Archive Page

Jung-Lin Chang goes undefeated to capture 27th Annual Swanee Memorial in Vegas

Jung Lin Chang

Taipei’s Jung-Lin Chang is off to a good start this year. Combined with his 5th place finish at the World Pool Championships in Poland two weeks ago, Chang’s undefeated run to claim the 27th Annual Jay Swanson “Swanee” Memorial this past weekend (Feb. 17-18) has earned him just shy of one-third of all his recorded earnings during the somewhat lean pandemic years of ’21 & ’22, in a single month. And it’s only February.

It wasn’t a bad start for Singapore’s Sharik Sayed either. The annual “Swanee” memorial was his first reported cash finish of this year, after recording a fairly lucrative 2022 at the tables. As the memorial’s runner-up this year, Sayed earned almost as much in the single event than he’d reportedly earned in any one of the three years prior to 2022.

Conspicuous in their absence were the father/son team of Ernesto and Oscar Dominguez, who, in one combination or another over the 27 years of the event, had finished either 1st, 2nd or 3rd in 10 of them, dating back to 2003 when Ernesto won the event in its 7th year. Oscar would have been the defending champion this year. Shane Van Boening, the event’s 2021 champion, who did compete this year, won six on the loss side before being eliminated by Sayed in the semifinals.

Jay “Swanee” Swanson would likely be proud of the international field and continuing enthusiasm for the event that bears his name. Often known as the ‘Gentle Giant,’ he was considered to be among the best money players of all time before he passed in 1996. The $2,500-added, 27th Annual Swanee Memorial drew 53 entrants to Griff’s Bar & Billiards in Las Vegas, NV. 

Jung-Lin Chang’s path to the winner’s circle began with two straight shutouts over Don Mcclelland and Reese Romney. He then advanced through Jordan Holman and Ian Costello to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal versus Feri Satriyadi. Sayed, in the meantime, survived an opening-round double hill battle against Gary Onomura before advancing to down Marshall Jung and then, Shane Van Boening (8-5). He went on to defeat Desmond (Chin Tek) Goh 8-6 in a winners’ side quarterfinal and advanced to the other winners’ side semifinal against Toh Lian.

Satriyadi put up a double hill fight against Chang, but it was Chang who advanced to the hot seat match where he was joined by Sayed, who’d sent Lian to the loss side 8-3. Chang won the first of his two versus Sayed 8-4 to claim the hot seat.

Meanwhile, on the loss side, two potential spoilers to Chang’s aspirations to the event title and Sayed’s hopes for a rematch were battling their way to a confrontation in the quarterfinals. Van Boening had followed his loss to Sayed with four straight, including the elimination of Ian Costello 7-2 and Silviana Lu, double hill, which set him up against Toh Lian. Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp, who’d lost his second-round match to Chin Tek Goh 8-6, set out on a seven-match, loss-side streak that had begun by him giving up only two racks (total) to his first three opponents. He closed in toward the quarterfinals as he eliminated Richard Burns 7-5 and, in a rematch, Chin Tek Goh 7-4. He then faced Satriyadi for the right to advance to those quarterfinals.

Van Boening advanced with a 7-3 win over Lian. Yapp joined him in the quarterfinals with a 7-2 win over Chin Tek Goh. Van Boening added a 6th win to his loss-side trip and put an end to Yapp’s 7-4.

One rematch step away from the potential for a second Swanee title, Van Boening (832) went into the semifinal against Sayed (759) with Fargo odds of winning at 82.3%. Sayed defeated him again, 7-3 this time to earn his rematch against Chang.

Jung-Lin Chang was not sporting a Fargo Rate, or at least any that was included in the bracket information, so it was hard to assess the match from any odds-on kind of way. Given the circumstances though, no one was surprised that the single race to 8 went double hill. Or that Chang emerged as the 2023 Swanee Memorial champion.

Go to discussion...

64 Remain In Poland At World Pool Championship 2023 Inbox

Joshua Filler (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)

Joshua Filler survived being knocked to the loser’s side by Alex Pagulayan on day two of the World Pool Championship 2023 in Kielce, Poland as only 64 remain after two days of action live on Sky Sports, Viaplay, DAZN, Matchroom.Live and TV networks worldwide.

Brackets / Scores

Filler faced Pagulayan early on for a spot in the Last 64 to avoid an extra match in Losers’ Qualification round this evening. The Killer fell to a 9-7 defeat, his second defeat to the Canadian in a matter of days after a loss at the Derby City Classic. It left Filler having to beat Daniele Corrieri to ensure his hunt for a second world title would continue and he did so in emphatic fashion in a 9-1 dismantling. Crucially, defeat to Pagulayan meant Filler lost his seeded position in the bracket ahead of the Last 64 redraw.

Other top seeds had less trouble as Shane Van Boening stepped past Mats Schjetne 9-2 whilst two-time winner Albin Ouschan put Khalid Alghamdi onto the losers side. Jayson Shaw meanwhile took out young German Tobias Bongers 9-5 and World Cup of Pool winner David Alcaide whitewashed Jani Uski to secure an afternoon off.

