(l to r): Alberto Estevez, Ryan Dayrit, Jose Kuilan & Pascal Dufresne
It’s been a good year for Pascal Dufresne, his best to-date, capped this past weekend (December 14-15) with a come-from-the-loss-side win at the 2019, $9,930-added Predator Pro Am Amateur Tour Championships, which drew 93 entrants to the event’s annual host, Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY. Dufresne cashed in seven events this year; three on the Tri-State Tour, including two wins (April and September) and four on the Predator Pro Am Tour, including victories in March and this most recent event in the tour’s season finale. He also made an appearance at the 14:1 American Straight Pool Championships in October and though he failed to cash in the event, he was responsible for a computer program, utilized by the Billiards Sports Network that ran the event’s live stream that analyzed the performance of the event’s competitors.
Dufresne’s path to the winners’ circle began with back-to-back wins over Hector Torres and Chris Kelly, both 7-3, before he ran into Julie Ha, who moved his trip to the loss-side of the tracks with a 7-4 win. Ha moved on to a double hill win over Matthew Harricharan, which brought her to a winners’ side semifinal match against Alberto Estevez. Meanwhile, Ryan Dayrit, who’d gotten by Erick Carrasco 7-3, Brandonne Alli 7-1 and Ray Lee 7-4, chalked up two straight double hill wins over Pauls Carpenter and Lyons to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Jim Gutierrez.
Ha locked up in a second straight double hill fight, against Estevez, but it was Estevez who moved on to the hot seat match. He was joined by Dayrit, who’d defeated Gutierrez 7-3. Dayrit claimed the hot seat and what proved to be his last win 7-4 over Estevez.
Ha moved to the loss side and ran into an immediate rematch against Dufresne, who’d chalked up loss side wins #3 and #4 against Matthew Harricharan, double hill, and Dave Shlemperis 7-2 to reach her. Gutierrez drew a rematch, as well, against Jose Kuilan, whom he’d sent to the loss side in a double hill, third round battle and who’d subsequently gone on to win three, almost four straight, loss-side double hill matches; against Irene Kim (6-5), Chris Ganley (6-5), Corey Avallone (6-5) and Ray Lee (6-4).
Dufresne and Kuilan mounted successful rematch campaigns and eliminated Ha and Gutierrez; Dufresne 7-3 over Ha and Kuilan 6-3 over Gutierrez. Dufresne then won the subsequent quarterfinal battle against Kuilan 7-4.
A double hill semifinal followed, with Dufresne prevailing over Estevez to earn his spot in the finals against Dayrit. In the extended race-to-9 battle, Dufresne reached his target ‘7’ ahead of Dayrit, extending the race, and added the two he needed to win it.
Robles thanked Holden Chin, Matthew Harricharan, Troy Deocharran, and Joshua Friedberg’s Raxx staff for their hospitality, his own Predator Pro Am staff (to include his lovely wife, Gail) and title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPL.com, The DeVito Team, PoolOnTheNet.com, Cappelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiard Magazine and Billiards Digest. The Predator Pro Am Tour will open its 2020 season at Steinway Billiards with an event scheduled for the weekend of January 18-19, 2020.
Ko Ping-Han, Fu Che-Wei, Tony Robles and Hsu Kai-Lun
Dayrit wins Amateur event
Four of the final five players competing in the Open/Pro event of the November 2-3 stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour had drifted north from participating in the International 9-Ball Open in Norfolk, VA. Can you guess which four, among Hsu Kai-Lun, Fu Che-Wei, Liu Cheng-Chieh, Ko Ping-Han and Tony Robles?
Hsu Kai-Lun and about half a dozen fellow Taiwanese players signed on to the $500-added event, with Kai-Lun going undefeated through the field of 19, hosted by The Spot in Nanuet, NY. Kai-Lun defeated separate opponents in the hot seat (Robles) and finals (Fu Che-Wei) to claim the title.
Kai-Lun had to defeat Fu Che-Wei twice; the first time in a winners’ side semifinal, as Tony Robles squared off against Liu Cheng-Chieh in the other one. Kai-Lun downed Che-Wei 7-4 and was joined in the hot seat match by Robles, who’d sent Cheng-Chieh to the loss side 7-3. Kai-Lun claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Robles.
