The US Open 8-Ball Championship kicked off on July 29th at the Rio in Las Vegas with eighty seven players gunning for the $11,000 first prize available. The theme on day one of this event was the break, as even the top players in the game had more than their fair share of problems adapting to the Magic Rack on the 7’ Diamond Smart Tables.
One player who didn’t have any of these problems was “The Rocket” Rodney Morris. Knowing he would kick off his campaign on the main TV table, Morris was hitting balls on the table an hour before match time. It would turn out that Morris may have spent more time practicing for his match, than he did actually playing the match, as he ran over Scott Frost 9-0 in under 35 minutes. Even the alternating break format couldn’t stop Morris, as he ran out on all of his breaks and also ran out on each of Frost’s breaks when he got to the table.
Morris’ next match on the TV table saw him facing young gun Skyler Woodward. Woodward led the match early 4-2, but then his break deserted him. Back to back dry breaks by Woodward allowed Morris to regain control and take the lead at 6-4. Woodward would continue to struggle with the break and would lose the match that was not really as close as the 9-7 scoreline would indicate.
Morris will kick off his day two with a noon match against Gregory Hogue, who scored wins over Oliver Medenilla and Danny Smith on Wednesday.
Crowd favorites Shane Van Boening and Dennis Orcollo met on the TV table on Wednesday, and the break was again the story of the match. Orcollo wouldn’t make a ball on the break until his third try, already trailing Shane 4-0. The ball Orcollo made in rack five would also be his only ball on the break for the duration of the match as Van Boening went on to win 9-2 when Orcollo unscrewed his cue trailing 8-2 after jumping the cue ball off the table on his break. Things won’t get any easier for Van Boening as he faces Tony Robles at Noon on Thursday.
US Open 10-Ball Champion Thorsten Hohmann looked strong early as he ran out to a 7-1 lead over Dennis Hatch. Hatch would make a run at a comeback, but would fall short 9-4. Hohmann then dropped his final match of the day to Canadian Jason Klatt 9-4. Klatt will face Craig Riley at noon on Thursday.
Warren Kiamco turned in another strong performance on Day One with wins over Steve Register, Tony Chohan and Erik Hjorliefson. Kiamco won all three matches handily, not allowing an opponent past 4 games. He will have his hands full at noon though, with a match against Darren Appleton.
West Coast sensation Oscar Dominguez, went hill-hill in both of his last two matches before dispatching Jayson Shaw and Johnny Archer. He will be hoping to avoid that sort of drama in his noon match with Mike Dechaine.
As is always the case in an event with this much firepower, the one loss side will be rough waters for any players still hoping to cash that first place check. Mark Tadd will face Brandon Shuff, Tony Chohan will take on Danny Olson, Archer will play Raymond Faraon, Matt Krah will face Justin Bergman and Amar Kang will take on Orcollo on the one loss side. That doesn’t even mention other heavyweights like Hohmann, Alex Pagulayan, Shaw, Frost and Hatch who are also waiting to ambush an unsuspecting player on the left side of the board.
Matches get underway at 10:00 am, and will continue until the last matches start at 8pm. To follow the tournament in real time please visit PlayCsipool.com where you can find links to the live streaming and to the constantly updated brackets.
CSI is pleased to announce that the 2015 US Bar Table Championships 8-Ball Division matches have been released on the CSI YouTube channel. Twenty-One (21) matches featuring some of the best players in the world can be viewed in their entirety absolutely free!
The 2015 US Bar Table Championships were held February 16-22, 2015 at the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno, NV. The matches were recorded in “The Kamui Arena” with high definition equipment and full-time commentary by Ken Shuman and other special guests. CSI would like to extend a huge THANK YOU to our primary sponsors:
Kamui: “The Official Tip of the 22nd US Bar Table Championships!”
OB: “The Official Cue of the 22nd US Bar Table Championships!”
