Room owners Kim and Tracy Sanders welcomed pool aficionados to Round Rock, TX for their inaugural $14,000 added Skinny Bob’s Nine Ball Classic.
It was noted that in addition to the Americans, the field had players from all over the world representing Canada, Poland, Bulgaria, Mexico, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Venezuela, Switzerland, Japan, Indonesia, Iraq, the Philippines and Hong Kong.
Players and fans were treated to three main championships in addition to a banks ring game, a ladies ring nine ball game and an opening night nine ball mini. When the smoke cleared in the $500 added event, Fedor Gorst and Jeff de Luna chopped the cheese.
The event continued the following day with the $4,000 added One Pocket Tournament. Thirty seven players posted a $200 entry fee to compete – the format was double elimination with races to three.
Hot off claiming the Bayou State Classic One Pocket title, Roberto Gomez was still on fire. After receiving a first round bye and then dispatching Kristina Zlateva 3-0, Kash Keeton 3-0, Jerry (Alex) Calderon 3-2 and Roland Garcia 3-1, Roberto arrived at the hot seat match.
Meanwhile, Fedor Gorst was taking no prisoners as he tore through the bottom half of the chart. Mark Nanashee 3-0, Chip Compton 3-1, Billy Thorpe 3-0, Jeff de Luna 3-0 and Raed Shabib 3-0 were all sent west by the Russian.
The hot seat match was close but in the end, it was Gorst who edged out Gomez 3-2 to take his seat in the finals.
After being sent to the one loss side by Calderon 3-2, Roland Garcia eliminated de Luna 3-1 and Tommy Tokoph 3-2 to take on Roberto. Neck and neck, in the end it was Roland who won the match 3-2 and moved on to the finals.
Although he put up a good fight in the finals, Roland went down 3-0 and Fedor claimed another title!
Later that night, another $500 was added to the banks ring game and finalists Fedor Gorst and Blaine Barcus decided to split the cash.
The $300 added Ladies Ring Nine Ball game also began. Bulgaria’s Kristina Zlateva took top honors over Michelle Corteza with Jennifer Kraber and Kim Pierce taking third and fourth places.
The following day, the $7,000 added Open Nine Ball began. A full field of 128 players posted their $150 entry fee to play in this double elimination, winner breaks tournament – races were 7/7.
Although the field was packed with champions, it didn’t seem to matter to young Gabriel Martinez. He won his first match against Daniel Schneider 7-2 and barely survived against current Texas Open champ Vitaliy Patsura 7-6. Down went Steve Sheppard 7-5, Jon Demetand Joey Torres – both 7-2. Next was Blaine Barcus 7-4 – Gabe had arrived at the hot seat match.
However, in the other portion of the bracket, Fedor Gorst was on his way to the hot seat. He barely broke a sweat as he defeated Bart Czapla 7-4 and skunked Eric Aicinena and Roberto Gomez 7-0. Next was Naoyuki Oi who went down 7-2, Jesus Atencio 7-3 and Michael Schneider 7-1.
Gorst steamrolled Martinez 7-0, locked up his seat in the finals and sent Gabe west to await an opponent.
After being beaten by Gorst, Michael Schneider beatreigning Bayou State Classic 9 Ball champ, Roland Garcia and Blaine Barcus – both 7-4 – to face Martinez for the other slot in the finals.
Looking for a rematch with Fedor, Gabe eliminated Michael 7-3 and moved into the finals.
Since this was true double elimination, Gabe would have to win two matches to claim the title. Fedor was having none of that as he took the match & title 7-4.
Sakura Muramatsu
The final division of this event began on Saturday. A full field of thirty two players posted their $100 entry fees to play in the $2,500 added Ladies Nine Ball Championship. This was also double elimination with winner breaks and races to 7/5.
Known as “The Roadrunner,” young Savannah Easton shot out of the gate and without looking back, ended up in the hot seat match. On her way there, she defeated Crystal Jones 7-1, edged out Sakura Muramatsu 7-6, Kennedy Meyman 7-2 and Kim Sanders 7-4.
In the other portion of the bracket, Tara Williams survived two squeakers against Liz Galvan and Jennifer Kraber 7-6. She then spanked former Texas Open champ Ming Ng 7-2 and the always tough April Larson 7-4 on her way to the hot seat match.
The hot seat match was all Savannah as she cruised past Tara 7-3 and waited for a finals opponent.
Meanwhile, after losing her second match to Savannah, Sakura mowed down both Melissa Smith and Ada Lio 5-1, Ming 5-2, Angie Payne 5-1, Kim Sanders 5-0, Music City Open champ Tina Malm 5-3 and Tara 5-0 to reach the finals.
Since this was true double elimination, the current Texas Open 9 Ball champ would have to beat Savannah twice – and she did. Sakura won the first set 7-5 and the second one 5-1 to take the title!
And, as usual, thanks again to everyone at Skinny Bob’s for a first class event! Big thanks to the local sponsors – they included Austin Pro, Diamond Billiard Products, GAF, Hanshew Custom Cues, Sanders Roofing & Exteriors, ABC Supply Co, Inc., Simonis, Aramith, Savage Billiards and Mints Amusements.
Thanks to Tournament Director Jason Hill for doing an exemplary job juggling multiple events.
And, as always, we’d like to thank our fans and sponsors! They include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Lomax Custom Cues, Aramith, Simonis, Diamond Billiard Products, Durbin Custom Cues, Savage Billiards, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the $12,000 added Midwest Open Billiards Championship III to be held at Michael’s Billiards in Fairfield, OH. Featuring six events – one pocket, 9 ball banks, open nine ball, a bank ring game, ladies 8 ball, a pro ten ball invitational and mini tournaments galore – Michael’s will also crown an all around champ! Dates are March 20th-26th – hope to see you there!
Roland Garcia with Tommy Terrebonne and room owner Keith Hulin
It’s been several years since Keith Hulin hosted a major event at his room, Emerald Billiards, in New Iberia, LA. This year, he welcomed players back for the $16,000 added Bayou State Classic.
