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2018 US Open 10-Ball Championship Matches Released on YouTube

CSI is pleased to announce that recorded matches from the 2018 US Open 10-Ball Championship have been released on the CSI YouTube Channel. Seventeen (17) videos featuring many of the world's best players such as Shane Van Boening, Alex Pagulayan, Skyler Woodward, Thorsten Hohmann, Billy Thorpe, Dennis Orcollo, Eklent Kaci and more can be viewed in their entirety at https://bit.ly/2QoP29K for free.
 
The 2018 US Open 10-Ball Championship was held July 18-21 at Griff's Billiards in Las Vegas, NV and was made possible by the following sponsors:
​CueSports International (CSI): www.playcsipool.com
Griff's Bar & Billiards: www.griffslv.com
​Simonis Cloth: www.simoniscloth.com
Cyclop Balls: www.cyclop-billiards.com
 
RECORDED MATCHES
Match 1: Shaun Wilkie (USA) vs Matt Edwards (New Zealand)
Match 2: Shane Van Boening (USA) vs Donny Mills (USA)
Match 3: Eklent Kaci (Albania) vs Omar Al-Shaheen (Kuwait)
Match 4: Ernesto Dominguez (Mexico) vs Warren Kiamco (Philippines)
Match 5: Max Eberle (USA) vs Ronnie Alcano (Philippines)
Match 6: Chip Compton (USA) vs Jeffrey De Luna (Philippines)
Match 7: Billy Thorpe (USA) vs Tommy Najar (USA)
Match 8: Chip Compton (USA) vs Max Eberle (USA)
Match 9: Tyler Styer (USA) vs Skyler Woodward (USA)
Match 10: Oscar Dominguez (USA) vs Alex Pagulayan (Canada)
Match 11: Dennis Orcollo (Philippines) vs Thorsten Hohmann (Germany)
​Match 12: Shane Van Boening (USA) vs Thorsten Hohmann (Germany)
Match 13: Mitch Ellerman (USA) vs Dennis Hatch (USA)
Match 14: Shane Van Boening (USA) vs Eklent Kaci (Albania) 
Match 15: Alex Pagulayan (Canada) vs Mitch Ellerman (USA) HOT SEAT MATCH
Match 16: Shane Van Boening (USA) vs Mitch Ellerman (USA) SEMI-FINAL MATCH
Match 17: Alex Pagulayan (Canada) vs Shane Van Boening (USA) FINAL MATCH
 
Please SUBSCRIBE to the CSI YouTube Channel to be notified whenever we upload new content. Watch now at https://bit.ly/2QoP29K.
 
CueSports International (CSI) is an international pool league and event leader and is currently comprised of three divisions: CSI leagues, CSI events and CSI media.  CSI leagues manages the BCA Pool League and USA Pool League, CSI events produces numerous amateur and professional events around the globe and CSI media creates live streaming and digital content.  Through its vision and strategic alliances, CSI is “shaping the future of pool.”  For more information about CSI or any of its divisions, visit www.playcsipool.com or find CueSports International on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter.

2018 US Open Bank Pool Matches Released on YouTube

CSI is pleased to announce that recorded matches from the 2018 US Open Bank Pool Championship have been released on the CSI YouTube Channel.  Twelve (12) matches featuring notable players such as Shane Van Boening, Ronnie Alcano, and Warren Kiamco can be viewed in their entirety – absolutely free!
 
The 2018 US Open Bank Pool Championship was held March 20-22 at Griff's Bar & Billiards in Las Vegas, NV and was made possible by the following sponsors:
 
​Griff's Bar & Billiards: www.griffslv.com
CueSports International (CSI): www.playcsipool.com
Simonis Cloth: www.simoniscloth.com
Cyclop Balls: www.diamondpooltables.com/Cyclop-Ball-Sets
Tiger Products: www.tigerproducts.com
OB Cues: www.obcues.com
 
RECORDED MATCHES
Match 1: Warren Kiamco vs Bob Herchik
Match 2: Gary Lutman vs Bill Thompson
Match 3: Shane Van Boening vs Tres Kane
Match 4: Brandon Shuff vs Gary Lutman
Match 5: Shane Van Boening vs Ronnie Alcano
Match 6: Manny Perez vs Steve Lingelbach
Match 7: Brandon Shuff vs Steve Lingelbach
Match 8: Shane Van Boening vs Dee Atkins
Match 9: Chris Lulek vs Neal Jacobs
Match 10: Shane Van Boening vs Neal Jacobs (Hot Seat Match)
Match 11: Neal Jacobs vs Gary Lutman (Semi-Final Match)
Match 12: Shane Van Boening vs Neal Jacobs (Finals)
 
Please SUBSCRIBE to the CSI YouTube Channel to be notified whenever we upload new content.