The biggest names in pool stole the show in the 3 Masters Divisions over the course of 3 days of the Andy Cloth Wyoming Open . Johnny Archer took down the Saratoga title, Morris took his 6th Wyoming title in the 10-Ball, and local favorite Marc Vidal won his first Wyoming title in the 8-Ball. 200 players in 4 divisions ranging from beginner levels to professional gave everyone in the Rocky Mountain states an opportunity to compete for nearly $30,000 in prize money. Event promoter Mayor Ed J. Glode successfully continues his 8th consecutive spectacle along with co-promoter Dragon Promotions . The event is sponsored by widely popular Andy Cloth and Viking Cues. Local partners include Duke's Bar & Grill, the Hotel Wolf & Restaurant, and the Riviera Lodge with all events coordinated by Shively Hardware.
In the 10-Ball Masters, Rodney Morris and Corey Deuel showdowned in the finals. Morris has traditionally owned the Friday night start-up events of the Wyoming Open, and this would be no different. Morris would take home his 6th Wyoming Open title.
In the Saratoga Masters, utilizing a creative blend of 8-Ball & 9-Ball, Corey Deuel looked strong going undefeated to the finals defeating Danny Olson and Archer on the way. Morris knocked out Oscar Dominguez before losing to Archer in the semi-finals. Archer bounced back from his loss to Deuel, and won 7-4 in the finals. This would be Archer's second title win in the game of Saratoga.
In the 8-Ball Masters, Marc Vidal didn't want to let the title slip through his fingers as it did the year before, and this time he would take home the trophy to Colorado. He got a bye, defeated Mayor Glode, Mark Tadd, Chad Shoulders, and went to a thriller 6-6 with legendary Johnny Archer and took advantage of a dry break from Archer to runout for the victory.
Amateur Wyoming Open Champions: Perry Gilbert from Casper WY won the Expert division; Joe Richards from Colorado won the Classic Division; Isabella Gutierrez won the Sportsman Division. Caela Huddleston highest finishing woman in the Expert Division won a $500 bonus.
The Wyoming State Junior Championship Winner results: 18 & under: Richard Gonzalez; 12 & Under Alex Ingle ; Pee-wee 9 & under: Bailey Glode
For more info and to follow the WY Open goto www.facebook.com/wyomingopen
visit www.wyomingopen.com
The event is majorly supported by the town's own businesses which include : Hotel Wolf, Duke's Bar & Grill, Riviera Lodge, Pik Ranch, Carbon County, Bella's Bistro, Lollypops, Shandiin Massage, and Shively Hardware.
For more info or to play in the Wyoming Open contact wyomingopen@gmail.com or call 307-329-8924
Saratoga, Wyoming- Rodney “Rocket” Morris won his second time in Saratoga at this year’s 5th Annual Wyoming Open. He went through a talented field of 8-Ball players that included the likes of Charlie Williams, Raj Hundal, Amar Kang, Mark Tadd, Tony Piazza, Marc Vidal, and more. The event was sponsored by Poison Cues by Predator and Asia’s #1 cloth Andy Cloth will be the official cloth used during the event.
The Wyoming Open drew nearly 150 players from Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and of course the top pros which came from England, Florida, and California. There were a total of 5 events including the opening night Saratoga Open, and the 8-Ball main events with Sportsman, Classic, Masters, and Ladies divisions.
” Almost all the divisions were full, so I’m really ecstatic about that. There will definitely be a 6th Annual Wyoming Open next year. I plan on making the event bigger and better for all the players and divisions. We always want improvements. “, says EJ Glode , promoter of the Wyoming Open.
In the Classic Division which was hosted for intermediate level players, Ronnie Chavez defeated Chris Wilson in the 64 man field. Jordan Thayer and Chris McCreary rounded out the top 4.
In the Sportsman Division, Eric Burgman won the event over Brian Guice. The Poison Cues Ladies Open saw Melissa Little go undefeated over Tenille Whitten in the finals .
