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.
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.
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.
Diamond thanks all the attendees for the unprecedented surge to 1469 entries.
Some say that there is no sportsperson better equipped to pull an all-nighter than the Pool Player.
Once in action, they can’t quit. They have to hang with it until their opposition collapses or is “broken” so to speak. That’s how they evolve to become Champions.
Muscovite, Fedor Gorst proved his commanding pro-pool omnipotence by retaining his Master of the Table title after competing, not just all day through the wee small hours but, past dawn until 10 o’clock in the morning.
The players were not alone in this adventure, the videos had to be captured not only for the Accu-Stats’ historic library but for posterity. Fans are going to reminisce about this one for decades. andwith Pat Fleming at the helm to keep an accurate score and press that all-important record button, it can be seen and believed.
Gorst, earlier in the week, repeated his 2022 Bank Pool title and this year’s 9-Ball Championship.
Asked at his acceptance speech how he was feeling, one word said it all, “Tired.” He was halfjoking. He had been awake for 28 hours.And, still had time for a smile.
Read on to the Final day’s activities in pool’s most punishing, and rewarding, arena.
Diamond Billiard Products would also like to honor the memory of Mark Griffin.
Mark was an important part of Diamond’s evolution. He was there from the beginning, developing with owner Greg Sullivan, the table that has made pocket billiard history.
Diamond Derby City Classic One-PocketChampionship
Semis 5:30 pm, Finals 8:30pm
The above times were when the 9-Ball Finals were planned…that was until the record number of entries threw the schedule into total chaos.
One-Pocket is a fickle game. It can take 5-minutes when a player runs all the balls into his pocket in one inning. Or, it can take hours when both players adopt safety strategy and start pushing balls up-table away from their pockets.
Regular readers may remember the recent comment: “Did someone say shot clock?”
As the Derby redraws after every round, if that round hasn’t been completed, the whole tournament stalls.
That’s the short version of how the One-Pocket event couldn’t be finished until Saturday evening – 2 days later than scheduled.
429 started, three remained: Efren Reyes, the 68-year-old living legend, 6-time DCC One-Pocket Champion, and 5-time Master of the Table.
Tony “T Rex” Chohan. Both respected and feared for his unbounded One-Pocket creativity, dominance, cool craftiness, and for often tossing caution to the wind when the win is big enough.
Fellow finalist, Johnathan “Hennessee” Pinegar. In 14 rounds of races to 3, he had lost only eight games. That tells how well he was competing. “I’ve been practicing a lot in the last months. I’ve been giving strong competition big handicaps, like 12-3, 12-4.”
The 44-year-old Tennesseean’s newfound enthusiasm has been rewarded.
He also got the luck of the latest draw by being unlucky earlier. He had never drawn the bye. As Tony, Johnathan, and Efren Reyes were the last three standing, the computer would, normally, randomly draw the “short straw,” who would go directly to roost in the hot seat.
The remaining two would compete in the semis for the right to fight for the trophy.
Tony and Efren had drawn byes in earlier rounds. DCC rules forbade the same player receiving a bye twice resulted in Johnathan automatically being in the finals.
The Semis #2: Reyes vs Chohan
The Accu-Stats Arena was crammed to the rafters. The crowd was intrigued to see if Tony, desperately seeking his first DCC title, could overcome pool’s most revered player in search of his 7th…at 68 years young!
The 41 year-old Chohan had garnered many accolades including two major One-Pocket wins: The US Open One Pocket Championship and The International Open One-Pocket division but the Derby, everyone agreed, was the toughest one to win.
He had gotten close in recent years. It had been 9 since Efren’s 6th.
Reyes quickly found his smooth, silky stroke, and aided by Tony’s missed opportunities, took the opening game.
Tony doesn’t miss for long, in the second rack Efren left a shot that was safe for aplayer. For Tony, the short rail bank was a hanger. 1-1
Game 3: Reyes, aggressive as ever, made one of his shots that earned him the moniker “Magician.”
