Sanchez-Ruiz defeats The Pearl, as Kennedy/Shaw create drama that sends Kennedy over
Itâs difficult at best, approaching impossible, to watch two pool matches at the same time. While you can certainly pay attention to more than one at a time, your divided attention has a way of missing some of the action. The modern technology of multiple screens offered by a streaming service exacerbates this problem because it makes shifting your attention from one screen to another that much easier. You end up doing it more and while youâll certainly be able to track the score progress of multiple matches, you tend not to really âseeâ any of them; the give and take between two competitors, the ebb and flow that defines individual games and match progress as it plays out over time. The basics of what makes a good pool match so much fun to watch in the first place.Â
So it was, that on Friday night (March 12), at the evening session of the 30th Annual Diamond Open 9-Ball Professional Players Championships at the Super Billiards Expo, in-person spectators and distant streamers had some tough choices to make. What to do when, for example, Earl Strickland and Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz are playing a match, while at the same time, Tommy Kennedy and Jayson Shaw are doing so a matter of a few feet away? And those were just two of the 16 matchups that got started at (or near) 9:15 p.m. last night.
The two most-likely-to-be-popular matches (a subjective opinion) are generally placed in front of the two risers that accommodate the Championship Arenaâs seating capabilities. There are about 32 seats in each two-level riser. There are 11 folding tables that surround the arena, seating about four per table. Â
The âfeatureâ match on the digitalpool streaming system with its visible scoring and commentary, was between Strickland and Sanchez-Ruiz, but you could choose to watch any of the other 15 matches, as long as you were willing to keep score yourself. Or, if you had an appropriate device, you could monitor the âliveâ brackets on digitalpool.com, switching back and forth between streaming the match and the score. Tuning in to watch a match that doesnât provide a score is almost pointless because a lot of a matchâs inherent entertainment value derives from a spectatorâs awareness of where the match is âat,â so to speak, at any given moment; whether the competitors are tied or one is âon the hillâ or in the midst of three games in a row, or . . whatever.
Sanchez-Ruiz got out to an early 2-0 lead over Strickland that he never relinquished. By game 6, it was a four-point lead (5-1), by game 13, it was five points (9-4) and two games later, Sanchez-Ruiz closed it out at 11-4. Sanchez-Ruiz was scheduled to play at 4 p.m. today (Saturday) against Darren Appleton, whoâd defeated Alex Osipov 11-9. The (Saturday) afternoon, winnersâ side matches will put eight players into the 16-entrant, guaranteed money, single-elimination phase of the event. Strickland was scheduled to take on Bucky Souvanthong on the loss-side at 1:45 p.m. Â
The Kennedy/Shaw match was only a matter of feet away, next to the Strickland/Sanchez-Ruiz table, but closer to the opposite seating area. It offered some instantaneous drama as Kennedy, almost assuredly the âunderdogâ in the matchup, got out to a 4-0 lead that by game #9 had become a five-point lead at 7-2. Shaw was literally and figuratively âcoldâ at the outset.
âIt was so cold,â he would comment after the match, âthat I didnât even want to be here. It was like 61 degrees, blowing on the back of your neck.â
The two offered distinct differences in âstyle.â Shawâs performance in a match is characterized by a very business-like attitude. When heâs at the table, there is no wasted energy. He finds his shot, aims and strokes in almost one movement that would reset a shot clock (not used at this event) before it counted down more than 10 seconds. Shaw doesnât waste any energy when he steps away from the table either. He sits down and looks like one of those newer cars that shuts off the engine when it stops moving. Until he gets back up, he looks as though he could be waiting for a bus, idly wondering what he might want to order for dinner.Â
Kennedyâs âworkâ is much more of a production. He spends as much time looking for (or at) a shot and deciding to get down on it than Shaw generally spends between getting up and getting back down. The amount of time Kennedy spends between getting down to take his shot and then actually taking it, will vary widely. Though rarely long enough to challenge a shot clock, his âroutineâ at the tables tends to be more deliberate and thoughtful as he takes the time available to double-check things before finally letting the stroke go. He tends to âlookâ more engaged when heâs waiting for his turn at the table.Â
Shaw got warmed up at the conclusion of Kennedyâs 7th game win. One game at a time, he kept chipping away at Kennedyâs lead. He banked the 9-ball into a hole to tie things up at 7-7, then took his first lead and added another at 9-7. Kennedy took advantage of a ready-made combo on the 9-ball to come back to within one, but Shaw came right back to reach the hill. Kennedy got within one a second time, but Shaw finished it 11-9.Â
At 4 p.m. today (Saturday), Shaw is scheduled to face BJ Ussery, Jr., who defeated Sam Henderson 11-7 last night. Kennedy moved to the loss side and at 4 p.m., will take on Wiktor Zielinski.Â
Featuring a range of Fargo Rates from 495 (Eric Martin) to 841 (Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz), the 30th Annual 2024 Diamond Open at the Super Billiards Expo in Oaks, PA got underway yesterday (Thurs., April 11). Of the 118 competitors, who (literally) got the ball(s) rolling on Thursday morning, 29 of them entered the event without a (reported) Fargo Rate, leaving 89 competitors with an average Fargo rate of just under 700. The â700â range had the most players (49), with unrated (29), â600â (25), â500â (8) â800â (4) and a lone â400.âÂ
It made for a diversified field that blended upper-tier, regional tour players with some of the best in the world, like Sanchez-Ruiz, Jayson Shaw, David Alcaide, Thorsten Hohmann and Wiktor Zielinski (to name just a few). Though there werenât a lot of surprises in the opening two rounds on the winnersâ side of the bracket, there were a few compelling matches.