The star-studded field included two-time Derby City Classic Master of the Table Fedor Gorst, reigning Derby City Classic One Pocket champ Tony Chohan, 2020 Derby City Classic Nine Ball champ Lee Vann Corteza, current Music City Open champ Roberto Gomez, 2021 US Open One Pocket champ Justin Hall, BCA & One Pocket Hall of Famer Alex Pagulayan and the newly minted 2023 Cajun Coast Classic 9 Ball champ Roland Garcia. Others spotted around the room were two-time Derby City Classic One Pocket champ Billy Thorpe, current Space City Open X One Pocket champ John Gabriel, current US Open Bank Pool champ & One Pocket Hall of Famer Scott Frost, BCA Hall of Famer Rodney Morris, former ESPN World champ CJ Wiley, current Iron City Open One Pocket champ Josh Roberts and current Texas Open 9 Ball champ Vitaliy Patsura.
The event kicked off with the $1,000 added One Ball One Pocket Championship – $200 entry, single elimination and races to four. The eighteen player field was whittled down to two players. Fedor Gorst took it down 4-2 leavingRoberto Gomez in second place.
The main event – the $10,000 added One Pocket Championship – had 25 players who paid a $300 entry fee to compete in this double elimination, race to three alternate break format.
Notable first round matches saw Justin Hall defeat Jeff de Luna 3-1 and Roberto Gomez blitz Lee Vann Corteza 3-0 while John Gabriel edged out Mike DeLawder 3-2.
Next round had Alex Pagulayan squeak out a tough oneover Scott Frost as did John Gabriel against Hunter White – both matches 3-2 and in a repeat of the one ball one pocket finals, Gorst beat Gomez again 3-1.
In third round action, Gorst got past John Gabriel and Billy Thorpe succumbed to Justin Hall – both 3-1 while Tony Chohan went down to Roland Garcia in a close one 3-2.
Hall just got by Pagulayan 3-2 while the other winners side match saw Gorst smoke Garcia 3-0.
In dead punch, Gorst demolished Hall in hot seat action 3-0 and claimed a seat in the finals. Justin headed west only to be derailed by the Gomez freight train. After losing to Gorst, Roberto started mowing down his opponents – White 3-2 and then Drew Jordan, Thorpe, Garcia, Pagulayan and Hall – all 3-1.
Back in the finals again, the smoking hot Roberto got his revenge against Fedor and took the title down in an extended race to four – score 4-0.
The final event of this tournament was the $5,000 added Open 9 Ball Championship Playing on seven footers, a full field of 128 paid their $100 entries to compete in this double elimination, alternate break with races to 9/7.
Still red hot, Gomez plowed through Dallas Broussard 9-2, David Walker 9-3, Jeff de Luna 9-5, Derek Fontenet 9-6 and Scott Frost 9-7 to arrive as one of the final four on the winners side.
Making his way through the bracket, Roland had wins over Jeremy Howard and Rodney Morris – both 9-4, beat back a challenge from Jacob Pennison 9-8 and demolished Tookie Babineaux 9-0 and Hunter White 9-5. Finally arriving to play Gomez to get into the hot seat match, it was a hard fought battle but he survived 9-8 and Gomez headed west.
In the bottom half of the chart, Lee Vann Corteza was making his presence felt as his victims included Oscar Ruiz 9-3, Jason Procell 9-2, Chris Facundus 9-3, Fedor Gorst 9-7 and Sergio Rivas 9-4 making it to the final four on the winners side.
Meanwhile, Zach Marquardt was quietly working his way through the field as he notched victories over Brent Prade 9-5, Zack Louviere 9-4, Dillon Hayes 9-5, Steve Lenz 9-6 and Tony Chohan 9-1 to then face Lee Vann Corteza.
Lee Vann moved on to the hot seat match after handily defeating Zach 9-3. Hungry for a title, Roland dispatched Lee Vann 9-5 west and secured his berth in the finals.
Champions were falling right and left as they all battled for that other seat in the finals. When it was all over, Gomez had survived after eliminating Rivas 7-6, Gorst 7-5 and finally Corteza 7-6 to arrive at the finals battered and bruised.
As this was true double elimination, Roberto had to win two matches to claim the title. However, it was not to be! In a nailbiter of a match, Roland claimed the match and title 9-8 giving him back to back title wins!
Congratulations to the three Gs – Gomez, Garcia & Gorst – as the new Bayou State Classic champions!
Local sponsors for this event included APA Arcadiana, Oubre Memorial & Burial Vaults, LLC, Chops Meats, Arceneaux Ford, Global Vessel & Tank, FLOQUIP, Inc. and Emerald Billiards.
Sponsors for this event included Emerald Billiards and PoolActionTV.com as well as JB Cases, Durbin Custom Cues, Aramith and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Thanks go out to Keith Hulin and his staff for rolling out the red carpet for all the players and fans as well as Tournament Director Jimmy Rogers for doing a great job.
PoolActionTV.com would like to thank Larry Schwartz, Josh Roberts, Scott Frost, Hunter White, Mike DeLawder and Ray Hansen for their topnotch commentary.
We’d also like to thank our fans and sponsors. Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Lomax Custom Cues, Savage Billiards, Durbin Custom Cues, Simonis, Aramis, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore in Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the Inaugural $14,000 added Skinny Bob’s Nine Ball Classic in Round Rock, TX. Tournaments include a one pocket division, ladies nine ball and open nine ball. Dates are February 14th-20th – hope to see you there!
One week ahead of the ongoing Derby City Classic at Caesars Southern Indiana Resort and Casino in Elizabeth, IN, Railyard Billiards & Sports Pub in Louisville, KY, about two hours away, held what is hoped to be an annual event, the 2023 Mini Derb Open. There were four tournaments at the January 12-18 event in Louisville; an $8,000-added One Pocket that drew 11 entrants, a $4,000-added 10-Ball that drew 20, a $3,000-added 9-Ball with 60 entrants and 12-entrant Bank Ring Game.
