The annual Bob Stocks Memorial Tournament, held under the auspices of the Action Pool Tour, has developed something of a reputation for crowning new winners every year. Until this most recent, 13th annual tournament, only one competitor, Shaun Wilkie, had ever won it twice. On the weekend of April 13-14, Kevin West became the second. Having won this event in 2017, and after skipping the following year, which saw Zoren James Aranas and Dennis Orcollo battle in the finals, West returned to give it another shot. He was sent to the loss side by Brian Bryant in a winners’ side semifinal and came back after winning three to challenge and defeat Bryant in the finals. The event drew 31 entrants to First Break Café in Sterling, VA.
West was challenged early in this one; his first match, a double hill affair that eventually sent Paul Helms to the loss side. West moved on to defeat former Bob Stock Memorial Champion Brandon Shuff and Scott Roberts, both 9-5, to draw Bryant in one of the winners’ side semifinals. Bryant had defeated Alvin Thomas 9-6, Alex Parker, 9-3 and Paul Swinson 9-4 to meet West. Scott Haas, in the meantime, defeated Ali Gee 9-1, Andrew Manning 9-7 and Graham Swinson 9-3 to draw Chris Bruner in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Bryant sent West west 9-7 and in the hot seat match, faced Haas, who’d defeated Bruner 9-7. Bryant claimed the hot seat 9-5 Haas, and waited on the return of West.
On the loss side, West drew Steve Fleming, the tour’s #4-ranked player on the tour coming into the event, who, after being defeated by Chris Bruner 9-6 in a winners’ side quarterfinal, had defeated Bruce Choyce 7-1 and Brandon Shuff 7-5 to meet West. Bruner picked up Scott Roberts, who’d survived a double hill battle versus Mark Nanashee and eliminated Kirill Rutman to face Bruner.
West and Roberts advanced to the quarterfinals; West, 7-3 over Fleming and Roberts, 7-4 over Bruner, denying West a second shot at him. West took the quarterfinal match 7-5 over Roberts and then, downed Haas 7-4 in the semifinals.
The tightly contested final match between West and Bryant featured the maximum number of games possible in a race-to-11; 21, also known as double hill, but recognized, as well, as a lot of games to play to decide a winner. West dropped the final 9-Ball to claim his second Bob Stocks Memorial title.
Tour directors Kris Wylie and Tiger Baker thanked the ownership and staff at First Break Café, as well as sponsors East Coast Landscaping, Inc., Cue Sports International (CSI), Chix Cabinets Direct, Grant Wylie (professional photographer), Brown’s Mechanical, LLC, and George Hammerbacher Advanced Pool Instructor. The next stop on the APT, will take players “Back to the Beach,” at an event scheduled for the weekend of May 18-19 at Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA.
Since it opened its 2018 season at Q Master Billiards in January, the Action Pool Tour has had six different players win its nine tour stops (Reymart Lim, Roberto Gomez, Johnny Archer, Zoren James Aranas, Ruslan Chinakhov, and Shaun Wilkie). It’s had nine different runner-ups, which is a list as impressive as the winners; Scott Roberts, Karen Corr, Chris Bruner, Ronnie Alcano, Dennis Orcollo, Scott Haas, Warren Kiamco, RJ Carmona and Chris Wilburn. On the weekend of September 8-9, Wilkie picked up his third win on the current tour, going undefeated to maintain the ‘different winner’ count at six, while Wilburn added to the ‘different runner-up’ count by finishing second. The 10-ball event drew 31 entrants to Breakers Sky Lounge in Herndon, VA.
Wilkie had to get by Wilburn twice to complete his undefeated run. They met first in the hot seat match. Wilkie had chalked up an aggregate score of 21-6, while defeating his first opponent, Daniel Kerns 7-1, downing the tour’s #1-ranked player, Steve Fleming (7-5) and shutting out its #2-ranked player Jason Trigo. This set Wilkie up to face Tuan Chau, who came into the event as the tour’s #24 player, in a winners’ side semifinal. Wilburn, in the meantime, got by Cameron Lawhorne 7-3, Daniel Morrow 7-2 and Jimmy Coleman 7-3 to meet Will Moon in the other winners’ side semifinal.