Last year’s semi-finalist Abdullah Alyousef suffered a 9-3 defeat to USA hotshot Shane Wolford to be sent home at the first major hurdle whilst Oliver Szolnoki suffered the same fate in a hill-hill finish against Ajdin Piknjac. 2021 runner-up Omar Al-Shaheen struggled for his groove against Denis Grabe as the Estonian came good to knock the 2021 runner-up out the competition. There was frustration for 1996 champion Ralf Souquet also, the Kaiser well beaten by Pole Daniel Maciol in Winners’ Qualification before defeat at the hands of Dimitri Jungo. Home favourite Mieszko Fortunski was also knocked out with the World Pool Masters semi-finalist knocked out by Lars Kuckherm.

The 32 players who qualified through Winners’ Qualification were seeded in the Last 64 redraw against an unseeded player who came through the Losers Qualification matches with Karl Boyes completing the draw with Rachel Casey on the Matchroom Pool YouTube page. Pagulayan and Filler will have to dance again after being drawn against each other whilst defending champion Van Boening will come up against Uski.

Action returns from midday local time tomorrow on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia, the Baltics, and the Netherlands, DAZN in the USA and Italy as well as on Matchroom.Live and broadcasters worldwide. Table 2 and Table 3 are on the Matchroom Pool and Multi Sport YouTube Channels respectively and Viaplay in above listed territories. See where to watch here.

Last 64 Draw

Shane Van Boening VS Jani Uski
Aloysius Yapp VS Chris Melling
David Alcaide VS Wojciech Szewczwk
Lo Ho Sum VS Duong Quoc Hoang
Max Lechner VS Ruben Bautista
Nick Van Den Berg VS Johann Chua
Naoyuki Oi VS Emil-Andre Gangflot
Alexander Kazakis VS Wu Kun Lin
Sebastian Batkowski VS Francesco Candela
Ali Nasser Al Obaidli VS James Aranas
Imran Majid VS Mika Immonen
Mariusz Skoneczny VS Mohammad Soufi
Gerson Martinez VS Lars Kukcherm
Mateusz Sniegocki VS Fabio Petroni
Daniel Maciol VS Dimitri Jungo
Albin Ouschan VS Tyler Styer
Alex Pagulayan VS Johshua Filler
Aleksa Pecelj VS Roman Hybler
Sanjin Pehlivanovic VS Petri Makkonen
Niels Feijen VS Adjn Piknjac
Eklent Kaci VS Mario He
Ko Ping Chung VS Shane Wolford
John Morra VS Luong Duc Thien
Jayson Shaw VS Besar Spahiu
Wiktor Zielinski VS Mickey Krause
Jose Alberto Delgado VS Moritz Neuhausen
Chang Jung-Lin VS Hunter Lombardo
Ko Pin Yi VS Jan Van Lierop
Konrad Juszczyszyn VS Nguyen Anh Tuan
Robbie Capito VS Denis Grabe
Thorsten Hohmann VS Khalid Alghamdi
Francisco Sanchez Ruiz VS Oscar Dominguez

Go to discussion...

Reyes and Murphy Highlight Derby City Classic Days 7 & 8

Efren Reyes

Diamond Derby City Classic XXIV, January 20-28, 2023

Caesars Southern Indiana, Elizabeth, IN

Master of the Table points are accredited to the Banks, One Pocket, and 9-Ball divisions.

The player who accrues the most points from their highest finishes in the 3 disciplines is deemed All-Around-Champion.

Diamond generously delivers an additional $20,000 for first, plus, $3,000 and $2,000 respectively for 2nd and 3rd.

More on that later after the One Pocket final.

The Accu-Stats PPV OnDemand service has all of the above entertainment available for your viewing pleasure until Feb.28, 2023.

Diamond Derby City Classic ONE-POCKET Championship: Semis and Finals

Due to Diamond’s dedication to accommodating the incredible surge in entries –1569 in all – the ONE POCKET Semis and Finals will be completed, and streamed from the Accu-Stats TV Arena,

TODAY Saturday, Jan 28.

Let’s catch up: Highlights from Thursday

Pagulayan vs Schmidt

Alex ran 8-and-out to open his encounter with John Schmidt. It was do-or-die as each contender was down to one bullet.

After the second rack Alex was leading 2-0. Schmidt mustered his gumption to take it to 2-1

Alex, after leaving his 5th ball hanging near his pocket, allowed John an opening.

John, masterfully, manufactured a six ball run until the nudge to open a three ball cluster didn’t cooperate.

He made his 7th ball anyway knowing full well that shape on his game-ball wasn’t very possible.

Needing only one ball to tie the match, necessitated that John went full blooded, He sliced the paint off of it. And, lost the cue ball.

Alex calmly ran his last 4 balls.

Woodward vs Filler

Surely, the comeback of the One-Pocket Championship was when Skyler Woodward, who just joined Shane Van Boening and Fedor Gorst at team Cuetec, faced Joshua Filler.

Woodward fell afoul of his super aggressive play which left Filler opportunities to pull ahead.

Sure, had Skyler made the ball, chances are he was out. When the ball didn’t fall, Filler filled in the gaps.

So, now, they were tied at 2. With only one life left each: Someone’s gotta go.

Joshua, energized, jumped to a 5-2 lead.

Sky, disciplined now, had safety in mind. No more firing at fantasies. No silly sell-outs.

All the balls were soon driven upstream, not quite “the wedge” as they weren’t confined to a corner. 

But, for sure, there was no way to win in one inning. 