Wilkie goes undefeated to capture his third 2018 Action Pool Tour Stop

(l to r): Shaun Wilkie & Chris Wilburn

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.
 

Van Boening Recaptures Us Open 8-Ball Title

Shane Van Boening (JP Parmentier)

The finalists in the 2018 US Open 8-Ball Championship were the same as in 2017 — Shane Van Boening taking on Alex Pagulayan. But this year, the outcome changed, with a focused and determined Van Boening beating Pagulayan handily, by a score of 10-3. The win allowed Van Boening to take home both the US Open 10-Ball and US Open 8-Ball Championship titles — a feat he also accomplished in 2016. 
 
The 2018 US Open 8-Ball Championship started Saturday at Griff’s in Las Vegas, NV with a field of 39, including many of the best pool players in the world. 
 
Van Boening, of South Dakota, had wins over Brandon Shuff (8-5) and Josh Roberts (8-5) before being sent to the one-loss side of the bracket by the young Albanian, Eklent Kaci. But, in the same deliberate manner as he did in the US Open 10-Ball Championship, Van Boening made his way through the back side of the bracket, beating: Shane McMinn, 8-3; Warren Kiamco, 8-7; Oscar Dominguez, 8-7; Dennis Orcollo, 8-7; and Thorsten Hohmann, 8-1;  to meet Pagulayan in the finals. 
 
Pagulayan’s path to the hot seat included wins over: Cole Hoggart, 8-0; Ronnie Alcano, 8-4; Kiamco, 8-5; Kaci, 8-4; and Hohmann, 8-7, before losing to Van Boening in the finals. 
 
 
2018 US Open 8-Ball Championships results: 
 
1 Shane Van Boening, South Dakota
2 Alex Pagulayan, Canada
3 Thorsten Hohmann, Germany
4 Dennis Orcollo, Philippines
5 Oscar Dominguez, Nevada
5 Eklent Kaci, Albania
7 James Aranas, Philippines
7 Warren Kiamco, Philippines
9 Dennis Hatch, Indiana
9 Shane McMinn, Oklahoma
9 Josh Roberts, South Carolina
9 Skyler Woodward, Kentucky
 
For more information, contact Mary Coffman, CSI Marketing Manager at 509-308-9814 (cell); or by email at maryc@playcsipool.com. 
 
CSI is the parent company of the BCA Pool League and the USA Pool League. CSI also produces independent events like the US Bar Table Championships, US Open 10-Ball Championship, US Open 8-Ball Championship, and much more. For more information, visit www.playcsipool.com or call CSI at p702-719-POOL.

Orcollo comes back from hot seat defeat to down Ruslan Chinakhov and win WCS 10-Ball Open

Dennis Orcollo (Photo courtesy of Erwin Dionisio)

Dennis Orcollo, who won two of the events of the 2017 West Coast Swing (the One Pocket and 9-Ball Challenge), won his first title of the 2018 WCS, coming back from a hot seat loss in the $15,000-added 10-Ball Challenge to defeat hot seat occupant Ruslan Chinakhov. The event drew 128 entrants to California Billiards in Fremont, CA.
 
Orcollo and Chinakhov’s paths to the final went through decidedly different draws. Chinakhov got by Joe Hartnett, Teymour Ansari, Ronnie Alcano and Amar Kang to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Omar Alshaheen. Orcollo shut out CJ Robinson in his opening match, and then, in order, defeated Rodney Morris 9-7, Jayson Shaw 9-4 and Shane Van Boening 9-5 to face Roberto Gomez in the other winners’ side semifinal.
 
Chinakhov and Orcollo advanced to the hot seat match with identical 9-2 victories over Alshaheen and Gomez. After what he’d been through to get there, one would have to imagine that Orcollo (more than anybody) was surprised by Chinakhov’s 9-7 victory in the hot seat match, though undaunted, he moved to the loss side and a semifinal match against Zoren James Aranas, from which he would return for a second (and successful) shot against Chinakhov.
 
