The ViperKidz 14th Annual Colorado State Juniors 9-Ball Championships was held this past Saturday, December 8th, 2018 at Felt Billiards located at 101 W Floyd Ave, Englewood, CO.
The youth event was open to any junior between the ages of 7-19 and was handicapped by three different age groups.
Wyoming’s own Tyler Blowers (15) won 4-1 against Colorado’s own Owen Crispin (17) for the hot-seat match. Little Issac Garcia stole the show playing way-over-his-own-handicap beating this year’s 8-ball champion Aaron Krapes 3-1 and newcomer Andon Buck 3-0 in the quarter finals.
Issac had a chance to make it the finals but ended up losing 5-1 to Owen to finish 3rd place in the championships. Owen being determined to keep the title here in Colorado made it to the finals and would have had to beat Ty twice to win the championships but in the end, it was Ty who won the final match 5-1 to win the championships…
All the kids were awarded points for each event they participated in this year’s events and at the end it was Ty Blowers won two of the three titles and was awarded a special prize that will be given at the first event scheduled for 2019.
We are super excited about next year’s schedule as it will include some additional bar table events.
Congratulations Tyler!
Top finishers:
Champion Ty Blowers – Jacoby custom cue, Plaque, multiple gift bags
Runner-Up Champion: Owen Crispin – Plaque, Collectibles Package and gift bag
3rd Place finisher: Issac Garcia – Plaque and gift bag
4th Place finisher: Andon Buck – Plaque and gift bag
5th & 6th Place finishers: Aaron Krapes and Jerry Miller – Gift bags
7th-8th Place finishers: Amanda Campbell (Highest finishing female award and special gift bag) and Anthony Poitra – Gift bags
9th -12th Place finishers: Doug Moore, James Ballinger, Nick Macomber and Brandon Krapes – Gift bags
Tournament director and creator of these prestigious junior’s events is WPBA touring professional Melissa Little Aka “The Viper”. She created her “Viper Juniors Program” back in 2004 and continues to support kids playing pool.
She is also the creator of other great juniors’ programs like her Viper Kids Boot Camps, junior pool leagues, Kids open clinics and her popular after school program. For more information, photos, results, leader boards and future events please visit www.melissalittle.com
A special “Thank-You” to the events sponsors;
Jacoby Custom Cues out of Nekoosa, WI,
Felt Billiards in Englewood, CO,
Bigge Construction Inc. in Englewood, CO
Gift bag sponsors Pro Player Mark Haddad and www.studio54denver.com
The ViperKidz Colorado Juniors 8-Ball Invitational Championships was held this past Saturday, October 27, 2018 at Felt Billiards located at 101 W Floyd Ave, Englewood, CO.
The youth event was open to any junior between the ages of 7-19 and was handicapped by three different age groups.
Colorado’s Jin Powell (8) beat Wyoming’s Tyler Blowers (14) for the hot seat 2-1 and then Tyler beat Jerry Miller for 3rd and came back to double dip Jin in the finals to win the championship.
The next ViperKidz event is the 13th Annual Colorado State Junior 9-Ball Championships and is scheduled for Saturday, December 8th, 2018 at the same location Felt Billiards.
All the kids are awarded points for each event they participate in and at the end of the year one person will receive an extra special prize for winning the all-around title and crowned the best junior player in the state.
Congratulations Tyler!
Top finishers:
Champion Ty Blowers – Jacoby custom cue, Plaque, multiple gift bags
Runner-Up Champion: Jin Powell – Plaque, Collectibles Package and gift bag
3rd Place finisher: Jerry Miller – Plaque and gift bag
4th Place finisher & Highest Finishing Female Award: Amanda Campbell – (2) Plaques, Special gift bag and multiple gift bags.
5th & 6th Place finishers: Owen Crispin and Aaron Krapes
7th-8th Place finishers: Romey Grier and Michael Herera
9th -11th Place finishers: Issac Garcia, Aidin Sellers and Ryan Kojetin
Tournament director and creator of these prestigious junior’s events is WPBA touring professional Melissa Little Aka “The Viper”. She created her “Viper Juniors Program” back in 2004 and continues to support kids playing pool.