On the loss side, Che-Wei picked up Lin Ta-Li, who’d defeated Mike “Fingers” Badsteubner 7-2, and Max Watanabe 7-4. Liu Cheng-Chieh drew Ko Ping-Han, who’d eliminated Chang Yu-Lung 7-4 and Joey Korsiak 7-3.
Ping-Han downed Cheng-Chieh 7-2, and in the quarterfinals, faced Che-Wei, who’d eliminated Ta-Li 7-4. Che-Wei then defeated Ping-Han to face Robles in the semifinals.
Che-Wei got a second shot at Kai-Lun in the hot seat, with a 7-4 win over Robles in the semifinals. The second meeting between Kai-Lun and Che-Wei was a double hill battle for the event title. Kai-Lun won it 7-6 to claim that title.
Dayrit goes undefeated through field of 62
Ryan Dayrit and Keith Guenzel battled twice to claim the $1,000-added Amateur event title that drew 62 entrants. They met twice, hot seat and finals, to claim the title.
They advanced to their respective winners’ side semifinals; Dayrit, facing Carlos Duque and Guenzel, squaring off against Levie Lampaan. Dayrit moved into the hot seat match with a 7-4 victory over Duque. Guenzel joined him after downing Lampaan 7-2. Dayrit took the first of two against Guenzel 8-4 and waited in the hot seat for the second to happen.
Zaveri advanced to the quarterfinals 7-4 over Lampaan and was joined by Duque, who’d defeated Croce, double hill. Duque took the quarterfinal match that followed 8-4.
Duque started the semifinals against Keith Guenzel with ‘4 on the wire’ in a race to 9. He managed to chalk up the four he needed to force a single deciding game, which Guenzel won for a second shot at Dayrit in the hot seat.
Dayrit and Guenzel then locked up in a double hill final, which Dayrit finally won to claim the event title.
A Second Chance drew nine entrants and was won by Julie Ha. She took home $110 for her efforts, which included her final 7-5 victory over Mike Harrington ($70).
Tour director Tony Robles thanked Rhys Chen and his staff at The Spot for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, PlayNAPT.com, The DeVito Team, Poolonthenet.com, Capelle (BilliardsPress.com), AZBilliards, Pool & Billiard Magazine, Billiards Digest and his own Predator Pro Am team, to include his lovely wife, Gail. The next stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, scheduled for the weekend of November 16-17, will be a Double Points, $1,000-added event, hosted by Cue Bar in Bayside (Queens), NY.
Tony Robles and his team at Silent Assassin Productions welcomed 164 players to Steinway Billiards on August 3rd – 4th for four divisions of the 3rd Annual NYC Scotch Doubles 8-Ball Championship.
The Leisure Division saw the smallest field, twelve teams, competing for first prize. This division saw Amanda Andries & Henry Chan redeem themselves after a 5-2 loss to Kendall Nunn & Radames Marimon for the hot-seat. Andries & Chan bounced back with a hill-hill win over Cesar Becerra & Maxwell Musser in the semi-final match, and then another hill-hill win in the extended final match over Nunn & Marimon.
The Open Division drew a field of thirty seven teams and there was no late tournament redemption in this one, as the team of Artur Trzeciak & Sebastian Karwas went undefeated with a 6-3 hot-seat win over Charlene Capers & Jerry Alexander and then a 6-0 win over Capers & Alexander in the finals.
The Advanced Division’s eighteen teams played a tight final few matches with John Durr & Ken Batal taking the hot-seat with a 6-4 win over Quang Nguyen & Jimmy Tran. Nguyen & Tran then lost to Chris Schmidt & Kevin Scalzitti in the semi-final match 5-2. The extended final match was another close one, with Durr & Batal winning the hill-hill match for first place.
The absolute top players competed in the sixteen team Master Division, where Miguel Batista & Wilberto Ortiz were undefeated with wins over Zion Zvi & Duc Lam for the hot-seat 7-4 and again in the finals 7-5.
Robles wished his thanks to UpState AL and his team for hosting the free live stream courtesy of Blatt Billiards, John Leyman for being the official referee, tournament assistants Julie Ha, Tommy Schreiber and Irene Kim, Erwin Dionisio for his fantastic photography, and Steinway Billiards, National Amateur Pool League (NAPL) and Predator Cues for their sponsorship. He also wished a huge thanks to all of the players for their enthusiasm and support of the event.