One might also imagine an ‘out of the frying pan, into the fire’ scenario for Alshaheen and Gomez, who arrived from a winners’ side semifinal ‘frying pan’ to face the ‘fire’ of Van Boening (for Alshaheen) and Aranas (for Gomez). Van Boening, following his defeat by Orcollo, got by Thorsten Hohmann, double hill, and Warren Kiamco 9-4 to draw Alshaheen. Aranas, who’d initially been defeated by the winner of the 6th Annual Cole Dickson Memorial, Jeff De Luna, had then eliminated Corey Deuel 9-7, and Jayson Shaw 9-3 to pick up Gomez.
 
Van Boening and Aranas advanced to the quarterfinals. Van Boening downed Alshaheen 9-5, while Aranas was busy eliminating Gomez 9-7. Van Boening entered the event and the quarterfinals, with a Fargo Rating (819), that was 13 points higher than Aranas’, putting the Fargo ‘winning odds’ in Van Boening’s favor. Aranas, though, won the match 9-7 and turned to face Orcollo.
 
Leaving little doubt about his determination for a second chance against Chinakhov, Orcollo gave up only two racks to Aranas in the semifinals, and got that second chance. He completed his run with a 15-9 victory in the finals.
Representatives from POVPool (Daniel Busch) and West State Billiards thanked the ownership and staff at California Billiards, as well as sponsors Cohen Cues, Big Time Threads, WestStateBilliards.com, KD Cues, Ariel Carmeli (AC) Cues, Tiger Products and JB Cases. The West Coast Swing will shift operations to Tempe, AZ, where, beginning on Wednesday (July 11), Freezer's Ice House will host a $3,000-added One Pocket Challenge and two days later (July 13, with some entrant overalp), a $10,000-added 10-Ball Challenge.

De Luna goes undefeated, downing Chohan twice to win 6th Annual Cole Dickson Memorial

Jeff De Luna (Erwin Dionisio)

All things considered, the Philippines’ Jeffrey De Luna and the US of A’s Tony Chohan are pretty evenly matched. Their Fargo ratings are 36 points apart, with De Luna ahead (795-759). In races to 8, the odds are with De Luna at (approximately) 69% to 31%. Chohan has been at it longer, though not by much, and he certainly has a physical size advantage. They met twice – hot seat and finals – in the 6th Annual Cole Dickson Memorial Tournament, held on the weekend of June 30-July 1 at Family Billiards in San Francisco, CA, and De Luna won both matches to claim the event title. The event’s two-time defending champion, Dennis Orcollo, did not compete. The $3,000-added event, produced by West State Billiards and POVPool, drew 75 entrants, and was the first in a series of events (continuing on July 4th), collectively known as The West Coast Swing. The events were streamed live via the services of POVPool, with Daniel Busch and a variety of guest commentators throughout the weekend.
 
De Luna drew a bye in the opening round, and then defeated Von Ryan Mendoza, Jason Williams, Bonnie Og, and Yoli Handoko to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal match against Ian Costello. Chohan, also awarded an opening round bye, got by Tommy Soria, Kevin Schiefer, Aldrin Geminano, and Ronnie Alcano to face Neil Vichiensaen in the other winners’ side semifinal.
 
De Luna downed Costello 8-4, as Chohan sent Vichiensaen west 8-3. In their first of two, battling for the hot seat, De Luna came out on top 8-6.
 
On the loss side, Vichiensaen picked up Jason Williams, who was in the midst of a six-match, loss-side winning streak that had included most recent wins over Julio Burgos, double hill, and Geminano 6-2. Costello drew Lance Salazar, who was in the midst of an eight-match, loss-side winning streak that had most recently seen him eliminate Alcano and Gerald Bustos.
 
Salazar got by Costello 6-3, as Vichiensaen was busy shutting out Williams. Salazar took his impressive loss-side run one step further by eliminating Vichiensaen 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
 
Though he would fight Chohan tooth and nail to a deciding 11th game in their race to 6, Salazar was defeated by Chohan, who turned for a second shot at De Luna in the hot seat. The ‘second verse,’ was as same as the first. De Luna completed his undefeated run 8-6 to claim the 6th Annual Cole Dickson Memorial Title.
 
