Shooters Snookers and Sports Club in Toronto hosted the 2013 Canadian Cue Sports Championships from June 21st to July 2nd. The combination of heat and heavy rain paved the way for sicky conditions in the crowded room of players and spectators.
The event kicked off with 51 players in the amateur 9-ball event. Ontario player Marc Godin took the title with a 11-10 win over Serge Therrien from New Brunswick. In the Junior 9-Ball event, Charles Guimont from Quebec was undefeated as he took his first national title. Charles was the runner-up in last year’s event.
In the ladies events, Kayla Jones from London Ontario marched through the amateur 8-ball event beating Angela Carringan in the finals 9-7. Brittany Bryant took her 3rd consecutive 9-ball title beating Naomi Williams in the finals. Naomi was not left empty handed as she overcame New Brunswick’s Angela Belding to win her 3rd consecutive 10-ball title.
In the Men’s Open events, Jason Klatt got the ball rolling with a 11-3 score over Calgary’s Dave Martin for his 3rd national 8-Ball title. In the 9-Ball event, Jeff Blais entertained the crowd with his fearless aggressive style. Jeff lost a heartbreaking match to John Morra 11-10 in the A-side finals, and then lost his next match to Jason Klatt hill-hill in the B-Side finals. Morra went on to win this event for his 1st national 9-ball title. In the 10-ball event, John Morra continued his excellent play. John outscored his opponents overall 63-26 for his 3rd 10-ball title.
In the snooker event, Ontario filled out the top four spots. Jason Williams had a long road to the finals which included an 8 hour match against Chris Wood. The steady young player is looking more impressive each year. Jason’s opponent in the finals was lefty Floyd Ziegler. Floyd has been in the finals of this prestigious event multiple times in the past. His experience likely gave him an edge over Jason. It’s was Floyd’s great play and shot-making that gave him the title with a 6-2 win.
In the senior’s snooker, Jim Whittaker came though the b-side to take the win over Paul Flemming in the finals. Live streaming was provided by Randall Morrison of the Alberta Billiards & Snooker Association.
Special thanks to the CBSA and Shooters Billiards for putting on another successful event. Congratulations to Justin Kluznik for winning CityTV News athlete of the week. Although Justin didn’t win a national title, he did win a box of Frosted Flakes.
Alex Pagulayan (Photo courtesy of Dave Thomson Mediumpool.com)
The Men’s Open 8-Ball Event took place this past weekend with 27 players looking to take the Canadian title. With last years champion Alain Martel not in attendance, we were guaranteed a new champion this year. After Mario Morra sent tournament favourite Alex Pagulayan to the b-side, it looked like the Morra father son duo would monopolize the event.
Mario then faced his son John Morra in the “hot seat” match. John Morra took the 9-3 win securing his spot in the finals. In the b-side bracket final, Mario faced Alex Pagulayan once again. As the tournament progressed, Pagulayan’s game got stronger. Alex took care of business beating Mario 9-5 to set up the finals against the young John Morra. Once again, it was Alex who came out on top to take his first ever Canadian 8-Ball title with a 11-7 win.
A strong field of 36 players travelled to the Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu hotel in La Malbaie, Quebec for the second annual Challenge du St. Laurent.
Canada put forth some of our best players while Americans from the south traveled north of the border with something to prove taking the first three spots in this 10-Ball tournament. Free live streaming of the event was provided by www.billardquebec.com.
In the A-Side finals, Dechaine looked good winning the first three racks, but Archer’s kept his composure and secured his spot in the top two with an 11-8 win.
The finals of the B-side, Dechaine now faced the lefty Shawn Putnam for the second time in this tournament. Putnam was the runner-up at the U.S. Open just two weeks ago. Dechaine was unable to beat Putnam the second time around and would have to settle for third losing 9-2.
The race to 13 finals was an all american match, Shaun Putnam from Pennsylvania and Johnny Archer from Georgia. With the current exchange rate on the american dollar, the colour is about the only difference between the two dollars. A few early unforced errors by Putnam gave Johnny Archer a commanding 9-4 lead. It looked like Archer was going to run away with the match in this alternate break format. Putnam battled back to bring the score to within one at 12-11. With Archer breaking for the match, a cell phone from the audience rang. Archer broke and scratched, giving Putnam ball in hand on an open table. The score was now 12-12. Putnam broke in the last rack making two balls with no shot on the three ball. A poor safety by Shawn, gave Johnny the opening. Archer quickly cleaned the balls and lint from the table as he remained undefeated throughout the event. Nice escape for Archer.
Special thanks to Francis Crevier, Jean Bergeron and Marco Sanschagrin who have helped organize this tournament. Happy travels, see you next time.