Robles and his team will be back at Steinway Billiards on October 19th – 20th for the six divisions of the NYC 8-Ball Championship Singles Championships.
Pnoto by Erwin Dionisio (l to r): Jorge Rodriguez, Jayson Shaw, Frankie Hernandez, Raphael Dabreo
Fracasso-Verner goes undefeated to capture Amateur title
When Frankie Hernandez first appeared in our database, finishing 25th in the US Open 9-Ball Championships, won by Tommy Kennedy in 1992, Jayson Shaw was four years old. A year later, in the same event, Hernandez would share a 17th place finish with such luminaries as Allen Hopkins, Jim Rempe, Richie Richeson and Cliff Joyner. In Frankie’s best earnings year, to date (2001), Shaw had just become a teenager, as Frankie was busy finishing 49th at the US Open, but cashing in 21 events, including eight stops on the Joss Tour, two Turning Stone events (II & III), and geographic victories all over the map; Florida, Las Vegas and New England, et al.
At the $1,000-added, 11th Annual Empire State Championships (Open/Pro division), which drew 28 entrants to Raxx Billiards in West Hempstead, NY on the weekend of February 23-24, Hernandez advanced to the hot seat match, where he met and defeated Jayson Shaw in an exciting, back and forth, double hill match. Shaw returned from the semifinals to down Hernandez in the finals.
When Shaw first appeared in our database in 2006, Lukas Fracasso-Verner was four years old. They didn’t meet to play in this 11th Annual Empire State Championships, although it would have been fun to watch. Fracasso-Verner went undefeated through the $2,000-added Amateur event’s field of 140 to capture the Amateur title.
Both defending champions of this event were on-hand at this year’s championships, but both would end up in the tie for 13th in their respective divisions; Zion Zvi, the two-time defending champion of the Open/Pro division, and Jason Carandang, last year’s amateur winner.
Fracasso-Verner is fresh off his best earnings year to date (2018) and recent winner of a stop on the NE 9-Ball Series. He was last year’s winner in the Amateur division of the 8th Annual George “Ginky” Sansouci Memorial, at which he lost his opening match and won 11 on the loss side before downing Chuck Allie to claim the title. That said, he’s proved to be a bit of puzzle. Though his various accomplishments on regional tours and national events has been impressive (last year’s Ginky Memorial and this event as just a couple of relevant examples), he has come into this broad field of top-notch competition without benefit of a Junior National Championship under his belt, although he’s competed several times. He is also not on anyone’s short list to become a member of the USA’s junior team at this year’s upcoming Atlantic Cup Challenge. According to Roy Pastor, who’s taught Fracasso-Verner in the Connecticut Youth Billiards program and is a part of the BEF’s junior and world championship programs, Fracasso-Verner’s absence from this year’s Atlantic Cup Challenge team says less about his individual skills and talent, than it does about the overall strength of the youth programs leading up to the BEF Junior Nationals every year.
“The field (of junior competitors) is getting stronger every year,” said Pastor, “and there are a lot of Lukas Fracasso-Verners out there.”
Joey Tate, the teenager, from Raleigh, NC, for example, is younger than Fracasso-Verner and has already attained a 681 Fargo Rate. By comparison, Fracasso-Verner is currently at 645. And there are others, some of whom, over the years, have defeated Fracasso-Verner in Junior National competition.
“Lukas is a terrific player, though,” said Pastor, “and has the potential to be one of the greatest.”
This time around, Fracasso-Verner opted out of the loss side route for this event, going undefeated through the Amateur field. He defeated Chris Ganley in the hot seat match and Matt Klein in the finals.
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Fracasso-Verner and Klein met first in a winners’ side semifinal, while Ganley and Paul Carpenter squared off in the other one. Fracasso-Verner got into the hot seat match with an 8-4 victory over Klein and was joined by Ganley, who’d sent Carpenter west 7-5. Fracasso-Verner downed Ganley, who started the match with 5 on the wire, 10-7 to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Klein picked up Xavier Romero and Carpenter drew Jim Gutierrez. Klein and Carpenter got right back to work, downing Romero and Gutierrez, both 7-3, to meet in the quarterfinals. Klein then eliminated Carpenter 7-5 and got a second shot at Fracasso-Verner with a 7-4 victory over Ganley in the semifinals. Fracasso-Verner claimed the Empire State title with an 8-5 victory over Klein.