Event representatives thanked Delbert Wong and his Family Billiards staff for their hospitality, as well as sponsors Cohen Cues, Deflection Apparel, WestStateBilliards.com, KD Cues, Ariel Carmeli (AC) Cues, Tiger Products, and JB Cases. The West Coast Swing will continue, beginning on the 4th of July with a $5,000-added West Coast Challenge One Pocket event, and two days later (with some overlap), a $15,000-added West Coast Challenge 10-Ball event, both to be hosted by California Billiards in Fremont, CA. A week later, beginning on July 11, events on the West Coast Swing will shift to Tempe, AZ, where Freezer’s Ice House will host the $3,000-added 2018 Icehouse 1-Pocket Challenge and two days later (July 13, with again, some overlap), the $10,000-added, 2018 Icehouse 10-Ball Challenge.

De Luna comes back from hot seat loss to down Alcano in finals of Sunshine State Pro Am

Ronnie Alcano, Les Duffy and Jeff DeLuna

Countrymen Jeffrey (The Bull) De Luna and Ronnie Alcano from the Philippines, fresh from their appearances at the first Doug Beasley Custom Cues Open 9-Ball in Raleigh, NC traveled from the Tar Heel State to the Sunshine State on the weekend of June 23-24 to compete in the 7th stop on the Sunshine State Pro Am Tour. They advanced through the field of 46, on-hand for the $500-added event at Boulevard Billiards in Ocala, FL and met twice; once in the hot seat and again, in the finals. Alcano took the first match, and De Luna won the second to claim the event title.
 
De Luna’s path to the final two matches went through a bye, and then, Don Kreischer, Joe Scarborough, and Gary Orefice to meet up, in a winners’ side semifinal, with Trenton White, a teenager who is currently 5th in the tour’s point standings and on his way to the Junior Nationals in New Orleans in July. Like De Luna, Alcano was awarded a bye in his opening round, and then went on to defeat Wayne Kelly, and Kody Kelly, to draw Les Duffy in the other winners’ side semifinal.
 
By identical 7-3 scores, De Luna and Alcano advanced to the hot seat match over White and Duffy. Alcano took the first of two against De Luna 7-5 and waited in the hot seat for his return from the semifinals.
 
On the loss side, Trenton White picked up Nathan Rose, who’d eliminated Jason Richko, double hill. Duffy drew Tommy Kennedy, who, after an opening round bye, had been sent to the loss side in his second round by Rose, and won three straight double hill victories (over Moe Fattah, Kreischer, and Thomas White) and a 5-3 victory over Orefice to draw Duffy.
 
Rose knocked out Trenton White 6-4, as Duffy got by Kennedy 5-3. Duffy and Rose locked up in a double hill quarterfinal that eventually sent Duffy to the semifinals against De Luna.
 
De Luna ended Duffy’s brief loss-side run 5-1 in their re-match semifinals and turned to his re-match against Alcano. De Luna completed his single match, loss-side run with a 9-5 victory over Alcano in the finals to claim the event title.
 
Tour directors Janene Phillips and Bobby Garza thanked the ownership and staff of Boulevard Billiards for their hospitality, describing their hosting of the event as “awesome” and looking forward to returning to the venue in 2019. They also thanked sponsors Play The Game Clothing Co., Jacksonville Roofing, USA, Kamui Tips and AZBilliards. The next stop on the Sunshine State Pro Am (Stop #8), scheduled for July 14-15, will be hosted Strokers in Palm Harbor, FL.

Kazakis comes back from hot seat loss, downs Pagulayan in Beasley Custom Cues 9-Ball Open

(l to r): Brass Tap Billiards owner Rich Kuntz, Alex Kazakis & Alex Pagulayan (Upstate Al)

In its language of origin (Greek), the name ‘Alex’ means ‘warrior.’ Two of them battled twice in the first Beasley Custom Cues 9-Ball Open (formerly the Don Coates Memorial), held on the long weekend of June 13-17. The annual event, sponsored by and with $10,000-added by Doug Beasley, has traditionally drawn the country’s (and increasingly, the world’s) best players, and this year, was no exception. Included in the roster of 85 entrants (among many others) were last year’s winner and runner-up, Sky Woodward and Zoren James Aranas; the 2016 winner, Rodney Morris, Johnny Archer, Neils Feijen, Ronnie Alcano, and the two Alex ‘warriors’ who fought twice to claim the title – Alex Kazakis and Alex Pagulayan. Kazakis lost their hot seat match but returned from the semifinals to defeat The Lion in the finals. The event, as always, was hosted by Brass Tap & Billiards in Raleigh, NC, whose history is longer than the event itself.
 
