After three days of play at The Billiard House in Modesto, California, the initial field of sixty one players has been whittled down to just eight at the 2024 United States Billiard Association National Championship.
The original field of players competed in eight round robin groups of seven or eight players in twenty five point matches with the top three players from each group advancing.
The final twenty four players got started on Saturday in a single elimination bracket that awarded byes to the top eight players from the group stages. After one round of players was eliminated, the final sixteen players all competed and the first three top group seeds eliminated with Carlos Mario Villegas defeating Young Ha Choi 40-27 and Jim Semerci beating Quoc Thinh Le 40-35 in 44 innings. Raymon Groot also lost to Sang Ho Kim 40-37 in 47 innings.
Play got underway on Sunday with the final eight players, who will play down to one winner today.
Hugo Patino and Pedro Piedrabuena from the 2021 Silver Cup
The UMB has drawn the groups for the March 27 to April 2 World Cup in Las Vegas. The groups, player list, and timetable can be found on the UMB website (https://www.umb-carom.org) under the Active Events tab. Twenty-two (22) USBA players will participate in the World Cup.
The Las Vegas World Cup, sponsored by Predator, will be held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. Per the UMB rules, Predator has selected Pedro Piedrabuena and Hugo Patiño as its wildcard entries into the 1/16 main tournament round at the World Cup. Piedrabuena won his 10th national championship crown in December 2021, and Patiño is a four-time USA title holder.
Joining Piedrabuena and Patiño in the World Cup are twenty (20) other USBA enthusiasts. Ten (10) USBA players have been placed into the groups per the UMB rules. Tae Kyu Lee and Miguel Torres, based on their world rankings, were placed into the PQ round. Lee won the 2020 US national tournament and finished second in the 2021 nationals. Torres has won the US national tournament twice. Five (5) USBA players, based on their finish in the 2021 US National tournament, have been placed into the PPQ round: Young Kyu Lee, Edward Gomez, John Park, Kang Lee, and Eric Kwon. Raymond Groot, who was selected by the USBA, has also been placed in the PPQ round. Mazin Shooni and Frank Torres, each a former national champion chosen by the USBA to participate in the World Cup, have been placed in the PPPQ round.
Ten (10) spots remain to be chosen for USBA entries into the World Cup. Eight (8) will be chosen on March 25 in a qualifier, and the other two (2) will be determined on March 26 in a second qualifier. The following USBA players are entered into the March 25 qualifier.
Mario Garcia
Quoc Vo
Seungkwon Hong
Raye Raskin Ricardo Carranco
Jesus Corona
Ertan Tarhan
Carlos Villegas
Jorge Hernan John Patarroyo
Andres Fernandez
Jose Pelayo
Andres Mora Vicke Pineda
Jairo Lenis
Zoel A Kehrt Matta
Camilo Medina Chang Pyun Jose Cruz
Julian Banol Molina
Ahmet Ozan
Jay Karahan
Ricky Carranco Sr.
Young Gul Lee
Henry Ugartechea
Guillermo Alejandro Sosa
Jovanny Caballos
Elmer Meza
Jose Delatorre
Ho Ahn Bilal Khalifa
Olegario Gonzalez
Trinidad Espinosa
These thirty-two (32) players will be drawn into 8 groups of 4, with the winner of each group qualifying. On March 26, there will be a single elimination bracket to determine the final two (2) qualifiers. The players will play in a single-elimination bracket, with the two (2) finalists earning spots in the World Cup. SOME SPOTS ARE STILL AVAILABLE FOR THE MARCH 26 QUALIFIER. REGISTER ON THE USBA WEBSITE.
For any questions about the USBA qualifiers for the World Cup, or for the World Cup, call 410 599 8177.
The USBA field for the Las Vegas World Cup is rounding out. The USBA has selected Mazin Shooni, Frank Torres and Raymon Groot to participate in the tournament. With their selection, ten spots remain for USBA players. These will be determined on March 25 and 26 at two qualifying tournaments to be held in Las Vegas prior to the start of the World Cup.
Three players selected by USBA
Shooni and Torres are past USBA national champions. Groot finished second in the 2020 USBA national tournament. All three have extensive international playing experience, with Torres’ second place finish in the 1987 World Championship being the most-notable highlight. They join nine other USBA players who have been selected to play in the tournament.
Two players have been selected by Predator, the host organizer for the World Cup, as its wildcards: Pedro Piedrabuena and Hugo Patiño. Piedrabuena finished first in the 2021 USBA national tournament. Patiño is a four-time USBA national champion. The USBA had previously selected the following players based on their top-eight placement in the 2021 National tournament: Tae Kyu Lee, Young Kyu Lee, Edward Gomez, John Park, Miguel Torres, Kang Lee, and Eric Kwon.
The Las Vegas World Cup, scheduled from March 27 to April 2, 2022 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, is one of eight similar tournaments on the UMB calendar for 2022. Each tournament is limited to 149 players.