Shaw comes back from hot seat loss to claim 10-Ball Open/Pro title
There had to be an inescapable air of inevitability about the 10-Ball Open/Pro event. With Jayson Shaw in the relatively short field, as the winners’ side whittled down further and further, who wouldn’t be bracket watching to see if they were next on the world-class player’s hit list. Frankie Hernandez, though, was one of the 28, who, having competed against his share of top-notch champions, would be unlikely to be intimidated. Cautious, maybe, respectful of Shaw’s obvious talent, but up to the challenge, which reached him in the hot seat match.
Shaw had faced and defeated another unlikely-to-be-intimidated competitor, Jorge Rodriguez 7-3 in a winners’ side semifinal (Rodriguez won this event in 2015). Hernandez, in the meantime, squared off against and eventually sent Rob Pole to the loss side 7-2. In a thrilling, double hill hot seat match, Hernandez sent Shaw off to the semifinals.
On the loss side, in the first money round, Rodriguez picked up Tenzin Jorden, who’d been the first of two to defeat defending champion, Zion Zvi, and a week earlier, had chalked up his first Predator Pro Am Amateur title. He’d defeated Jimmy Rivera 7-3 and survived a double hill match against Joey Korsiak to reach Rodriguez. Pole drew Raphael Dabreo, who’d most recently eliminated Jonathan Smith 7-4 and Mike Salerno (Smith, in the previous round, had knocked out Zion Zvi).
Rodriguez and DaBreo advanced to the quarterfinals, both 7-2, over Jorden and Pole. DaBreo took the quarterfinal 7-5 over Rodriguez. It was getting late, already into early Monday morning, when Shaw, seemingly impatient, gave up only a single rack to DaBreo in those semifinals to earn a second shot against Hernandez in the hot seat.
Things broke pretty evenly in the early going of the finals, which didn’t get underway until nearly 2 a.m. Shaw and Hernandez fought back and forth early, with no clear winner in sight. Near the middle of those finals, though, Shaw broke through to claim the title 9-4.
A Second Chance event drew a full field of 16 entrants. Julie Ha ($160) won four straight in the single elimination bracket to down Monika Callaghan ($100) 8-6 in the finals. Chulo Castro and Mark Antonetti finished in the tie for 3rd place ($30 each). A Third Chance event drew another full field of 16 and was won by Brian Tierney ($160), who downed Dave Callaghan ($100) 7-5 in the finals. Mike Callaghan and Shashi Hajaree each took home $39 for their third place tie.
Tony Robles thanked the ownership and staff at Raxx Billiards for their continuing support and hospitality at these annual Empire State Championships, as well as title sponsor Predator Cues, Ozone Billiards, NAPL, The DeVito Team, PoolontheNet.com, Billiards Digest, AZBilliards, Pool & Billiards Magazine and his entire staff, including his lovely wife, Gail. The next stop on the Predator Pro Am Tour, scheduled for the weekend of March 2-3 will be an Amateur event, hosted by The Spot in Nanuet, NY.
Jeff Crawford, Sean Morgan, Dennis Spears, Mike Miller, Ed Liddawi, Danny Basavich and Pat Fleming
Sean "Alaska" Morgan joined the ranks of Francisco Bustamante and Darren Appleton, winners of the first (2013) and second (2014) New Jersey State 10-Ball Championships. He had to get by Jeff Crawford twice to do it, with Crawford taking one against him in the finals. The $1,000-added event drew 35 entrants to Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ on the weekend of April 25-26.
Morgan almost got sent to the loss side in a winners' side semifinal against Joe Hong, but (if you'll excuse the pun) hung on to win the double hill match. Crawford, in the meantime, defeated Brian Maher 7-1. Morgan took the first of his three against Crawford 7-3 and waited in the hot seat to play the next two.
