Total prize fund is growing as the SBE contributes to prize fund from live streaming passes
As a matter of perspective, the 30th Annual Diamond Open 9-Ball Professional Players Championships at the Super Billiards Expo was at a ‘120 down, 8 to go’ juncture when the sun rose over the Greater Philadelphia Convention Center in Oaks, PA this morning (Sun., April 14). With a little bit of luck, it should be over before the sun goes down.
This may be the first tournament anywhere at which players are content to not know the payouts until the final day. That’s because the prize fund is growing, day by day. That is happening because Allen Hopkins’ Super Billliards Expo is contributing directly to the prize fund with a portion of every Streaming Pass purchased as the event goes on. The money-added to the prize fund has also grown with Sponsorship Opportunities and is currently at $24.5k. The total payouts as of 10:30 a.m. this morning was at $83,514. If you have an interest in any of the matches that remain, you’ll know that when you sign on to watch through the SBE Web site (link listed below), you’ll personally be contributing to what the top finishers are paid.
We noted in a report that appeared here on Friday that the 128 initial entrants “made for a diversified, skill-level field that blended upper-tier, regional tour players with some of the best in the world.” That dynamic has survived four winners’ side and five loss-side rounds of double elimination, along with one ‘in the money’ single-elimination round.
The final eight were an hour away from beginning their day as this report was being written and the eight will likely be down to the four semifinalists before somewhere between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. (EST) this afternoon. The tour directors are playing the scheduling ‘close to their vest’ to allow for any long matches that could (and often do) delay progress. Their calculations incorporate opportunities for competitors to take a breath between the three remaining rounds; not a big one that might interrupt momentum or too short to be of any value. Just enough, combined with the uncertainty of match lengths to keep the balls rolling at a steady pace to the final.
Of the eight competitors who lost their opportunity to advance to single elimination in the last winners’ side qualification round, six of them chalked up a successful, single round on the loss side to join the final 16 from that side of the bracket. Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz, who’d lost his first match to Darren Appleton 11-9 in that last qualifying round, downed Eddie Abraham 11-5 on the loss side to join the final 16. He drew Michael Feliciano, who’d lost his winners’ side qualifying round to Jonas Souto Comino, the event’s defending champion.
Thorsten Hohmann, who’d lost to fellow countryman Moritz Neuhausen 11-8, returned from the loss side after defeating another fellow countryman; The Kaiser, Ralf Souquet 11-7. In the opening round of single-elimination, Hohmann drew Shaun Wilkie, who’d won three on the loss side, including an 11-7 victory over Jeremy Sossei to the join the final 16. David Alcaide, who’d been defeated by Shane Wolford 11-6 on the winners’ side, eliminated Jeffrey DeLuna on the loss side and joined the final 16, drawing Lukas Fracasso-Verner. Fracasso-Verner, who’d lost a double-hill match to Hohmann on the winners’ side, survived an opening, double-hill loss-side round to Raphael DaBreo before eliminating Rodney Morris 11-5 and Mika Immonen 11-9 to join the final 16.
Tyler Styer, who’d lost to Canada’s John Morra 11-5 on the winners’ side, defeated Cong Thanh Nguyen 11-6 on the loss side to join the final 16 party. Styer had the daunting task of facing Jayson Shaw in the opening, single-elimination round. Shaw had been defeated in the last winners’ side qualification round by BJ Ussery, Jr. 11-7 and on the loss side, ended the run of Earl “The Pearl” Strickland 11-7.
The opening round of single elimination got underway just after 9 p.m. on Saturday, with a number of intriguing matchups that reflected the ‘skill-level diversity of the field.’ Spain’s Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz, who topped the AZBilliards Money Leaderboard in 2022, dropped just a bit in 2023 (to #4) and is currently in the #7 spot, faced Filipino Michael Feliciano, who’s never been higher than #66 on that same list (his current position). To our knowledge, he has not recorded a major win, anywhere, so definitely the ‘underdog’ to Sanchez-Ruiz’ status as a ‘favorite.’ Last night, the ‘underdog’ sent the favorite ‘home,’ so to speak, 11-8.
In this morning’s opening round (ongoing), Feliciano drew Shaun Wilkie, a mid-Atlantic journeyman who was runner-up to Shane Van Boening at this event in 2008. Wilkie had joined the final 16 from the loss side and in the first, single-elimination round had eliminated Thorsten Hohmann, double hill. As of just after noon, Wilkie was leading Feliciano 5-3 in the quarterfinals.
Lukas Fracasso-Verner, who’d defeated David Alcaide 11-5 in the first single-elimination round was facing Jayson Shaw, who’d eliminated Tyler Styer 11-7 to reach him. Shaw was ahead 5-4.
Brandon Shuff eliminated Shane Wolford last night 11-9 and in the morning matchup, faced BJ Ussery, who’d previously defeated John Morra 11-9. Shuff was leading this morning action 4-3. Darren “Dynamite” Appleton, who’d spoiled defending champion Jonas Souto Comino’s shot at a second straight title with an 11-4 win last night, was facing Pijus Labutis, who’d previously defeated Moritz Neuhausen 11-8. Last heard, Labutis was ahead of Appleton 8-5.