Earl Strickland (772) got by his first opponent, Gary Serrano (618) readily enough 11-5 in the opening round, but had a local competitor, Kevin Clark (716), whoâd shut out his first opponent, throw him a double-hill scare in the second round. Joss Tour veteran and winner of the 2023 New England Pool & Billiards Hall of Fame 9-Ball Open, Jeremy Sossei, sent this yearâs US 8-Ball Open and McDermott Classic Champion, Polandâs Wiktor Zielinski to the loss side 11-8.
US Open 9-Ball Champion (1992), Tommy Kennedy brought his (Corrected) 735 Â Fargo Rate to the table and defeated two â698âs in a row; Jimmy Rivera and Matt Krah. In a marquee match-up promoted on the SBE Web site, Darren âDynamiteâ Appleton defeated Johnny âThe Scorpionâ Archer 11-8 in the opening round. Jeffrey DeLuna gave up just a single rack in his first two matches. Jason Shaw, who played his first match at 11:30 p.m. last night (Thursday), had his opponent open by dropping the 9-ball on the break, but recovered nicely to win 11-6.
Thorsten Hohmann, Jeremy Seaman fight representative battle for winnersâ side advancement
Arguably, most indicative of the skill-level(s) caliber of play at this yearâs Diamond Open, and the relative unpredictability of any handicapping system in the world of pool was a second round match between a journeyman competitor from Battle Creek, MI â Jeremy Seaman (762), whoâs been cashing in events all over the US map since 2003, though, as far we know, has never won an event â and World Champion Thorsten Hohmann (789), whose career started two years earlier than Seamanâs.
Hohmann opened the race to 11 with a win off Seamanâs break and broke and ran his own rack for a quick 2-0 lead; âoff to the races,â youâd think, but not so fast. Seaman won a rack and Hohmann added two to make 4-1. Seaman won two to pull within one and Hohmann chalked up another to make it 5-3. At that point, Seaman stepped to the table and chalked up three in a row to tie and then take a lead at 6-5. It proved to be the longest run of racks in the match. The two traded racks, back and forth, to a 7-7 tie when, off his own break, Seaman ran to the 8-ball, which stubbornly rattled in a corner pocket and did not fall. Hohmann took the 8-7 lead.
Hohmann dropped two on his break in Rack 16, but scratched. Seaman ran the table to tie it up again and broke Rack 17. He did not, however, win it. Hohmann, at a critical juncture, took the lead 9-8 and on his break, reached the hill, ahead by two. Seaman came back to win the 19th rack, setting up the fateful last rack of the match at which Hohmann broke dry. They chased the 1-ball for what seemed like ages before Seaman broke through, advancing to the 6-ball, at which point he made a critical unforced error that cost him the game and the match, as Hohmann closed it out.Â
And in so doing, provided a generalized answer to the question âWhich of the upcoming matches should I watch, either in person, or via digitalpool streaming?â Answer: Any of them. Â Â
All of the Diamond Open matches on Opening Day were winnersâ side matches, allowing that side of the bracket to get through two rounds. As a result, the winners from yesterday will not be competing until this evening (Friday), beginning at around 9:15 p.m.Â
Dependent on the timely advance of both sides of the bracket, there may be 11:30, winnersâ side matches or they may just bring the 16 competitors looking to advance to single elimination back on Saturday.
Marylandâs On the Hill Productions, under the leadership of Loye Bolyard, went âall inâ with the full range of services offered by DigitalPool.com for the first time this past weekend (Feb. 4-5). Its MD State Fargo Rate 9-Ball Open, which drew 54 entrants to Choptank Bowling & Billiards in Cambridge, MD, featured all of DigitalPoolâs technological capabilities designed to make tournament events easier to run and more accessible to an audience interested in following the event activities; live streaming with cameras and microphones at every table, score-tracking tablets and mounted monitors above the tables displaying scores of the matches taking place beneath them.