“Back in the 80s & 90s, they’d hold Wednesday night tournaments,” said Doug Beasley, on-site throughout the weekend at his table/booth, displaying his custom-made cues. “These weren’t money-added, or anything like that. They were just weekly tournaments, and you’d see Earl (Strickland), who used to live down here, Johnny Archer, Kim Davenport and Efren Reyes (among others).
 
“The former owner of the place (Tony Coates) was good friends with Johnny,” he added, “and he’d call him up and let him know he was getting an event together. They were all traveling around (more or less) together at the time, and they’d come in here, just for the weekly tournaments, so there’s a lot of history (related) to this room.”
 
The size of the room, dominated by the tables, lent itself to a ‘small bar’ atmosphere, which, in light of the talent on display during the weekend had a way of transforming it into a ‘big bar’ event; something akin to seeing a popular musician perform in a small nightclub. Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker, who took the reins of this event for the first time last year and operate the Viking Cues’ Q-City 9-Ball Tour, run a tight ship and in spite of some common (and relatively insignificant) issues related to the room’s size, the increasing rise in temperature (as spectators grew toward the final day), and well-known personality issues, the event went off without a hitch. Herman took lead on the ‘issues’ as they arose, from navigating rule disputes, imagined and real personality clashes and the general melee of top-notch, and sometimes volatile professional pool players all in a room together, trying to win the $5,000 first prize.
 
By Saturday, June 16, the field had narrowed down to its final 12 players. Before the day was over, it would be down to six. The two Alexes advanced to a winners’ side semifinal; Kazakis squaring off against Josh Roberts (whom he’d meet and defeat twice), and Pagulayan, facing Ronnie Alcano. Kazakis got into the hot seat match with a 9-5 win over Roberts, and faced Pagulayan (the sport’s best comedian), who’d sent Alcano to the loss side 9-6. Pagulayan claimed the hot seat 9-6 over Kazakis and waited on his return from the semifinals against Roberts.
 
On the loss side, where, at this point, everyone was ‘in the money,’ there were a lot of dangerous competitors, any one of whom could have advanced to challenge Pagulayan’s occupation of the hot seat. New York’s Joey Korsiak, Brandon Shuff, Shannon Fitch (a Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball regular, who played well throughout the weekend) and Filipino Jeff DeLuna were the first to be eliminated in the event’s first money round (13th through 16th). Alcano, coming over from the winners’ side, picked up Zoren James Aranas, who’d eliminated Rodney Morris 9-6, and Tony Chohan 9-5. Roberts drew the increasingly dangerous, 19-year-old Albanian, Klenti Kaci, who’d defeated Justin Martin 9-2 and Fedor Gorst 9-7 to reach him.
 
Aranas got by Alcano 9-7, as Roberts chalked up two impressive wins in a row; defeating Kaci 9-5, and then, by the same score in the quarterfinals, Aranas. This set up the semifinal re-match between Kazakis and Roberts.
 
The room was getting a little ‘tighter,’ as humidity and a degree of oxygen deprivation was beginning to have an effect on the way the balls were rolling on the table. This, by way of an observation from UpstateAl, who along with Levi Combs, under the auspices of #LiveAction Media Streaming, was providing the broadcast for the event.
 
Roberts made the event’s semifinal match a little closer than their previous match in the winners’ side semifinals. It was a tight match, but Kazakis pulled ahead to win it 9-7 and earn (definitely earn) his re-match in the finals against Pagulayan.
 
Not surprisingly, the race-to-13, single match final shaped up early as something of an epic battle. Tied up at 2-2, Kazakis and Pagulayan moved into a repetitive (alternate) break and win sequence, that began when Pagulayan took two in a row to go ahead 4-2. Kazakis won rack #7 to narrow the gap to a single game. They repeated this win one, lose one sequence through the next seven games, until Kazakis broke through to win two in a row and create the match’s second tie at 7-7.
 
Pagulayan answered with two in a row of his own to get back in front by two (9-7), for the fourth time since rack #6. It was, with one exception, the last winning rack for Pagulayan. Kazakis went on a five-rack run that was eventually interrupted by Pagulayan’s 10th winning rack. Kazakis sealed the deal with rack #23 and at 13-10, claimed the title to the 1st Beasley Custom Cues 9-Ball Open.
 