Either player must earn it – with pure banking skills. One rail, two railers at a time is how Sky reversed the seemingly insurmountable lead.

You have to see for yourself. The match is available OnDemand at Accu-Stats.com.

It’s must see TV!

Friday, JAN 27

Johnathon Pinegar vs Tony Chohan

Johnathon Pinegar is no stranger to Derby City, yet it might be this year’s superb performance by administering losses to Shane Van Boening, Tyler Styer, Anton Raga, Billy Thorpe, and the first loss to Tony Chohan that will be remembered best.

Thanks to the luck of the algorithm, Johnathon and Tony were chosen to meet again immediately, only this time, in the Accu-Stats Arena.

Here, Tony had home court advantage: He had a few matches “in the can.” He had experienced that the table played slower and banked a little shorter. Plus, he was familiar with the intensity of the 60-second shot clock.

Johnathon found this out the hard way; Mainly as his cue ball didn’t travel as far and interrupted the kind of run-outs he had completed earlier in the outer Diamond Arena.

Tony retuned the compliment and, in under hour, FedExed Pinegar to the buy-back booth.

Pinegar vs Reyes

No rest for Pinegar: He was immediately redrawn to face Efren…in the Accu-Stats arena.

The good news is that as we’re down to four players, he had opportunity to become acclimatized to it. It’s Semis and Finals time: There is nowhere to play but the Accu-Stats TV table.

After Efren defeated Alex, Skyler finished off Filler only to lose to Reyes who’s relentless will to win is truly inspiring.

He still has two lives and he’s been competing for six hours in Pool’s most cerebral discipline. Where is this stamina, both mental and physical, coming from?

Pinegar, too. He’d just succumbed to Chohan, the 2022 One-Pocket runner-up. Now he has to face the man the with more DCC wins than anyone.

And, his confidence is lagging as is the speed of his cue ball. It’s time to adjust.

His relaxed, yet focused, demeanor and superb defensive skills didn’t allow Reyes much of a look at anything, makeable, anyway.

Efren was definitely tiring. Then, he erred. John stole a ball. A few innings later Efren erred again. John ran 7-and-out.

At 1-0, it’s Reyes’ ball that isn’t reaching the pocket. John in two innings, by running four balls in each, surged ahead, 2-0.

Not to worry. How many times, this week, has Efren been down 0-2 and won the match?

In game 3, Pinegar erred. Reyes ran five, didn’t get the desired spread from the stack and, frustrated now, attempted a very low percentage combo. 

Luckily, he left little.

Yet, it was enough. Pinegar fired in a short rail bank and drew his cue ball to land perfectly on the next indicated sphere. He then ran out the necessary 8-balls to ensure his seat at tomorrow’s table. 

Efren visited the buy-back booth.

And then there were three: Chohan, Pinegar and Reyes – who was soon snoring like a baby.

At around noon on Saturday, he’ll be fresh as a daisy, ready for the redraw.

Someone is going to get a bye – straight into the hot seat.

Would you want it to be you, or would you prefer to win the opening match and be all warmed up for the finals?

Diamond Derby City Classic 9-BALL Championship: LAST DAY – Sat. 28.

Accu-Rack, 9 on the spot, winner breaks.

Since Matchroom deemed the Derby’s 9-Ball Championship a Mosconi Cup point garnering tournament, 9-Ball has become most populated DCC event.

527 entries smashed the previous attendance statistic!

Another record broken is the number of ladies competing this year: Margarita Fefilova, Sakura Muramatsu, Melissa “Sure Shot” Smith sponsored by Brutal Gear, Emily Sumrall, the up-and-coming Catherine Cool, and the ubiquitous Angela Mears, just to name a few of the approximately 20. Diamond thanks you all!

Efren Reyes suffered a first round loss to Robbie Capito and Roland Garcia got Dan Louie. 

Mezz-sponsored Mika Immonen opened the proceedings in the Accu-Stats Arena first thing Friday facing Derby City Classic stalwart Dee Adkins.

Mika was on fire. His early .980+ TPA seemed to intimidate Adkins who wasn’t getting out when he had the opportunity. The more he faltered, the more Mika gained confidence, and the more Dee’s TPA dropped. 

The Mezz player-rep of 21 years closed it out 9-0 with a stellar .958.

Thanks to fan demand, Pat Fleming was asked to explain how the Accu-Stats’ Total Performance Average(TPA) is calculated. During the Mieszko Fortunski vs. Brendan Shuff match, he tells all.

Undefeated are Mosconi Cup team player Oscar Dominguez, Fedor Gorst, Johnathon Pinegar, Skyler Woodward, Josh Roberts, Jesus Atencio, Jayson Shaw, SVB, Tony Chohan, Billy Thorpe, Ike Runnels, Joshua Filler, Mike Dechaine, Marc Vidal, John Morra, Margarita Fervilova, Tyler Styer, Konrad Juszczyszyn, Scott Frost, Donny Mills, Max Eberle, Brandon Shuff plus, the Filipino contingent; Alex, Gomez, Corteza, DeLuna, Garcia, and Raga,

DCC’s Friday Night Ring Game:

Culminating at $1,200 a ball, Shannon Murphy robbed them all banking $5,000. Billy fought gallantly to secure 2nd and $3000. Skyler Woodward claimed a distant 3rd. Shane Wolford began well. Justin Hall fell fast as did Jonathan Demet.