All that technological equipment and personnel, along with in-house spectators, witnessed Andy Downs go undefeated to the hot seat match and then, return from a semifinal to double-dip Cambridge, MD local Will Johnson in the finals. Downs had gotten by Adam Frank, Mike Etti, Jody Cahall and John Moody, Sr. to arrive at a winnersâ side semifinal against Brandon Foster. Johnsonâs path went through Matt Krah, Holden Moody, David Stanley and Joe Feuka to arrive at his winnersâ side semifinal versus Mike Saleh.
Downs defeated Foster 7-4 and was joined in the hot seat match by Johnson, whoâd dispatched Saleh to the loss side 4-8 (Saleh racing to 10). Johnson claimed the hot seat, handing Downs what proved to be his first and last defeat 6-4.
On the loss side, Foster picked up Choptankâs own Coen Bell, whoâd been defeated 7-2 by Saleh in a winnersâ side quarterfinal and then defeated Bethany Sykes 7-4 and Garrett Waechter 7-1. Saleh drew Coen Bellâs father, Danny Bell, whoâd been sent to the loss side by his own son and embarked on a four-match, loss-side streak that had recently eliminated Huberth Alvarado 7-4 and John Moody, Sr. 7-5. Two potential, quarterfinal rematches hung in the balance as the 5/6 matches got underway, both dependent on Coen Bell, who would face either his Dad or the man whoâd sent him to the loss side, Saleh.
Coen Bell accomplished his objective with a bit of a punctuation mark, shutting out Brandon Foster. Saleh, though, defeated Coenâs father 7-4, spoiling the anticipated father/son quarterfinal. Saleh and Coen Bell battled to double hill in their quarterfinal rematch before Saleh finished it and turned to face Andy Downs in the semifinals.
With Saleh racing to 9, Downs earned his two-set, double elimination rematch against Johnson with a 5-4 victory over Saleh in those semifinals. Downs took the opening set against Johnson 7-4 and completed his title-capturing run with a 7-2 victory in the second set.
On the Hill Productionsâ (OTHPâs) Loye Bolyard thanked the ownership and staff at Choptank Bowling & Billiards and extended a âshout outâ to Isaac Wooten and Zach Goldsmith from digitalpool.com for âbringing all of the table streaming to Marylandâ and to Dave Nangle, âwho spends hours upon hours bringing us our very own stream.â He also thanked sponsors AlleyKat Cue Sports, AZBilliards.com, Aramith Balls, Simonis Cloth, TAP Chesapeake Bay Region, Safe Harbor Retirement Planners, Bull Carbon, Gina Cunningham and Keller Williams Integrity. The next event on OTHPâs calendar, set for the weekend of Feb. 18-19 will be a â599 and underâ Fargo Rate event, hosted by Brews & Cues in Glen Burnie, MD.
Itâs been a good year for Mike Davis, Jr., whoâd already chalked up his best (recorded) earnings year since 2016, when he travelled to Maryland this past Thanksgiving Day weekend (Nov. 26-27) and competed in the MD State Bar Box 10-Ball Championships. He got sent to the loss side by his eventual opponent in the double elimination final, Tom Zippler, and defeated him twice in the double elimination final to claim the title. The $3,750-added event drew 86 entrants to Brews & Cues on the Boulevard in Glen Burnie, MD.
The battle for this title was, by close-match standards, fierce; 38% of the tournamentâs last 18 matches (7) went double hill, including the hot seat match, semifinal and first set of the true double elimination final. Mike Davisâ campaign opened up with a double hill battle that he won over Scott Haas. Davis followed up with wins over Clint Clayton (4), Mike Saleh (4) and Steve Fleming (5), to arrive at his first match against Zippler, in one of the a winnersâ side semifinals. Zipplerâs path started out easy enough, with a shutout over Matt Broz, but grew increasingly competitive as he got by Tony Manning (2), Michael Miller (3), Roger Haldar (4) and then, had to battle Brett Stottlemeyer to double hill in a winnersâ side quarterfinal that did send him (Zippler) to that first battle with Davis. In the meantime, Kevin West, working at the other end of the bracket, sent Garrett Vaughan (1), Steve Johnson (2), Bobby Pacheco (double hill) and Grayson Vaughan (4) to the loss side and drew Brandon Shuff in the other winnersâ side semifinal.
West and Shuff locked up in a double hill battle that eventually did advance West to the hot seat match. He was joined by Zippler, whoâd won his first (and, as it turned out, last) match against Davis 7-3. Zippler and West fought to double hill in that hot seat match, with Zippler prevailing and waiting in the hot seat for Davisâ return.
On the loss side, Davis would play three matches against three of the mid-Atlantic regionâs (countryâs) toughest competitors; in order, Shaun Wilkie, BJ Ussery, Jr. and then, Kevin West. Upon arrival, Davis faced Wilkie, whoâd lost a winnersâ side quarterfinal to Brandon Shuff and then defeated Matt Krah 7-5 and Jeff Abernathy, double hill. Shuff drew BJ Ussery, who didnât give up a rack through his first two winnersâ side matches and then, was defeated by Thomas Haas 7-5. Ussery went on a six-match, loss-side winning streak to get to Shuff, which included the most recent eliminations of Steve Fleming, by shutout, and, junior competitor Nathan Childress, double hill.