The rack spread far and wide only, out of nowhere, the white was kicked into Tony’s hole: 2-1 Chohan…and breaking!
Within two innings, Efren had reversed the position and ran 5. Safety ensued. Reyes cue ball ran short leaving Tony an opening. He ran 3 only to miss a dogleg combo that left two, off-angle balls within inches of his hole.
Reyes, gotten by the 4 1/8” opening, as the ball wobbled and hung to ensure Tony’s ticket to the final.
On shaking hands, Tony respectfully raised Efren’s to the air in honor of his unparalleled performance.
Efren then left the Arena to a rousing standing ovation.
Tony Chohan (David Thomson – Medium Pool)
The Finals: Hennessee vs T Rex
Johnathan “Hennessee” Pinegar’s 15-round trip to the finals was the buzz of the arena. Such honor was the result of slaughtering many opponents at naught.
It took ’til round 12 before Tony “T Rex” Chohan sent the US Open All-Around Bar Box Champion to the buy-back booth, but how about out-shooting Shane Van Boening, Tyler Styer, Anton Raga, Billy Thorpe, just to mention a few? And let’s not forget, he gave Efren his first loss.
T Rex is another animal. At 3-1, he cold-bloodedly devoured crowd sentimental favorite Efren Reyes. He was so close to the title he could taste it.
Tony won the all-important lag. All important because, with alternate break a 2-2 tie means first crack at the last rack.
Expert commentary from US Mosconi Cup captain Jeremy Jones and 2010 DCC One-Pocket Champion Scott Frost.
Rack 1: Pinegar, back from overnight hibernation, attempted a touch shot: Tony ran 8-and-out: 1-0
Rack 2: Tony, attempted a touch shot: Johnathan, still cold, ran 8-and-out: 1-1.
Rack 3: An up-table battle, until Tony with 7 balls, on a makeable cross corner bank for the win, fouled. Pinegar pilfered the rack: 2-1.
Rack 4; Pinegar exercised discipline, determination, great defense, and the “Wedge.”
Tony grappled, one ball at a time until in need of one, undercut it. It hung in his hole as the cue ball bounced two rails to land diagonally near the side pocket. Luckily there were two balls blinding Pinegar from following it in and fouling.
He raised the butt of his cue to about 45 degrees, jumped over them, and bounced the dangling orb and the cue ball off the table. “FOUL,” cried emcee/referee Ed Liddawi.
Great shot in the poolroom where that would result in both balls being respotted.
The clearly written DCC rules dictated that the game be awarded to the non-offending player: 2-2.
Time-out. Time to reset. And for Pinegar to recover from the blunder.
The Decider: Chohan in control, He had won the lag, remember?
After Chohan snuck 3 ahead, the strategy quickly developed into another quasi-wedge affair.
Oh, no, thought the tournament registration crew, not another wedge; Chohan was an integral part of the 9-Ball event and his match was holding up the draw.
Tony had another agenda. He had Pool’s most important One-Pocket title in his grasp. And, as he had come from 1-2 behind, he knew he had the momentum!
Pinegar, disciplined dedicated, continued to contribute orbs to the wedge.
Like a sniper, Tony picked off the unsuspecting marks. Within minutes, one by one they.dropped until one remained.
Pinegar didn’t linger. He attacked the table, pocketed two, and jawed a third.
It offered Chohan the shot that had cost him the 3rd game.
Not this time. Calmly, he approached the ball and spun it across the table into the opposite pocket.
He followed that with something you don’t usually get from the normally stoic Chohan, he yelled with delight!
“How does that feel? he was asked
With a deep sigh of relief, he responded, “The monkey has dropped from my shoulders.”
Time for a very quick $16,000 check presentation, fist pumps with fans around the arena, and…
Now, who’s next in 9-Ball?
Tony “TREX” Chohan: $16,000 Johnathan “Hennessee” Pinegar: $8.200 Efren “The Magician” Reyes: $6,300
Diamond Derby City Classic 9-BALL Championship:
Race to 9, 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 DCC’s most populated event.