Maher and Hong moved over and were eliminated immediately; Maher, by Dennis Spears who'd reached him through Julie Ha, 7-0, and Michael Wong, 7-5 and Hong, by Mike Miller, who'd eliminated Ed Culhane 7-2 and John Smith 7-1. Spears defeated Maher 7-5. Miller took care of Hong 7-3.
Spears won the quarterfinal 7-5 over Miller, before he was eliminated 7-3 by Crawford in the semifinals. Crawford took the opening set of the finals 7-5 over Morgan, giving them each a single loss. Morgan broke the tie and captured the event title with a 7-4 win in the second set.
Michael Wong and Matt Krah opted out of a final match at the Mezz Tour's second stop of the year on Sunday, February 15. In the hot seat, Wong claimed the event title, leaving Krah, who'd won three on the loss side to reach him, as runner-up. The $500-added event drew a small field of 16 entrants to Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ.
Though both finalists played in a winners' side semifinal, they did not face each other. Wong battled Scott Bannon, as Krah took on Adam Kielar. Wong defeated Bannon 7-4 and faced Kielar, who'd sent Krah to the losers' bracket 7-5. Wong claimed the hot seat 7-4 over Kielar in what proved to be his final match of the evening.
On the loss side, Krah's first opponent was Tony Maria, who'd defeated Woo Tang 7-4 and Steve Lillis 7-2. Bannon drew Mike Salen, who'd given up only one rack each in his previous two matches against Kyle Bubet and Julie Ha. Bannon nipped that little run in the bud with a double hill win, as Krah downed Maria 7-4.
Krah took the quarterfinal match against Bannon 7-4 and moved into his final match; the semifinal against Kielar. He won that 7-3 and then agreed with Wong to call it a night and split the top two prizes.
Tour director Jose Burgos thanked the ownership and staff at Sandcastle Billiards, as well as sponsors Mezz Cues, Gamblin' Clothing, Kamui, J.D. Custom Cues, Allen Hopkins Super Billiards Expo, JB Cases, Billiard Life USA, Howitzer Break Cues, Steve Klatt's Custom Cues, and Mike Ricciardella.
Edison, New Jersey – Sunday November 23, 2014 marked the day that several cue toting women would come out to Sandcastle Billiards from various states ranging from Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and even as far as Virginia to compete in an attempt to qualify for a spot in the largest and most prestigious women’s event being held in the United States, the inaugural Andy Cloth Women's International Pool Championship !
This prestigious 10-ball event will be bringing world class women’s pool to New York City for the first time in over 12 years, benefiting the pool world with another fantastic event! Dragon Promotions is bringing big time, world class women's pool back to the United States with this new event that is also featuring qualifiers all over North America. The main event takes place December 16-21, 2014 featuring 64 elite women from around the world and hosted by Steinway Billiards Cafe in New York City, the epicenter of American culture. The Women's International Pool Championship format will be very challenging beginning with an 8 women round robin with every player playing a guaranteed 7 matches. The field is cut in half and then moves onto the knockout rounds in a race to 10. The quarter-finals goes to a race to 11, and then the semi-finals race to 13. The WIP Championship Finals will be a race to 17. The eventual tournament winner will have played 12 world class opponents. The event is sanctioned by the WPBA and brought to you by Andy Cloth, J.Pechauer Cues , Viking Cues, Steinway Billiards. , Olhausen Balls, Pool & Billiard Magazine & Focused Apparel . Patron sponsors include Dr. Greg Diehl, Tom Gleich, and Dr. Michael Frank. Media partners include PKE Partners, IB Sports, NYC Grind, Gotham City Technologies, Nona Photography, and Charles Eames Photography. 7 days of live pool will be filmed and streamed by Inside Pool TV. Pay per view on www.Dragonpromotions.com
" J.Pechauer Cues is thrilled to be joining Dragon Promotions in putting a major championship on US soil. The Andy Cloth Women's International Pool Championship has created so much buzz already, and it's only going to get better. These kind of activities really help boost billiards, and we need to get people excited again", said Joe Pechauer, President of J.Pechauer Cues. While J.Pechauer Cues can meet nearly every price point of any customer or mass market, Pechauer Cues made it's name through custom cue making and till this day it remains a core part of their business.