The Masters Division drew 57 players with several contenders. Defending Champion Charlie “Korean Dragon” Williams took an early loss to Raj Hundal in the second round but managed to come back and qualify for the final 16 bracket. Raj Hundal only dropped 2 games (to Williams), in his first 3 matches with two 7-0 shut-outs. Rodney Morris cruised through along with road buddy Amar Kang to the winner’s bracket finals which Amar won.
In the final 16 rounds, the players were all drawn into a new double elimination bracket. Unknown local Utah talent Ace Brown upsetted Charlie Williams 6-4 in a stellar played match. Raj Hundal dropped his match to Amar “AK-47” Kang but rebounded with a 7-6 decider over Ace Brown. Williams rebounded with back to back wins including a 7-1 over Vidal, a 7-6 revenge match over Hundal, and a 7-6 over Mark Haddad. Leaving the final three players Williams, Morris, and Kang which became known as the Rat Pack, the pro crew of players that traveled to the event together and roomed.
Morris stopped Williams from a Wyoming Open repeat at 7-4 and then defeated Kang 7-6 in the first set of the finals. Forcing a deciding set, Morris came back from a 2-0 deficit to win 7-4 to become the Wyoming Open Champion again.
“EJ does a terrific job promoting pool in the region of the country. I always look forward to coming here to play and help out”, said Morris. Rodney is sponsored by Poison Cues made by Predator which he has his own signature line, and managed by Dragon Promotions.
Coincedentally Morris, Kang, Williams, and Hundal all use Predator Poison technology and they represented the top 5 finishers of the event which was sponsored by Predator and Poison Cues.
The pro players will give fans and players an opportunity to learn tomorrow in Wyoming at the Poison Pro Pool School hosted by Duke’s Bar & Grill.
The event is majorly supported by the town’s own businesses which include : Hotel Wolf, Duke’s Bar & Grill, Valley Foods, Riviera Lodge, Carbon County, and Shively Hardware.
For more info or to play in the Wyoming Open contact EJ Glode ejglode@yahoo.com or 307-329-8924
Fans of the Rocket can follow him at http://www.facebook.com/rodneyrocketmorris
The finals days of the 14th Annual Derby City Classic ae underway. After seven complete days of play, we are into round four of the 9-ball, the semi-finals of the Fatboy 10-ball Challenge and the semi-finals of the 14.1 Challenge.
The Fatboy 10-Ball tournament is down to three players with Stevie Moore booking his place in the finals with a 15-12 win over Alex Pagulayan on the Accu-Stats TV table. Pagulayan led the match early, but Moore came back to take control and capture the win. Moore will play either John Morra or Francisco Bustamante, who will play each other later today.
The 14.1 Challenge is also down to three players with Alex Pagulayan waiting for the winner of Darren Appleton and Ralf Souquet. Pagulayan eliminated John Schmidt in convincing fashion on Friday.
Both the finals of the 10-Ball event and the 14.1 event will take place on Saturday.
The One Pocket event at Derby City began Monday and there are a few surprises to report. Sharp-shooting Mike Dechaine was bested by Lance Cowles. Marc Vidal fell to Nicholas Hickerson and Dee Adkins went down under the weight of Justin Richardson. But the story thus far is not upsets, it is the number of players who are at the top of their game who ran into very tough matches early in the event.
The Fatboy Challenge Ten Ball competition kicks off at midnight on Tuesday night. What a field! Here are the first round matchups:
1) Huidje See V Mike Dechaine 2) Shane Van Boening V Francisco Bustamante 3) Lee Van Corteza V John Morra 4) Brandon Shuff V Dennis Orcullo 5) Stevie Moore V Ralf Souquet 6) Warren Kiamco V Johnny Archer 7) Darren Appleton V Rodney Morris 8) Alex Pagulayan V Mika Immonen
We will give you the results of this competition on Wednesday. Full results on all competitions may be found at www.dcctickets.com.
