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T-Rex Chohan goes undefeated to claim West Coast Challenge One Pocket title

Tony Chohan (Photo courtesy of Erwin Dionisio)

There are times when the game of One Pocket, played by top professionals, can be riveting to watch. To the point, sometimes, where the end result is less significant than the matches themselves; the journey, more important than the destination. Such was the case in the final match of the West Coast Swing’s (WCS) second tournament, the $5,000-added West Coast Challenge One Pocket, which drew 51 entrants to California Billiards in Fremont, CA. Three days after finishing as runner-up to Jeffrey De Luna in the 6th Annual Cole Dickson Memorial (Stop #1 on the WCS), Tony Chohan (aka T-Rex) stepped up to the tables and went undefeated to grab the One Pocket title of the WCS. He was challenged in the hot seat match by the event’s defending champion, Dennis Orcollo, and, in the finals, by Shane Van Boening, whom he’d sent to the loss side in the event’s third round. Their final match was a grind that, in spite of the game’s tendency to create long periods of relative inactivity as the players jockey for table position, proved to be about as riveting as any One Pocket match can be to watch (available via POVPool’s archives on You Tube).
 
Chohan opened his undefeated bid with victories over Jay Helfert and Ed Neves, both 4-1, before running into Van Boening the first time. He defeated Van Boening 4-2, and then sent Ian Costello (4-1) to the loss side, drawing Warren Kiamco in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Orcollo, in the meantime, having defeated Jeff Sullivan 4-0, Robert Ohashi 4-1. Jeff Gregory 4-2 and arguably one of the planet’s best overall players, Jayson Shaw 4-2, picked up Alex Pagulayan in the other winners’ side semifinal.
 
Chohan advanced to the hot seat match 4-2 over Kiamco, as Orcollo was busy sending Pagulayan to the loss side in a double hill win. Chohan shut Orcollo out to claim the hot seat, sending him off to a semifinal match against Van Boening.  
 
On the loss side, Pagulayan picked up Chris McDaniel, who’d given up just a single game in two matches against Omar Alshaheen (0) and Ian Costello (1) to reach him. Kiamco drew Van Boening, who, following his defeat at the hands of Chohan, had won four matches, including recent victories in which he’d eliminated Shaw and Brandon Shuff, both 3-1.
 
Pagulayan and Van Boening advanced to the quarterfinals; Pagulayan 3-1 over McDaniel, and Van Boening 3-1 over Kiamco. Van Boening and The Lion locked up in a double hill fight in those quarterfinals, eventually won by Van Boening. He then defeated Orcollo 3-1 in the semifinals to earn himself a second shot at Chohan.
 
As one might expect from a battle between a T-Rex and a ‘kid’ from South Dakota, the beast won it. They battled back and forth to a 2-2 tie in their race to 5, after which Chohan took over and won the next and final three to claim the event title.
 
Representatives of POVPool (Daniel Busch) and West State Billiards thanked the ownership and staff at California Billiards, as well as sponsors  Cohen Cues, Big Time Threads, WestStateBilliards.com, KD Cues, Ariel Carmeli (AC) Cues, Tiger Products, and JB Cases. The West Coast Swing is on-going with the $15,000-added, West Coast Challenge 10-Ball event, already underway (as of yesterday, Friday, July 6) and expected to conclude by Sunday night, July 8. Three days later, beginning on July 11th, the same group of players will (presumably) move on to Tempe, AZ for the $3,000-added, Freezer’s Icehouse One Pocket and $10,000-added 10-Ball Challenges.
 
Busch and his POVPool crew will be streaming these events throughout the next week, as well as offering archived matches to those who will, for whatever reason, miss them as they’re happening.
 