Sanchez-Ruiz defeats The Pearl, as Kennedy/Shaw create drama that sends Kennedy over
It’s 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 you’ll certainly be able to track the score progress of multiple matches, you tend not to really ‘see’ 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.
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 Arena’s 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.
The ’feature’ 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 ‘live’ brackets on digitalpool.com, switching back and forth between streaming the match and the score. Tuning in to watch a match that doesn’t provide a score is almost pointless because a lot of a match’s inherent entertainment value derives from a spectator’s awareness of where the match is ‘at,’ so to speak, at any given moment; whether the competitors are tied or one is ‘on the hill’ 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, who’d defeated Alex Osipov 11-9. The (Saturday) afternoon, winners’ 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.
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 ‘underdog’ 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 ‘cold’ at the outset.
“It was so cold,” he would comment after the match, “that I didn’t even want to be here. It was like 61 degrees, blowing on the back of your neck.”
The two offered distinct differences in ‘style.’ Shaw’s performance in a match is characterized by a very business-like attitude. When he’s 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 doesn’t 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.
Kennedy’s ‘work’ 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 ‘routine’ 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 ‘look’ more engaged when he’s waiting for his turn at the table.
Shaw got warmed up at the conclusion of Kennedy’s 7th game win. One game at a time, he kept chipping away at Kennedy’s 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.
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.
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 ‘700’ range had the most players (49), with unrated (29), ‘600’ (25), ‘500’ (8) ‘800’ (4) and a lone ‘400.’
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 weren’t a lot of surprises in the opening two rounds on the winners’ 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), who’d 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 year’s US 8-Ball Open and McDermott Classic Champion, Poland’s Wiktor Zielinski to the loss side 11-8.
US Open 9-Ball Champion (1992), Tommy Kennedy brought his (Corrected) 735 Fargo Rate to the table and defeated two ‘698’s in a row; Jimmy Rivera and Matt Krah. In a marquee match-up promoted on the SBE Web site, Darren “Dynamite” Appleton defeated Johnny “The Scorpion” 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 winners’ side advancement
Arguably, most indicative of the skill-level(s) caliber of play at this year’s 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 – Jeremy Seaman (762), who’s been cashing in events all over the US map since 2003, though, as far we know, has never won an event – and World Champion Thorsten Hohmann (789), whose career started two years earlier than Seaman’s.
Hohmann opened the race to 11 with a win off Seaman’s break and broke and ran his own rack for a quick 2-0 lead; ‘off to the races,’ you’d 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.
And in so doing, provided a generalized answer to the question “Which of the upcoming matches should I watch, either in person, or via digitalpool streaming?” Answer: Any of them.
All of the Diamond Open matches on Opening Day were winners’ 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.
Dependent on the timely advance of both sides of the bracket, there may be 11:30, winners’ side matches or they may just bring the 16 competitors looking to advance to single elimination back on Saturday.
Former World Champion Dennis Orcollo will spearhead a strong cast clashing in the Senator Emmanuel D. Pacquiao 40th Birthday 10-Ball Tournament on December 5 to 16, 2018 at the Verenza Mall in General Santos City.
The 39-year-old Orcollo who beat Dutch Niels Feijen in a world title showdown of the WPA World Eight-ball Championship in 2011, looms as the player to beat in the the 10-ball event, two division tournament will feature singles and doubles competition.
The event, hosted by Senator Emmanuel D. Pacquiao coincide of his 40th birthday celebration, offers a top purse of P700,000 in the doubles competition while top prize P500,000 going home with the winner in the singles competition according to tournament organizer Elman "Aries" Sacayanan.
Day 1 at the 2015 MP Cup World 10-ball Championship in General Santos City sees some favorites cruise while others struggle to find their form.
One thing that is a constant in any world championship in the sport of pool is good old pressure. But as the 2015 MP Cup World 10-ball championship kicked off on Tuesday in the Philippines southernmost city of General Santos, it was not the usual nerve rattling pressure that makes grown men cry and brings back the fans time and again that was on display. It was, rather, that nagging pressure to get out of the gates quickly, to find that championship spark that can carry you to glory later in the week.
“There’s two kind of pressure in these events,” said an obviously relieved Karl Boyes after he took down former world 9-ball champion Ronnie Alcano of the Philippines 9-7 in their first match of the group stages. “The first pressure is trying to get through the group stages, to just get those two wins and get into the single elimination. There’s nothing worse in this game than going out in a world championship in the group stages. All of us feel that the tournament doesn’t really begin until the single elimination stage. Then, if you can then make it to the final 16, that’s when you look around and realize you’ve got a chance to win the world title.”