In the Sandcastle qualifier, what would typically be the “hot seat” match in a double elimination tournament was actually a match for the first of two qualifier slots being awarded out. This brought two thus far undefeated ladies to the table. Caroline Pao and Jai Li would face off for the first slot. Caroline showed her true speed and tenacity at the table as she jumped out to a 5 game lead in the race to 6. As Caroline sat comfortably on the hill, Jia would put two games up on her side of the score beads before Caroline closed out the set at 6-2 and claimed the first spot! Jia would be sent west to await her next worthy competitor and a second chance to earn a spot into the Women’s International Pool Championships. Already happening on the west side of the charts, the ladies were battling for survival.
Listed below are all the match-ups and results of those that participated this past Sunday:
Ogarek vs. Howell; 5-2 Pritchard vs. Pritchette; 5-3
Fox vs. Rios; 6-0 Acera (bye)
Li vs. Barrett; 6-3 Reeve (bye)
Round Winner’s Side Results 3rd
Pao vs. Ogarek; 6-3 Barrett vs. Reeve; 5-0
Li vs. Fox; 6-3 Rios vs. Ha; 5-3
Both 4th round matches were a nail biting hill-hill melee with Samantha Barrett victorious over Annie Rios 5-4 and Amy Acera victorious over Cheryl Pritchard 5-4 as well.The next round of competition was not nearly as close as the last round with a well rested Dawn Fox shutting out Samantha Barrett 5-0 and Amy Acera keeping her momentum going after exchanging the first 4 racks back and forth until then pulling away with a 5-2 victory over Pam Ogarek. Round 6 brought Dawn and Amy to yet another hill-hill battle as the two ladies exchanged racks the whole way and fatigue started setting in. Ultimately it was Dawn Fox taking the final rack in that set ending Amy’s great run and sending herself to face off once again with the patiently waiting Jia Li who had sent her west earlier.At first it seemed as if the in-stroke Fox would run away with this final set of the
tournament as she jumped out to a 4-1 lead to get on the hill against the cold Li and avenge her loss from their fist set this day. Jia would not let it be that easy as she then won the next 2 racks cutting Dawn’s lead down to one at 4-3. Unfortunately it was not enough to put Dawn on ice as she won a very tough safety battle in rack #8 to claim the
other of the 2 slots being awarded into the main event.
A very well deserved congratulations goes out to Caroline Pao of New Jersey and Dawn Fox of Pennsylvania as we wish them luck and good shooting in the inaugural Women’s International Pool Championships next month.
Thank you to all the ladies that came out to compete on Sunday. We wish you luck in the future qualifiers and perhaps we’ll see you after all in New York!
From Seattle to Quebec, and Tampa to New York City, there was a multitude of opportunities for players to qualify. The ones who won will get to play a guaranteed 7 matches in the round robin! Not bad for a $50 entry fee and taking a crack at the $14,000 1st place prize. A very big opportunity for up and comers looking to gain experience on the women's pro tour scene.
Become a FAN Sponsor of the WOMEN's INTERNATIONAL POOL CHAMPIONSHIP for only $200! and get a ton of benefits including FREE pass to watch: click http://dragonpromotions.com/sponsors.html
Jayson Shaw and Ron Mason went undefeated in their respective appearances on the Predator Tour's Open/Pro and Amateur events on the weekend of November 1-2. The $1,000-added events ($500 each) drew 37 amateurs and eight Open/Pro players to Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ.
Mason got into the hot seat of the Amateur event by virtue of a forfeit. He'd survived a double hill, winners' side semifinal fight against Chickie Romero, and was preparing to face Koka Davladze, who'd sent Juan Guzman to the losers' bracket 7-2. Davladze, though, arrived some 20 minutes late to the hot seat match, and was, by rule, forced to forfeit the match to Mason.
Moving to the loss side, Guzman picked up the youngster, Thomas Rice, who'd defeated Brooke Meyer and Daniel Schneider, both 7-4, to reach him. Romero drew Julie Ha, who'd gotten by Eddie Perez 7-5 and Jaydev Zaveri 7-3. Rice defeated Guzman 7-5, and in the quarterfinals, faced Romero, who'd eliminated Ha 7-3.