527 entries crushed the previous attendance statistic!
That number above, compounded by the 423 in One Pocket and 529 in Banks, made for the strangest Finals in DCC history.
Add a 3-hour One-Pocket final that helped stall the draw, and we have experienced the Derby Syndrome in spades.
THE DERBY SYNDROME
2023 took our sport’s nine most grueling days–and nights–of limited sleep; catching naps while standing; snacking on nutrition-less junk, and jousting non-stop from one discipline to the next to a whole new level, it’s a wonder some of these guys are alive.
Combating 15 rounds with these heavyweights can seriously damage your health, especially when there are 527 of them and “on call” as they had limited idea of when they were going to play.
Tony Chohan, down 4-8 against Mika Immonen must have been truly motivated by his stellar performance before in his One Pocket semis with Efren. Then, after the 3-hour Finals, Roland Garcia, understandably, ended him.
Fedor Gorst, at around 9 am on Sunday, having been up competing, and waiting, competing and waiting, on-and-off for 28 hours, at 9-2, ended Shane.
Both Cuetec-sponsored players were visibly physically spent. It seemed that both had made more accumulated errors than they had in the entire tournament; When have you seen SVB miss two simple shots…in the same rack!
FYI: Fedor’s route had doused Alex, twice; Skyler Woodward and Roland Garcia both were allowed one game each. (Accu-Stats TPA statistician was sleeping soundly to prepare for the early morning finals but, guesstimates suggest that Gorst shot near, if not, a back-to-back 1.000 TPA’s)
Earlier,Chohan, Tyler Styer, and John Morra were also left in Fedor’s wake–pun intended.
Shane was undefeated all the way to the 13th round when Alex sent him to buy-back. (Alex had just eliminated Joshua Filler in the 12th).
In the 11th, Shane had Skyler Woodward back at the buy-Back booth
Shane, in the 10th, had Hong Kong’s Robbie Capito capitulate. Beware: The 21-year-old Robbie won his first men’s national event when he was 12!
All in all, an incredible journey through the night and well past dawn.
As the cameras didn’t pause much, most of the above action is available as part of the Accu-Stats PPV+ until February 28th.
See it to believe it.
Fedor Gorst: $16,000 Shane Van Boening: $7,500 Alex Pagulayan: $5,500
ENDGAME.
DCC 2024 dates: Jan 19-27, 2024: Book your entries/seats now! You know that they’re going quickly.
Accu-Stats thanks its Arena Sponsors: Diamond Billiard Products, Simonis Cloth, Aramith Belgian Billiard Balls, Cuetec Cues, Lucasi Cues, Master Chalk, MEZZ Cues, McDermott Cues, National Billiard Academy, and Outsville Accu-Rack.
The 4-camera HD match-ups are available at accu-stats.com via Accu-Stats Pay-Per-View OnDemand;Approximately, 60 action-packed hours of pro-pool are projected, PLUS reruns.
With PPV OnDemand, , you choose when you watch, no matter what you’re timezone, until February 28, 2023.
accu-stats.com will have matches available on Vimeo On Demand, Subscription Service and, of course, HD DVDs of all the TV table productions.
Thanks to all who contributed to the daily DCC reports. You know who you are: The sultry voice of the event, Bonnie Jones, hubby Ric, Koby Pilgrim, Delana, and Diamond Paul.
badboysbp.com will have alternate Diamond Arena matches available in the coming weeks.
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-POCKETChampionship: 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 streamedfrom 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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz continued a remarkable year by winning the Predator World 8-Ball Championship, defeating Wiktor Zielinski 10-6 in the final at the Puerto Rico Convention Center, San Juan.
A packed crowd saw the Spaniard, who has earned an army of new fans this week, add a first World Championship to the Derby City Classic, three EuroTours, World Cup and US Open he has won this year. He ascended to the top of the World rankings this year too, a position further cemented after this event.