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Rich Kuntz and his Brass Tap staff for their hospitality, as well as title sponsor Doug Beasley Custom Cues, the Coastal Carolina TAP League, Omega, AZBilliards, #LiveAction Media Streaming (with Levi Combs, and Upstate Al commentating), and Outsville Great White Pro Chalk.   
 
The Parkers will be back at work with the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour next weekend, June 23-24, when they will hold a $500-added event at Speakeazy Billiards in Sanford, NC.
 

Harrell goes almost-undefeated and wins Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour stop in Spartanburg

Brown goes undefeated to win following week’s stop in Garner, NC
 
Viking Cues’ Q-City 9-Ball Tour director Herman Parker had nothing but the highest praise for his newest venue – The Steakhorse Restaurant and Billiards in Spartanburg, SC – which hosted a recent stop on the tour. Parker spent a good deal of time in the restaurant over the weekend and described it as the best pool room’s restaurant he’s ever eaten in. Owner Dayne Miller, a player in his own right, who won a stop on the tour this past January, added $1,500 to the event that drew 84 entrants (70 men/14 women & junior players) to the site on the weekend of June 2-3. According to Parker, arrangements are already in progress to have the site host his annual Tour Championships in the fall.
 
Jonathan “Hennessee from Tennessee” Pinegar, who’d won seven on the loss side took the opening set of the true double elimination final over hot seat occupant, Matt Harrell. Harrell, though, rallied to take the second set and claim the first-ever event title at The Steakhorse.
 
With Pinegar already at work on the loss side, following a defeat (by Derek Pierce) in the fourth winners’ side round, Harrell advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Mackie Lowery. Brian Bagwell squared off against Mike Bumgarner in the other winners’ side semifinal. Harrell downed Lowery 6-5 (Lowery racing to 7) and in the hot seat match, faced Bagwell, who sent Bumgarner west 7-5. Harrell claimed the hot seat with a double hill win (6-6) over Bagwell.
 
On the loss side, with two notches on his loss-side belt, Pinegar ran into Don Lilly, winner of three straight Q-City 9-Ball stops earlier this year (one in late January and two in February). Pinegar eliminated him 12-5, and then defeated Rob Hart 12-3 to pick up Bumgarner. Lowery drew Derek Pierce, who’d defeated Collin Hall double hill (5-5) and Daniel Adams 5-2 to reach him. A re-match between Pinegar and Pierce was two matches away.
 
Pinegar did his part, defeating Bumgarner 12-6 to advance to the quarterfinals. Pierce, though was defeated by Lowery 7-4. Pinegar leapfrogged over the quarterfinal match when Lowery forfeited due to a work commitment.
 
The semifinal match wasn’t as easy. Bagwell came to the table with five games on the wire, racing to 12. Pinegar was on the hill at 11, but Bagwell had chalked up six to force a deciding match. Pinegar closed it out and turned to face Harrell in the hot seat.
 
Harrell entered the double elimination final with six on the wire, racing to 12. Both sets went double hill with Pinegar defeating Harrell in the first, 12-5, and Harrell, in the second, defeating him 6-11.
 
Tour directors Herman and Angela Parker thanked Dayne Miller and his Steakhorse staff for their hospitality and added money, as well as title sponsor Viking Cues, Delta 13 Racks, AZBilliards and Professor Q Ball.
 
The following week, on Saturday, June 9, the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour made a stop in Garner, NC and held an event which drew 20 entrants to Shotmaker’s Billiards. David Brown went undefeated in this event, downing Collin Hall 8-4 in the hot seat match, and Scott Roberts, double hill, in the only set necessary in the finals. The Parkers thanked their hosts and the same sponsors of this event.
 
The Parkers also noted that beginning this Wednesday (June 13-19), they will be directing a tournament not affiliated with (though sponsored in part by) their Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour. They have been asked to run the Doug Beasley Custom Cues Open (Formerly the Don Coates Memorial), a $10,000-added event that has already drawn a number of the country’s top-notch players, with more expected to come over the next couple of days. Among those already scheduled to compete are Johnny Archer, Rodney Morris, Neils Feijen, Ronnie Alcano, Charlie Bryant, Justin Bergman, Sky Woodward, and Tony Chohan, to name just a few. Also competing in the event will be the two finalists in this past Memorial Day weekend’s George “Ginky” Sansouci Memorial Tournament in New York – winner Klenti Kaci and runner-up Dennis Orcollo – as well as the competitor who downed Klaci shortly afterwards to win the recent Maryland State 9-Ball Championship, Zoren James Aranas. The event will feature a number of mini-tournaments, and a live stream by LiveActionMedia and AZBTv, with perennial host UpstateAl. The stream will offer daily ‘chat room’ prize giveaways. The event is being hosted by Brass Tap Billiards in Raleigh, NC.