Looking to defend his three 2022 Derby City Classic titles (9-Ball Banks, One Pocket and Overall Championship), Russian ‘phenom,’ Fedor Gorst traveled to Louisville for a little pre-Derby practice and won all four of the Mini Derb Open events, pocketing enough money to more than pay for any and all incurred expenses as he made his way northwest to Elizabeth, IN. If he doesn’t retain any of his titles at the Derby City Classic (he has already finished in the four-way tie for fifth place in the 10-Ball Bigfoot Challenge), it won’t be for lack of practice that he logged at the Mini Derby Open.
Small in field size (11), but big on talent, the One Pocket event, which opened the 2023 Mini Derb Open, featured some of the nation’s top One Pocket competitors; Scott Frost (Derby City One Pocket champion, 2010), Tony Chohan, John Gabriel, Sky Woodward (Derby City’s 2019 9-Ball and Overall Champion) and Billy Thorpe (who’s won the Derby City’s One Pocket event twice, ’17 & ’20) among them. Fedor Gorst faced three of those five on his four-match march to the title. Following a bye, he downed Woodward, double hill, Hunter White 5-1 and fought Chohan to double hill before claiming the hot seat. Scott Frost, in the meantime, who lost his opening match to Woodward 5-3, won five on the loss side, including a quarterfinal victory over Thorpe and semifinal win over Chohan to face Gorst in the finals. Gorst downed Frost 5-2 to claim the One Pocket title.
In the 20-entrant 10-Ball Open, Gorst got by six opponents, including Poland’s Mieszko Fortunski and claimed the hot seat 9-7 over Ukraine’s Vitaliy Patsura. In the meantime, John Gabriel, sent to the loss side in a winners’ side semifinal by Patsura 9-7, got by Sky Woodward (double hill), Fortunski 7-5 in the quarterfinals and in a rematch, Patsura, double hill in the semifinals. Gorst defeated Gabriel 9-4 in the opening set of a true double elimination final.
In the largest event of the week (60 entrants), the Mini Derb 9-Ball Open, Gorst faced Poland’s Bart Czapla twice; hot seat and finals. Gorst faced a total of seven opponents and didn’t give up more than two racks until he’d faced his fourth, Scott Frost, whom he sent to the loss side 9-4. He followed that with a winners’ side semifinal win over Mieszko Fortunski 9-5 and in the battle for the hot seat, downed Czapla for the first time 9-3.
On the loss side, Louis DeMarco who’d lost his second-round match to John Farrar 9-7, was working on an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that had included victories over Vitaliy Patsura, Sky Woodard (double hill), Scott Frost and in the quarterfinals, Mieszko Fortunski 7-5. Czapla stopped DeMarco’s loss-side streak 7-2 in the semifinals, only to be defeated himself by Gorst in the finals 9-2.
Gorst wrapped up his weekend in style. He completed his four-title performance by winning the Mini Derb Banks Ring Game. He and Earl Age split the top two prizes; $5,500 total.
Event representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Railyard Billiards for their hospitality, as well as all of the players who competed in the inaugural Mini Derb Open. Thanks were also extended to event sponsors Diamond Billiard Products, Jam Up Apparel, Michelle Griffin (Realtor – Schuler Bauer Real Estate) and Pace-O-Matic.
Diamond Derby City Classic XXIV, January 20-28, 2023
Caesars Southern Indiana, Elizabeth, IN
There are 29 more competitors than was considered feasible to complete the One Pocket division; 429 – A new DCC record!
Wait-listed 9-Ball players are hoping for a similar increase. They’ll know by Wednesday.
Diamond BIG Foot Challenge
$32k prize fund. 1st: $16,000. 2nd; $8k, 3rd/4th; $4k each
LIVE from the Accu-Stats TV Arena.
Format: Race to 11, single elimination, alternate break, foul on all balls, no jump cues. 10-Ball does not win on the break tho’ beware, caroms and combos do.
Mosconi Cup captains Jeremy Jones and Mark Wilson are mostly in the Accu-Stats’ commentary booth. Occasionally they have guests.
Reminder: when you see the balls bobbling or bursting out of the jaws, remember that BIG Foot’s biting, pro-cut pockets are now tighter – 4 1/8” tight!
Quarter Finals
4 past BIG Foot winners, all shooting well, began Sunday’s action. Now there are two. Read on for more details.
Even Eagle Eye had trouble with BIG Foot’s brutal pocket dimension. The damage it did to his TPA was unprecedented. When have you ever seen his average nosedive from near .900 to .770…within 2 racks!
Shane wasn’t happy either. Altho,’ the match commenced with his break-and-run to a 3-0 lead. Jayson quickly tied it up. Then, he couldn’t get much action on the break.
Shane sped ahead again and, to cut to the chase, had Jayson 10-6 when Van Boening’s cue ball wasn’t on a string, it was haywire: 10-7.
Jayson’s dry break plague continued.
Shane, again, lost the cue ball and had to resort to a safety that froze the cue ball to the top rail.
Far, far away, about a foot off the bottom rail, lay the 8. Whammo! Shaw drove it home. Sadly, his cue ball rested straight in on the 9…which was nowhere near the 10.
Then came his most miraculous shot of the tournament.
There was only one solution. He had to cheat the 4 1/8” pocket and draw whitey about 8 feet to the bottom rail then another four feet to the long rail where the 10-ball inconveniently lay.
Whammo! Part 2! His cue-ball screams back to land about 4” away tho,’ it’s an awkward angle demanding running back and forth to swap out which cue extension would work best.
The shot clock was about to explode. “Extension!”
So was his heart, pumping like an oil rig:
He pounded it into the back of the pocket: 10-8.
It was SVB’s turn at bat. It looked dry…until the last ball rolling trickled in. And snookered!
Now it was Shane’s shot of the tournament.
He had a kick-shot off the top rail on the dangling one ball with the trickiest 3-rail shape: long rail, short rail, long rail, through a minefield to the two.
Perfect! And he finished the match as he began it – break-and-run.