The captured match-ups are available via the Accu-Stats Pay-Per-View OnDemand, 4-camera HD production. Approximately, 60 action-packed hours of pro-pool are projected, PLUS reruns. After each match concludes, it is uploaded and available for your viewing pleasure. With PPV OnDemand, you choose when you watch, no matter what you’re timezone, until February 28, 2023.

Don’t miss a stroke: Visit accu-stats.com. Enjoy.

Go to discussion...

World Pool Championship 2023 Draw | Van Boening Starts Defense Against Yoshioka

Shane Van Boening (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)

Shane Van Boening will begin the defense of his World Pool Championship title against Japan’s Masato Yoshioka in Kielce, Poland from February 1-5 live on Sky Sports in the UK, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia and the Baltics, DAZN in the USA as well as Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide.

FORMAT

TICKETS

WATCH DRAW

The American will look to become only the second player in history to defend the title following in the footsteps of Earl Strickland in a packed arena at Targi Kielce. 46 countries will be represented in the 128-player field as it is whittled down to the Last 64 over the first two days of action before it’s straight knockout to the end where one will claim the $60,000 first-place prize and the world crown.

The draw was completed with the top 64 players from the Nineball World Rankings against an unseeded player from the other 64 in the hat. Standout first-round ties include 2015 world champion Ko Pin Yi facing James Aranas of the Philippines whilst 2022 semi-finalist Abdullah Alyousef faces the tricky prospect of Johann Chua. 2004 world champion Alex Pagulayan was unseeded and will meet Michael Schneider.

World Cup of Pool winner David Alcaide takes on Billy Thorpe and Shane Wolford‘s mission for a spot on Team USA at the 2023 Mosconi Cup takes on Pia Filler. Francisco Sanchez Ruiz had a year to remember last year and will begin his Nineball campaign against So Shaw of Iran.

Double elimination matches are all race to 9, with all matches from the Last 64 a race to 11 except the final, which is a race to 13.

SEED Name Name
1 Shane Van Boening (USA) VS Masato Yoshioka (JPN)
2 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz (ESP) VS  So Shaw (IRI)
3 Joshua Filler (GER) VS James Georgiadis (AUS)
4 Albin Ouschan (AUT) VS Juan Carlos Exposito (ESP)
5 Mario He (AUT) VS Sebastian Batkowski (POL)
6 Jayson Shaw (GBR) VS Francesco Candela (ITA)
7 Wiktor Zielinski (POL) VS Aziz Moussati (MAR)
8 Alexander Kazakis (GRE) VS Erik Hjorleifson (CAN)
9 Max Lechner (AUT) VS Max Eberle (USA)
10 Ko Pin Yi (TPE) VS James Aranas (PHI)
11 Eklent Kaçi (ALB) VS Dimitris Loukatos (GRE)
12 Abdullah Alyousef (KUW) VS Johann Chua (PHI)
13 Oliver Szolnoki (HUN) VS Marcel Price (GBR)
14 Niels Feijen (NED) VS Muhummed Daydat (RSA)
15 Konrad Juszczyszyn (POL) VS Daniel Guttenberger (AUT)
16 Mieszko Fortunski (POL) VS Emil-Andre Gangflot (NOR)
17 David Alcaide (ESP) VS Billy Thorpe (USA)
18 Marc Bijsterbosch (NED) VS Nguyễn Anh Tuấn (VIE)
19 Sanjin Pehlivanović (BOS) VS Joseph Spence (CAN)
20 Jonas Souto Comino (ESP) VS Karl Gnadeberg (EST)
21 Wojciech Szewczyk (POL) VS Bashar Hussain Abdul Majeed (QAT)
22 Ko Ping Chung (TPE) VS Michal Gavenčiak (CZE)
23 Chang Jung-Lin (TPE) VS Jonas-Kvalsund Hansen (NOR)
24 Ronald Regli (SUI) VS Iker Andoni Echeverría (ESP)
25 Naoyuki Oi (JPN) VS Mickey Krause (DEN)
26 Jose Alberto Delgado (ESP) VS Joey Tate (USA)
27 John Morra (CAN) VS Tayfun Taber (GER)
28 Denis Grabe (EST) VS  Ali Nasser Al Obaidli (QAT)
29 Ralf Souquet (GER) VS Sullivan Clark (NZL)
30 Dimitri Jungo (SUI) VS Hunter Lombardo (USA)
31 Thorsten Hohmann (GER) VS Tanes Tansomboon (THA)
32 Aloysius Yapp (SGP) VS Sharik Sayed (SGP)
33 Tomasz Kaplan (POL) VS Ko Ping Han (TPE)
34 Moritz Neuhausen (GER) VS Lường Đức Thiện (VIE)
35 Aleksa Pecelj (SRB) VS Marco Dorenburg (GER)
36 Daniel Maciol (POL) VS  Sina Valizadeh (IRI)
37 Oscar Dominguez (USA) VS Stephen Holem (CAN)
38 Omar Al Shaheen (KUW) VS Joao Grilo (POR)
39 Skyler Woodward (USA) VS Chris Alexander (GBR)
40 Besar Spahiu (ALB) VS Ramazan Akdag
41 Hseih Chia Chen (TPE) VS Nick Van Den Berg (NED)
42 Chris Melling (GBR) VS Duong Quoc Hoang (VIE)
43 Petri Makkonen (FIN) VS Elliott Sanderson (GBR)
44 Imran Majid (GBR) VS Marco Teutscher (NED)
45 Mateusz Sniegocki (POL) VS Mohammad Soufi (SYR)
46 Radoslaw Babica (POL) VS Jan Van Lierop (NED)
47 Robbie Capito (HKG) VS Toh Lian Han (SGP)
48 Jani Uski (FIN) VS Chetan Chhabra (IND)
49 Lo Ho Sum (HKG) VS Lars Kuckherm (GER)
50 Bader Alawadhi (KUW) VS Richard Halliday (RSA)
51 Pijus Labutis (LTU) VS Ajdin Piknjac (BOS)
52 Mika Immonen (FIN) VS  Gerson Martinez (PER)
53 Greg Hogue (USA) VS Mariusz Skoneczny (POL)
54 Shane Wolford (USA) VS  Pia Filler (GER)
55 Karol Skowerski (POL) VS Abdullah Al-Anzi (KUW)
56 Nikos Ekonomopoulos (GRE) VS Ruben Bautista (MEX)
57 Tyler Styer (USA) VS Mason Koch (USA)
58 Roman Hybler (CZE) VS Matt Edwards (NZL)
59 Tobias Bongers (GER) VS Davy Piergiovanni (ITA)
60 Mustafa Alnar VS  Szymona Kural (POL)
61 Daniele Corrieri (ITA) VS Khalid Alghamdi (KSA)
62 Michael Schneider (SUI) VS Alex Pagulayan (CAN)
63 Wu Kun Lin (TPE) VS Fabio Petroni (ITA)
64 Mats Schjetne (NOR) VS Jakub Koniar (SVK)