The 30-year-old has enjoyed a year which, with the addition of a World title to his résumé, must be considered as one of the greatest of any player in the sport’s history.
“It has been an amazing year for me, especially this tournament, because I never won a World Championship,” said Sanchez-Ruiz, whose trophy and gold medal comes with a $60,000 winners’ prize.
“I have won a Junior World championship but not this kind of event. Last year I won my biggest title and now I became World Champion, I cannot believe it. My goal is to keep working and be better and better every day but to win a World Championship is a dream for everyone.
“I want to continue playing like this. I could feel in every single moment here that all the Puerto Rican’s were supporting me and I think that is why I came back. In the beginning I didn’t play super good but I made a couple of good racks which gave me extra confidence.
“After I won the Derby, everything changed in my mind, that was very important for me this year. It has been amazing, but now I am looking for the Mosconi Cup. I won a lot of tournaments but the most important thing was the first big one.”
The Spaniard got off to a perfect start in the final when Zielinski’s dry break left a nice layout for Sanchez-Ruiz, who took a 1-0 lead. The Pole leveled with Sanchez-Ruiz wasn’t able to execute a difficult bank for the 7, and he didn’t give up control of the table as he quickly reached 3-1. A dry break brought ‘FSR’ back to the table to make it 3-2. Zielinski wasn’t in his chair for long, however, and less than 40 minutes into the final was already halfway to the title at 5-2.
Sanchez-Ruiz was just as quick to join Zielinski on 5, taking advantage when his opponent missed the 11 to take out three racks and level the match. The Spaniard was in stroke and confident, and had the crowd behind him. He took the lead at 6-5 and didn’t look likely to surrender the table any time soon.
The event had been well supported all week, and for the final even standing room was at a premium. Those in attendance were being treated to a world-class display from Sanchez-Ruiz, who had won six in a row to lead 8-5 before two kicks on the cue ball meant he scratched on the break. Zielinski cleared for 8-6 but a scratch in the side pocket allowed Sanchez-Ruiz to the hill.
Zielinski had a final chance at 9-6 down but a missed bank brought the World No.1 to the table and it wasn’t long until the 8 was down and Sanchez-Ruiz was standing to hear his national anthem beamed across the arena.
The medal ceremony awarded bronze to Jayson Shaw, beaten 10-7 by Zielinski in the semi-finals, and Mario He, who also lost 10-7. The Austrian was defeated by Sanchez-Ruiz, who had also ended the hopes of Konrad Juszczyszyn, Robbie Capito and Fedor Gorst in the knockout stages.
The Predator Pro Billiard Series will return in 2023, starting with the Kamui World Women’s 9-Ball Championship in Atlantic City, NJ from January 19-22.
The Brass Tap & Billiards of Raleigh, NC has a long history of hosting tournaments and this year was no exception. After a layoff since 2019 due to the pandemic, owner Richard Kuntz welcomed players and fans back to the $15,000 added Beasley Open.
Presented by Doug Beasley of Beasley Custom Cues and special sponsors PoolActionTV.com and Brass Tap & Billiards, this year’s tournament had two events – One Pocket and Open 9 Ball.
Posting their $200 entry fees, the $5,000 added double elimination One Pocket division drew 48 players. Played on Diamond tables and racing to three, the finals would be one extended race to four. After the players auction and draw, the matches began.
With twelve players receiving a first round bye, Josh Roberts and Can Salim were not so fortunate. Josh survived that match 3-1 and went on to defeat Asad Khan 3-0, Justin Hall 3-1 and Brandon Shuff 3-2. On a similar path, John Morra had wins over Francesco Candela 3-1, Larry Pierce 3-2, Hunter White 3-1 and Corey Sykes 3-0. Then, in a hard fought match to reach the hot seat, Morra prevailed over Roberts 3-2.