Davis defeated Wilkie 7-4 and in the quarterfinals, faced Ussery, whoâd given up just a single rack to Shuff. Davis ended Usseryâs loss-side streak at seven, downing him 7-2 in the quarterfinals before he and West locked up in the second-to-last double hill battle of the tournament, struggling for a seat in the finals.
Davis prevailed and walked right into the last double hill battle of the weekend in the opening set of the true double elimination final against Zippler. He won it and then, came within a game of a second double hill match, before getting out ahead and finishing it 7-5.Â
It should be noted that the event was attended by a number of female competitors, veterans of the J. Pechauer Northeast Womenâs Tour, most of them, including its tour director, Linda Shea, who went 2-2, finishing in the tie for 25th. The two highest female finishers were Tina Malm, who won three on the loss side before encountering Brett Stottlemeyer in the winnersâ side fourth round, battling him to double hill before being sent to the loss side and finishing in the tie for 17th with a 3-2 record. And Bethany Sykes, who finished in the same position; sent to the loss side in the second round and winning two there, before being eliminated. Eugenia Gyftopoulos and Stefanie Manning also competed.
The event also featured a few junior competitors, among them Nathan Childress, who finished in the tie for 7th/8th, Brent Worth (25th) and Garrett Vaughan (33rd).Â
Tour director Loye Bolyard thanked the ownership and staff at Brews & Cues for their hospitality, as well as sponsors AlleyKat Cue Sports, Bull Carbon, AZBilliards, Aramith Balls, Simonis Cloth, TAP Chesapeake Bay Region, Safe Harbor Retirement Planners and Whyte Carbon Fiber Cue Shafts.Â
Some expected and not-so expected advances highlight Day One of the 128-entrant 9-ball event Â
Surprises?
At the level of talent on display at this weekâs (Oct. 28-Nov. 5) International Open in Norfolk, VA, itâs hard to single out any one match in the eventâs opening round of play and call the result a surprise. Oneâs reaction to a given result will depend largely on an individualâs perception of the players involved and their own sense of how a match between them would play out. This, in turn, might reveal more about the person being surprised (or not) than it might about the match result.
As a random example from the International Openâs first event of the week, the $10,000-added One Pocket tournament won by T-Rex (Tony Chohan; see story elsewhere in our News). If you havenât already seen the results, imagine the semifinal match between Sky Woodward and Fedor Gorst, won by Woodward. Surprised?Â
Round one of the Openâs $50,000-added, 128-entrant 9-Ball tournament is over. We offer a short and not comprehensive list of matches from the round, and without looking it up through our links to the bracket, pick a winner, find the result and then determine whether itâs a surprise to you. An indication (J) identifies the player as a junior competitor. Results at the end of the report.
Among those whose victories in the opening round were not likely have been a surprise to anybody were: Jayson Shawâs win over John Francisco, Spainâs David Alcaide (the last piece added to Europeâs Mosconi Cup team puzzle), who defeated USAâs Sullivan Clark 10-6, Sky Woodwardâs victory (albeit, double-hill victory) over Italyâs Francesco Candela, Fedor Gorstâs win over Curucaoâs Bryan Farah 10-7 and Joshua Fillerâs shutout victory over USAâs Christopher Pyle. There are, of course, others who have advanced on the winnersâ side, which, for purposes of brevity, weâll restrict to those not listed above who are among the top 10 in our Money Leaderboard: Spainâs Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz, Greeceâs Alex Kazakis, Austriaâs Albin Ouschan and the Philippinesâ Roberto Gomez.
Among the key matchups highlighting Round Two today (Tuesday, Nov. 1) will be 6 p.m. battles between Alex Kazakis and veteran US competitor Raymond Linares, junior competitor Joey Tateâs matchup against Kuwaitâs Abdullah Alyousef, Sanchez-Ruiz versus Justin Martin, Roberto Gomez against Alex Pagulayan and junior competitor Payne McBride taking on Straight Pool Championship runner-up, Mieszko Fortunski. At 8 p.m., Albin Oushcan will take on Thorsten Hohmann, David Alcaide faces Josh Roberts, Hungaryâs Vilmos Foldes will go up against Taipeiâs Ko Pin Yi, and the winner of the Strickland/Hsuan Wei Kuo match (revealed below) versus Taipeiâs Hsieh Chia-Chen (all 8 p.m.). At 10 p.m., Round Twoâs winnersâ bracket will continue with Tony Chohan against last weekâs Straight Pool Championship runner-up Wiktor Zielinski, Jayson Shaw will meet the winner of the Shuff/Tkach match (revealed below), Ralf Souquet will go up against BJ Ussery, Alex Pagulayan will take on Roberto Gomez and Sanchez-Ruiz will battle Justin Martin.Â
(âSurprise?â results from above: Junior competitor Kashton Keeton defeated Jesus Atencio 10-6, Strickland got by Wei Kuo 10-5, Taipeiâs Chia-Chen sent Dimitri Jungo to the loss side 10-7, Shuff beat Tkach 10-8, Lombardo over Wolford 10-6. Ussery over Reinhold 10-9, Sayed downs Deuel 10-6, Fortunski gets by Krah 10-7, Junior competitor Payne McBride defeats Brian Vu 10-2 and Justin Martin moves on with a double hill win over Lukas Fracasso-Verner.)Â
Fans can watch not only the featured table with full commentary, but also any other table at the event with the Accu-Stats PPV coverage. They can also follow all of the action online with real-time scoring and online brackets all week long.