By identical 7-2 scores, Wilkie and Wilburn advanced to the hot seat match over Chau and Moon. Wilkie dominated the hot seat battle, winning it 7-1 to wait on Wilburn’s return from the semifinals.
On the loss side, Chau picked up Jimmy Coleman, who, following his defeat at the hands of Wilburn, had eliminated Kevin Irons 6-4, and survived a double hill fight against Paul Helms. Moon drew Thomas Haas, who’d been defeated in the event’s opening round by Fleming, and was in the midst of a seven-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him to the semifinals. He’d most recently defeated Trigo 6-3 and his own father, Scott Haas 6-2.
Coleman advanced to the quarterfinal match with a 6-2 win over Chau. He was joined by Thomas Haas, who eliminated Moon 6-4.
Haas took one more step, downing Coleman in those quarterfinals 6-4, before having his loss-side streak ended by Wilburn 6-3 in the semifinals. Wilburn’s single-game, loss-side streak came to an end in the finals, when Wilkie defeated him 9-3 to capture his third APT title.
A 13-entrant Second Chance tournament saw Scott Haas lose the hot seat match to Orlin Brizuela and then return from a semifinal, double hill win over Chris Hansen to defeat Brizuela 6-3 in the finals.
Tour director Raymond Walters thanked the ownership and staff at Breakers Sky Lounge, as well as sponsors Viking Cues, Predator Cues, Tiger Products, Diamond Billiard Products, Inc., Ozone Billiards, Simonis Cloth, Aramith Balls and George Hammerbacher Advanced Pool Instructor. The next stop on the Action Pool Tour, scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 13-14 will be a Bar Box Bash, hosted by Peninsula Billiards in Newport News, VA.
(l to r): Assistant TD Raymond Walters & Zoren James Aranas
On the weekend of April 7-8, the Philippines’ Zoren James Aranas went undefeated to become the 12th different champion of the annual Bob Stocks Memorial Tournament held under the auspices of the Action Pool Tour. In the event’s 13-year history since 2006, only APT veteran Shaun Wilkie has won the event twice.
Wilkie was the only one of the event’s previous champions to compete in this year’s event, and though he was fresh from his win on the last APT stop (a “Bar Box Bash,” 8-Ball event in March), he would end up being sent to the loss side by the eventual runner-up (Dennis Orcollo) and be eliminated by the APT’s current #1-ranked player, Steve Fleming.
This 12th Annual Bob Stocks Memorial, the fourth stop on the APT, drew 49 entrants to First Break Café in Sterling, VA, and like some other Northeast tours that occurred on the same weekend (the Predator Pro Am Tour, as one example), it benefited from an influx of top players, warming up for the Super Billiards Expo, scheduled to begin on Thursday (April 12). Aranas and Orcollo, of course, were among them, and though they would advance to the hot seat match, and ultimately, the finals, their paths to those last two matches could not be characterized as the proverbial ‘walks in the park.’
Aranas opened what would prove to be his winning campaign with three straight 7-2 wins, against Tuan Chau, Mitch Deike and Bruce Choyce. Thomas Haas then chalked up four against him in a winners’ side quarterfinal that would advance Aranas to a winners’ side semifinal against the APT’s #1-ranked player, Steve Fleming. Nobody gave Orcollo a harder time than his first opponent, Coen Bell, who chalked up five against him in the opening round. That proved to be more racks than Orcollo’s next three opponents combined – Paul Helms (1), Shaun Wilkie (2), and Tom Zippler (1). This set Orcollo up in a winners’ side semifinal against Rick Glasscock.
Aranas and Orcollo defeated Fleming and Glasscock, both 7-3, to face each other in the hot seat match. Aranas won it 7-3 and waited on Orcollo’s return from the semifinals.
On the loss side, Fleming picked up Tom Zippler, who, following his defeat at the hands of Orcollo in a winners’ side quarterfinal, shut out Jason Trigo, and eliminated Doug Whiting 6-3. Glasscock drew Wilkie, four matches into his loss-side streak that, like Zipple’s, had begun with a loss to Orcollo. Wilkie had moved into the money rounds, with a 6-4 win over Rob Cord, and a shutout over Thomas Haas.