WHERE TO WATCH

Table 1 will be live on broadcasters worldwide including Sky Sports in the UK, Viaplay in Poland, Scandinavia, Baltics, and the Netherlands, DAZN in the USA, Canada, and Italy, as well as on Matchroom.Live and networks worldwide. See where to watch here.

Table 2 will be live on Viaplay in selected territories as well as on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel.

Table 3 will be live on Viaplay in selected territories as well as on Matchroom.Live and the Matchroom Multi Sport YouTube channel.

Go to discussion...

Reyes Still Going Strong at Derby City Classic Day Six

Efren Reyes (David Thomson – Medium Pool)

Diamond Derby City Classic XXIV, January 20-28, 2023

Caesars Southern Indiana, Elizabeth, IN

Master of the Table points are accredited to the Banks, One Pocket, and 9-Ball divisions.

The player who accrues the most points from their highest finishes in the 3 disciplines is Master of the Table or, as it is also known, All-Around-Champion.

Diamond generously delivers an additional $20,000 for first, plus, $3,000 and $2,000 respectively for 2nd and 3rd.

More on that later after the One Pocket final.

The Accu-Stats PPV OnDemand service has all of the above entertainment available for your viewing pleasure until Feb.28, 2023.

Diamond Derby City Classic ONE-POCKET Championship: Sun Jan. 22 -Wed. Jan. 25.

Semis and Finals are rescheduled in the Accu-Stats TV Arena before the Friday Night Ring Game, Jan 27.

In the Accu-Stats Arena, Efren was pitted against sharpshooting Lithuanian Pijus Labutis.

Reyes realized he had to change strategy when Pijus, comfortable with his latest Mezz cue, had streaked to a 2-1 lead. It was then his masterful “moving” game began. 

Labutis, now dumbfounded, spent the remainder of the match, immobilized…and in awe.

Soon, tied at 2-2, Efren showed his ability to run 8  to find himself stuck on the remaining cluster. He still need one ball as he was  -1 when he begun the run.

While Efren was considering his next move, the referee approached the table and told him he had won.

Efren, confused, questioned, “But I need one more ball?”

The ref had forgotten that Efren owed one.

Pijus, respectfully, in a kind of, “Oh, whatever,” moment, honored the ref’s decision and offered Efren his hand.

Pijus, showing true sportsmanship, had observed the current pattern of Efren’s of play, probably  concluded that there was no way he was getting a look at another ball.

Meanwhile, in the outer arena, Fedor, fired up from his Bank Pool accomplishment, had his 2022 One-Pocket title to defend against 2009 DCC One-Pocket winner John Schmidt.

Fedor, a few rounds back, collided with the skillset of 2022 Texas Open One-Pocket runner-up Yerry Calderon and was, unceremoniously, sent to the buy-back booth.

Now he faced John, a household name as the first player to out-run Willie Mosconi’s 526 14.1 record – coincidently, by the number on every serious straight-pool player’s bucket list, 100!

Knowledge of pattern-play in 14.1 is a renowned asset in One-Pocket.

More drama; John had already gone to the buy-back booth because of his prior encounter with the robust Roberto Gomez.

In the opening game, Schmidt rallied from a minus two ball deficit to 7-7 only to have Fedor, unflinchingly, deliver the 8th to his hole. 1-0.

Fast-forward to tied at 2 games: John, 5 balls ahead, adopted the strategy of forming the “wedge.” The method here is to move all the balls up-table into a corner making it near impossible to for Gorst to run the remaining balls.

The strategy worked: John soon had his remaining 3 balls.

