Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz avoided an early exit coming from 6-0 down on the opening day of the inaugural UK Open Pool Championship at the Copper Box Arena, London live on the Matchroom Pool Facebook and YouTube pages as well as Matchroom.Live worldwide.
256 players descended on one of London’s most iconic sporting venues for a piece of history as they gun to become the first player to claim the UK Open title and a share of the $200,000 prize fund as the opening round and Losers Round 1 saw the first 16 players leave the tournament and leave many in a perilous position with the remaining losers round matches set to get underway tomorrow morning ahead of Winners Round 1.
Fans were treated to two live streams for free wherever they are in the world thanks to the Matchroom Pool Facebook and YouTube pages as well as on Matchroom.Live and on betting websites around the world and they were not disappointed.
Sanchez Ruiz lost his opening match of the tournament against South Africa’s Jason Theron from 6-3 up to face Ashik Nathawani in one of the opening Losers Round encounters to keep his spot in the tournament. The Spaniard has had a good year of it so far and is one of the Mosconi Cup Team Europe hopefuls, but it was nearly curtains as Nathwani took hold with a 6-0 lead and only three from victory, but Sanchez Ruiz rallied from that point onwards to put on the performance of the opening day in a dramatic hill-hill victory.
Fresh off the back of claiming the title at Nineball Ranking Event, the Bucharest Open on Sunday, Ko Pin Yi made light work of Chun Hao Man 9-2 to kick off Table 1 action before one of the home favourites in Chris Melling put on a fine display to hand a donut to Petr Urban in a cruising 9-0 victory inside 40 minutes. The speediness of Melling’s showing wasn’t the last performance of such nature as both recent World Pool Masters winner Joshua Filler and two-time World Champion Albin Ouschan rattled off emphatic wins of the same scoreline against Robert Hart and Sergio Lagunas, respectively.
With over 38% of the field British, there was plenty of support for the home nations as World Snooker Ranking Event winner Martin Gould got off to a winning start in his first appearance in a Nineball tournament since the early 2000s to beat Tashunka Schultz to set up an all Brit affair with Elliott Sanderson in the Winners Round 1 tomorrow whilst fellow World Snooker Tour player Gary Wilson, a former Crucible semi-finalist showed off his first forway into another cue sport discipline in a 9-6 win over America’s Blaine Barcus. Another notable name from the world of snooker in Fraser Patrick overcome fellow Scot David Black.
Wilson said: “It was getting a bit twitchy. It was too close for my liking. I was 4-1 up. It was a scrappy game. I am trying to get used to the conditions and work out what’s going on. I tried my best to keep potting balls and getting onto the next one. The tables are so different, it is skiddier and more reactive. It took us a few racks to work it out. I am learning as a go and hopefully, I can improve”
Two-time Mosconi Cup MVP Jayson Shaw comfortably pulled through against Ali Hirji Kheraj whilst newly crowned World Champion Shane Van Boening didn’t seem to break swear in another 9-0 win on Table 1 over James Channon.
Action continues tomorrow morning from 9am in the arena before streaming coverage begins from 10am on Table 1 and 2. See below the schedule of matches.
The final two days are available on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland as well as on Viaplay in Scandinavia and the Baltics and various other broadcasters worldwide including Matchroom.Live in relevant countries. See the full where to watch list here.
Tickets start from £15 for the day and £85 for the week using the code UKOPEN at checkout. Secure yours here
Nearly 2,000 entrants, with some event crossovers, compete in Amateur events
As of March 31, three weeks before the Super Billiards Expo opened its doors, the Diamond Open NineBall Professional Players Championship was designated as an Official Nineball World Ranking event, and while it did not literally draw its entrance field from everywhere, there was a very evident sense of international competition. The final 16 featured representation from the US (five) and 11 competitors from seven foreign countries – Austria, Germany (2), Russia, the UK (2), Canada (2), the Philippines and Hong Kong (2). The international ‘feel’ of the event was most evident in what was easily among (if not “the”) most anticipated matchup of the four-day event, between the UK’s Jayson Shaw and Russia’s Fedor Gorst. The matchup, which occurred in the single-elimination quarterfinals, lived up to its billing, as the two battled to double hill before Shaw advanced. More on this later, along with the final matchup between Shaw and Darren Appleton, which waited until the 17th of its potential 21 games before Shaw pulled away to win the next two and claim the title.