Meanwhile, in the other portion of the bracket, Alex Pagulayan and Tony Chohan were on the march to the hot seat. After drawing a first round bye, Alex defeated Carlo Biado 3-2, Tony Pete 3-0 and Shane Wolford 3-1. Tony was the victor over Jesse Gilbert 3-2 and then skunked Robbie House 3-0, Brady Norris 3-0 and Omar Al Shaheen 3-0. He then received his own 3-0 thumping by Alex!
The hot seat match was all Pagulayan as he beat back Morra – also 3-0. John headed west and Alex moved to the finals.
Morra watched as Chohan edged out Biado 3-2 only to be relegated to third place 3-0. Looking for revenge, Tony went to the finals.
Still on a tear, Tony sliced through Alex in under an hour winning four gamesstraight to claim the title. Congratulations, Tony! Good tournament, Alex!
Johann Chua and Bader Al Awadhi
The $10,000 added Nine Ball Open began on Friday night following the players auction and draw. Ninety six players posted their $150 entry fees to play. The format was alternate breaks, rack your own with the nine on the spot and the two in the back, no soft breaks and races to 9/7.
Racing across the top half of the bracket was Johann Chua and Chia-Chen Hsieh. Playing to get to the hot seat match, Chua spanked Hsieh 9-1. The bottom portion of the bracket saw Bader Alawadhi win over John Morra 9-5.
Hot seat action again was all Chua as he locked up his seat in the finals 9-1. Bader went to the one loss side to await an opponent. Morra defeated Roberts 7-5 and then was eliminated by the same score leaving John with another third place finish.
The finals were one extended race to thirteen. Chua rocketed out to a 7-1 lead until Alawadhi caught a gear and tied the match at eight games each! Johann finally won the next two games to reach 10-8. Bader fought back to win a couple more until his opponent pulled away to win the match 13-10. Congratulations, Johann! Good shooting, Bader!
PoolActionTV.com would like to thank Richard Kuntz and his staff for another fantastic event.
In addition, we’d like to thank our fans and sponsors. Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Lomax Custom Cues, Simonis, Aramith, Durbin Custom Cues, Savage Billiard Apparel, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX and the Action Palace of Dayton, OH.
Our next event is the 4th Annual $7,500 added Big Boi Classic at Peyton’s Place in Knoxville, TN. The dates are November 18th-20th – hope to see you there!
JIC series begins its 18 & Under Boys and Girls Championships
The winners’ side final 8 has been set for the beginning of the single elimination phase of the International Open’s 9-Ball tournament tomorrow (Fri., Nov. 4). As this report is being compiled (10 p.m., Thursday night), the eight competitors who will advance to the final 16 from the loss side are still competing. If Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz emerges victorious from his match against Bader Alawahdi, the final 16 in the event will contain seven of the top eight finishers (half the field) from the recently-concluded Big Foot 10-Ball Challenge, including Fedor Gorst, who won it and runner-up Joshua Filler.
JIC underway; Boys will play winners’ side final four and 7/8 matches, Girls to play hot seat and quarterfinals
A total of 16 boys (18 & Under) and 8 girls (18 & Under) came to Norfolk to compete in the final events of the 2022 Junior International Championship series. In the course of the eight-event season, which began in January, the competitors amassed points which, at the end of the eighth stop on the series, yielded a ‘top players’ list, which led to invitations to the Championship events for the 18 & Under Boys and Girls.
Both of those events got underway today, Thursday, Nov. 3. At the end of the day, there were six boys and four girls left. The top two girls in the year-long rankings – Bethany Tate #1 and Sofia Mast #2 – will square off tomorrow afternoon (Friday, Nov. 4; 2 p.m.) in the 18 & Under Girls hot seat match. At noon, Precilia Kinsley and Noelle Tate will square off in the quarterfinals, to be followed by the semifinals at 7 p.m., pitting whoever did not claim the hot seat and the winner of the quarterfinals. The finals are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 5 at noon.
