With wins over Aaron Thompson, Bobby Yamasaki, Brendan Crockett, Cole Gibbons, Rudy Estoque, and Tommy "Too Good" Soria; Francis was able to play for the hot seat with solid play for two consecutive days.
The bottom half of the bracket was littered with professional players by the luck of the draw. Heavy hitters such as Mika Immonen, Rodney Morris, Ruben Bautista, Sal Butera, Amar Kang, and Oscar Dominguez all were placed in neighboring positions. However, it was Hungarian sharpshooter and former Junior World Champion, Vilmos Foldes who swam through a river of sharks. His victories included wins over Amar Kang, Jason Freeman, Jaynard Orque, Rodney Morris, Oscar Dominguez, and Jason Williams to set up the hot seat match between Francis Ritarita and himself. However, it was the seasoned pro who put a temporary halt to Ritarita's Cinderalla run to the finals with a dominating 9-4 scoreline.
While Vilmos Foldes dispatched top players to the B side of the chart, it set up marquee matches on who would face the Hungarian for the finals. World Champion Mika Immonen succumbed to San Francisco native, Rylan Hartnett who played excellent to defeat the Finnish champ to a 9-12 finish. The current points leader to the Mosconi Cup points race, Rodney Morris had a massive run through the one loss side with wins over Brendan Crockett, Ernesto Dominguez, Skip Nikakis, and Jason Williams. It wasnt until he faced Oscar Dominguez who himself had recorded several consecutive wins where Dominguez put a halt to the Rocket's quest for first prize. It was Dominguez who then faced Francis Ritarita in the finals of the one loss side and Francis led 8-6 in a race to 9. However, with some gritty safety shots and play, Oscar took the match to end Francis' vision of being the first 7 to win a MWST stop.
The single race finals to 11 between Vilmos Foldes and Oscar Dominguez was an epic battle to say the least These two players fought tooth and nail for every inning and after a quick 6-3 lead by Foldes, a slight hiccup gave all the opportunity Dominguez needed to come storming back. After the dust settled, it was Dominguez who emerged victorious with an 11-8 scoreline and earned himself the first win of season 3 on the Mezz West State Tour.
The staff at MWST would like to thank the Markulis Family and the staff at Hard Times Billiards in Sacramento for all their hard work and continued support. In addition, none of this would be possible without our loyal sponsors which include: Mezz Cues (Mezzcue.com), West State Billiards Supply (WestStateBilliards.com), Aramith Billiard Balls (Saluc.com), Andy Billiard Cloth (AndyClothUSA.com), Turtle Rack (MezzWestStateTour.com), ZAN Tips (ZAN-Tip.com), Tony Rodriguez of RE/MAX Gold Coast Real Estate, Kurzweil's Country Meats (KurzweilCountryMeats.com), James Hanshew Custom Cues (HanshewCustomCues.com), Cue Sports International (playcsipool.com), Fast and Loose Designs (FastnLooseDesigns.com), Contact Point Media, and On The Wire Creative Media (OTWPromotions.com)
At the top half of the bracket, Mika Immonen was doing major damage with wins over Ceasar Tejeda, Paul Silva, Jason Williams. Beau Runningen, Melissa Herndon and Joey Chin before running into Amar Kang for the Hot Seat match. Amar made his way through the bottom half of the bracket with wins over Bobby Lees, John Nekali, Ronnie Rodas, Rodney Wynn and Oscar Dominguez.
The hot seat match between Kang and Immonen was an exciting one! Both players traded racks back and forth before Kang made two errors, which Immonen capitalized on, allowing him to find victory and take the hot seat.
Meanwhile Rodney Morris who was defeated in the winners side fourth round by top 7 Phil Prentice, was grinding through players Greg Harada, Jeff Padjan, Rodney Wynn, Vilmos Foldes and Joey Chin. This winning streak lead him to the 4th place match against tour owner Oscar Dominguez who was beaten by Amar Kang in the semi-finals. Morris made some uncharacteristic mistakes which Dominguez punished him for. Dominguez would find quick victory over Morris 9-4. Dominguez then went on to face a tough Amar Kang for a chance at the finals. Kang played flawlessly and Dominguez seemed to run out of steam and despite putting up a battle, lost to Kang 9-5. This win sent Kang back to the finals for another chance at Immonen.
The finals between Amar Kang and Mika Immonen was one for the books. Each player, made incredible outs and showed off their top notch safety game and shot making. This match not only went back and forth, but went hill-hill in the single race to 11. The final rack, Immonen scratched on the break, giving Amar an open table with ball in hand. Once Kang ran out to the 8 ball, everyone thought it was over. Kang shot and made the 8 ball but unfortunately scratched in the side pocket, leaving Immonen with ball in hand on the 9 ball for the victory.
The Mezz West State Tour would like to thank all their sponsors: Mezz Cues (Miki-Mezz.com), West State Billiard Supply (WestStateBilliards.com), Ozzy Reynolds and CSI (PlayCSIPool.com), Ladin Hyundai and Subaru (LadinAutoGroup.com),Zan Tips (Zan-Tip.com), Taom Break/Jump Tips (TaomTips.com), Andy Cloth (AndyCloth.com), PiUs Company, So Cal Tap League, Kurzweil Country Meats, fast&loose desgins (fastnloosedesigns.com), Contact Point Media, Turtle Rack, NYC Grind (NYCGrind.com) and AZ Billiards (AZBilliards.com).
We would also like to thank Sheri Dadian and her mother Pat, along with the entire Diamond Billiards staff for hosting the event. We would also like to thank all the players for coming out and supporting the tour.