At the height of Josh Brothersâ pool career, defined by us here at AZBilliards as his best earnings year (2010), he finished among the top five competitors in 18 of the 19 (recorded) events in which he cashed that year. He won 10 of them; nine on the Mezz Pro Am Tour and was that yearâs Maryland State Champion in a November event at which Manny Chau finished in the tie for 5th place. Twelve years later, this past weekend (Sept. 17), Brothers went undefeated at the B & L Billiards Tournamentsâ 2nd Annual Fargo Open 9-Ball Championships and had to come from behind in the finals versus Manny Chau, whoâd won seven on the loss side to challenge him. The event drew 78 entrants to Bank Shot Bar & Grill in Laurel, MD.
Brothers, racing to 8 throughout, was moving right along through his opponents (racing to between 5 and 7), who were chalking up an average of three or four racks against him; Sam Roberts (3), Josh Mohammed (2), Shawn Toni (4) and Rick Molineiro (2). This set Brothers up in a winnersâ side semifinal match against Tom Zippler. Marvin Ramirez, in the meantime, racing to 5, got by Jenn Benton (1), Brandon Vaughan (3), junior competitor Nathan Childress (4, racing to 8), Curtis Branker (4, racing to 6) and Derek Crothers (4, racing to 7), which set him up to face Matt Krah in the other winnersâ side semifinal. Krah had been responsible for sending Manny Chau to the loss side in the third round.Â
Brothers advanced to the hot seat match 8-4 over Zippler and was joined by Ramirez, whoâd defeated Krah 5-5 (Krah racing to 7), sending him west to an immediate rematch against Chau.Â
Brothers shut Ramirez out to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Chau had chalked up loss-side wins #3 & #4 against Rick Molineiro 8-5 and Mike Saleh, double hill (8-6), when who should show up but the man whoâd made all that extra loss-side work necessary, Matt Krah. Zippler drew Derek Crothers, whoâd followed his winnersâ side quarterfinal loss to Ramirez with wins over Richey Orem 7-2 and Scott Haas 7-4.Â
Krah had a single âbead on the wireâ in a race to 8. He could have been given five of them, because Chau eliminated him 8-2. Crothers downed Zippler 7-2 and then had his brief, loss-side run stopped by Chau in the quarterfinals 8-1.
Chau had his hands full in the double hill semifinals that followed. Ramirez started the match with three âbeads on the wireâ in a race to 8 and won four of the five he needed to win. Chau chalked up his eight and turned to face Roberts waiting for him in the hot seat.
Fresh off his double hill win in the semifinals, Chau opened the finals with five straight racks before Brothers got on the board. Brothers went on to win seven of the next nine games; #6 put him on the hill, #7 gave him the championship.
Co-tour directors Brian Kilgore and Lai Li thanked the ownership and staff at Bank Shot Bar & Grill for their hospitality, as well as all of those who came to play, to whom they extended their congratulations.
âWe ended up a little short of our (attendance) goal,â noted Kilgore, âbut with 78 unbelievable, game-ready competitors, we couldnât be too upset.â
Special congratulations were extended to the winner and runner-up for âa roller coaster final set,â as well as to B & L regular and third-place finisher, Marvin Ramirez, in his first time âgoing deepâ in one of the organizationâs singles events.
âAn unbelievable run,â said Kilgore, âbeating two â700â Fargos and multiple monsters along the way.â
Fanâs who canât make it to Turning Stone can watch selected matches online as part of Upstate Alâs Free streaming coverage, and can watch online brackets and live scoring courtesy of AzBilliards and Digital Pool.
There were a lot of events going on this past Easter weekend, particularly on the East Coast and the multiplicity of them led to a few crossover competitors, reducing the numbers here, increasing them there. This past weekendâs 14th Bob Stocks Memorial (April 16), usually held on an annual basis, came two years after the last one in 2019. Formerly held under the auspices of the Action Pool Tour, ThinkTechMD picked up the reins for this yearâs edition. Initially capping the field at 64, that number fell to 52 for a variety of different reasons, and when it began, there were only 30.
