This year’s event began on Wednesday night with the One Ball One Pocket mini. Fourteen players posted a $200 entry fee to play in this single elimination tournament with races to four and alternate breaks.
Using a sixteen man bracket, Billy Thorpe and Derek Pogirski received the coveted first round byes. Also advancing out of the first round were current Buffalo’s Pro One Pocket champ Evan Lunda, Danny Smith, Marty Sawinski, Sergio Rivas, Sam Campbell and Jeremy Seaman. Jeremy survived a 4-3 squeaker over the always tough Redgie Cutler.
Second round action saw Campbell eliminate Pogirski and Thorpe beat Sawinski. Smith and Lunda duked it out – final score in both matches was 4-3 with Evan and Sergio taking the win.
Thorpe edged out Lunda and Rivas defeated Campbell in the third round. Billy and Sergio met in the finals with Thorpe taking it down with a 4-0 blowout.
The main event kicked off on Thursday evening as 31 players paid a $300 entry to compete in this double elimination event. Format was alternate break and races to three on both sides with one extended race to five in the finals.
Play began immediately following the players auction, players meeting and draw.
Aaron Toth drew the bye in the opening round and one notable match saw Rivas surviving 3-2 over Smith. All eyes in the second round were on the Tony Chohan-Evan Lunda match. Lunda took the win 3-1. Third round action saw identical 3-1 scores – Thorpe over Seaman, Issa Eadeh beat Marc Hosler, Lunda defeated Cutler and Rivas notched the win over Brian Butler.
Down to four on the winners side, Lunda skunked Rivas 3-0 and Thorpe edged out Eadeh 3-2. Lunda and Thorpe moved into the hot seat match with Lunda locking up his seat in the finals 3-1.
On the one loss side of the chart, Danny Smith went on a tear after losing a tough match in the first round. He eliminated Jason Minda 3-2, Toth 3-0 and Lawrence Everson, Cutler, Brian Butler and Eadeh – all with a 3-1 score.
On the lower portion of the bracket was Chohan who mowed through the field after losing his second round match. Down went Erik Beauchamp and Darin Ledbetter – both 3-1. Next to fall were Seaman and Mosler – both 3-0. Tony then faced Sergio and escaped with a 3-2 win.
No strangers to each other as both claim Buffalo’s in New Orleans as their home room, Chohan and Smith scratched and clawed their way through the next match. Chohan eliminated Smith with a score of 3-2 – Danny finished in fourth place.
Waiting for Chohan was Thorpe. They also duked it out and playing down to the last ball, Chohan knocked out Thorpe 3-2 and moved into the finals. Billy ended up in third place.
Red hot, Tony quickly won the first two games in the extended race to five. Evan won the next game to make it 2-1 but he always trailed – 3-2, 4-2 and 4-3 until Tony closed out the match 5-3 and took the title!
What an event! PoolActionTV.com would like to thank Issa Eadeh, his family and staff for rolling out the red carpet for both players and fans.
Thanks to Tournament Director Ray Hansen and his able assistant, Jason Hill, for an excellent job.
We’d also like to thank Larry Schwartz, Brian Butler, Frenchy Lunda and Ray Hansen for their topnotch commentary.
Special thanks to Joe Long who always contributes to one pocket prize funds all over the country! Much appreciated!
And, last but not least, thanks to all our fans and sponsors! Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Lomax Custom Cues, Savage Billiards, Durbin Custom Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Bull Carbon, Aramith, Simonis, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the Chohan vs Thorpe One Pocket Champions Challenge at Bayou Billiards in Baton Rouge, LA. Dates are April llth-13th – hope to see you there!
Roland Garcia with Tommy Terrebonne and room owner Keith Hulin
It’s been several years since Keith Hulin hosted a major event at his room, Emerald Billiards, in New Iberia, LA. This year, he welcomed players back for the $16,000 added Bayou State Classic.