At 10 a.m., tomorrow morning (Friday), the #2 and #3-ranked competitors from the 18 & Under Boys division – Landon Hollingsworth and Payne McBride will meet in one of the winners’ side semifinals. In the other one, #13 Garrett Vaughan and #15 Justin Maywin will meet. On the loss side, also at 10 a.m., playing in the two 7/8 matches, the #1-ranked Joey Tate will meet the #14-ranked Logan Whitaker.
Of the remaining six, three of them (Worth, McBride & Tate) competed in the International Open’s 9-Ball Tournament, with Brent Worth drawing what was arguably the toughest draw. He faced Hall of Fame German Ralf Souquet in the opening round and then, on the loss side, faced and lost to former junior competitor Chris Reinhold. McBride lost a winners’ side match to one of the semifinalists in last week’s American 14.1 Straight Pool Championship, Mieszko Fortunski and fell to Alecsa Pecelj on the loss side. Tate lost to Abdullah Alyousef on the winners’ side and Sullivan Clark on the loss side.
Alex Kazakis, Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz, Mario He and Seybert’s Michigan Open champion Aloysius Yapp are through to the last 16 of the FargoRate Ohio Open, but big names including all three Ko brothers are already heading home.
Fedor Gorst will face Mika Immonen in winners’ qualification on Friday morning but Albin Ouschan, Robbie Capito and Wiktor Zielinski have been eliminated from the event, which carries a $75,000 prize fund and is played alongside the CSI Ohio State Championships at the Roberts Center in Wilmington, Ohio.
Ouschan suffered a shootout defeat to Finnish youngster Riku Romppanen and was then eliminated 4-3, 4-0 by Eklent Kaci. Romppanen takes on Roberto Gomez tomorrow morning for a place in the last 16, while Kaci must beat Predator World 10-Ball Champion Wojciech Szewczyk to remain in the event.
Four winners’ qualification matches have already played, with the remaining four to take place at 10am on Friday. Kazakis defeated David Alcaide 4-1, 4-3 for his place in the last 16, leaving the Spaniard with one more chance to qualify.
“I am feeling really happy that I won that match,” said Kazakis. “First set everything went my way, and in the second set it went both ways. David had a chance to run out at hill-hill but he missed it and I took my chance.”
Sanchez-Ruiz won 4-3, 4-3 over America’s Justin Martin while Aloysius Yapp, a two-time winner on the Predator Pro Billiard Series, defeated Finland’s Jani Uski 4-2, 4-3. Last year’s Fargorate Ohio Open champion Mario He needed a shootout to advance at the expense of Michael Schneider. The four players already qualified for single elimination share four Pro Billiard Series titles, with only Sanchez-Ruiz yet to win a stop.
Brothers Ko Ping Han, Ko Pin-Yi and Ko Ping-Chung were all eliminated within hours of each other. Ping Han had suffered shootout defeat to Petri Makkonen on Wednesday and was again beaten from the spot on Thursday, this time by Badar Al Qrrayyan. Defeat yesterday to Jan van Lierop had left Pin-Yi on the losers’ side, where a 4-1, 4-1 win for Sharik Sayed meant that Ping-Chung was now the only member of the Ko family still in the event.
However, Ping-Chung was soon eliminated too. His tournament had opened with a shootout defeat to Robbie Capito on Wednesday. He responded with a 4-3, 4-1 win against Sanjin Pehlivanovic only to lose by shootout to New Zealand’s Sullivan Clark.
Zielinski’s tournament came to an end against Chang Jung-Lin, who won 4-2, 4-3 in the day’s final match on the TV table. Chang missed a 4 ball at 3-2 up in the second set, allowing his Polish opponent to level the match at 3-3, however when Zielinski missed the 5, Chang was back at the table and won the rack to avoid a shootout. Chang requires two more wins to reach the single elimination stage and faces Dimitri Jungo in his next match.
Among the other players coming back on the losers’ side is Konrad Juszczyszyn, who will face Aleksa Pecelj after beating Ernesto Dominguez in a lengthy shootout. Juszczyszyn took the first set 4-2 but a 4-0 shutout in the second took the match to a shootout. Neither player missed in their first four shots, before both missed their next two sudden death efforts. Another successful spot shot each took the shootout to 7-7, but Dominguez missed his next shot after Juszczyszyn had already sunk his.