Oscar Dominguez Wins Mezz Tour Stop #6 at Edgies in Milpitas

The weekend of August 8-9, 2015 a total of 80 players from all over the west coast, along with several special guests from Philippines, came to compete in the Mezz West State Tour. This event was originally scheduled to be the grand re-opening of California Billiards Club, however, due to a cancellation by the city inspectors, the final inspection was moved to the following weekend after the tour stop. Fortunately, the room owners of the nearest pool room, Edgies Billiards in Milpitas, CA came to the rescue to host stop #6 with only a week's notice. Room owners Sue and Tony went above and beyond to accommodate the stop and everyone commented on how great the event went on their 23 gold crowns.
 
The field was star-studded with players like Jeffery Ignacio, Mika Immonen, Rodney Morris, Oliver Medenilla, Raymond Fararon and Corey Deuel. Lots of strong local players like Rodney Wynn, Paul Silva, Frank Robutz and Brian Parks were also in attendance. 
 
With all of those monsters in the field, there was no easy draw.  In the bottom portion of the bracket, first round was a thrilling matchup between one of the Bay area's top players, Jason Williams and Filipino young gun, Jeffery Ignacio. This match was one not to missed as Jeffery won hill-hill, grinding back from an 8-6 deficit. Jeffery would then find victory over Jimmy Qu, David Espinoza, Alex Aguiar and Ernesto Dominguez before tasting defeat from his road partner Oliver Medenilla in the quater finals. Oliver made his way there with wins over Chris Santana, Larry Bohn, Paul Silva and Yoli Handoko. Oliver played a fantastic set against Jeffery and with that win, found himself playing for the hot seat against tour owner, Oscar Dominguez.  Oscar Dominguez made his way through the monster bracket with wins over Corey Deuel, Beau Runningen, Frank Robutz and Bill Skinner. 
 
The hot seat match was a grinder, going back and forth up until it reached 7-7. Oscar then capitalized on a mistake by Medenilla, allowing himself to win the hot seat 9-7. 
 
Meanwhile, on the losers side Brian Parks won seven straight matches over players Michael Langarica, Colin Manzika, Ian Costello, Jaynard Orque, Paul Silva, Jeff Gregory and Mika Immonen before running into Rodney Morris in the 7-8th bracket, where he would find defeat. Rodney Morris went on to win over Jerffery Ignacio and Raymond Fararon. Those victories put in the semi-finals playing Oliver Medenilla for a chance to face Oscar Dominguez in the finals. Unfortunately for Rodney, he was unable to overcome Medenilla and was forced to settle for 3rd. 
 
The finals was a race to 11 and also a rematch from the earlier hotseat match between Oscar Dominguez and Oliver Medenilla. This too was a nail biter. It remained close up until Oscar had the lead at 9-7, when Medenilla fouled and allowed Dominguez to get onto the hill. Medenilla also fell victim to Dominguez the following game and Dominguez would win 11-7. 
 
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 Tony and Sue, along with the entire Edgie's Billiards staff for hosting the event. We would also like to thank all the players for coming out and supporting the tour. 
 
Also, congrats to Tina Malm for snagging the Top Female $100 bonus!
 

Jaynard Orque Wins Mezz West State Tour Stop #2 at Hard Times Billiards Sacramento

Jaynard Orque and Ernesto Dominguez

The Mezz West State Tour kicked off its second stop of the season at Hard Times Billiards in Sacramento, CA. The beautiful room of 31 pool tables offered a premium setting for players along with bleacher seating for spectators.  A big thank you goes out to Mike and Karen Markulis and their entire staff for supporting our sport and having one of the premier rooms in the country.
 
After a successful first stop in Los Angeles, the energy and excitement of the tour went north garnering a very strong field of 68 players who played on the very tight equipment Hard Times Sacramento had to offer. The top half of the field was littered with strong players such as returning winner of stop number one, Rodrigo Geronimo of the Philippines. San Francisco bay area resident, Jaynard Orque had a very impressive showing of smooth play with wins over Nick Callado, Oscar Dominguez, Jeff Gregory, John Henderson, before he stumbled to Ernesto Dominguez in the semis. The 59 year old Ernesto had a 1985 flashback winning matches with excellent safety play and decision making. Ernesto won the hot seat over the always dangerous Los Angeles player, Ramin Bakhtiari.
 
