At the top half of the bracket, Mika Immonen was doing major damage with wins over Ceasar Tejeda, Paul Silva, Jason Williams. Beau Runningen, Melissa Herndon and Joey Chin before running into Amar Kang for the Hot Seat match. Amar made his way through the bottom half of the bracket with wins over Bobby Lees, John Nekali, Ronnie Rodas, Rodney Wynn and Oscar Dominguez.
The hot seat match between Kang and Immonen was an exciting one! Both players traded racks back and forth before Kang made two errors, which Immonen capitalized on, allowing him to find victory and take the hot seat.
Meanwhile Rodney Morris who was defeated in the winners side fourth round by top 7 Phil Prentice, was grinding through players Greg Harada, Jeff Padjan, Rodney Wynn, Vilmos Foldes and Joey Chin. This winning streak lead him to the 4th place match against tour owner Oscar Dominguez who was beaten by Amar Kang in the semi-finals. Morris made some uncharacteristic mistakes which Dominguez punished him for. Dominguez would find quick victory over Morris 9-4. Dominguez then went on to face a tough Amar Kang for a chance at the finals. Kang played flawlessly and Dominguez seemed to run out of steam and despite putting up a battle, lost to Kang 9-5. This win sent Kang back to the finals for another chance at Immonen.
The finals between Amar Kang and Mika Immonen was one for the books. Each player, made incredible outs and showed off their top notch safety game and shot making. This match not only went back and forth, but went hill-hill in the single race to 11. The final rack, Immonen scratched on the break, giving Amar an open table with ball in hand. Once Kang ran out to the 8 ball, everyone thought it was over. Kang shot and made the 8 ball but unfortunately scratched in the side pocket, leaving Immonen with ball in hand on the 9 ball for the victory.
The Mezz West State Tour would like to thank all their sponsors: Mezz Cues (Miki-Mezz.com), West State Billiard Supply (WestStateBilliards.com), Ozzy Reynolds and CSI (PlayCSIPool.com), Ladin Hyundai and Subaru (LadinAutoGroup.com),Zan Tips (Zan-Tip.com), Taom Break/Jump Tips (TaomTips.com), Andy Cloth (AndyCloth.com), PiUs Company, So Cal Tap League, Kurzweil Country Meats, fast&loose desgins (fastnloosedesigns.com), Contact Point Media, Turtle Rack, NYC Grind (NYCGrind.com) and AZ Billiards (AZBilliards.com).
We would also like to thank Sheri Dadian and her mother Pat, along with the entire Diamond Billiards staff for hosting the event. We would also like to thank all the players for coming out and supporting the tour.
The weekend of August 8-9, 2015 a total of 80 players from all over the west coast, along with several special guests from Philippines, came to compete in the Mezz West State Tour. This event was originally scheduled to be the grand re-opening of California Billiards Club, however, due to a cancellation by the city inspectors, the final inspection was moved to the following weekend after the tour stop. Fortunately, the room owners of the nearest pool room, Edgies Billiards in Milpitas, CA came to the rescue to host stop #6 with only a week's notice. Room owners Sue and Tony went above and beyond to accommodate the stop and everyone commented on how great the event went on their 23 gold crowns.
With all of those monsters in the field, there was no easy draw. In the bottom portion of the bracket, first round was a thrilling matchup between one of the Bay area's top players, Jason Williams and Filipino young gun, Jeffery Ignacio. This match was one not to missed as Jeffery won hill-hill, grinding back from an 8-6 deficit. Jeffery would then find victory over Jimmy Qu, David Espinoza, Alex Aguiar and Ernesto Dominguez before tasting defeat from his road partner Oliver Medenilla in the quater finals. Oliver made his way there with wins over Chris Santana, Larry Bohn, Paul Silva and Yoli Handoko. Oliver played a fantastic set against Jeffery and with that win, found himself playing for the hot seat against tour owner, Oscar Dominguez. Oscar Dominguez made his way through the monster bracket with wins over Corey Deuel, Beau Runningen, Frank Robutz and Bill Skinner.
The hot seat match was a grinder, going back and forth up until it reached 7-7. Oscar then capitalized on a mistake by Medenilla, allowing himself to win the hot seat 9-7.
Meanwhile, on the losers side Brian Parks won seven straight matches over players Michael Langarica, Colin Manzika, Ian Costello, Jaynard Orque, Paul Silva, Jeff Gregory and Mika Immonen before running into Rodney Morris in the 7-8th bracket, where he would find defeat. Rodney Morris went on to win over Jerffery Ignacio and Raymond Fararon. Those victories put in the semi-finals playing Oliver Medenilla for a chance to face Oscar Dominguez in the finals. Unfortunately for Rodney, he was unable to overcome Medenilla and was forced to settle for 3rd.