Indeed with 51 matches in the books after a long Day 1, nobody amongst the 128 players from nearly two dozen countries is touching the subject of winning the crown. For the next two days, it’s all about winning the required two matches, getting out of your group and securing a spot in the money rounds, the Final 64, which begins Thursday night. It’s a pressure to perform, and, especially for the top players, to not embarrass themselves.
There was a host of terrific matches inside the SM City Atrium today with many contests featuring top names squaring off against each other, adding that extra element of drama and gravity to the proceedings. Plenty of matches went all the way to the wire, leaving one player greatly relieved and the other suddenly staring at elimination.
In a match featuring two up and coming quality players, Canada’s John Morra found himself down to 8-5 in a race to 9 to the Philippines Jundel Mazon. But just when Mazon thought he had the match won, he slipped and allowed the Canadian a lifeline. Morra turned the tables on the Filipino and sent him to the losers’ side of the group with a brilliant comeback.
“He made a few mistakes when he was up 8-5,” Morra said. “I just started putting pressure on him and I could see he was feeling it. I played really well at the end.”
The Philippines Dennis Orcollo is surely one of the favorites here this week, but he struggled against fellow Filipino Oliver Medenilla. Down most of the match, Orcollo discovered his groove just in time to win a squeaker, 9-8.
“I didn’t feel that good today and I didn’t break that well,” said Orcollo, the world number 7. “There’s always pressure in the first match because you don’t know the tables and how to break. But I finally figured out the break. That’s the key to winning this tournament is the break shot. If I can break good, I’ve got a chance. And I know how to deal with the pressure in the knockout stages.”
The Philippines veteran Warren Kiamco is coming off a massive victory in the US at the Derby City 9-ball and could surely find himself in the winner’s circle here this week. But young Filipino upstart Raymart Comomt proved yet again that the talent pool in the Philippines runs as deep as Sarangani Bay here in Gen San. Comomt took Kiamco to the limit before falling to his elder at the finish line, 9-8.
Two-time World 9-ball Champion Thorsten Hohmann has found lots of success in the Philippines but he’ll have to bear down over the next two days, as he fell in a nail biter to Indonesia’s Sharoni, 9-8. China’s talented young star Wang Can had his hands full with Philippine veteran Antonio Lining, winning a tight match, 9-8.
One player who seems to play pressure free these days is World number 1 Chang Yu Lung of Taiwan. He opened the day in a quality matchup against Spain’s David Alcaide. Smooth and steady as always, Chang cruised to a 9-6 victory and looks set to go far this week.
Perhaps the finest performance of the day was put in by the Philippines’ Antonio Gabica. The Qatar based Gabica, who two years ago took runner up in the World 9-ball Championship in Qatar, stomped on world number 11 Lui Haitao of China, 9-3.
Another Qatar player, Waleed Majid, currently ranked number 12 in the world, continued his fine tournament form as he defeated the Philippines Jordan Legaspi 9-6. Majid is the highest ever ranked player out of the Middle East and his dedication to the sport is paying big dividends.
The Netherlands big stars, including World number 2 Niels Feijen, Nick Van Den Berg, and 2011 World 10-ball Champion Huidji See are not entered in this year’s event but a rising Dutch player clearly wants some of that limelight. Marco Teutscher defeated world number 8, and Mosconi Cup star Nikos Ekonomopoulos, 9-5.
Play in the group stages continues on Day 2 of the World 10-ball Championship. The field of 128 will be cut in half by late on Day 3 on Wednesday when the final 64, single elimination stage of the tournament begins. The semi-finals and final will take place on Saturday.
The winner of the 2015 World 10-ball Championship will receive $40,000, while the runner up will receive $20,000
**The 2015 MP Cup World 10-ball Championship takes place at the SM Mall in General Santos City, Philippines from February 15-21 and is sanctioned by the World Pool & Billiard Association(WPA), the world governing body of pool. The entire event is sponsored by Manny Pacquiao.
The WPA will be on hand in General Santos throughout this year’s World 10-ball Championship providing up to the minute information, live scoring, photographs and in depth articles with insights and analysis from WPA Press Officer Ted Lerner.
One round into the final 32 player bracket at the 2nd Manny Pacquiao Cup Singles event, the remaining field of players is dominated by Filipino talent. The final sixteen players are comprised of 13 Filipino players, one American, one Canadian and one Filipino transplant to Canada.
Even with a handful of the top international players attending the event, the sheer number of Filipino cue artists was too much for the international players to fade at this event. BCA Hall of Famer Mika Immonen made the final 32 player bracket, but fell to Ramil Gallego 9-5 in the first round. Thorsten Hohmann came up short after losses to Arnel Bautista and Anthony Raga in the group stages. After unscrewing his cue while down 5-4, over a controversial call against Ronnie Alcano, US star Shane Van Boening rode the one loss side of this group, only to come up short 9-7 in the final match to Cristian Gariando.
The lone US representative in the field, Rodney Morris, will face Michael Feliciano in the round of sixteen on Friday. Other marquee matches on Friday include Efren Reyes vs John Morra and Ramil Gallego vs Lee Van Corteza.