Once on the losers side, Jaynard Orque showed his shot making ability on the table defeating Amar Kang, Oscar Dominguez, and Ramin Bakhtiari consecutively in very close matches to get another chance at Ernesto waiting in the hotseat. In the true double elimination format, Jaynard easily ran away with the first set and defeated Ernesto hill-hill in a tense battle in set number two. The Filipino young gun demonstrated a solid game on extremely challenging equipment and earned $1400 for his efforts. Ernesto settled for $1000.
 
The top female prize was split between two strong female players from California, MaryAnn Starkey and Barbara Lee
 
Oscar and Desiree of the Mezz West State Tour would like to thank all our sponsors: Mezz Cues, West State Billiard Supply, ZAN tips, Turtle Rack, Fast&Loose designs, and our media sponsors; AZBilliards, NYCGrind, and POV Pool. Also, a very special thank you to Chris Kurzweils of Kurzweils Country Meats who donated snacks and jerky to the players and spectators of Hard Times Billiards.
 
Next stop on the tour schedule is Diamond Billiards in Fresno, CA. For more information please the contact us tab at mezzweststatetour.com or visit our Mezz West State Tour Facebook page. We thank you for your support and look forward to bringing pool back to the West!

Louis Ulrich Claims Chet Itow Memorial


February 24th & 25th, 2012; there was certainly something for everyone in Mountain View, CA., thanks to the infamous California Billiard Club, its owner Chris Swart who hosted the 3rd Annual Chet Itow Memorial 9-Ball Tournament.  Nuclear engineer “Chet” who created and built this great venue was honored in the grand style, which was indicative of the great efforts that he put into the creation of the hall. The true “double elimination” event kicked off at noon on Saturday, February 25th with a race to 8 on both sides, and a winner break format.
 
Any one of the over 4,000 pool enthusiasts who tuned in this last weekend to Point Of View (POV) Pool’s free live internet coverage of this event, were treated to a multitude of not only legendary player match-ups, but also to a host of the unusual and dramatic antics that are ever present amongst these individuals.
 
Thanks to hall owner Chris Swart, a “$3000 Added” incentive packed the house and drew in 101 participants including many of the billiard worlds’ most elite players.  Locals as well as those who tuned into the live internet stream got their pool fixes watching the likes of Rodney “The Rocket” Morris, Jose Parica, Louis Ulrich, Santos Sambajon, Rafael Martinez, House Pro Dave Hemmah of Hard Times – Bellflower, “Team Mexico” – Oscar and Ernesto Dominguez, Amar Kang, and last but not least, world renowned champion and two time consecutive winner of the infamous “Swanee” – Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan.
 
Walk in patrons and attendees alike were packed in all weekend long, taking advantage of the 3000 sq ft plus “viewing” area, ordering from a fantastic full menu, and topping it all off with a trip to the fully stocked bar complete with an efficient and friendly staff.  In short, it was a setting for a pool player’s “Paradise”!
 
Early upsets in the event included last year’s winner, Santos Sambajon and runner up Oscar Dominguez. Also knocked were Alex Pagulayan, and long time veteran Jose Parica was pushed early to the one loss side by “Combination” Jason Williams, who eventually shot his way up to 4th place in the event! Jason Williams put on quite a show during the weekend and was motivated by an eagerness to play and win over Rodney “The Rocket” Morris. Those who remained to stroke their way up the chain included Rodney Morris, Ernesto Dominguez, Kevin May, Amar Kang, Rafael Martinez, Ed Ramos, and eventual winner, Louis Ulrich.
 