The FargoRate Ohio Open continues from 10am ET on Friday with six matches streamed free on Billiard TV, the World Billiard TVYouTube channel and at Kozoom.com
Mika Immonen won an all-star Joss NE 9-Ball Tour stop over the October 1st/2nd weekend at Raxx Pool Room & Grill in West Hempstead, NY.
With the US Open and International 9-Ball events coming up later in the month, some of the best players in the world are making their way to the east coast, and this event saw it’s fair share of them. Immonen was joined by World Champion Carlo Biado, recent Michigan Open runner-up Robbie Capito and Predator Canada Open Champion Chia Hua Chen (Amber) just to name a few.
Capito won his first match, a 9-6 decision over room owner Holden Chen, but then dropped a hill-hill match against Nick Torraca. Torraca would then lose his next one to tour regular Mhet Vergara 9-2. The win over Torraca moved Vergara into Sunday’s matches undefeated, where he joined Immonen, Biado and Chen.
Immonen had scored four comfortable wins on Saturday, with the most games he allowed to any one opponent being the five racks that South Africa’s Kyle Akaloo won in the last match of the day. Sunday proved to be a bit more challenging for Immonen as Vergara took him to hill-hill on Sunday morning before Immonen could pocket the case 9-ball. In the other winner’s side match on Sunday morning, Biado scored a one-sided 9-4 win over Chen. The clash between Immonen and Biado for the hot-seat was another close one, with Immonen prevailing 9-7.
On the one loss side, Chen defeated reigning Under 23 World Champion Moritz Neuhausen from Germany, 7-3 and then defeated another tour regular, Alex Osipov, 7-5. Her next match, against Biado in the semi-final, didn’t go any better than their first meeting, with Biado winning 7-3.
Fans in attendance might have been expecting another epic battle between Immonen and Biado in the finals, but Immonen had other ideas. He took complete control of the match early and ran away to a 9-3 win in one set.
The Joss NE 9-Ball Tour will be back in action this weekend at Sharp Shooters Billiards & Sports Pub in Amsterdam, NY for another $1500/$500 added main event and second chance tournament.
Aloysius Yapp successfully defended his Seybert’s Michigan Open title with a 4-2, 4-1 win over Robbie Capito in the final, and Kelly Fisher won her fourth Pro Billiard Series event with a shootout victory over Wei Tzu Chien in the women’s final at the Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek.
Fisher, previously a Pro Billiard Series winner in Austria, Las Vegas and Germany, came back from losing the first set against Wei to win a high-quality final by shootout and admitted that, given the way she played earlier in the week, she hadn’t been expecting to take home the title.
Yapp had defeated Chang Jung-Lin by shootout in his semi-final earlier on Saturday but didn’t allow the final to go that far as he took every chance offered to him to earn the trophy for a second successive year.
Capito had reached the final with a 4-0, 4-1 win against Vitaliy Patsura in the semi-finals earlier on Saturday and when Yapp missed a jump to the 1, it was Capito who had the first opening of the match, and he took full advantage to clear for the first rack.
However, a dry break presented Yapp a shot on the 1 and this time it was the Singaporean who took a rack on his opponent’s break.
A break and run took Yapp into the lead for the first time but he broke dry in the fourth. Capito had a clear shot at the 1 but after finding perfect position, missed a simple 3 to the middle. He would get another chance when Yapp left a long effort at the 3 and Capito made a tough shot down table.
At the recent Predator Canada Open, Capito was in the corner as partner Chia Hua Chen took the title, and this time it was roles reversed as ‘Amber’ was supporting Capito from the bleachers. She watched on as he made it 2-2 but Yapp regained his set lead when Capito overhit a 5, which had only required the feintest of touches to find the middle pocket. Yapp then completed the set, despite breaking dry, after executing a jump shot on the 1.