Shaw, gracious as always, approached Shane and commenced a post-mortem to dissect the action.
Fedor was not off to his ferocious formula of forging ahead to leave his opponents in his wake. In fact, it was nip-and-tuck until, at 4-3, Gomez reversed the score with back-to-back wins.
Gorst’s struggle continued as Gomez at 7-4 with every opportunity for a 4-game lead, fumbled and allowed Fedor to gain one back to 7-5.
Gorst, usually, when sensing weakness, his killer instinct would come alive: Not today.
Down 9-10, his break got him again.
There is a reason they call Roberto Superman. The out wasn’t a walk in the park. He made shots that would have been kryptonite to normal men.
He didn’t rush. He knew his cue ball had to be finite.
He also knew the punishment that Fedor was capable of administering.
Not today. The robot was in need of a reboot. Gorst’s loss, a replay of their 2018 BIG Foot final, is probably the motivation Fedor needs to keep moving forward.
He still has 2 lives in the Banks.
Gomez now faces the other surviving BIG Foot Champ, SVB.
Behind 4-6, Konrad began to miss makeable balls. A lucky kiss coming out of a snooker kicked in the 10.
He then put his mettle to the pedal and, with 5 in a row, got to 9-6 ahead. With Joshua’s break-and-run, he retrieved one and it’s 9-7.
At 9-8, it’s snooker time. Josh, after a multi-shot kick-safe exchange, rattled the 3 to leave it deep in the jaws.
Konrad, more focused than ever, is on the hill…and breaking!
His one hung in the hole, and it’s 10-9.
Joshua’s break is a carbon copy of Konrad’s; it’s dry, with his one-ball resting on the lip of the pocket!
More good news, nothing is tied up. All that is needed is some sweet negotiation to keep on the correct side of the object balls.
Cool, calm, and deliberate he plotted his way through the rack: Flawless execution…of Filler.
This surely is one of the most memorable matches in Konrad’s career. He raised ho cue in jubilation like he’d just won the tournament. Perhaps he will.
He’s in the semis facing Corteza.
Jayson Shaw vs, Shane Van Boening, 8-11
Roberto Gomez vs. Fedor Gorst, 11-9
Mieszko Fortunski vs. Lee Vann Corteza, 10-11
Konrad Juszczyszyn vs. Joshua Filler, 11-9
BIG Foot Schedule for Monday, Jan 23: Semis, 2.00 & 4:30 PM.Finals, 9:00 PM
Shane Van Boening vs. Roberto Gomez.
Lee Vann Cortez vs. Konrad Juszczyszyn
The Accu-Stats PPV OnDemand service has all of the above entertainment available for your viewing pleasure.
Diamond BANK POOL CHAMPIONSHIP
Short Rack. Race to 3, Round 6.
497 entrants stormed the Derby City battlements. In this territory, Bank Pool’s popularity knows no bounds.
With the DCC one-time Buy-Back formula, after every round, entrant’s names are reshuffled then redrawn. As DCC events are not seeded means that you could run into anyone.
Visit results.derbycityclassic.com for more updates.
Diamond Derby City Classic ONE-POCKET
The event entries were increased to 429 entries. Stay tuned!
The action-packed week continues:
DIAMOND BIG FOOT 10-BALL CHALLENGE: Semis and FINALS on MONDAY the 24th at 2 pm.
Diamond Derby City Classic BANK POOLChampionship: Semis and Finals in the Accu-Stats TV Arena: Tuesday evening, Jan 25.
Diamond Derby City Classic ONE-POCKETChampionship: Sun Jan. 22 -Wed. Jan. 25. Semis and Finals in the Accu-Stats TV Arena, Thursday evening, Jan 26.
Diamond Derby City Classic 9-BALL Championship: Wed. Jan 25 – Sat. 28.
Friday Night Ring Game: Jan 27.
The captured match-ups are available via the Accu-Stats Pay-Per-View OnDemand, 4-camera HD production. Approximately, 60 action-packed hours of pro-pool are projected, PLUS reruns. After each match concludes, it is uploaded and available for your viewing pleasure. With PPV OnDemand, you choose when you watch, no matter what you’re timezone.
Last week, players made their way to the $8,000 added Space City Open X. Held at Big Tyme Billiards in Spring, TX – a suburb of Houston – owners Billy Sharp, Jim Henry, Mark Avery and Matthew McFarren and their staff laid out the red carpet for both players and fans.
The tournament kicked off on Thursday night with the $1,000 added 9 Ball Banks event. This single elimination race to four event saw a full field of 32 players post their $100 entry fees. After the players auction, meeting & draw, the action began.
After being scarce on the tournament trail since the birth of his daughter two years ago, Robb Saez made up for lost time as he rocketed through the bracket taking down Alan Poisel 4-1, JC Torres 4-0, Mark Nanashee 4-2 and Ernesto Bayaua 4-0. In the bottom portion of the chart, Alex Calderon squeaked by Jeff Sullivan 4-3 and then dusted off Leon Contreras 4-1 and Raed Shabib 4-0 before running into Roberto Gomez. The match was a good one but Alex prevailed 4-2.
That win put Calderon into the finals against the red hot Saez. Alex went down 4-1 – guess baby needed a new pair of shoes! Congratulations, Robb! Good job, Alex!
Starting on Friday night was the main event – the $3,500 added Open 9 Ball. Drawing a full field of 128 players, this double elimination event had a $75 entry fee and was played on seven foot tables. Races were to 9/7 with winner breaks.
Bogies was getting their money’s worth with their house pro and defending champ, Roberto Gomez, as he marched through the field. He was never seriously threatened as he defeated Timothy Lapointe 4-0, Richard Hughes 9-4, John Weeks 9-2, Javier Alienes 9-4, Ernesto Bayaua 9-1 and Blaine Barcus 9-3 to arrive at the hot seat match.