Antics were abound during the course of the tourney with Amar Kang giving Alex Pagulayan a mini Golf swing lesson before their match, and quite a commentary stint on POV Pool’s live stream with local Emilyn Callado.  And of course all were treated to the usual short riff of Alex’s legendary karaoke.  Guest commentators joining Daniel Busch, owner of POV Pool and co-commentator Barbara Lee, included Jeff Gregory, local “Women Power” stars Mary Rakin, Emilyn Callado and OMGWTF’s – Melinda Huang.  Additional commentators included, pool veteran – John Henderson of The Cue Sports Journal (Soon to re-launch), Scott White, Bucktooth (Who’s claim to fame is “beating everybody”), and Oscar Dominguez who stated “Well now everyone pretty much knows my life story”!
 
Unfortunate news during the event was for Jun Almoite, who had to forfeit on Saturday to attend to “The Princess of Pool” – Mary Avina, who fell ill enough for hospitalization due to a high fever associated with a bout of the flu.  The good news is, all is well and Mary is home and recovering.  Whew!
 
Wrapping up the event late Sunday night were semi final match-ups between Rodney Morris and Jason Williams, Kevin May and Amar Kang, and culminated with Louis Ulrich versus Ernesto Dominguez.  A shocking display of “doesn’t ANYONE want this 7 ball?” commenced between Amar and Alex, which lasted several innings before Amar finally got the pesky maroon into a pocket.
 
In another match between Louis Ulrich and Hillary Morse, Louis slammed in the 9 a stunning 4 times during the break-shot, which unfortunately was re-spotted due to the rule associated with the rack your own format for this event.  This proved to be a running theme on the “stream” table for many players during the break-shot, with the 9 ball usually en-route to the bottom left-hand corner and the 1-ball almost always hitting the rail below the left middle pocket and landing either into or very close to the top right-hand corner pocket. As a result, the best break show, which highlighted this phenomenon, was between Jason Williams and Rodney Morris, with a barrage of early 9 ball combinations and caroms that seriously shortened the length of the match. And in contrast was John Henderson vs. Arturo Rivera in a nip and tuck session, which literally lasted 16 games, and without either player having more than a 1-game lead.
 
Rounding up the finale was Louis Ulrich versus Ernesto Dominguez who would have had to win two races to 8 for the win due to the true double elimination format.  Ernesto took an early 3-0 lead over an obviously tired Louis and it looked like a double set was shaping up. Louis however managed to come back to tie it up, and then rally back and forth to create a hill-hill thriller. The nail biting final game found Ernesto running down to the perfectly lined up 9 with precision play, that is until he fails to close; missing an almost straight 9-ball and leaving a medium difficulty cut for Louis. After the stunned railbirds exhaled, Louis got up and with nary a thought, and sliced the 9-ball effortlessly for the win over a disappointed but ever gracious Ernesto.
 
The top final 8 payouts were Louis Ulrich, $3,000, Ernesto $1700, Rodney Morris $900, Jason Williams $550, Kevin May and Amar Kang at $250, and Rafael Martinez and Ed Ramos at $150.
 
POV Pools live Internet coverage and archived matches can be viewed by going to www.povpool.com.
 
 
Payouts for the 3rd Annual Chet Itow Memorial 9-Ball Tournament
 
1st – Louis Ulrich / $3,000
2nd – Ernesto Dominguez / $1,700
3rd – Rodney Morris / $900
4th – Jason Williams / $550
 
5th/6th – Kevin May / $250
5th/6th – Amar Kang / $250
 
7th/8th – Rafael Martinez / $150
7th/8th – Ed Ramos / $150
 
9th/12th – George Michaels / $100
9th/12th – Craig Oden / $100
9th/12th – Bryce Avila / $100
9th/12th – Dale Alpajora / $100
 
13th/16th – John Henderson / $75
13th/16th – Santos Sambajon / $75
13th/16th – Jose Parica / $75
13th/16th – Jeremy King / $75
 
17th/24th – Mark Tiu / $50
17th/24th – Mary Rakin / $50
17th/24th – Mike Tucci / $50
17th/24th – Alex Pagulayan / $50
17th/24th – George Pagulayan / $50
17th/24th – Jeff Padjan / $50
17th/24th – Ernesto Reyes / $50