Fedor Gorst went undefeated through the field, advancing first on the winnersâ side of a double elimination bracket and then, winning four matches in a single elimination bracket to claim the title. Gorst and junior competitor Shane Wolford advanced through the winnersâ side of the double elimination bracket and were one of the eight chosen from that side of the bracket to compete in the single elimination phase of the event. Had the double elimination bracket continued, they would have faced off in a winnersâ side quarterfinal. As it turned out, after the redraw to single elimination, they showed up at opposite ends of the single elimination bracket and met, for the first and last time, in the event final. The $1,500-added event drew its 30 entrants to First Break Sports Bar in Sterling, VA.
Gorst played two matches on the winnersâ side of the double elimination bracket, downing Rafael Reyes (1) and Matt Krah (0) by an aggregate score of 14-1. Wolford advanced through Lenny Valley (4) and Thang Nguyen (3) to arrive at the same winnersâ side spot. Joining the eventual finalists in the single elimination phase were, from the winnersâ side, Chris Hansen and Nathan Childress, Derick Daya and Manny Chau, as well as Kristina Tkach and Scott Haas.
The last eight left standing on the losersâ side and advancing to single elimination were Thomas Haas, Eric Heiland, Dylan Spohr, Rafael Reyes, Matt Krah, Brandon Shuff, Bart Czapla and John Moody, Sr.
Heiland and Spohr advanced to the eventâs final eight after defeating Daya and Childress, respectively. Gorst got by Reyes and was joined in the final eight by Chau, whoâd defeated Thomas Haas. Moody, Sr. and Shuff advanced as well, eliminating Scott Haas and Kristina Tkach. Wolford downed Matt Krah, and was joined among the final eight by Chris Hansen, whoâd defeated Czapla.
The winners in the four, quarterfinal matches advanced by an aggregate score of 48-16. Shuff and Wolford downed Moody, Sr. and Hansen by the same 11-5 score. Gorst eliminated Chau 11-4 and Spohr gave up only two racks versus Heiland.
The semifinal matches pitted Gorst against Spohr and Shuff against Wolford. Gorst eliminated Spohr 11-5. Shuff gave Wolford a run for his money, coming within a game of forcing a twenty-first deciding game, but in the end, Wolford pulled out in front, advancing to the final against Gorst 11-9.
The final match was an extended race-to-13. Though similar in age (early 20s), the combatants were quite different in how far each had come to this point in their pool careers; Wolford, more or less just starting out and Gorst, already a recognized world-class professional player. Though Wolford would chalk up twice as many racks against Gorst as any of his previous challengers (Reyes and Spohr had managed five against him in races to 11), Gorst got out ahead of Wolford and closed the 14th Bob Stocks Memorial with a 13-10 victory to claim the title.Â
âHeâs short,â said Loye Bolyard, co-tour director of On the Hill Productionsâ Maryland State Championship events, âand people were always busting on him about it.â
Over the years, Steve Johnson has good-naturedly absorbed an expected array of potential nicknames related to his height; âShorty,â of course, being the most common. Until one day, he corrected someone by suggesting that they refer to him as the âMunchkin.â Itâs stuck, if not before, certainly now, as the âMunchkinâ just completed a successful run through a field of 50 entrants at this past weekendâs (March 12-13) MD State 8-Ball Championships. According to Bolyard, while Johnsonâs been a regular competitor on the MD State series of events, as well as a cash winner at any number of small, venue-specific tournaments, itâs the first time that the âMunchkinâ has recorded a major (recorded) tournament payout and it was a win. The event drew its 50 entrants to Brews & Cues on the Boulevard in Glen Burnie, MD.
It’s rare to the point of being remarkable that a player with almost no known history of success at the tables can break through at a tournament featuring a number of better-known and presumably, better players. Not completely unheard of, but certainly rare enough to gain âremarkableâ status. And while the game was 8-ball, known to offer players more kinds of opportunities to frustrate opponent plans, and he wasnât up against the likes of Jayson Shaw, Shane Van Boening or Fedor Gorst, the âMunchkinâ didnât get a lot of luck from the bracket draws. He had to get by (among others) the likes of Matt Krah, Jimmy Rivera, Scott Haas and eventually, had to double dip Brett Stottlemeyer in the finals to claim his first event title.