With a 6-2 win by Wilkie over Glasscock and a 6-3 win by Fleming over Zippler, the top two-ranked players on the APT squared off in this event’s quarterfinals. The #1-player (Fleming) downed #2 (Wilkie) 6-2. Fleming then fell to Orcollo in the semifinals 6-4.
Aranas’ final match proved to be his easiest of the tournament. He punctuated his undefeated run with a shutout over Orcollo in the finals.
A Second Chance tournament drew 13 entrants, and saw Scott Haas come from the loss side to avenge an earlier loss to Paul Oh by defeating him, double hill, in the finals. Dan Maruschak finished third and John Cianflone finished in fourth place.
Tour director Ozzy Reynolds thanked the ownership and staff at First Break Café, as well as tour sponsors Kamui, Diamond Billiard Products, Viking Cues, Predator Cues, Tiger Products, Ozone Billiards, Aramith, and George Hammerbacher (Advanced Pool Instructor). Stop # 5 on the Action Pool Tour, scheduled for the weekend of May 12-13, will be the Bash at the Beach, hosted by Q-Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA.
With a couple of significant 'cats' away, a few fairly formidable 'mice' came out to play at the Action Pool Tour's fourth stop of the year. One of the 'cats' who stayed behind for the April 9-10 stop was Brian Deska, who came back from a hot seat defeat to challenge Jimmy Varias and win his second straight Action Pool Tour stop. The event, missing regular APT 'cats' Brandon Shuff and Shaun Wilkie, who were competing in the Don Coates Memorial in Raleigh, NC, drew 41 entrants to First Break Cafe in Sterling, VA.
Sporting remarkably similar won/loss records, featuring only three kinds of scores (8-5, 8-2 and each recording a shutout), Deska (32-9) and Varias (32-12) advanced to a winners' side semifinal against an opponent named Paul; Deska versus Paul Helms and Varias against Paul Cogle. Deska chalked up his second 8-5 score, defeating Helms, while Varias won his first 8-3 match, sending Cogle to the loss side. Varias won his second 8-3 match, defeating Deska to claim the hot seat.
On the loss side, Helms picked up Alan Duty, who was in the midst of a five-match, loss-side winning streak that would take him as far as the quarterfinals. He won his third and fourth loss-side matches against Derek Crothers 7-2 and Chris Hansen 7-3. Cogle drew Will Moon, who'd been sent to the loss side by Deska in a winners' side quarterfinal and was on his own, somewhat shorter loss-side streak that would advance him to the semifinals. Moon had defeated Trevor Dentz 7-1 and Paul Oh 7-4 to draw Cogle.
Duty downed Helms 7-4 and in the quarterfinals, met up with Moon, who'd eliminated Cogle 7-5. Moon ended Duty's loss-side run with a 7-5 victory in those quarterfinals, to earn himself a re-match against Deska. Deska, though, obviously determined, defeated Moon a second time, but not before Moon had forced a final, deciding 15th game.
Deska's second shot at Varias came within a game of coming to double hill. In the end, though, Deska pulled out in front to win it 10-8 and claim his second straight APT title of the year. The victory movEd Deska up on the tour's ranking list, from outside of the top 10 to within three of the leader, the absent-for-this-stop Shuff and the VA State 10-Ball Champion, Eric Moore.
In his first appearance on the 2015 Action Pool Tour, Brian Deska went undefeated through a field of 51 entrants. In so doing, he defeated the tour's top-ranked player, Shaun Wilkie, once, and the second-ranked player, Brandon Shuff, twice. Between them, Wilkie and Shuff had won the last eight stops on the tour. Wilkie had won the final four events in 2014 and the first two in 2015. Shuff had won the last two stops on the tour, defeating Wilkie twice to do it. The May 9-10 event was hosted by First Break Cafe in Sterling, VA.
Deska beat Shuff and Wilkie, one right after the other, on the winners' side of the bracket and then, in the finals, defeated Shuff a second time. Deska had something of an up and down path through the winners' bracket, opening with a shutout over Bill Woods, and following that with an 8-6 win over Paul Helms. He gave up just a single rack to Trevor Dentz before he ran into Shuff for the first time and survived a double hill fight. This put him into a winners' side semifinal against Wilkie, while Jimmy Varias and Steve Fleming squared off in the other.