She is also the creator of other great programs like her Viper Kids Boot Camps, junior pool leagues, Kids open clinics and her popular after school program.
A special “Thank-You” to the events sponsors;
Jacoby Custom Cues out of Nekoosa, WI,
Felt Billiards in Englewood, CO,
Bigge Construction Inc. in Englewood, CO
Gift bag sponsors Pro Player Mark Haddad and www.studio54denver.com
Colorado’s popular juniors event kicked off with its 13th Annual Colorado State Juniors 9-Ball Championships this past Saturday, October 28th, 2017 which was held at Felt Billiards located at 101 W Floyd Ave, Englewood, CO.
The youth event was open to any junior between the ages of 8-19 and was handicapped by three different age groups.
14-year-old Jerry Miller of Evans, Colorado successfully won this year’s title by defeating Pueblo’s 14-year-old Nico Rodriquez winning two straight matches 4-0 & 4-1 in the finals to win this year’s championships.
Earlier in the year Nico won the 8-Ball Championship and Jerry won the 10-Ball event so there was no big surprise that these two were in finals of the end of the year’s State Championships.
Other Top finishers:
Champion Jerry Miller – Jacoby custom cue, trophy, multiple gift bags
Runner-Up Champion: Nico Rodriquez – Trophy, huge Teddy Bear and gift bag
3rd Place finisher: James Ballinger – Trophy and gift bag
4th Place finisher & Highest Finishing Female Award: Amanda Campbell – (2) Trophies, Stuffed bear and multiple gift bags.
5th & 6th Place finishers: Issac and Hunter
7th-8th Place finishers: Jin and Mackenzie
9th -12th Place finishers: Nick H, Michael H, Noah and Soren
Tournament director and creator of these prestigious junior’s events is WPBA touring professional Melissa Little Aka “The Viper”. She created her “Viper Juniors Program” back in 2004 and continues to support kids playing pool.
She is also the creator of other great programs like her Viper Kids Boot Camps, junior pool leagues, Kids open clinics and her popular after school program.
Mark your calendars as Melissa will be hosting three additional juniors events throughout the 2018 year.
A special “Thank-You” to the events sponsors;
Jacoby Custom Cues out of Nekoosa, WI,
Felt Billiards in Englewood, CO,
Bigge Construction Inc. in Englewood, CO
Gift bag sponsors Pro Player Mark Haddad and Studio 54 Denver.
The inaugural Colorado 8-Ball Open wrapped up at Felt Billiards in Englewood, Colorado June 18. The two day event drew 40 players from across Colorado and Wyoming, even a couple from Texas. The handicapped entry free attracted a mix of players of all skill levels. Players were categorized into Gold, Silver and Bronze level players based on Fargo Ratings and known ability. Youth players age 17 & Under played for free.
Stapleton Billiards presented this event and raised $1,650 in added prize money through community support from local small businesses. The first giveaway of the day went to a very grateful Tapan Lakdawala of Thornton, Colorado. He scored a brand new set of Super Aramith Pro balls for his home table, courtesy of Aramith. Each time he shared the event on Facebook with the hashtag #thankyouaramith he was automatically entered to win.
$1,250 went into the Main Event which was held on 9’ Diamond and Gold Crown tables. Each round was redrawn with (1) buy-back option per player immediately following a loss. After 4 rounds of play, 12 players remained to return on Father’s Day Sunday for the final single-elimination bracket. The holiday weekend did keep some dads away but another 20 showed up for the Sports Optical Sunday Challenge on the barboxes, where no Gold players were allowed.
The Sunday Main Event matches started a little slow with the extended race to 8 games, winner-break format. With it now being single-elimination for everyone, the heat was on. The last match to wrap up from the first round of the day was between Johnny “One-Time” Vasquez and Chris McDaniel. The 2.5 hour hill-hill match resulted in McDaniel advancing to the next round.