The Singaporean continued his run into the second set, taking the first rack and then cutting the 4 with plenty of speed to land perfectly on the 5 as he doubled his set advantage to 2-0, and another break and run took him to the hill before Capito could register a rack.
Capito finally got an opening when Yapp left him sight of the 4, but after making the 5, the cue kicked the 7 to the side rail. A glance off the 10 helped Capito line up position for the 7, but he overhit it and the cue ran into the 8. A thin cut made it to the left corner but Capito then needed to jump the 10 in order to make the 9. He executed that shot superbly, and then made a difficult, high-pressure 10 to give himself hope.
However, unable to afford a mistake, Capito came up dry on his break again. Yapp had a clear shot at the 1 but missed a 2/7 combo he called. Yapp didn’t have to wait too much longer; a chance to seal the title for a second consecutive year came after Capito played an aggressive bank but left a straight 3.
It was a nervy runout at times from there, but Yapp completed it to earn the $20,000 prize and keep hold of his Seybert’s Michigan Open title.
The final of the women’s event was a fitting finale to a high-quality event, with Wei and Fisher both in fine form as they battled for the $13,000 title.
After Wei took the first rack of the opening set, a brilliant 8/10 carom had Fisher level. Wei’s lead was reinstated after Fisher’ dry break left an open table, and 2-1 soon became 3-1 after Fisher scratched when making the 6 ball in the fourth rack.
A great bank to make the 4 got Fisher on her way to 3-2 and the Brit, gold medal winner at The World Games this summer, got the better of a safety battle in the sixth rack to tie the set at hill-hill.
Fisher had the advantage of the break but, despite making the wing ball, found herself with the cue tied to the 9. Wei took out a difficult 1 down the rail to earn herself an opening and followed it up with a long 3. The 6 presented another challenge but Wei found no problems in completing the rack to take the set and a big step towards the title.
A high-quality final showed no sign of abating in the second set. Both players won two of the first four racks but when Wei snatched at the 3, it clipped the 8, missed the pocket, and Fisher cleared to lead 3-2.
Breaking for the last time, Kwikfire Fisher took the 1 down and had nice position on the 2. She had work to do in the rack and played the 5 nicely along the top rail to gain position on the 6 and from there completed a controlled clearance to win the set 4-2 and take the final to shootout.
Having won the lag, Wei was first to shoot and found the heart of the pocket from the spot. Fisher did exactly the same but Wei’s second clipped both jaws and returned up table. Fisher seized the advantage with her second shot, piling the pressure on Wei, who missed again with her third.
That meant Fisher needed one successful shot to win the title. However, she then missed for the first time herself. Wei would still have to make her fourth shot and hope Fisher missed again for the shootout to go to sudden death, but it didn’t go that far as Wei missed for a third time, crowning Fisher a Pro Billiard Series champion for the fourth time.
“I am a bit in shock,” said Fisher. “I got to the final and that was unexpected of me this week. I never got settled until my last match last night against Angeline Ticoalu, that was the first match where I felt I got flowing, so I had a battle all week just trying to find myself, find my game, let alone expecting to go on and win it.
“Once I got that gear it carried on today, thankfully. Today, I performed really well against Karen and pretty steady in the final. Wei came up with all different shots, put me under pressure and I held it together through the shootout.
“I am really ecstatic to win and get another title under my belt. These events, the excitement they create, I really like; when we have a shootout and the crowd is crammed around the table. The format is tough on the players but it is the future to put this sport on the map. It has been a great event and I am looking forward to the next one.”
Fisher had beaten Karen Corr 4-1, 4-0 in an impressive semi-final performance, while Wei had reached the final with a shootout win over Allison Fisher. The Duchess of Doom won the first set 4-1, but Wei took the second 4-2 before winning the shootout 2-1 to reach her second final of the month.
The next US Pro Billiard Series event is the Fargorate Ohio Open, October 19-22 in Wilmington, Ohio.