Deska and Varias chalked up 8-4 victories over Wilkie and Fleming and faced each other in the hot seat. Deska prevailed in another 8-4 win, and waited on the return of Shuff.
Shuff, who'd gotten by Chris Pyle, Garrett Waechter and Will Moon on the winners' side, before running into Deska, opened his loss-side run with a shutout over Pat Carosi, and followed that with a 6-4 win over Marlone Alcaraz. This put him up against Fleming in the matches that would determine 5th/6th place. Wilkie picked up Mike Davis (sitting in the #4 spot on the tour's rankings), who, after being sent to the loss side by Varias, had shut out Trevor Dentz, and defeated Nilbert Lim 6-2.
Shuff gave up just a single rack to Fleming, while Wilkie and Davis locked up in a double hill match that eventually sent Wilkie to the quarterfinals. Wilkie and Shuff, hot seat and finals opponents in the last two stops on the tour, were at it again, and once again, Shuff eliminated Wilkie; this time, 6-3.
Shuff dropped Varias 6-4 in the semifinals, and got a second shot at Deska. In somewhat less dramatic fashion, Deska won their second meeting 10-4 to claim his first APT title of the year, and advance to #48 in the tour's rankings.
The event left Wilkie at the top of the tour rankings, about 1,000 points ahead of Brandon Shuff. Matt Krah, who didn't compete in this latest stop, remained in third place, with Mike Davis and Jimmy Varias a few hundred points away in fourth and fifth. Steve Fleming sits in the sixth spot, in a virtual tie with Varias.
Tour director Ozzy Reynolds thanked Andy Luong and his staff at First Break Cafe, along with sponsors Cue Sports International, George Hammerbacher, Ozone Billiards, and AZBilliards.com.
For the second time in a row, Brandon Shuff met Shaun Wilkie in the finals of an Action Pool Tour event and won. In March, Wilkie was sent to the loss side in the opening round of play and worked his way back through nine matches on the loss side to face Shuff in the finals. Shuff's victory ended a six-event winning streak for Wilkie on the tour (four at the end of last season, two at the beginning of this current tour season). On the weekend of April 4-5, at an event hosted by Breakers Sky Lounge in Herndon, VA, which drew 61 entrants, Shuff once again took the undefeated route to the event title. Wilkie took the easier (shorter) undefeated route, as well this time, until the two met in the hot seat match and the finals.
Each of their winning percentages went down since the earlier meeting; Shuff winning 67% of his 97 games this time out (down from 72% of games won in March), Wilkie winning (just shy of) 60% of his 114 (down from 70% in March). Wilkie gave up over twice as many racks to opponents per match in this latest event – 2.5 per match to 5.75 – while Shuff's opponents improved from 2.8 racks per match to 4.57.
Shuff's trail went through Pooky Rasmeloungon, R.J. Carmona, Alex Travino, and Dominic Noe, before coming up against Paul Helms in one of the winners' side semifinals. Wilkie got by Troy Miller, Will Moon, Paul Oh and Matt Krah before facing Mike Davis in the other winners' side semifinal. Shuff downed Helms 9-3, while Wilkie made short 9-1 work of Davis. In their first of two, Shuff gained the hot seat over Wilkie 9-7.
Helms moved to the loss side and met up with Jimmy Varias, who was in the midst of an eight-match, loss-side winning streak (including a bye) that began when he'd been sent west in the opening round of play. Varias survived a double hill match against Tom Zippler and eliminated Matt Krah 7-3 to pick up Helms. Davis drew Carmona, who'd gotten by Steve Ball 7-5 and Noe 7-4.
Helms ended the Varias loss side streak, and Davis knocked Carmona out of action, both 7-4.
Davis then eliminated Helms 7-1 in the quarterfinals and got a second shot at Wilkie. Though he'd do a lot better than the earlier 7-1 match and force a 13th and deciding game, Davis fell a second time to Wilkie. Wilkie then fell a second time to Shuff, who completed his second straight, undefeated weekend on the Action Pool Tour 11-9.
Shuff, who missed the first two stops on the tour, has a long way to go to catch Wilkie in his perch at the top of the current APT rankings; a trip made even more difficult by Wilkie's runner up finish in the last two events. The tour's next stop (May 9-10 at Clubhouse Billiards in Lynchburg, VA) will mark the midway point of the 10-event schedule.