Another man slicing through the field was Oklahoma’s John Gabriel. He started with wins over Pedro Oviolo 9-2 and Calvin Chappell 9-3 before a tough one with young gun Lazaro Martinez. John barely survived that one 9-8 and then coasted past Cesar Arechiga 9-0. Next were Joey Torres and Ryan Robinson – they went down 9-6 and 9-3 and John also arrived at the hot seat match.
The hot seat match was all Roberto as he spanked John 9-3 and locked up his seat in the finals. John headed west to play Bayaua who had eliminated Saez 7-4. Robb finished in fourth place. Then, it was John who beat Ernesto by the same score – 7-4. He finished in third place.
Knowing he had to defeat Roberto twice to take the title, John put up a tough fight but when it was all over, Gomez had gotten his revenge for John knocking him out of the one pocket event and defended his title! He won the match 9-6. Congratulations, Roberto! Good event, John!
Lazaro Martinez III
Sunday was the start for both the $500 added Ladies 9 Ball and the $500 added Junior 9 Ball events. The players auction, meeting and draw for the juniors was first followed by the same for the ladies.
Twenty three boys and girls paid a $35 entry fee to play in the double elimination event played on the seven foot Diamonds. They raced to 7/5 with winner breaks.
Former BEF Junior National champ and defending champion Lazaro Martinez defeated Carlos Jinez 7-5, Mary Grigsby 7-1, Vania Davila 7-0 and Kailye Stevens 7-2 to arrive at the hot seat match.
Kyle Yi was the victor over Oscar Ruiz 7-2, Hunter Jackson 7-0, Tyler Miller 7-0 and Larissa Almendarez 7-5 to claim the other seat in the hot seat match.
Kyle then defeated Lazaro 7-3 to go on to the finals. Lazaro headed to the one loss side to face Carlos Jinez who had beaten Kailye Stevens 5-3. Kailye finished in fourth place.
Looking to get back into the finals, Lazaro made short work of Carlos 5-1 leaving him in third place.
Needing to defeat Kyle twice to both defend and claim the title, Lazaro won the first set 7-4. The final set was a battle but it was Lazaro that took the title 5-3. Congratulations, Lazaro! Good event, Kyle!
Thirty two ladies filled the field posting their $45 entry fees. They also raced to 7/5 with winner breaks on the seven footers.
April Larson made her trek to the hot seat by defeating Vivian Christopher and Bridget Parker by the same score – 7-1. She then beat Crystal Cisneros 7-4, the always tough Ming Ng 7-3 and awaited her opponent in the hot seat match.
The hot seat match began and both players fought hard but in the end, Ricki had edged out April 7-6! April headed west.
Waiting for her was Ming. She had just beaten Robyn – she finished in fourth place. The match began to see who’d be in the final match. April came out on top 5-3 leaving Ming in third place.
Due to the late hour, the ladies decided to split the honors. Congratulations to both players!
The $1,000 added One Pocket event also started on Friday night. Having a full field of 32 who paid $100 to enter, the format was again single elimination with races to four. Following the players auction, meeting & draw, the matches began.
Still on fire from his runner-up finish in the banks event, Alex Calderon tore through the top half of the bracket skunking both Sonny Bosshamer and Raed Shabib but had rougher matches against Ernesto Bayaua and Marvin Diaz. He won both matches 4-2 and landed in the finals.
Quietly making his way through the bottom portion of the bracket was Oklahoma’s John Gabriel. He won his first match over Joey Barnes 4-2 and continued with wins over Ryan Baselman and Ryan Robinson – both 4-1. Down went Superman as John defeated Roberto Gomez 4-2 to get to the finals.
The final match started late and went long into the early morning hours and at the end, it was John taking top honors 4-2. Great tournament, John! Good showing, Alex!
John Gabriel
Congratulations to this year’s champions and to Roberto Gomez for taking down the $1,500 All Around Bonus!
PoolActionTV.com would again like to thank owners Billy Sharp, Jim Henry, Mark Avery and Matthew McFarren and their staff as well the event sponsors. They are Outsville, Diamond Billiard Products, Brutal Game Gear, Poison by Predator, Jerry Olivier Custom Cues, Simonis, Aramith, Predator, Immediate Smiles Dentures & Dentistry of Spring, TX, Alamo Billiards of Houston, TX, and Fort Worth Billliards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
We’d also like to thank Tournament Director Teresa Garland and her assistant, Jason Hill, for juggling all the various events.
PoolActionTV.com would also like to thank our fans and sponsors. Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Durbin Custom Cues, Savage Billiard Apparel, Immediate Smiles Dentures & Dentistry of Spring, TX, Action Palace of Dayton, OH and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the 35th Annual Music City Open Nine Ball Championships at JOB Billiard Club in Madison, TN – a suburb of Nashville. Dates are January 11th-15th – hope to see you there!
And, here’s wishing everyone happy holidays and a healthy and prosperous new year!
Accu-Stats Video Productions has released their MAY schedule of YouTube Premiere matches. They focus on the 2022 Derby City Classic and the 2015 US Open 9-Ball Championships. Fans can enjoy the world’s greatest players including Shane Van Boening, Fedor Gorst, Jayson Shaw, Joshua Filler, Ko Ping Chung, Earl Strickland, Mike Dechaine, and many, many more.