Aranas goes undefeated, downing ‘Klenti’ Kaci twice to claim MD State 9-Ball Title

TD Loye Bolyard, Klenti Kaci, James Aranas, TD Rick Scarlato, Jr. & Jake Lawson (Erwin Dionisio)

They are, without a doubt, two of the ‘hottest’ names in pool right now; Albania’s Eklent ‘Klenti’ Kaci and the Philippines’ Zoren James Aranas. Since January of this year, the two of them have been jetting around this and other countries, winning a combined total of nine tournaments.
 
Kaci’s won two of those – Italy’s Dynamic Billiards Treviso Open, a stop on the Euro Tour, in March (downing Albin Ouschan in the finals) and just last week, the 8th Annual George “Ginky” Sansouci Memorial in New York (defeating Lee Vann Corteza in the finals, after which, days later, he defeated Vann Corteza in an independent challenge match). Aranas got his 2018 underway in January by winning Madison, TN’s Music City Classic’s Open Division, and then travelled to Louisiana in March to win the Scotty Townsend Memorial. He chalked up three titles in April alone, travelling from Virginia, where he won the Bob Stocks Memorial, to Philadelphia, where he won the Super Billiards Expo’s Pro Am Bar Box tournament, and finally, back to Virginia to win the 2nd Annual Barry Behrman Memorial. A little over a week later, he was in Las Vegas, where he won the 1st Annual Asian Culture Day 10-Ball Open (part of Efren Reyes’ retirement tour).
 
None of the above takes into account the number of times each has ‘cashed’ in other events (five for Kaci and two others for Aranas). One might debate the relative importance and overall ‘strengths of field’ in those varied tournaments in which the two have competed, but the fact remains that on paper, Aranas has pocketed (as far as we know) twice as much money as Kaci in 2018, so far. Last year, though (again, as far as we know; according to our records), Kaci brought home over six times what Aranas earned in 2017.
 
On the weekend of June 2-3, Kaci and Aranas met twice at the Maryland State 9-Ball Championships and Aranas won both meetings to claim the title. The $1,000-added (by McDermott Cues) event drew 84 entrants to Champion Billiards in Frederick, MD.
 
They met first in a winners’ side quarterfinal, won by Aranas, who advanced to a winners’ side semifinal against Greece’s Alex Kazakis, who got by Kaci earlier in the year, just after Kaci had won the event in Treviso, and has had his own strong measure of 2018 success. The other winners’ side semifinal saw Reymart Lim square off against Shane Albough.
 
Aranas got into the hot seat match 7-3 over Kazakis, and was joined by Lim, who’d sent Albough to the loss side, double hill. Aranas claimed the hot seat 7-4 and waited on the return of Kaci.
 
Over on the loss side, which had more than its share of top-notch talent waiting in the wings, so to speak, Kazakis picked up Brandon Shuff, who’d just won two straight double hill matches, against Eric Moore and Matt Krah. Albough had the misfortune to run into Kaci, who, following his defeat by Aranas had eliminated Ronnie Alcano, double hill, and Shaun Wilkie 7-3.
 
Kaci and Kazakis advanced to the quarterfinals with identical 7-4 victories over Albough and Shuff. Kaci then defeated Kazakis by the same 7-4 score in those quarterfinals, and then got even stingier with Reymart Lim, downing him 7-3 in the semifinals.
 
Aranas got even stingier with Kaci in their final re-match. Aranas gave up only two in claiming the Maryland State 9-Ball Championships.
 
Tour director Loye Bolyard thanked the ownership and staff at Champion Billiards, as well as sponsors McDermott Cues, Lights Out Billiard Apparel, TAP Chesapeake Bay Region, Simonis Cloth, Aramith Balls, Phillippi Cues, and Navigator Tips. Bolyard also thanked the commentators and crew on the event’s Live stream, produced by BSN.