Fedor is now in left to his fate in the 9-Ball division.

The outer-arena crowd gathered as Filler faced Efren. Both being undefeated, one was heading to the buy-back hell.

Efren removed Naojuki Oi. Filler, ditto with Robert Frost.

Filler will be the first to admit that his strength in one-hole is applying the aforementioned Straight-Pool methodology and just running-out. In fact, he’s quite brilliant at it.

Forget all this “moving” altho, as you can imagine, his safety-play is formidable, too.

Efren, struggling a little, yet always respectful, awarded Joshua game-ball to go ahead 2-1.

Now, down 1-2, we know never to count Reyes out.

He put the tiller to Filler to hoe two superlative 8-and-outs. Josh was left no alternative but to humbly buy-back.

We also know never to count Joshua out: Heaven help his next opponent.

At day’s end Wednesday, Efren Reyes, Tony Chohan, Corey Deuel, John Morra, Sky Woodward, Johnathon Pinegar, and Peruvian Gerson Martinez were all undefeated.

Johnathon Pinegar is no stranger to Derby City, yet it might be this year’s performance by administering losses to Shane Van Boening and Tyler Styer that will be remembered best.

Justin Hall froze out both Scott Frost and Jerry Matchin. He also allowed Billy Thorpe the buy-back experience.

Lunda, while his very proud father Elliot sat ringside, moved out David Matlock.

Roland Garcia over eliminated Lee Vann Corteza who had, unfortunately, run into Mieszko Fortunski,

Shane and Gerson Martinez.

Styer had eliminated Jeffrey DeLuna, Roland Garcia handed Shane Wolford his visit the booth.

The night closed as Tony Chohan expelled Ellerman.

Diamond Derby City Classic 9-BALL Championship: continues TODAY thru Sat. 28.

Mosconi Cup teammate Oscar Dominguez, Max Eberle, Hunter Lombardo, and Brandon Shuff are still undefeated

The action-packed week continues with a little levity and a lot of moolah:

DCC’s Friday Night Ring Game: Jan 27

The captured match-ups are available via the Accu-Stats Pay-Per-View OnDemand, 4-camera HD production. Approximately, 60 action-packed hours of pro-pool are projected, PLUS reruns. After each match concludes, it is uploaded and available for your viewing pleasure. With PPV OnDemand, you choose when you watch, no matter what you’re timezone.

Don’t miss a stroke: Visit accu-stats.com. Enjoy.

Go to discussion...

Turning Stone Classic XXXVI Day One Complete

Vitaliy Patsura

Day one is complete at the Joss NE 9-Ball’s Turning Stone Classic XXXVI, and day one didn’t have much as far as major upsets. What it did have though, was a day of top 9-ball talent. 

One match that saw a fan favorite sent to the one loss side was the 9-5 loss that Brandon Shuff suffered at the hands of Vitaliy Patsura, from the Ukraine. Shuff is back at it early on Friday with his one-loss side match against Randy Laborite. Patsura will face Ray McNamara in the noon round of play. 

Other top players who advanced from day one undefeated were defending champion Jayson Shaw, Fedor Gorst, Skyler Woodward, Mika Immonen, Billy Thorpe, Bucky Souvanthong, Johnny Archer, Miesko Fortunski, Shane Wolford, John Morra, Thorsten Hohmann, Oscar Dominguez, Naoyuki Oi and Kristina Tkach. 

Oi and Tkach will face off on the main streaming table at noon EST, which is being streamed for free on Upstate Al’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/UpStateAL. Fans can follow all of the action online with our online brackets and real time scoring pages. 

Go to discussion...

Europe Lead by Two as Grandstand Final Day Set for 2022 Mosconi Cup

Team Europe (Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)

A grandstand final day of the 2022 Mosconi Cup has been set with the score 8-6 to Europe after three days of action at Bally’s Las Vegas live Sky Sports in the UK, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Italy, and Spain, Viaplay in the Baltics, Scandinavia and Poland and networks worldwide.

Team USA 6-8 Team Europe

Van Boening/Strickland 5-4 Shaw/Alcaide

Tyler Styer 2-5 David Alcaide

Woodward/Strickland 2-5 Filler/Sanchez Ruiz

Earl Strickland 2-5 Albin Ouschan

Van Boening/Woodward 5-0 Filler/Shaw

Oscar Dominguez 2-5 Jayson Shaw


The action began in a frantic manner as Shane Van Boening ticked over for a historic match 100 in the Mosconi Cup alongside veteran and hero Earl Strickland. It was a tight battle against Europe’s duo of Jayson Shaw and David Alcaide at 3-2 to the USA. A scratch from Alcaide on the break in rack six brought Strickland and Van Boening to the hill. The pair wouldn’t have liked how tight it got through as Shaw fluked the nine in rack seven before levelling up for a hill-hill finish. Strickland and Van Boening inspired each other to put the USA ahead overall 5-4.

Alcaide was straight back out into singles action against Tyler Styer with the crowd hoping for the momentum to stay in the USA’s favour. Alcaide was cueing purely with very little room for error up until 4-0 up. Styer was sat frozen for large parts and struggled to make balls off the break for the first time this week. The Wisconsin man pulled the jump cue out as he ran out the fifth to make it a contest, one further rack followed before Alcaide put his stamp on the match to level again at 5-5 overall.

