After 11 events on the Mezz West State Tour, a total of 32 invited players came to Hard Times Billiards in Bellflower, CA to compete in the year end event for its 12th and final event of Season 1. The invited players were chosen based off a points system based off the Camel Pro Tour rankings. The top players accumulated points based off their performances to play in a special year end event of $2000 added prize money plus the membership dues collected throughout the season which totaled to 5750 off of 231 total members. In addition, as a bonus, the top 16 ranked players did not pay an entry fee while the 17-32nd ranked players paid a standard $65 entry fee.
The top half of the board was led by co founder of the MWST, Oscar Dominguez with wins over the Filipino veteran, Ramon Mistica 9-4, followed by wins over Johnny Kang 9-4, Dave Hemmah 9-5, and Ernesto Dominguez 9-0, to lead up to the hot seat match. The bottom half of the bracket was dominated by Hungarian sharpshooter, Attila Bezdan, with wins over Phil Prentice 9-3, Ramin Bahktiari 9-3, Melissa Herndon 9-4, and road companion Vilmos Foldes 9-4. The hot seat match was one sided as Attila came out firing balls in from all angles putting pressure on Dominguez. After a few failed safeties, Attila ran away with the match with a 9-5 score.
Meanwhile on the losers side, Rodrigo Geronimo who lost his first match to Tang Hoa 8-4, had grinded through seven matches against Kevin May 9-3, Beau Runningen 9-7, Chris Fangre 9-3, Melissa Herndon 9-5, Tang Hoa 9-4,Ernesto Domiguez 9-4 and Ruben Bautista 9-7 to reach the 3rd place match against Oscar Dominguez. Rodrigo looked hungry to reach the finals and took a quick 5-1 lead over Dominguez. It wasnt until Geronimo missed a crucial 2 ball in the side pocket to widen the lead to 6-1 that Dominguez had a chance to take control of the table. Winning that game and then the next 3, Dominguez was able to tie it up 5. The following 6 games were each nail biters, with each player playing inspirational kick, jump and safety shots. Dominguez fell behind once again 7-5, but in his true fashion, showed a lot of heart to come back and win the match 9-7 sending him back to the finals to seek revenge on Bezdan.
The finals was one to be seen. Bezdan played flawless, only missing two balls the entire set. He pocketed every ball on the table as if they had eyes and controlled the cue ball at a top notch level. His break was also in top gear, leaving Dominguez helpless. Attila Bezdan went on to easily win the set 8-2. His victory was well deserved, as he was the best player on this day. All of us on the Mezz West State Tour will surely miss him next season and would like to congratulate him on his very great accomplishment.
We would like to again thank all of the players and sponsors who make all of this possible: Mezz Cues (miki-mezz.com), West State Billiards Supply (weststatebilliardsupply.com), ZAN tips (Zan-tip.com), Kurzweils Country Meats (kurzweilscountrymeats.com), AZbilliards.com, NYCGrind.com, POVPool.com, Marty Carey Jump Q, ontherailtv.com, Turtle Racks, and fast&loose designs.
The Mezz West State Tour kicked off its inaugural event this past weekend of August 9th and 10th at the infamous Hard Times Billiards in Bellflower, CA. This $2000 added event brought 91 players from all over California, Nevada, Arizona, and even as far away as from Colorado to take battle on the green. The stacked field of the some of the best players on the west coast grabbed their cues to and headed to Hard Times to fight for the $1,655 first prize and $6,550 in cash prizes. The format for this tour is unique in that it’s competitively handicapped; Pros race to 9, Semi pros to 8, and open players to 7. There was not a single complaint the entire weekend as favoritism or bias was not a factor in determining a players rating.
Leading the top half of the bracket was former US Open runner up, Tang Hoa, who showed a glimpse of his younger self until he faced Ramon Mistica who sent him to the loser bracket after an impressive performance. Mistica maintained his momentum and defeated Ernesto Dominguez soon after to win the top half of the bracket. Meanwhile, his road partner from the Philippines, Rodrigo Geronimo controlled the bottom half of the bracket with superb play over Los Angeles locals, Fach Garcia and Oscar Dominguez until he faced Ramon for the hot seat.