Shaun Wilkie and Brian Deska came in to the May 10-11 stop on the Action Pool Tour at the top of the tour's rankings; Wilkie on top and Deska in second place. Deska had edged closer to the top after winning the fourth stop on the tour in April. They met in this most recent fifth stop on the tour in a winners' side final eight match that sent Deska to the losers' bracket. Wilkie, though, joined him after meeting up with Larry Kressel in a winners' side semifinal, and then, was eliminated by Deska in the quarterfinals. Deska went on to meet and defeat Kressel in the finals of the event that drew 68 entrants to Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA.
Deska's path to the winners' circle went through Meghan Knight, Paul Helms, and Scott Roberts before moving to the loss side after a double hill battle against Wilkie. Wilkie moved on to a fateful meeting against Kressel in a winners' side semifinal, while Danny Mastermaker met up with John Newton in the other. Kressel gave up only a single rack to Wilkie, and in the hot seat match, met up with Mastermaker, who'd defeated Newton 7-4. Kressel then sent Mastermaker to the semifinals 7-3 and waited in the hot seat for Deska.
Deska moved over to meet and defeat Chris Bruner 6-2, and then, survived a double hill match against Brian Bryant, to draw Newton. Wilkie, in the meantime, drew Eric Moore, who'd gotten by Scott Roberts and Dan Madden, both 6-3. Deska and Wilkie met for a quarterfinal re-match, once Deska had eliminated Newton 6-4 and Wilkie had dispatched Moore 6-1. Deska exacted his revenge, barely, defeating Wilkie 6-5 and then eliminated Mastermaker 6-4 in the semifinals. Deska completed his loss-side run with a 9-5 victory over Kressel in the finals, edging him within about 500 points of Wilkie in the tour standings.
The sixth stop on the Action Pool Tour, scheduled for June 7-8, will be hosted by Breakers Sky Lounge in Herndon, VA.
Brian Deska turned in a dominating performance during his undefeated run through a field of 79 entrants, on hand for the April 12-13 stop on the Action Pool Tour. Deska finished with a 36-9 overall record (80%), and didn't give up a rack in either of his first two matches. The event, the fourth of the Action Pool Tour season, was hosted by the First Break Cafe in Sterling, VA.
Rick Glassock and Paul Oh squared off in the other winners' side semifinal; Glasscock coming in on the heels of three straight double hill fights (against Brian Dietzenbach, Shanna Lewis and Steve Wigglesworth) and a single shutout over Rafael Reyes, which put him among the final four winners with a 24-15 record. Oh was the only one of the four who'd not received a bye in the opening round, and joined the final four winners with a 30-12 overall record against five opponents; (in order) Leo McDaniel, Matt LeMire, Matthew Siple, David Zecena and Kim Whiteman.
Deska's toughest match all weekend was against Krah, whom he sent to the losers' bracket 6-3, while Glasscock was busy chalking up his second straight shutout, over Oh. In their first of two meetings, Deska defeated Glasscock 6-2 and waited in the hot seat for their second.
On the loss side, Krah moved over and picked up Rafael Reyes, who, after being shut out by Glasscock had defeated Alan Duty and Tuan Chau, both 5-3. Oh drew Paul Helms, who'd been sent to the losers' bracket by Kim Whitman and was in the midst of a five-match, loss-side run that would take him to the quarterfinals. Krah downed Reyes 5-1, as Helms was busy handing Oh his second straight shutout.
Krah went one step further, defeating Helms in the quarterfinals 5-1, and then locking up in a double hill battle against Glasscock in the semifinals. Glasscock hung on to win it for a second chance against Deska.
Deska would give up more racks (4) in the finals than he'd given up to any opponent all weekend, though given the fact that the final match was a race to 9, instead of 6, his winning percentage in the finals (69%) was an actual improvement over his toughest match; the 6-3 (66%) win over Krah in one of the winners' side semifinals.
The event victory movEd Deska up a notch in the Action Pool Tour rankings, from third to second place. Shaun Wilkie, who finished in the tie for 7th place, maintained his top ranking, while Dan Madden, who finished 45th, slipped into third place. The next stop on the Action Pool Tour, scheduled for May 10-11, will be held at Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA.