Strickland was in the heat of the action and back out with Skyler Woodward in the 11th match of the cup against World Pool Masters winner Joshua Filler and US Open winner Francisco Sanchez Ruiz.  The early exchanges were close until Sanchez Ruiz showed his prowess that sees him as the current Nineball World No.1 with an epic bank shot to go 3-1 up. Strickland was digging in to save Woodward’s blushes at times but it proved to be too little as Sanchez Ruiz made a winning golden break 5-2 to establish a European lead overall.

There was no time for Strickland to mull over the last match as he would be up against European Open champion Albin Ouschan in what proved to be a hellish time for the veteran. After establishing a quick two rack lead, Strickland barely saw the table thereafter with a few moments costing him dearly as Ouschan came out strong to seal a 5-2 win with five on the spin.

A huge match-up between America’s Van Boening and vice-captain Woodward and Europe’s Shaw and Filler always promised fireworks and it delivered in a way not many would have predicted before a ball was potted. Van Boening and Woodward delivered a quite spectacular whitewash, the first one of the week to keep USA well in the tie going into the final action of the day. It was scintillating stuff.

Shaw has been a thorn in the USA side for many years but has struggled for a rhythm at times this week. The tables turned though as he seized on Oscar Dominguez to put Europe two up ahead of the final day. Shaw had raced into a two-rack buffer but Dominguez levelled up at two apiece. From there, Shaw hit a new gear to bring home another European point.

Tomorrow sees the final day of the 2022 Mosconi Cup at Bally’s Las Vegas with 11 the target for victory with the score currently set at 8-6 to Europe overall.


Watch

Can’t make it to the 2022 Mosconi Cup? Watch the action wherever you are in the world. Broadcasters below. If you do not see a broadcaster in your country, you can watch on Matchroom.Live

Go to discussion...

Europe Take Day 2 To Level 2022 Mosconi Cup At 4-4

Jayson Shaw (Taka Wu – Matchroom Multi Sport)

Team Europe took day two of the 2022 Mosconi Cup against the USA to level up at 4-4 at Bally’s Las Vegas live Sky Sports in the UK, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Italy, and Spain, Viaplay in the Baltics, Scandinavia and Poland and networks worldwide.

Day two began with the Fans’ Choice Singles Match with Earl Strickland and Jayson Shaw, respectively picked. Strickland was looking to roll back the years and he was doing more than that as he rallied into an initial 3-0 lead to leave Shaw quiet in his chair. Shaw found his rhythm again in the fourth and a costly scratch from Strickland in rack five put him within one. Another scratch from Strickland in the sixth when trying to cut the eight in gave Shaw the most accessible opportunity to level things back. The comeback was soon complete for two-time MVP Shaw who riled the crowd up to pull Team Europe within one overall at 3-2.

An all-star match-up for the first singles contest between Shane Van Boening and Joshua Filler was never going to disappoint and it didn’t. Van Boening broke dry in the third rack and left an easy 1-9 combo on for Filler to lead 2-1. There was plenty of life in the contest and it was soon 3-3 after an untimely scratch from Filler much to the USA fan’s delight. Filler lost position in the seventh but went airborne in an incredible runout to reach the hill first. A brilliant break and run later and Europe was level overall at 3-3.

The USA needed to stem the European tide from somewhere and it was left up to Tyler Styer and Oscar Dominguez to do that against Filler and Albin Ouschan in match seven of the cup. Nothing could separate them up until 3-3 when an uncharacteristic miss from Styer on the six into the middle pocket brought Filler and Ouschan back to the fold to reach the hill first when it did look like an easy USA runout. Dominguez went airborne on the five in the following rack and it proved to be costly as the Europeans did the rest to get their third point of the day.

In what proved to be the final action of the day, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz got his first taste of singles action against USA vice-captain Skyler Woodward. The crowd was rocking but soon silenced as Sanchez Ruiz moved into a 2-0 lead to put the cat amongst the pigeons. Woodward found a moment of fortune when banking the six ball the full length of the table before finding a plum position on the seven to cut the deficit. Expectations were high from the home faithful as Woodward soon turned it around to a 3-2 and 4-2 advantage.

Play was halted as Woodward reached the hill due to a global broadcast outage meaning players were taken off whilst a fix was actioned to continue live coverage for those at home. Upon return, Sanchez Ruiz broke dry and Woodward ensured the USA would head into day three level overall at 4-4 sealing a vital point with an expert runout that included an exquisite jump on the one as Europe took day two 3-1.

Hear from Matchroom Multi Sport Managing Director Emily Frazer chatting with Karl Boyes on the Matchroom Pool YouTube channel here after the conclusion of day two.

Voting for the Fans’ Choice Doubles Match is open now right here.


Watch

Can’t make it to the 2022 Mosconi Cup? Watch the action wherever you are in the world. Broadcasters below. If you do not see a broadcaster in your country, you can watch on Matchroom.Live

Go to discussion...

Team USA Take Day 1 Of 2022 Mosconi Cup

Team USA (Taka Wu – Matchroom Multi Sport)

Team USA took Day 1 of the 2022 Mosconi Cup 3-1 against Team Europe to a raucous 2,500 strong crowd at Bally’s Las Vegas live on Sky Sports in the UK, DAZN in the USA, Canada, Italy, and Spain, Viaplay in the Baltics, Scandinavia and Poland and networks worldwide.