The hot seat match went quickly as Ramon kept his fast and loose style in complete control where he soundly defeated Rodrigo. The victims of these two great Filipino players fought valiantly on the one loss side to make an attempt at redemption. Johnny Kang, a Los Angeles local, displayed his aggressive style and big break until he seemed rather exhausted after so many closely contested matches. He finally succumbed to Rodrigo Geronimo in a 9-4 defeat. After a very long weekend, the two gentleman maintained a fantastic level of play all the way until the last ball dropped around 2 am with Rodrigo Geronimo taking the first place prize of $1655 and Mistica settled for $1220. Johnny Kang received $800 for 3rd and Tang Hoa rounded out the top 4 with $525 for his efforts.
The Mezz West State Tour owners and founders, Desiree Rivera and Oscar Dominguez would like to personally thank every single player, spectator, and staff of Hard Times Billiards for their support all weekend. The Mezz West State Tour would like to acknowledge all of our sponsors and thank them for their generosity; Mezz Cues, West State Billiard Supply, ZAN tips, Fast&Loose Designs, AZ Billiards, and the Turtle Rack by Olive. Next stop is Event #2 at Hard Times Billiards in Sacramento, California. Signups are now being taken and pre register at mezzweststatetour.com
Rodney "Rocket" Morris worked his way through a field of 72 entrants, to go undefeated in the $2,500-added, 2nd Annual Cole Dickson Memorial Tournament, held on the weekend of June 28-29. "Rocket" Rodney stopped a three-match, loss-side run by Ramon Mistica to claim the title. The event was hosted by Family Billiards in San Francisco.
The Dominguez family was on hand for the event; father, Ernesto, and son, Oscar working their way into the winners' side semifinals. The father played Morris, as the son squared off against Mistica. Morris downed Dad 8-5, while Oscar sent Mistica to the losers' bracket 8-1. Morris claimed the hot seat with an 8-4 win over Oscar, and waited on Mistica's return.
On the loss side, Mistica picked up Jason Williams, who'd defeated Doug Whaley and Robert Yulo to reach him. Ernesto drew Deo Alpajora, who'd gotten by Luke Thomas and Jack Sherman. It was Mistica and Alpajora advancing to the quarterfinals; Mistica 6-3 over Williams and Alpajora eliminating the elder Dominguez 6-4.
Mistica then gave up two racks over the next 14 games, defeating Alpajora 6-1 in the quarterfinals and the younger Dominguez by the same score in the semifinals. Morris, though, stopped Mistica's streak with an 8-4 win in the finals to claim the 2nd Annual Cole Dickson Memorial.
OnJuly 11th-13thand for the 5th year in a row, Hard Times Billiards in Bellflower will be hosting its annual ‘Hard Times 10-Ball Open’ tournament.. With $5,000 added money and POV Pool’s live streaming preparations underway, it’ll be another unforgettable event. Won by Carlo Biado last year, he bested Alex Pagulayan in a landslide final battle, 11 games to 1. Hard Times 10 Ball always attracts an assorted field of the best from all over the world and we can only guess who will be this year’s champion to rise to the top. Past top finishers of this event have been, Dennis Orcullo, Shane VanBoening, Ralf Souquet, Wang Can, Rodney Morris, Manny Chau, Max Eberle, Scott Frost and many others.
Confirmed So Far…
The internationally known pool promoter, author and tournament director,Jay Helferthas confirmed with POV Pool thatWarren KiamcoandDennis Orculloare confirmed for this years event. Also, widely known to be an agent and manager for two other players whilst on the West Coast, we have a confirmation fromBrook ThomasonthatFrancisco BustamanteandEfren Reyeswill also be competing. Reigning CSI, US Open 10-Ball Champion,Rodney Morrisstates that he will compete this year, just before flying to Japan for The Japan Open in Tokyo. And, there has been some discussion thatShane VanBoeningmay also make an appearance which, if this is the case, means it’s a matter of time before the rest will follow. And, as of June 16th we have a confirmation for Marie Lim, who is taking some of the entries, that the four traveling Taiwanese players,Ko Pin Yi,Ko Pin Chung,Chang Jun LingandCheng Yu Hsuanare also going to attend and compete. As they develop, more player and promotional updates can be found onThe Hard Times 10-Ball’s, Facebook Event Page.
West State Billiards named as Main Sponsor!
This year’s main sponsor or the event will be none other than Southern California’s West State Billiards, located in Fullerton, CA – Operating since 1946, West State Billiards will be providing brand new 860 Simonis Brand cloth for 20 tables, soon to be installed by the Dominguez Family (Ernesto and Oscar). Tournament direction will be led by professional pool player and longtime house-pro at Hard Times, Dave Hemmah. With the new equipment and strong tournament leadership the entrants of this year’s event can expect nothing but the best quality and service at this annual event.