There were quite a few “wish I coulda been there” matches throughout the event’s four days, up to and including matches among the final 16, which were, for obvious reasons, witnessed by the SBE’s largest crowds in the Pro arena. Pre-single-elimination, there was the double hill battle between Shaw and Billy Thorpe, which moved Shaw into the final 16, the Fedor Gorst and Ralf Souquet (new school/old school) match that sent Gorst to the final 16, and Appleton’s two straight double hill matches; one win (Jeff Beckley) and one loss (Mhet Vergara), which sent “Dynamite” to the loss side, where a single win, over Bucky Souvanthong, sent him (Appleton) to the final 16. And, as always, any match featuring Earl Strickland as a competitor is always entertaining, whether because of exuberant antics or just plain rock-solid shooting.
The Shaw/Gorst match followed a Shaw “Sweet 16” victory over John Morra 11-6 and a Gorst win over Thorsten Hohmann 11-8. Gorst opened with two straight racks and kept that as a minimum lead until rack #17. By the 12th rack, Gorst was leading by four. Two straight racks that featured Shaw dropping a combination shot that dropped the 9-ball cut that lead in half. Gorst went three-up at 9-6, but Shaw came right back with a break and run that reduced it to two again.
Off a Gorst break, Shaw narrowed the lead to one until that 17th rack, when Shaw came within one. Shaw broke the 18th, but turned the table over briefly, before, with a second chance, he dropped a 3-9 combination that yielded the match’s first tie. Gorst dropped two balls on his break, but Shaw came through to get on the hill with his first lead of the match. Gorst, with a scratch-on-the-break assist from Shaw, made it interesting by winning the 20th, double hill rack.
Gorst broke dry in the deciding rack, but Shaw turned the table back over to Gorst, who promptly scratched shooting at the 2-ball. Shaw ran to the 8-ball and Gorst conceded the game and match.
Moving into the semifinals, Shaw drew Mario He, who’d earlier defeated Jonathan Pinegar 11-7 and Oscar Dominguez 11-9. Appleton’s path to the finals from the final 16 started out against Earl Strickland. He got by him 11-6 and then downed Joseph Spence 11-3. In the semifinals, Appleton drew Billy Thorpe, who’d recently eliminated Robbie Capito 11-9 and Souquet 11-8.
Shaw downed He 11-7, as Appleton was busy dispatching Thorpe 11-4. The all-UK battle was on.
In the early going of the finals, it appeared as though neither of them was going to win a rack off their own break. Appleton won the lag, broke dry and Shaw ran the table to take a 1-0 lead. Shaw broke, dropping two balls and scratching. Appleton set up a 1-9 combination to tie it up. They went back and forth like this, winning the other’s break to a single game lead for Shaw at 4-3.
Shaw broke the 8th rack, dropped one, and after giving the table back to Appleton briefly, won the rack, his first off his own break, to take the game’s first two-game lead. He made it a three-game lead (his first of two), before Appleton chalked up two in a row to make it 6-5. Shaw used a terrific jump shot at the 2-ball to maintain his run of rack #12. On Appleton’s break of rack #13, he dropped one ball, but almost immediately gave the table to Shaw, who missed hitting the 1-ball, completely. Shaw saw an obvious 1-9 combination awaiting Appleton’s arrival at the table, so, gentleman that he was, he picked up the cue ball and placed it in the position it needed to be for Appleton to make the combination. He did so without handling the cue ball Shaw had set for him.
Shaw dropped two balls on the break of rack #14 and used another terrific jump shot to jumpstart his third win off his own break and then, off Darren’s break, established his second three-rack lead at 9-6. Appleton fought right back, winning the next two and including his own terrific jump shot at the 1-ball that started his 8th game win.
Ahead by a single rack at 9-8, Shaw broke and ran the 18th (his fourth win off his own break) to reach the hill first. Darren broke the 19th rack, sinking one ball, but couldn’t see the 1-ball. He pushed (the one and only time that happened all match) and Shaw finished the game to claim the event title.
Amateur events draw 35 shy of 2,000 entrants
Not including the two junior events for ages 17/Under and 12/under, the total entrants for which were not recorded, the nine amateur events of the 2022 SBE drew a total of 1,965 entrants (with some crossover between events). This brought the total number of participating pool players to 2,101. The two Pro events (73 Open and 63 Women) thus represented just 6% of the total number of players who competed this year. Trying to detail 9 events, especially the 996-entrant Open Amateur would be unwieldy, so we offer some information about and congratulations to the 94% percent who were the largest participating contingent of pool players at the 2022 SBE.
Some of the best players in the country showed up to participate in the 21st Annual 4-Bears 8-Ball Classic, April 19th-22nd, 2012 held at the 4-Bears Casino in New Town, ND.
Thursday’s $3,000 added 9-ball mini tournament didn’t turnout to be so mini with 86 players signed up before the 5 PM deadline. The field consisted of many of the top pros and amateurs from across the country. In the finals it was pros, Jeff Beckley who won the host-seat match and John Morra winner of the loser’s side match. Morra would have to win 2-sets races to 9 to win the title and was up for the challenge by winning the 1st set 9-4. In the second set, Beckley rallied back to win 9-7 and earn his first 4-Bears Classic title and a purse of $1,300.00.