Team USA 3-1 Team Europe 

Team USA 5-3 Team Europe 

Oscar Dominguez / Earl Strickland 1-5 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz / David Alcaide 

Skyler Woodward 5-4 Joshua Filler

Shane Van Boening / Tyler Styer 5-4 Jayson Shaw / Albin Ouschan

Team Europe went into the team match looking to taste victory in the cup’s curtain-raiser for the first time since 2018 whilst the USA was hoping for the home crowd to bring the noise and they certainly did with an inspired opening point 5-3.

Match two was the first sight of Earl Strickland and Oscar Dominguez who were making their returns to Jeremy Jones‘ USA side and it was going to be a tall order with World Cup of Pool winners Francisco Sanchez Ruiz and David Alcaide getting their first taste of the action. Strickland and Dominguez had opportunities against the Spanish duo, but they proved too strong as Sanchez Ruiz found his groove in his first-ever Mosconi Cup with Alcaide guiding him through to an impressive 5-1 victory.

The crowd was baying for more from their USA side, and it came as playing vice-captain Skyler Woodward stepped up to face Joshua Filler. Woodward got out the blocks quickly before Filler reached the hill first at 4-3 but with alternate break Woodward had a chance to level up with a consistent eighth rack. The Blue Grass Bad Ass got more than he would’ve wanted with a golden break to make it the first hill-hill of the week. Some acute safety play started the ninth rack before it looked like Filler would have his moment only for the one to brush the three when pocket bound. That allowed Woodward up to take the roof off and deliver a second USA point of the day.

Momentum had swung in the USA’s favour, and they ensured they’d head into day two with a two-point cushion thanks to world champion Shane Van Boening and Tyler Styer who defeated Albin Ouschan and Jayson Shaw in another hill-hill thriller to conclude day one.

Man of the moment Woodward spoke on Off the Rail after the conclusion of the day: “It’s never easy playing Joshua. You must try and take advantage of every mistake even though I did miss the nine one day. I told myself to keep fighting and pushing and take chances where I can. I told the team; I wanted all the pressure on me. I like the pressure. Me winning that match takes the pressure off them ahead of the last match. There was a little pressure off them. They came out loose and I am glad I could get out there and get that point for the USA. The table is tight. The side pockets are unbelievable. They’re crazy. I like it. The side pockets are genius. They’re so tough. It’s how top-level pool should be.”

Tomorrow kicks off with the Fans’ Choice Singles Match before four more matches on day two of the 2022 Mosconi Cup. Voting is open until 10 pm local time for the Fans’ Choice match. Vote here. 

Watch

Can’t make it to the 2022 Mosconi Cup? Watch the action wherever you are in the world. Broadcasters below. If you do not see a broadcaster in your country, you can watch on Matchroom.Live

Go to discussion...

Woodward and Shaw To Be Playing Vice-Captains For Mosconi Cup

Skyler Woodward and Jayson Shaw will be playing vice-captains for the 2022 Mosconi Cup at Bally’s Las Vegas from November 30 to December 3 live on Sky Sports as well as on DAZN in the USA, Canada, Spain, and Italy and on Viaplay in Scandinavia, the Baltics, and Poland.

Limited Day Tickets Available Here

Woodward will provide extra assistance to Jeremy JonesTeam USA side of Shane Van Boening, Oscar Dominguez, Tyler Styer, and Earl Strickland with the two-time Mosconi Cup MVP feeling like it’s a natural position for him to take up within the team: “I feel honoured to be in this position to represent my country as vice-captain. To know people are counting on me to help lead is a great feeling. I grew up playing all team sports. I always helped with lineups and pay attention to things needed in the lineup that is best for the team. I always do my homework to make sure things are the best they can be.”

“Fans and the team can expect a leadership role from me. I will be keeping everybody loose and supporting them on and off the table to help the team. I’m here for the team and to help take this cup back!”

Shaw relishes the opportunity to support Alex Lely as Team Europe’s Joshua Filler, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Albin Ouschan and David Alcaide look for their third successive title and their first on US soil since 2017 with last year’s MVP taking up the extra role: “It feels great to have a lead role in the team as vice-captain. Everyone knows I’m not scared to say what I think and I have a good bond with the players so I feel can get them ready and pumped up and keep them feeling confident if things are going wrong out there.”

“I’m looking forward to this Mosconi Cup even more now having been selected as vice-captain it’s an honour to be picked for this role. I bring passion fire and calmness when needed. I can help Alex get them fired up and help in the back room keeping things in shape so we are focused on the job ahead. We are coming for revenge in Vegas after 2018 and 2019 mark my words we will be 110% ready to punish every mistake they make,” added a triumphant Shaw.

Only 13 days remain until battle commences at Bally’s Las Vegas in a packed-out arena with the Mosconi Cup returning to the USA for the first time since 2019 where it was the Americans who reigned supreme 11-8 with a gutsy performance. Limited tickets are available for each day here.

The 2022 Mosconi Cup will be live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland as well as on DAZN in the USA, Canada, Spain, and Italy and on Viaplay in Scandinavia, the Baltics, the Netherlands, and Poland. See where to watch in your country here. Live coverage also set to be live on Matchroom.Live for those without a broadcaster in their country.

Go to discussion...