Romero defeated Rice 7-5, and turned to face a this-time, on-time Koka Davladze in the semifinals. Davladze got what should have been his second, but was actually only his first shot against Mason with a 7-5 win over Romero. The final match came within a game of being extended to 10 games, but Mason reached eight first to complete his undefeated run.
Jayson Shaw got by Predator Tour Director Tony Robles twice to capture the Open/Pro title. After battling to double hill against Hunter Lombardo in a winners' side semifinal, as Robles was busy sending Juan Guzman west 7-1, Shaw shut Robles out in the hot seat match.
On the loss side, Lombardo ran into Spanky Kava, who'd shut out Chris Hogan to reach him. Guzman drew Kevin Guimond, who'd eliminatEd Scott Simonetti 7-5. Lombardo gave up only a single rack against Kava, and in the quarterfinals, faced Guimond, who'd given up only two defeating Guzman.
Lombardo gave up another single rack in the quarterfinals, which ended Guimond's day and then faced Robles, who gave him a much more significant challenge. They battled to double hill, before Robles prevailed to earn the second shot against Shaw.
It started out well for Robles, with two break-and-run racks. As the balls scattered across the table during the break of the third rack, one of them kicked the cue ball in. Shaw stepped to the table, completed that rack and then ran four more to take a 5-2 lead. Robles narrowed the lead to two, but Shaw responded to reach the hill at 6-3. Robles fought back and won three to force a deciding game. He broke, and was looking at a decent table to run out. He was, he said "a little off, shooting at the 3-ball," and the cue ball took one of those all-too-common bounces off the corner of one side pocket, and landed in the other side pocket. Shaw picked it up and finished the rack to claim the Open/Pro title.
Snooker star Mark Selby put smiles on the faces youngsters at Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice on Monday when he took a break from the Dafabet World Championship at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield to pay a visit.
The green baize ace, who is playing Alan McManus in the quarter-finals today, happily signed autographs and chatted to children and staff at South Yorkshire’s only children’s hospice.
Bluebell Wood is the official charity of World Snooker for the second year running, and is proud of its association with such a prestigious event.
Selby said: “It was a privilege to come to Bluebell Wood and meet the children and staff who all do such a fantastic job. I’d encourage everyone to support such a fantastic charity.”
Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice offers care and support to children with a shortened life expectancy. It give families the gift of time with their children to laugh, love and create unforgettable memories.
Julie Hampson, corporate fundraiser at Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice in Sheffield, said: “We were very excited that Mark came to visit and the children were very pleased to meet him. It’s a really busy time for Mark, so we really appreciate him coming to see us. I’d like to say a big thank you for all the support we receive from the players throughout the tournament and to World Snooker.”
William Hill, title sponsor of snooker’s williamhill.com UK Championship, have made a donation of £10,880 to Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice in Sheffield.
World number one Neil Robertson, who won the tournament by beating Mark Selby in the final, visited the hospice to present the cheque and meet children.
Throughout the 13 days of the williamhill.com UK Championship in York, a donation of £128 was made for every century break made by any of the 128 players competing in the tournament. There were 85 centuries so the total came to £10,880.
William Hill spokesman Joe Crilly said: "The players did fantastically well over the tournament to rack up so many centuries during the UK Championship and as a result, a wonderful cause like Bluebell Wood can benefit."
Julie Hampson, Corporate Fundraiser at Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice said: “It was fabulous to have Neil Robertson visit us after his recent win at the UK Championship and present us with a cheque for such a staggering amount from the century breaks sponsored by William Hill.
“The support we’ve received from World Snooker and William Hill for the last two years is incredible and means we are able to offer our support to more local children with a shortened life expectancy and their families.”
Robertson added: “It’s a real eye-opener to come to Bluebell Wood and see how much hard work they do to help children and their families. It’s a fantastic donation from William Hill and great that snooker can do what it can to help.”
Bluebell Wood is World Snooker’s official charity for the 2013/14 season. The hospice in North Anston offers care and support to children and young people with a shortened life expectancy, both in their own homes and at the hospice. It provides support to children and their families throughout South Yorkshire, North Derbyshire, North Nottinghamshire and parts of North Lincolnshire.
To find out more about Bluebell Wood and to make a donation visit www.bluebellwood.org
Pic: Neil Robertson and Julie Hampson with two-year-old Callum Edwards.