James Beckemeyer received one of the four first-round BYEs but came up short against Mark Haddad on the Stapleton Billiards live stream table. Haddad went on to defeat McDaniel on the same table before meeting up with Jose Cruz in the finals. McDaniel and Fernando Corona played off for 3rd/4th place alongside the finals match. Haddad and Cruz gave the packed house exactly what they came for. Haddad jumped to a quick 3-0 lead and remained ahead for most of the match until Cruz tied it up at the end. An unfortunate foul by Cruz ultimate led to a ball-in-hand backdoor out for Haddad.
$400 of the total $1,650 added went into the bar table event. 6 new players arrived Sunday to buy into the bar table event which was a free entry for all players who competed on Saturday. With 20 players total, everyone drew a random opponent in the first round with 10 players advancing to a single elimination bracket.
Chris Honeman tore through the field taking down top bar table players, Jason Secor and Chisolm Woodson. She ultimately met her match against Garrette Rogers. Greg Kingsbury, owner of Mile High Billiards in Arvada, also made an appearance and went undefeated to split in the finals with Rogers. Honeman also chopped her winnings with Eddie Borrego
Marc Vidal was the highest finisher who opted in for the spot to represent Colorado at the upcoming World Pool Series (WPS) RYO Classic professional event which will take place July 12 in New York.
Special Thanks to Chris Honeman, Rudy Kaluza, photographer Russ Green, Nate Sellis, Audra Wasson Tama Fujita, and the rest of the Felt staff for all their efforts this weekend!
HUGE THANKS to the businesses who helped make the event possible: Stapleton Billiards, Felt, Molinari cues, Damy McDaniel State Farm Agent, Sports Optical, B&E Services, Inc., LorBen Properties, LLC, The Wellness Center, Aramith, Billiard University and ZenSports.
Gabe Owen, who was ranked #10 on our Money Leaderboard in 2008, came to the Midwest 9-Ball Tour's three events on the weekend of February 20-23, ranked at #362 (at the end of 2013). He chalked up his first major victory since winning the Houston Open in 2010 with a come-from-the-loss-side victory in the $1,000-added One Pocket event, run in conjunction with a 9-ball Open and 9-Ball Ladies tournament (separate story), which drew 31 entrants to Shooter's in Olathe, KS.
Owen was among the winners' side final four in the event, when he ran into John Gabriel. Bruce Bellington squared off against Joey Gray in the other winners' side semifinal. Gabriel sent Owen to the losers' bracket, as Bellington sent Gray over; both 3-2. Gabriel got into the hot seat 3-2, as well.
Owen took the quarterfinal match 3-2 over Gray and then shut out Bruce Bellington for a shot at Gabriel in the hot seat. Owen reversed the results of his previous two matches by shutting Gabriel out in the opening set of the finals. Gabriel fought back to double hill in the second set, but Owen prevailed to claim the One-Pocket title.
Sponsored by Diamond SMART TABLE, True Blue Simonis 860 Cloth, and Cyclop Pool Balls.
Day 4: Diamond BIG Foot 10-Ball Challenge
Semi's #1
Niels Feijen showed no fear of BIG Foot as he devoured the first rack with such intimidating force that even his opponent, Ralf Souquet, was impressed.
A month ago they were conquering Mosconi Cup teammates, today they were mortal enemies, at least, on the table.
Niels speared in the Cyclops the length of the table with such incredible accuracy not even the Simonis rippled. The tight Pro-Cut Diamond pockets accepted the balls as if lubricated.
Was Big Foot vulnerable? Had Niels tamed the Beast? Whatever the table dictated, Niels could deliver.
Not so for Ralf Soquet. His tempo showed signs of fatigue. He got through a frame or two and then missed to gift wrap the rack.
Nothing fatigued about Feijen. A force to be reckoned with, he gratefully accepted the donations–all the way to the hill.
At 10-3 Feijen showed the first sign of slowing. He ran a little short on shape on the ten and over cut it.
Is this an omen of things to come?
Ralf quietly sank the dangling ten, broke and ran to fall a little iffy on the 5 to get to the six. He stabbed it straight into the cut of the pocket to have it pop back at him on the table.