By Thursday’s 5:00 PM deadline, 128-players had maxed out the field abandoning some extra players, so the committee decided to open up the field so that ALL 149-players could participate in this year’s main event.
Jeff Beckley, Reno Open 8-ball winner and just winning the 9-ball classic had his eyes set on winning back-to-back-to back championships, which proved to be a little too much by exiting early with a 25th-32nd finish in the 8-ball event. However Beckley wasn’t the only professional to exit early, Shane Van Boening and defending champion Lee Huewagen also failed to make the money and/or the final 32-redraw.
Mark Haddad of Colorado and Jesse Engel of Minnesota paired up in the 8-ball championship final match. Mark who went undefeated though the winner’s side brackets and Jesse winning from the 1-lose side bracket, and once again just like the 9-ball event Jesse would have to beat Mark twice to win the title. Jesse proved he had a shot at the title winning the 1st match 7-4. Mark’s strong play continued as he won the second set 7-4 to win the title, cash and was awarded an embroidered jacket for his efforts.
The women’s division was just as tough which included some of the best players from North & South Dakotas, Montana and two top WPBA touring professionals Nicole Keeney and Melissa Little. But in the end it came down to Melissa and Nicole in the finals. And just like the men’s event Nicole would have to beat Melissa twice, in two-sets race to 5 to win the championships. The first TV match went to Nicole winning 5-3 and in the second match Nicole squeaked by with another 5-3 win over Melissa to win the championship and 1st place purse of $1,500. 00
The committee would like to thank all of the players who played is this years championships, Big Truck from Texas for televising the Internet matches, all the vendors and sponsors. And a special thanks to our host; The Four Bears Casino and Lodge, including all of their employees and general manager Pat Packinuea.
The Mezz Pro-Am made its way to Mainline Billiards in Frazer Pa on Sunday March 4th with a strong field of 35 Players including such notables as Sean “Alaska” Morgan, Randy Schwager, Jeff Beckley, Matt Krah, Eddie Abraham, and Lee Holt..
Leading the top half of the bracket was Morgan with wins over Lou Loupy Patrikios 7-6, Ed Huckleberry 7-5, Tom Bow 7-4, and Eddie Abraham 7-2. Leading the bottom half of the bracket was Randy Schwager with wins over Mark Horn 7-6, Bob Milane 7-1, Pam Cimarelli 7-2, and Jeff Beckley 7-3.
Playing for the hot seat was Sean Morgan vs Randy Schwager. This match was all Morgan as he won easily 7-3 sending Randy Schwager to the one loss side.
Waiting for Schwager on the one loss side was Jeff Beckley, looking for a little revenge over the man who sent him to the one loss side. Beckley would come up one game short of getting that revenge as Schwager won the match 6-5.
The double elimination finals only went one set with Morgan scoring a 6-4 victory to take first place in the event.
I would like to thank all the players that came out to play and all of the sponsors.
USBTC 8-Ball Champion, Jeff Beckley, at work in the TAR arena
CSI’s 19th Annual US Bar Table Championships concluded Sunday, with Jeff Beckley going undefeated in the 8-Ball Division. The first year for the USTBC at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino was a rousing success. It’s been a fantastic week of championship caliber pool, with outstanding performances in all three divisions: 10-Ball, 9-Ball and 8-Ball.
The 8-Ball Division kicked off on Friday, with 189 entries in the Men’s Division and 46 entries in the Women’s Division. All tables were in play, as there were three tournaments being contested simultaneously, the Men’s and Women’s USTBC 8-Ball, and a WorldPPA handicapped 9-Ball Tournament.
Jeff Beckley, who hails from Indiana, had an impressive tournament run. Jeff finished undefeated, and notched wins over notable players such as Jose Parica, Larry Nevel, Francisco Bustamante and Robb Saez. His win/loss totals were an impressive 45-18.
Jeff started out the final day, with a hotseat match with Francisco Bustamante. Jeff played solid and capitalized on a few uncharacteristic mistakes from Francisco. Francisco was a favorite going in, as he had a very impressive run on Saturday. Jeff sent Francisco to the losers bracket with a 5-3 win and then went back to his room to relax until his 7:00 match.
Meanwhile, Robb Saez was all business on Sunday. His eyes were set on Jeff Beckley, but he would have to beat a host of champions to get there. Robb started off by knocking out Rodney Morris 5-2, then sent Larry Nevel packing with a 5-0 win. Next up for Robb was Oscar Dominguez, who was having a great tournament himself.