Accu-Stats premieres a new match from their immense archive of New and Historic content three times a week: Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday nights at 8pm EST. There is a lively chat during each premiere. Pat Fleming will host most nights in May. Viewers can find the Accu-Stats YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/AccuStatsVideoProductionsTV
May Premiere Schedule:
May 1st – 2022 Derby City Classic One Pocket – John Gabriel vs Alex Pagulayan
May 3rd – 2015 US Open 9-Ball Championship – Earl Strickland vs Scott Frost
May 5th – 2022 Derby City Classic Big Foot Challenge – Jayson Shaw vs Omar Al-Shaheen
May 8th – 2022 Derby City Classic One Pocket – Josh Roberts vs Darren Appleton
May 10th – 2015 US Open 9-Ball Championship – Shane Van Boening vs Roberto Gomez
May 12th – 2022 Derby City Classic Big Foot Challenge – Joshua Filler vs Alex Kazakis
May 15th – 2022 Derby City Classic One Pocket – Jayson Shaw vs Anthony Meglino
May 17th – 2015 US Open 9-Ball Championship – Ivica Putnik vs Ko Ping Chung
May 19th – 2022 Derby City Classic Big Foot Challenge – Shane Van Boening vs Lee Vann Corteza
May 22nd – 2022 Derby City Classic One Pocket – Fedor Gorst vs Darren Appleton
May 24th – 2015 US Open 9-Ball Championship – Kai-Lun Hsu vs Mike Dechaine
May 26th – 2022 Derby City Classic Big Foot Challenge – Roberto Gomez vs John Morra
May 29th – 2022 Derby City Classic One Pocket Finals – Fedor Gorst vs Joshua Roberts
May 31st – 2015 US Open 9-Ball Championship – Karl Boyes vs Liu Hai-Tao
For over 30 years, Accu-Stats has been the leader in Professional Tournament Match Videos. The entire collection is available on DVD at http://www.accu-stats.com.
You can also watch more than 400 Accu-Stats matches from the 2018 and 2019 INTL 9-BALL OPEN; 2016-2020 Derby City Classic; 2015-2017 US Open 9-Ball Championships, as well as the Accu-Stats “Make It Happen” Invitationals via the Accu-Stats’ Vimeo Subscription service: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/asvod/
The Action Palace of Huber Heights, OH – a suburb of Dayton – was the venue for the latest Champions Challenge featuring Chris Reinhold and Shane McMinn.
With $50,000 in the middle, it was a race to 100 over the course of three days. Played on a nine foot Diamond, the format was winner breaks and rack your own with the two and the three on the corners. In addition, there would be no early ten balls and the three foul rule was in effect.
Both players are former junior national nine ball champions. Hailing from Ventura, CA, and now living in the Dallas area, Chris won his title in 2015 while Shane, a Tulsa native, won three years in a row – winning in 1998, 1999 and 2000! Everyone expected a real dogfight!!!
Starting at 6 PM EST each day, Day One started out neck and neck with Shane maintaining a slight lead until it was tied at eighteen games each. Down 22-20, Chris dug in and slowly pulled away to 30-25. He finished the first day with a nine game lead – 35-26.
Very focused, Chris had the speed of the table dialed in and extended his Day Two lead – 70-47.
Day Three began with both players trading racks. Chris really bore down – protecting his lead with great safeties and running out with precision. Shane answered with precision runouts and kicks but the deficit was just too big for Shane to overcome. Chris finished the match with a score of 100-70.
Congratulations to Chris Reinhold! He dispatched a very tough and capable opponent with seeming ease.
PoolActionTV.com would like to thank owner Alex Olinger and the Action Palace for hosting this match. He and his staff went out of their way to provide a first class venue!
In addition, we’d like to thank our fans and sponsors for this event. They included Aramith, Lomax Custom Cues, Simonis, Hanshew Jump Cues, JB Cases, Diamond Billiard Products, StraightPoolEye, Durbin Custom Cues, Keller Billiard Products, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore and a special thanks to Acme Cases for their support.
Our next event is the $14,000 added Big Tyme Classic in Spring, TX. Featuring three divisions – Open 9-Ball, One Pocket and Ladies Open 9 Ball, the dates are May 19th-22nd. Hope to see you there!!!
As several inches of snow swept through Tulsa, Oklahoma for the Inaugural Diamond Oklahoma Winter Classic, so does Roberto “Superman” Gomez, taking down both events!!!
The festivities kicked off March the 8th with the One Pocket event having Carlo and Roberto plowing through their opponents. Three days of action left Carlo Biado and Roberto Gomez battling it for the hot seat, where Carlo triumph over Roberto, sending him to face the fearless and seasoned, Charlie “Hillbilly” Bryant. Roberto did not hold back and defeated Hillbilly 4-0 in order to face the Black Tiger in the finals. With an extended race, Roberto brought in the heat and defeated world champion, Carlo Biado, 5-3 to claim the Diamond Winter Classic Pro One Pocket Champion title.
Switching gears into the 9 Ball Open and determined to take down both events and bring home all the cash, Roberto, went on to defeat Aloysius Yapp, Robbie Capito, Chuck Raulston, and Darren Everett, before facing former ESPN world champion, CJ Wiley for the hot seat. CJ gave it one hell of a fight on the hot seat match; but, in the end, Roberto sent him to the 1 loss side to face up and coming young gun from Hong Kong, Robbie Capito. CJ came out of the gates strong and determined to keep Robbie in his seat defeating Robbie 9-2 and headed back to the finals to face Roberto. CJs powerful break and strategic pattern play earned him a 11-6 win against Roberto and a second chance at the championship. CJ wins the flip and missing a crucial 2 ball shot in the side pocket, handed over the wide open table and the break to Roberto where he jumps to a 4-0 lead on this winner break format tournament. CJ fought back hard and with heart; but, wasn’t able to overcome Roberto’s early lead; being defeated 9-5, and crowning Roberto the Diamond Oklahoma Winter Classic 9 Ball Champion!
Congratulations to all the other top finishers and thank you for coming out!
A special shoutout to Bruce Norfleet, Jennifer Lynn Norfleet and the Deep Pockets Tournament Group entire staff for the amazing venue and hospitality. Michael Smith and team for running a smooth event and John Gabriel for all of your help leading up to the event.
To our sponsors, thank you for always supporting SullyVision and being part of the team!
Stay tuned for an action match to be announced soon.
West Monroe, LA was the place to be this past week for the 5th Annual Scotty Townsend Memorial Pool Tournament. It was hosted by owner Josh Hoff at Arena Billiards.
Boasting $15,000 added, this year’s tournament had several events – one pocket, a 10 ball mini, open 9 ball and ladies 9 ball. Produced by Cue & A Promotions, local sponsors included James Hanshew of Hanshew Jump Cues, Interstate Dodge, Joe Long Attorney at Law, Magic Grill, Tommy Semmes Surveying, Simonis Cloth and Diamond Billiards.