The Predator Women’s Open 9-Ball Pro Players Championship has been won by Karen Corr. In what used to be the standard final of the WPBA circuit she took on old friend and rival Allison Fisher in the finals. Fisher had reached the end of the 24-player field with victories over Adriana Villar, Suzanne Smith, Junko Tsuchiya and Brittany Bryant.
Corr reached the same spot with wins over Crystal McCormick, Borana Andoni, Dawn Hopkins and Dawn Fox. This brought the two Grand Champions of ladies pool together for the finals and when the dust cleared it was Karen Corr standing with the trophy and the $2,500 in prize money.
The One-Pocket event was taken down by Chip Compton in a surprising manner. Compton began well with victories over Lee Holt and Vincent Cimarelli but then lost to John Schmidt. He would have his shot at revenge however and after he took down Mike Miller, Sean Morgan and Joey Kong he looked at the charts and found his next opponent would gain be John Schmidt. Schmidt had lost to Joey Gray and this time Schmidt could not handle Compton.
The other finalist was Joey Gray. Gray enjoyed wins over Adam Kielar, Bill Henderson, Sean Morgan, John Schmidt and Paul Helms before suffering his only loss of the tournament to Compton in the finals. Compton won $2,000 for his efforts and Gray $1,600.
With the top-ranked player on the Action Pool Tour, Brandon Shuff, competing in the First Annual Southern Classic in Tunica, MS on the weekend of July 21-22, a field of 75 showed up for the 11th stop on the Action Pool Tour to see if they could gain some ground. Matt Krah, who entered the tournament at #38 in the rankings, jumped 20 places on the list with his first-place finish, defeating Mike Davis (who jumped 11 places to #4) in the second set of a true double elimination final. The event drew 75 entrants to Breakers Sky Lounge in Herndon, VA.
In addition to Krah, three other Action Pool Tour regulars advanced to the winners’ side final four, looking to cut into Shuff’s lead in the rankings. Krah squared off against Brian Deska, who entered the tournament ranked at #2, and with his advancement to the winners’ side final eight, had already passed Shuff. Even if he’d lost among the final eight winners, and subsequently been defeated in the matches that determined the four-way tie for 9th place, Deska would have chalked up 750 points (10 points for the 9-12 finish, times the number of players, 75), which would have moved him ahead of Shuff by 139 points.
The other winners’ side semifinalists were R.J. Carmona, ranked # 11, who’d just sent Davis to the loss side, and Larry Kressel (# 54). Krah sent Deska west 9-7, and Kressel sent Carmona after him 9-6. Krah got into the hot seat with a 9-3 victory over Kressel, and awaited the return of Davis.
On the loss side, Davis began his five-match march back to the finals with a 7-4 victory over Rafael Reyes, and a 7-2 win over Dave Hunt, which set him up to face Deska. Carmona picked up Chip Klein, who defeated Matt Shilinski and Paul Helms, both 7-3. Davis finished Deska’s day with a 7-1 victory, and was denied a re-match versus Carmona, when Klein defeated him 7-3. Deska’s fifth place finish put him 289 points ahead of Shuff in the rankings. In the quarterfinals that followed, Davis defeated Klein 7-2, and then defeated Kressel in the semifinals 7-4.
In the opening set of the true double elimination finals (a race to 9), Davis took an early lead and reached the hill first. Though Krah would close the gap to within three, Davis hung on to win, forcing a second set. In that second set (a race to 7), it was Krah with the early lead; out in front by five before Davis had won a rack. Davis got on the board in the sixth rack, but Krah took the seventh rack to reach the hill first. Davis made a run, winning the next three, but Krah closed it out in rack eleven to secure the event title.
With two more stops on the tour – Aug. 11-12 at VIP Billiards in Catonsville, MD, and the season finale, Sept. 8-9 at Big Daddy’s Billiards in Glen Burnie, MD – the top four players are within striking distance of each other; Deska on top of the tour, with Brandon Shuff behind him. Tour director Ozzy Reynolds, who finished in the tie for 13th place, remained in third place, while Mike Davis moved into fourth place.