âWe donât know what happened,â said Bolyard. âHeâd won one of those weekly tournaments the Friday before and he just kept his nerves under control. He was really calm all the way through.â
âHe kept his composure together and everything just clicked for him,â he added. âHe was able (in the finals) to put Brett in some lockdowns; good ones that stopped runouts. He had him 4-0 in that first set.â
It started well for the âMunchkin.â He opened with a shutout over Tim Metter and then got by Christie Hurdel and Joseph Wright, Jr. before encountering Matt Krah in a winnersâ side quarterfinal. They fought the proverbial âtooth and nailâ to 5-5 before Johnson picked up â6,â advancing to a winnersâ side semifinal against Jimmy Rivera. Like Johnson, Stottlemeyer opened with a shutout (over Bruce Brunnell) before facing his own ârogueâs galleryâ of familiar combatants, any one of whom could have derailed his trip to the hot seat; Rick Miller, Steve Fleming and, in a winnersâ side quarterfinal, Scott Haas. Going into the winnersâ side quarterfinals, there was a potential father/son battle for the hot seat looming on the event horizon. But while Thomas did his part, downing Thomas Zippler 6-3, Stottlemeyer sent his Dad to the loss side in a double hill fight and picked up son Thomas in the other winnersâ side semifinal. This shifted the potential father/son battle to the loss side, where they eventually met in the quarterfinals.
Stottlemeyer made short work of son Thomas Haas 6-1, as Johnson was dispatching Rivera to the loss side 6-4. In the first of their three matches, Stottlemeyer dominated, for the second time in a row giving up only a single rack. He sat in the hot seat, one would assume, fairly confident that heâd be chalking up the one win he needed to claim the title. Â
On the loss side, the Haas family was at work, looking to match up in the quarterfinals. Dad had followed his loss to Stottlemeyer with victories over Bryan Jones 6-2 and Zippler 6-1 to draw Rivera. Son Thomas picked up Eric Lyons, who was working on a modest four-match, loss-side streak that had recently eliminated Matt Krah 6-4 and co-tour director Rick Scarlato, Jr. 6-1.
Father and son downed their respective opponents, Rivera and Lyons, by the same 6-3 score and the quarterfinal family fight was on. Oddly enough, it was won by the same 6-3 score that had made the match happen. It was Dad Scott who advanced to the semifinals against the âMunchkin.âÂ
The reportedly âcalmâ and âcomposedâ Johnson kept the âcoolâ going in the face of a double hill challenge from the last Haas standing. He weathered that storm, eliminating Haas to put an even more daunting challenge on his âdance card;â the necessary two-step tango to pry Brett Stottlemeyer from his perch in the hot seat.
The âMunchkinâ grabbed the first set 6-3, which almost certainly had a way of boosting his confidence, while on the other side of the table, the pressure was suddenly on. Johnson won the second set 6-4 to claim MD Stateâs 8-Ball Championships and earn his first payout entry into AZBilliardsâ database.
On the Hill Productionsâ Bolyard and Rick Scarlato, Jr. thanked the ownership and staff at Brews & Cues on the Boulevard, as well as sponsors AlleyKat Cue Sports, AZBilliards.com, Aramith Balls, Bull Carbon, Simonis Cloth, TAP Chesapeake Bay Region, Safe Harbor Retirement Planners, Whyte Carbon Fiber Cue Shafts, OB Cues and MB Cues.
On the Hill Productions will be back at Brews & Cues on the Boulevard for its next three events. Its first, a 10-Ball Scotch Doubles event for teams with a combined FargoRate of 1200 or under, scheduled for the weekend of March 26-27, will be #3 in its Bar Box Bonanza series. April will bring two events, blending into May. The MD State Bar Table 9-Ball Championships (April 9-10) and #4 in the Bar Box Bonanza Series, a FargoRate 8-Ball tournament (April 30-May 1).Â
There were more than just a few folks who wondered how Fedor Gorst, who, in addition to holding only a few short world titles less than the number of years heâs been alive (22 years alive, come May), is currently at the top of the AZBilliards Money Leaderboard and is featured on the cover of this monthâs Billiards Buzz, found himself competing in a first-time event in Delaware that offered a $1,000 first-place prize. Heâd have had to win at least that amount, attending approximately eight events every month for the last year, to hit the number thatâs put him atop our 2022 Leaderboard. Very few people wondered how he managed to come out on top, going undefeated through the 64-entrant field that showed up this past weekend (Sat., March 5) to compete in the 1st Annual Delaware State Barbox 9-Ball Championships at Milford Billiards, DE.
According to event and tour director Tarek Elmalla, Gorst was not originally going to compete and had come to Delaware more as a measure of support for the event and its participants. Eventually, though, Gorst, along with his friend and countrywoman, Kristina Tkach, did sign on to compete. He entered the tournament with a FargoRate (823) that was 78 points higher than anybody else; the closest being Shaun Wilkie (745), followed by Tkach and Brett Stottlemyer (715). Josh Brothers (707) rounded out the four entrants with FargoRates in the 700s. The next closest Fargo rate after those five was Matt Krah (685), who won nine on the loss side to finish as the eventâs runner-up.
So, who and whatâs behind this first annual event that managed to attract one of the best pool players in the world to compete? Well, Elmalla to begin with. Heâs no stranger to event organization, promotion and tour direction, having been putting together small, local tournaments for a while now. This 1st Annual Delaware State Barbox 9-Ball Championships is, he said, âthe very biggest one.â So far. In the overall scheme of things, Elmalla, whoâs a software engineer is the software face of the organization (social media pages and various programs), while Ray Netta is the hardware guy; cameras for the stream and other technical equipment to get the job done. Theyâve partnered with Leo Weigand, owner of Milford Billiards, who applied and received rights to the varied âDelaware Stateâ names that will be attached to tournaments going forward. He also responded quickly to requests for new lights, carpeting and felt for the tables.