The six-day poolfest started Tuesday evening with an auction and players meeting for the $7000 added Pro One Pocket event. Although the field only had eleven players, there wasn’t a lightweight in the bunch! Each paid $1000 to compete in this double elimination race to four event. Finals was to be one set – race to six.
Garcia, Calderon, Corteza, Chohan and Pagulayan drew the coveted byes. Frost and Morra, Biado and Woodward plus Compton and Gomez all battled down to the wire with Frost, Biado and Compton claiming victory 4-3.
Second round matches saw Frost edging out Garcia as did Calderon over Biado – each match also 4-3. Pagulayan defeated the always tough Chohan 4-2 and Compton skunked Corteza 4-0.
Down to four on the winners side, Frost pummeled Calderon and Pagulayan did the same to Compton with identical scores of 4-1. Compton and Calderon headed west while Frost and Pagulayan awaited the hot seat match.
Working their way through the one loss side of the chart, Woodward and Biado emerged to play each other. Carlo easily defeated Sky 4-1 leaving him with a fourth place finish.
The following day, fighting tooth and nail, Frost and Pagulayan battled it out in the hot seat match. Scott emerged the victor 4-3 locking up his seat in the finals. Alex had to play Carlo for the other berth.
Not to be denied another shot at Frost, Pagulayan defeated Carlo 4-2 leaving Carlo in third place.
As mentioned previously, the finals would be one set – race to six. Taking no prisoners, Alex smoked Scott 6-2 to claim the title!
Continuing his winning ways, Alex and Lee Vann split the top prize in the $1,000 added 10 Ball Mini!
The next day, 150 players put up their $100 entries for the $6,000 added Open 9 Ball event.Being played on bar boxes, the format was alternate break, rack your own and races to 9/7.
In dead punch, Alex Pagulayan continued on the warpath dispatching opponents Jeff Davies 9-1, James Jordan 9-0, Monroe Jones 9-3 and Jonathan Martin 9-0.
Running into Roberto Gomez, they battled it out but licking his wounds, Alex took him down too – final score 9-7. Not getting any easier, Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp was next. He fell too – 9-4! Then, Hong Kong’s Robbie Capito fought hard but he lost also – 9-7. Alex had arrived at the hot seat match.
Meanwhile, on the lower portion of the bracket, Joe Keith of Dyersburgh, TN, was slowly working his way through the mine fields! After initially drawing a bye in the first round and having a no-show in the second, Joe defeated Ceza Mungal 9-5, Eric Alcinena and Mark Krech – both 9-2 –before meeting Lee Vann Corteza.
They went down to the end but Joe pulled out a 9-7 victory! Sergio Rivas was next and Joe won 9-6. He had arrived at the hot seat match!
Hot seat action was pretty much all Alex as he sent Joe west with a score of 9-3. Joe headed west to await the results of the Capito-Rivas match.
This was a tough one too but when the smoke cleared, it was Robbie over Sergio 7-5. Capito and Keith were to cross swords to see who’d face Alex in the finals!
Joe Keith’s Cinderella story was not to be…Robbie Capito defeated him 9-3 to move into the finals against Alex. Joe finished in a solid third place for the event.
Only twenty years old and a former junior champion, Robbie would have to defeat the Lion twice to take the title.
The match started out neck and neck until Capito pulled out to an 8-3 lead! He was on the hill and breaking!
Robbie broke the balls but had no shot. Alex won the next two games to make it 8-5. Robbie broke the balls and made five balls on the break! Left with a long straight shot on the four, he fired it in, ran out the remaining few balls and forced a second set – final score 9-5.
Having won the flip, Alex won the first two games but Robbie tied it up. Alex went ahead the next two games and Robbie tied it up again. Alex pulled ahead to 5-4 and again, Robbie tied it up! Alex got to the hill first and Robbie tied it up! 6-6! WOW! One game for it all! To Robbie’s disappointment, Alex broke and ran out for the title!!! Good tournament, Robbie! So close…
What a great finals! Congratulations to Alex for taking both the nine ball and the one pocket events as well as splitting the 10 ball mini!
While the Open 9 Ball was in progress, the $1,000 added Women’s 9 Ball event began. Twenty eight ladies posted their $100 entry fees into this double elimination, alternate break event – races were also 7/5.
April Larson (Pool Action TV)
April Larson took top honors leaving Nicole Keeney in runner-up position & Janeen Lee finished in third place. Good job, ladies!!!
Thanks again to owner Josh Hoff and his staff for going the extra mile to make everyone feel at home while Tournament Director Jason Hill kept things running smoothly.
We’d also like to thank our sponsors and fans for another fantastic event! Our sponsors include Lomax Custom Cues, JB Cases, Durbin Custom Cues, StraightPoolEye, Hanshew Jump Cues, Aramith, Simonis, Diamond Billiard Products, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next stop is the Midwest Open Billiards Championships at Michael’s Billiards in Fairfield, OH. Dates are March 15th-20th. Hope to see you there!!!
Skinny Bob’s Billiards & Sports Bar in Round Rock, TX was the venue for the 7th Annual Texas Open 10 Ball Championships.
Produced by Cue & A Promotions, this event featured three divisions – the $2,000 added Scotch Doubles, the $2,000 added Ladies 10 Ball and the 10,000 added 10 Ball Open. A total of $15,750 was added to the prize fund.
Local sponsors included Mints Amusements, Hanshew Jump Cues, Austin Pro Siding, Windows & Roofing, GAF, DigitalPool.com and ABC Supply Co., Inc.
The tournament began on Wednesday night with a $500 added 10 Ball mini tournament. This $25 entry single elimination race to three event had a full field of 64 players. Hailing from Sarajevo, Bosnia, Sanjin Pehlivanovic took the cheese. Defending US Open Pool champ Carlo Biado took second while Lima, Peru’s Gerson Martinez and Roland Garcia each tied for third place.