Feijen, not letting his chance fly by, ran the remaining rack and sealed the match at 11-4. Niels had also shot a new high Total Point Average(TPA) of .896. Pretty impressive.
Semi's #2
Now it was time for Van Boening to meet Bustamante, his bogey man.
Shane has always maintained that the toughest guy he'd played for the cash was Bustey. "But I know I can beat him on the 10 foot. There are shots that he just can't make. I'm taller than he is. He has to use the bridge more,"
Shane was right. Using that bridge, Bustey miscued twice. And, they'd cost him; He was soon down 4-8.
Yet, he wasn't the only one falling foul. A multitude of scratches, missed kicks, jumped balls that scraped the top of the snookering ball; There was a plague on both their houses yet, Bustey snags another couple of racks and it's 6-8.
Shane grinds to 9-6. His shape runs too long or too short. He commits the ultimate sin, he flubs a 10-Ball. It's 9-7.
Bustey breaks. Nothing. Shane steals and runs to leave a long thin cut on the 10. He has to use the bridge. Remarkably, it slides into the pocket. He's on the hill.
He breaks dry. Bustey's back at the table, but not for long.
It's 10-8. Bustey knows he has to come with it. "How many chances am I going to get?"
Shane, nerves wreaking havoc, sweats in his chair. Not again, I can't lose to him, again, not on BIG Foot.
Bustamante manages a couple of balls and gets into trouble.
Shane, acknowledging the simplicity of the table, knows that he has to do it now, or, its never; he's history, he's BIG Foot meat.
Shane defaults to champion mode. Now cool, calm, and collected,–not even breathing heavily–he quietly rendered the remaining balls harmless. it was 11-8.
But, is he ready for Niels?
Finals
Although had had just shot a respectable .862, Shane knew that he had escaped. He had 30 minutes to shake it off, push the reset button, and step up.
He had heard tale of Feijen's intimidating performance against Ralf. He had observed him deservedly attain MVP status at the Mosconi Cup last month. He knew Niels wasn't here to play, he was hear to win.
Niels got off to a fine start. Down 2 zip, Shane stepped to the table. After a couple of safes to shoot at, the next thing Niels knew was that Shane was ahead 6-2, which included putting together a 2 pack, twice.
Shane has found his sweet spot. His big break is back and balls were going in.
No problem, Niels, composed, got the next rack and, down 6-3, inconceivably, missed a straight in 10. Shane was left a long bank, using the bridge, off the short rail: Nothing but net: 7-3.
Shane over runs shape on the 9 and has to pound three rails to end inches from the 10. No problem; it's very makable.
He misses it!
It leaves a thin cut for Niels. He misses it.
The Beast is back.
Shane makes it: 9-3. Breaks, makes one, leaves none, pushes out. Niels, announces, "Time out." Smart.
Returning, accepting the push out, he fails to leave safe: 10-3.
Shane breaks dry. Niels composes a 2 pack! 10-5.
Breaks dry. Shane makes 2 balls and hooks himself. Niels nails it: 10-6.
Niels breaks. Shane's hooked–in jail, Rather than kick, he rearranges the furniture. Niels, showing signs of his bad self, breaks Shane's cluster and it's 10-7.
The Beast turns cold; Niels gets the kiss from hell–and scratches.
Shane never looked back. Without hesitation, it was over; 11-7 and another prestigious accolade in his pocket. "Show me the money!"
Shane had just shot a .908: The highest Accu-Stats TPA of the event, a truly impressive performance.
After this event, surely, he'd be remembered as the best 10-Ball player ever, at least, to date. 9-foot, 10-foot, it didn't matter, he's the most consistent 10-Ball competitor. He'd overcome so much adversity, so much pressure–mostly self inflicted–the pressure that only true champions survive.
He'd tamed the Beast.
Who else can compare?
He finished 11th in the Banks. Now, he can concentrate on the One Pocket.
Derby City Classic Bank Pool Division:
Earl Strickland defeated David Grossman.
Dennis Orcollo defeated Justin Bergman
Francisco Bustamante defeated Shannon Murphy.