Oscar was sent to the losers side late Saturday night by Francisco Bustamante, in a match where Oscar would get only two shots. Francisco broke and ran the first game. When Oscar broke the next game, the cue ball got kicked in and Francisco ran out. Then, Francisco broke and ran out. When Oscar broke the next game, the cue ball was kicked in again, and Francisco ran out. Francisco then broke and ran the final game, for a 5-0 win. In all, Oscar had only two shots in the match, both break shots.
Oscar would give Robb all he could handle though on Sunday, and they went hill-hill with Robb needing to bank his last solid cross side and draw his cueball into the 8-ball, which was tied up on another ball. It was a do or die shot, where any part of the shot going wrong would result in an easy out and a win for Oscar. Undaunted, Robb drilled the bank and drew softly into the 8-ball, freeing it up for an easy shot to win the set.
Up next for Robb, was Francisco Bustamante. Robb had everything rolling for him though at this point, and great play and a few rolls allowed him to move on to the finals with a 5-4 victory over “Django.”
The finals got underway at 7:00 pm with Robb Saez needing to beat Jeff Beckley twice. Up until this point, it seemed destiny was on Robb’s side, but Jeff was not going to be denied. First Jeff got an early lead at 3-0, then Robb crept back with a couple of games. Jeff got to the hill first, and had a few opportunities to close out the match, but couldn’t cash in on them. Jeff would need to keep his composure and put his missed opportunities behind him, if he wanted to end this in one set. Jeff would keep it together, and with a straight in 8-ball down the rail, he won his first USBTC 8-Ball Title.
Congratulations to Jeff Beckley with his 1st place finish and Robb Saez for finishing 2nd. Francisco Bustamante finished 3rd and Oscar Dominguez came in 4th. First paid $5700, 2nd paid $3300, 3rd paid $2000 and 4th paid 1200.
On the Women’s side, Stacy Allsup went undefeated and matched up with Melissa Little in the finals. Melissa would need to beat Stacy two sets to come out on top, but fell short, losing the first set 4-2. Congratulations to Stacy Allsup on her 1st place finish pocketing $875, and Melissa Little on her 2nd place finish and a $550 prize.
In the All Around Bonus, there was a three way tie for 1st place, between Shane Van Boening, Glenn Atwell and Jeff Beckley. They split $3500 in added Bonus money provided by CSI. On the Women’s side, Rebecca Wagner took home an additional $500 for 1st place and Stacy Allsup took home $250.
CSI would like to thank the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino for providing a perfect venue for the USBTC Championship. Thanks to Ric, Bonnie and Ken Jones with Bad Boys Billiard Productions for all they do in setting up and running this great event. Bad Boys would like to thank Bret Baker and Janet Okomoto for volunteering their time to assist them. CSI would like to thank Bill Stock for assisting Bad Boys on the Tournament Directors staff and the long hours he’s had this year at DCC, Swanee and USBTC.
CSI would like to recognize Justin Collett and TAR for providing daily live streaming of the event with the high quality production we all have come to expect from them.
TAR would like to thank OB Cues for sponsoring the live streaming and Kamui Tips and AZBilliards for their additional support. Also, Ken Shuman for his professional commentating all week on the live stream. Special thanks to Andy Chen & Greg Koch (“CaliRed”) for their long hours running cameras for the live stream.
Most of all, CSI would like to thank the players, the fans, and the pool community for making this event a success. CSI would especially like to thank their own CSI family at the home office, who put in all the hard work behind the scenes, that are required to put together these large tournaments. On behalf of Mark Griffin and the entire CSI Staff, thanks to all of you for another successful and entertaining event.
Shannon Daulton went undefeated including two wins over Travis Stamper to win The 2001 Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour National Championship. In a tournament that saw a number of players take advantage of the small fee to guarantee a spot in the tournament, and then not show up to play, which left some matches up to a toss of the coin as to which absent player would get credit for the win, Daulton was unlucky enough to not get one bye.
Daulton started the tourney with a 9-1 win over Bobby Renner, followed by a 9-6 win over James Myers. The six games that Myers won would be the most any player scored against Daulton. A 9-4 win over Jeff Beckley was followed by a 9-2 win over 1998 Tour Points leader Dee Adkins. Daulton then defeated Kirk Stevens 9-1 before notching back-to-back 9-5 wins over Sammy Monday and Jose Parica.
This set up the match for the hot seat where Daulton cruised to a 9-3 win over Stamper. Stamper moved to the one-loss side of the board where he eliminated Jose Parica by the score of 9-7 to set up the rematch with Daulton but Daulton was too much for Stamper as he cruised to a 9-4 win for the tournament.
Daulton collected $5,000 for first while Stamper settled for $4,000 for second. Parica and Jason Kirkwood filled out the top 4 spots.