Following a players meeting and auction, play commenced on Thursday afternoon in the Jack & Jill Scotch Doubles 10 Ball Championship. Twenty three teams posted $125 entry fees to play in this double elimination, race to seven event.
Thursday evening also featured the $500 added Banks Ring Game. At the end, Denmark’s Mickey Krause, John Morra and Manny Chau did a three-way chop of the cash.
Carlo Biado and Mary Rakin Tam (Pool Action TV)
Friday began with both a $500 added Open Ring Game and a $250 added Ladies Ring Game. John Morra won the Open Ring Game and the Ladies was won by Jenna Bishoff.
Later that evening, a players meeting and auction kicked off the main event. 125 players paid their $150 entry fees into this double elimination, race to seven with alternate break format. Play began the following day.
Meeting in the first round, Roland Garcia edged out Josh Roberts 7-6 and Alex Pagulayan defeated Evan Lunda 7-3.
Second round action saw Lee Vann Corteza spank John Gabriel 7-2 as Gerson Martinez squeaked by Sergio Rivas 7-6. Robbie Capito eked out a 7-6 win over recent Music City Open champ Shane Wolford, Singapore’s Sarik Sayed trounced local favorite Justin Espinosa 7-2 while Pagulayan toughed out his match with Pehlivanovic 7-5.
In the third round, straight shooting veteran Tommy Sanders shot down Blaine Barcus 7-3 as did Biado over Krause with an identical score. Gerson Martinez sent Lee Vann west 7-4 while Sean Black upset the legendary David Matlock 7-5.John Morra blistered Shane McMinn 7-2 while Manny Chau sent Michael Yednak packing 7-3. Fellow Houstonians Roberto Gomez and Tommy Tokoph duked it out with Tommy emerging the victor 7-3 and Sayed lost to Pagulayan 7-4.
Matches in the fourth round saw Sanders bow to Krause 7-4 and Chris Reinhold lose to Gerson Martinez by the same score. Morra toasted Sean Black as did Chip Compton versus Nicholas De Leon – both matches were 7-3. Sending another Houstonian to the one loss side, Tokoph bested Chau 7-5 – Capito went down to Pagulayan 7-4.
Round five had Gerson Martinez mowing down Krause 7-4 and Tokoph easing past Christopher Teves 7-3. With identical 7-1 scores, Pagulayan bested Souto as did Tokoph over Christopher Tevez.
Now down to four players on the winners side, Gerson Martinez defeated Morra 7-5 while Pagulayan beat Tokoph 7-3. Both Alex and Gerson moved into the hot seat match as their opponents headed west.
Saturday evening saw the players meeting and auction for the Ladies 10 Ball event. A full field of 32 players posted a $100 entry – same format as the Open 10 Ball.
Notable first round matches included perennial favorite Ming Ng’s victory over Kelly Durbin 7-5 with both Kim Sanders edging out Mary Avina and Margaret Fox over Tam Trinh 7-6.
Second round action saw Jenna Bishoff eke out a win over Jennifer Kraber 7-6 as Mary Rakin Tam defeated Ng by the same score. Sanders defeated Emily Sumrall 7-3 and Melissa Rushton took care of Fox 7-4.
After skunking her two previous opponents, April Larson had a bit of a tougher time with Kim Pierce – April won 7-3. Tam sent Bishoff packing 7-5, Chris Fields pummeled Rachel Hurst 7-1 and Rushton notched another win over Sanders 7-5.
Down to four on the winners side, Tam sneaked past Larson 7-5 and Fields beat Rushton 7-4. Both Tam and Fields advanced to the hot seat match. Mary handily beat Chris 7-2 and claimed her seat in the finals. Chris headed west to await an opponent.
On the one loss side, Bishoff defeated Rushton 7-4 while Larson eliminated Trinh 7-5. Larson won her match with Bishoff 7-4 leaving Jenna in fourth place. April then defeated Chris 7-2 to move into the finals. Chris finished with a third place finish.
Since this was true double elimination, April would have to defeat Mary twice to claim the title. However, it was not to be as April was relegated to a well-deserved second place finish and Mary went undefeated to claim her first Texas Open 10 Ball title!!!
Meanwhile, the Open 10 Ball was winding down to its last few players! In the hot seat match, Gerson Martinez mowed down his last opponent to lock up his berth in the finals. Pagulayan lost 7-4 and headed to the other side of the chart to await an opponent.
Lee Vann Corteza ended Tommy Tokoph’s hopes for the title 7-3 as John Morra did the same to Jonas Souto 7-3. Lee Vann and John locked horns and battled it out to a 7-6 result. Leaving Lee Vann in fourth place, Morra’s next opponent was fellow Canadian, Alex Pagulayan. Also a tough one, John emerged to take on Gerson for the title. Alex finished in third place.
Again, as this was true double elimination, Morra would have to defeat Martinez twice to win the title. The match started out close until John pulled away to close out the first set 7-4. The final set was also close but this time, Gerson pulled away to put him one game away from the title – 6-4. John clawed back to win another game but that was it. Gerson won the final game & the title leaving John with a well deserved runner-up finish!
Congratulations to both Gerson Martinez and Mary Rakin Tam – this year’s Texas Open 10 Ball champions!!!
PoolActionTV.com would like to thank owners Kim and Tracy Sanders as well as their General Manager, Shayla Neris, and their staff for rolling out the red carpet for all of the players and fans.
Thank you to Tournament Director Jason Hill for doing an exemplary job juggling all the various events.
We’d like to thank Blake Kamiab, Clint Palaci and David (“Doc”) Reyes for running the DFW Tour setup broadcasting the ladies event on our free channel.
And, last but not least, we’d like to thank our sponsors and fans. Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, StraightPoolEye, Lomax Custom Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Aramith, Simonis, Durbin Custom Cues, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the 5th Annual Scotty Townsend Memorial in West Monroe, LA featuring three divisions – Pro One Pocket, Open 9 Ball and Women’s 9 Ball. The dates are March 1st-6th. Hope to see you there!!!