âWe asked for them,â said Elmalla, âand they were ordered and put in. The lights were installed the night before the tournament began.â
They set things up for the live stream with multiple cameras on multiple tables and a function for viewers which would allow them to search for a player and be âtakenâ via the stream to the relevant table and match. The designated TV table (three cameras, including an overhead) streamed the eventâs featured matches. That âsearchâ functionality remains available for players and anyone interested in watching specific matches at a later date, all at http://www.amateursportsstreams.com
Though he was not surprised at the relatively sudden and enthusiastic response to the tournament that led the capped-at-64-entrant field to have 15 names on a waiting list within about 24 hours of posting the tournament notice on a new Facebook page/group, he was a little surprised at the geographic response.
âI wasnât expecting it to be that good,â he said, âwith people coming from all over; Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania.â
Final features a player who recorded his first payout, 10 days before his opponent was born
Both events, Matt Krahâs first recorded payout here on AZ and Fedor Gorstâs birth day, occurred in May of 2000; Krahâs first payout, ahead of Gorstâs birth by 10 days (May 21-May 31). One might speculate that it was the age gap that led to Krahâs slow start in this Delaware State Barbox 9-Ball Championships, but it was more likely the amount of time between appearances in competitive action that told the story between Gorstâs win and Krahâs runner-up finish.
Krah had yet to win, or even cash, in a 2022 event when he stepped to the tables in Delaware. Though active and pretty much always into the âmixâ of things at major tournaments, he hadnât chalked up a major win in seven years, since he won the opening event of the Mezz Pro-Am Tour in Pennsylvania in 2015. He was runner-up to Shaun Wilkie in that yearâs VA State 10-Ball Championships. This past weekend, he and Wilkie missed matching up in the quarterfinals by one set of matches that advanced Krah and left Wilkie in the tie for 5th/6th.
By comparison, Gorst arrived at the tables having chalked up five victories from among 10 appearances in just a little over two months of this year. Heâd won the Arizona Open in mid-January, before moving on, a week later, to win two events (Banks and One Pocket), along with a runner-up finish in the Bigfoot Challenge at the Derby City Classic, where he was awarded that eventâs Master of the Table prize.
In the end, though, it was an expected strong performance by a young world champion against a gritty, nine-match-on-the-loss-side performance from a wily veteran who proved he can still give hot seat occupants, of any age, fits when they watch him come back.
At the outset, Gorst worked his way through two matches before anyone had chalked up a rack against him and when the first competitor to do so, did so, finally, it was only the one. John Moody, Sr. ended up giving him a run for his money in a winnersâ side quarterfinal (7-5), which set Gorst up against Wilkie in one of the winnersâ side semifinals. Vincent Cimarelli, in the meantime, had worked his way through Pampi Pamplona, Al Campo and John Pavlosky before running into Kristina Tkach in a winnersâ side quarterfinal. Cimarelli spoiled any hope of a Gorst/Tkach match on the winnersâ side, though not before Tkach had forced a 13th deciding game. Cimarelli picked up Mid-Atlantic stalwart, Brett Stottlemeyer in the other winnersâ side semifinal.
Gorst resorted back to giving up a single rack at a time and sent Wilkie to the loss side 7-1. Cimarelli downed Stottlemeyer 7-5 to join Gorst in the hot seat match. Gorst gave up two in that match and sat in the hot seat, watching Krah come back.
On the loss side, it was Stottlemeyer who drew Krah, six matches into his loss-side streak that had recently eliminated John Moody, Sr., double hill (the only double hill threat he faced) and shut out Pampi Pamplona. Wilkie picked up Mike Saleh, also six matches into a loss-side streak that had just eliminated Tkach 6-4 and Joe Stem 6-3.
Saleh chalked up loss-side win #7 against Wilkie 5-2 and in the quarterfinals, met Krah, whoâd defeated Stottlemeyer 5-2. Krah than ran up two straight 5-3 scores, against Saleh in the quarterfinals and Cimarelli in the semifinals.
Gorst reverted back to allowing no racks at all in the finals. He shut Krah out to claim the first Delaware State Barbox 9-Ball Championship title.
Tarek Elmalla thanked Leo Wiegand and his staff for all that they did to make this first event of theirs happen, along with Ray Netta for his âhardwareâ assistance, and Ran Ji, for her able assistance in helping Elmala run the tournament. The next event on the Delaware State Championships calendar, scheduled for the weekend of May 7-8, will be the Delaware State 10-Ball Championships, hosted again by Milford Billiards in Milford, DE.Â