Semis #1
Dennis vs. Bustey (Dennis is undefeated and can buy-back)
Fort Collins Colorado – Match-Ups Pool Hall hosted this years 9th Annual Colorado State Junior 9-Ball Champions. The one-day event had participates from all over Colorado’s Front Range that also included families travelling as far as Kansas and California to participates in this years juniors event.
The handicapped 9-ball tournament was packed-full of exciting matches as each of the participants was anxious to win the title and the Jacoby Custom cue grand prize. Colorado’s own 10-year-old Jerry Miller lost a tough match on the winner’s side and marched his way-winning notable matches against Kyleigh Weston (CO) and Dylan Harmon (KS) to make it to the finals.
Being a true double elimination tournament, little Jerry would have had to win twice against hot-seat match winner Nathan Diederich from CA. Jerry quickly won the first match with a score of 3-1. The second set, had the crowd on the edge of their seats as the close match closed with determined Nathan winning the final match 7-5 and becoming this years state champ!
14-year-old Nathan Diederrich, from Victorville, CA, has proven he is already among some of the best young upcoming pool players in U.S. as he also finished 4th in this years BEF Junior Nationals 14-under division.
Between the semi-finals and the finals, pros Mark Haddad from Colorado and Ohio’s Danny “The Shredder” Smith donated their time to perform a trick shot show, challenge matches and played a mini-grudge match to entertain the kids.
A special thanks to Match-Ups pool hall owners Nicole and Mike Hellmer for hosting this years event, Danny and Mark for encouraging and taking out time for the kids, Dr. Dave Alciatore for stopping by to watch and donated DVD’s to the kids, WPBA touring pro Melissa Little for donating $700 worth of future private lessons, baking cupcakes, organizing and running this fantastic event, Jacoby Custom Cues for donating every year’s grand prize, Qzetta.com for all the gift bag donations and an extra special thanks to ALL of the kids who participated in this years event!!
Midwest City, Oklahoma – Recently, WPBA Touring Professional Melissa Little AKA “The Viper” and longtime boyfriend and men’s professional Mark Haddad have been travelling to the local Boys and Girls clubs throughout the Midwest teaching kids the different games, performing trick shots and participating in challenge the pro matches. “It is essential to introduce kids of all ages to participate playing the games we all love, in the sport of Pocket Billiards!” says Little.
Along the way, Mark and Melissa noticed how much each facility is in need for billiards equipment and partnered up with Jessica Massey, owner of Jamaica Joe’s in Oklahoma City, OK to donate some new cues and full sets of pool balls to the biggest facility in the OK area. “What Melissa and Mark are doing for the local Boys and Girls Clubs is awesome, and if we as pool room owners can help the growth of youth in our industry, then I am all in”! Says Massey.
Dan Tull, owner of Shooters Billiards in Olathe, KS also donated extra pool balls to be signed by the duo for the kids at the Olathe facility. “I love that Melissa is giving back to the next generation and I will support her in anyway that I can,” says Tull.
Melissa and Mark will continue their personal quests to become bigger and better ambassadors of our sport and if you would like to help out and/or you’re a pool room owner and want to donate please contact Melissa directly at Melissa@melissalittle.com or call 720-296-5395.
Melissa Little went undefeated to win the Ladies portion of the 2nd Annual Summer Heat 9-Ball Classic, held under the auspices of the Midwest 9-Ball Tour and hosted by Jamaica Joe's in Midwest City, OK. Sean King gave up the first set of the double elimination finals, but came back to win the second and claim the Open title. The $2,000-added Open event drew 45 entrants, while the $500-added Ladies event drew 12.
King faced Chip Compton three times; the first, in a winners' side semifinal, as Mark Haddad and Richard Pierce squared off in the other. King sent Compton west in the first of their three 9-7, and in the hot seat match, met Pierce, who'd sent Haddad over by the same score. King and Pierce fought to double hill before King prevailed.
Compton moved over and picked up John Gabriel, who'd defeated James Walden 9-7 and survived a double hill battle against Ken Jennings to reach him. Haddad drew Shane McMinn, who'd gotten by Greg Hogue 9-7, and J.C Riley 9-3. Compton and Haddad advanced to the quarterfinals; Compton with a 9-6 win over Gabriel and Haddad 9-7 over McMinn.