The finals was a race to 11 and also a rematch from the earlier hotseat match between Oscar Dominguez and Oliver Medenilla. This too was a nail biter. It remained close up until Oscar had the lead at 9-7, when Medenilla fouled and allowed Dominguez to get onto the hill. Medenilla also fell victim to Dominguez the following game and Dominguez would win 11-7.
The Mezz West State Tour would like to thank all their sponsors: Mezz Cues (Miki-Mezz.com), West State Billiard Supply (WestStateBilliards.com), Ozzy Reynolds and CSI (PlayCSIPool.com), Ladin Hyundai and Subaru (LadinAutoGroup.com),Zan Tips (Zan-Tip.com), Taom Break/Jump Tips (TaomTips.com), Andy Cloth (AndyCloth.com), PiUs Company, So Cal Tap League, Kurzweil Country Meats, fast&loose desgins (fastnloosedesigns.com), Contact Point Media, Turtle Rack, NYC Grind (NYCGrind.com) and AZ Billiards (AZBilliards.com).
We would also like to thank Tony and Sue, along with the entire Edgie's Billiards staff for hosting the event. We would also like to thank all the players for coming out and supporting the tour.
Also, congrats to Tina Malm for snagging the Top Female $100 bonus!
The Mezz West State Tour returned the weekend of April 25th and 26th to the beautiful Hard Times Billiards of Sacramento, California. The first season was a huge success averaging 88 players per event. This second season started off with a bang accumulating a total of 114 players shattering the all time high of 96 players. Among the locals, strong talent from all over the west coast was in attendance including players from Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona. The railbirds and locals were treated to a great display of pool by some great talent including "Rocket" Rodney Morris and "Iceman" Mika Immonen, alongside tour regulars Oscar and Ernesto Dominguez, Johnny Kang, Beau Runningen, Sal Butera and Amar Kang. Several top amateur players also made an apperance including Tommy "Too Good" Soria, Kevin May, Spike Aiardo, Mark Chernin and Rylan Hartnett.
With a field loaded with killers, there was no such thing as a "soft draw". The top of half of the bracket contained Sacramento Hard Times house pro Carl Wilson, Corey Harper, Johnny Kang, Jason Williams, Melissa Herndon, Spike Aiardo, Beau Runningen, Mika Immonen, Tommy Soria and Amar Kang. Battling through the top of that bracket was Phoenix's own Spike Aiardo with wins over Brandon Boatman, Mark Chernin, Jason Williams and Carl Wilson to reach the final four winners side of the event. Meeting him in there was a tough Mika Immonen, who had found victories over Patrick McLoud, Dirk Grundman, Chong Vang, Tommy Soria and Amar Kang. This match was heavily one sided with Mika pulling away to win 9-4, securing his place for the hot seat match.
Meanwhile in the bottom bracket, Ernesto Dominguez, Oscar Dominguez, Rodney Morris, Vilmos Foldes, Jaynard Orque, Dave Hemmah, Bobby Emmons, Paul Silva and Sal Butera all battled it out. Coming through the top of that bracket was Oscar Dominguez with wins over Zaldy Rosaluna, Mike Mitchell, Paul Silva and Ernesto Dominguez to put him in the final four winner side. Vilmos Foldes was waiting for him in the bottom portion of the bracket with tough wins over Emerson Joiner, Dave Gomez, Rylan Hartnett and Rodney Morris. Foldes had Dominguez down 6 to 1 in the blink of an eye, but Dominguez showed heart grinding back to win 9-7 and securing his spot in the hotseat match to face Immonen.
The hotseat was one sided with Dominguez breaking and running 4 racks on Immonen, allowing him to find victory 9-4. Mika would then travel to the one loss side to battle a tough Rodney Morris for his second shot at the finals. Rocket was in dead stroke at this point with wins over Tommy Soria, Geoff Somer, Spike Airado and Amar Kang. Immonen and Morris exchanged break and runs back and forth until it was 4-4. Rodney slowly pulled away winning 9-5. The finals are one extended race to 11 and Morris handled an exhausted Dominguez very easily winning the event 11-4.
This Mezz West State Tour would like to thank all their sponsors: Mezz Cues (Miki-Mezz.com), West State Billiard Supply (WestStateBilliards.com), Zan Tips (Zan-Tip.com), Taom Break/Jump Tips (TaomTips.com), Andy Cloth (AndyCloth.com), PiUs Company, So Cal Tap, Kurzweil Country Meats, fast&loose desgins (fastnloosedesigns.com), Contact Point Media, Turtle Rack, NYC Grind (NYCGrind.com) and AZ Billiards (AZBilliards.com).
We would also like to thank Karen, Mike and Rachel Markulis, along with the entire Hard Times Billiards staff for hosting the event. We would also like to thank all the players for coming out and supporting the tour.