Compton advanced to the semifinals with a 9-6 victory over Haddad, and then, denied Pierce a re-match against King with a 9-5 win. With momentum on his side, Compton took the opening set of the finals 9-1. King, though, came back in the second set to win it 9-5 and claim the event title.
In the Ladies' event, Melissa Little's undefeated run ended with two wins over Rhonda Pierce. They met first in the hot seat match, when Little sent Pierce to the semifinals 7-4. On the loss side, Debi Aldridge won the quarterfinal match over Michelle Davis 7-3, but was stopped by Pierce in a double hill, semifinal match. Little and Pierce fought to double hill in the finals, but Little survived to claim the Ladies' title.
They sound a little like a law firm (Olinger, Little and Gray), and as such, laid down the law on the weekend of August 8-11. Each took one of a trio of tournaments on the Midwest 9-Ball Tour that weekend. Alex Olinger won the $3,500-added 9-Ball Tournament. Melissa Little took the $500-added Ladies event and Joey Gray captured the $1,000-added One Pocket title. The One-Pocket event, which started the weekend on Thursday, drew 58 entrants. The 9-Ball tournament drew 139, while the Ladies 9-Ball tournament drew 28; all to Shooters in Olathe, KS.
Woodward comes from the loss side to challenge Gray in One Pocket
Joey Gray, who captured the One-Pocket title, gave up only three games in the entire tournament, and none at all over his last three matches. He was challenged in the finals by Skyler Woodward, who'd been defeated in the opening round by Chip Compton, and won nine straight on the loss side.
Gray faced Shane McMinn in one of the winners' side semifinals, as John Gabriel squared off against Marc Vidal in the other. Gray shut McMinn out, while Gabriel was busy surviving a double hill match against Vidal. Gray went on to shutout Gabriel and claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Woodward, with four down and five to go to get back to the finals, defeated Kevin Carron 3-1, and survived a double hill match against Mark Haddad to pick up McMinn. Vidal drew Will Freeman, who'd defeated Compton 3-1 and shut out Dale Pence.
Vidal defeated Freeman 3-1 and in the quarterfinals met Woodward, who'd shut out McMinn. Woodward won the quarterfinal match 3-1 over Vidal, and then took out Gabriel in the semifinals 3-1. Gray, though, chalked up his third straight shutout, stopping Woodward's loss-side run in the finals to claim the event title.
Olinger and Compton battle three times to decide Open 9-Ball event
In the end, Alex Olinger and Chip Compton faced off in a single match to claim the 9-ball event title, each with one loss, both by 9-6 scores. Olinger had advanced to the hot seat match after defeating Dustin Gunia 9-6, and was met by Compton, who'd sent Jonathan (Hennessee from Tennessee) Pinegar west 9-5. Olinger took the first of three against Compton 9-6.
Gunia and Pinegar moved west and picked up Billy Thorpe and Mark Haddad, respectively. Thorpe had gotten by Johnny Neels and Marc Vidal 9-4. Haddad had downed former US Open 9-Ball Champion Gabe Owen 9-7 and David Matlock 9-4. Pinegar eliminated Haddad 9-6, while Thorpe was handing Gunia his second straight loss 9-7. Thorpe took the quarterfinal match against Pinegar that followed 9-7, but had his loss-side streak ended by Compton in the semifinals; 9-7, as well.
Both sets of the true double elimination final ended with 9-6 scores. Compton took the opening set, but Olinger took the second to claim the title.
Little goes undefeated to claim Ladies title
Melissa Little faced different opponents in the hot seat match and finals, defeating them both to claim the top prize. She faced Brittany Colbert in the battle for the hot seat, and defeated her 7-1. Colbert moved over to face Nicole Keeney, who'd just downed Liz Lovely 7-5 in the quarterfinals. Keeney thwarted Colbert's chance for a second shot against Little with a 7-3 win in the semifinals. Little, though, stopped Keeney's loss-side run with a 7-3 victory of her own that put the top prize in her pocket.