The star-studded field included two-time Derby City Classic Master of the Table Fedor Gorst, reigning Derby City Classic One Pocket champ Tony Chohan, 2020 Derby City Classic Nine Ball champ Lee Vann Corteza, current Music City Open champ Roberto Gomez, 2021 US Open One Pocket champ Justin Hall, BCA & One Pocket Hall of Famer Alex Pagulayan and the newly minted 2023 Cajun Coast Classic 9 Ball champ Roland Garcia. Others spotted around the room were two-time Derby City Classic One Pocket champ Billy Thorpe, current Space City Open X One Pocket champ John Gabriel, current US Open Bank Pool champ & One Pocket Hall of Famer Scott Frost, BCA Hall of Famer Rodney Morris, former ESPN World champ CJ Wiley, current Iron City Open One Pocket champ Josh Roberts and current Texas Open 9 Ball champ Vitaliy Patsura.
The event kicked off with the $1,000 added One Ball One Pocket Championship – $200 entry, single elimination and races to four. The eighteen player field was whittled down to two players. Fedor Gorst took it down 4-2 leavingRoberto Gomez in second place.
The main event – the $10,000 added One Pocket Championship – had 25 players who paid a $300 entry fee to compete in this double elimination, race to three alternate break format.
Notable first round matches saw Justin Hall defeat Jeff de Luna 3-1 and Roberto Gomez blitz Lee Vann Corteza 3-0 while John Gabriel edged out Mike DeLawder 3-2.
Next round had Alex Pagulayan squeak out a tough oneover Scott Frost as did John Gabriel against Hunter White – both matches 3-2 and in a repeat of the one ball one pocket finals, Gorst beat Gomez again 3-1.
In third round action, Gorst got past John Gabriel and Billy Thorpe succumbed to Justin Hall – both 3-1 while Tony Chohan went down to Roland Garcia in a close one 3-2.
Hall just got by Pagulayan 3-2 while the other winners side match saw Gorst smoke Garcia 3-0.
In dead punch, Gorst demolished Hall in hot seat action 3-0 and claimed a seat in the finals. Justin headed west only to be derailed by the Gomez freight train. After losing to Gorst, Roberto started mowing down his opponents – White 3-2 and then Drew Jordan, Thorpe, Garcia, Pagulayan and Hall – all 3-1.
Back in the finals again, the smoking hot Roberto got his revenge against Fedor and took the title down in an extended race to four – score 4-0.
The final event of this tournament was the $5,000 added Open 9 Ball Championship Playing on seven footers, a full field of 128 paid their $100 entries to compete in this double elimination, alternate break with races to 9/7.
Still red hot, Gomez plowed through Dallas Broussard 9-2, David Walker 9-3, Jeff de Luna 9-5, Derek Fontenet 9-6 and Scott Frost 9-7 to arrive as one of the final four on the winners side.
Making his way through the bracket, Roland had wins over Jeremy Howard and Rodney Morris – both 9-4, beat back a challenge from Jacob Pennison 9-8 and demolished Tookie Babineaux 9-0 and Hunter White 9-5. Finally arriving to play Gomez to get into the hot seat match, it was a hard fought battle but he survived 9-8 and Gomez headed west.
In the bottom half of the chart, Lee Vann Corteza was making his presence felt as his victims included Oscar Ruiz 9-3, Jason Procell 9-2, Chris Facundus 9-3, Fedor Gorst 9-7 and Sergio Rivas 9-4 making it to the final four on the winners side.
Meanwhile, Zach Marquardt was quietly working his way through the field as he notched victories over Brent Prade 9-5, Zack Louviere 9-4, Dillon Hayes 9-5, Steve Lenz 9-6 and Tony Chohan 9-1 to then face Lee Vann Corteza.
Lee Vann moved on to the hot seat match after handily defeating Zach 9-3. Hungry for a title, Roland dispatched Lee Vann 9-5 west and secured his berth in the finals.
Champions were falling right and left as they all battled for that other seat in the finals. When it was all over, Gomez had survived after eliminating Rivas 7-6, Gorst 7-5 and finally Corteza 7-6 to arrive at the finals battered and bruised.
As this was true double elimination, Roberto had to win two matches to claim the title. However, it was not to be! In a nailbiter of a match, Roland claimed the match and title 9-8 giving him back to back title wins!
Congratulations to the three Gs – Gomez, Garcia & Gorst – as the new Bayou State Classic champions!
Local sponsors for this event included APA Arcadiana, Oubre Memorial & Burial Vaults, LLC, Chops Meats, Arceneaux Ford, Global Vessel & Tank, FLOQUIP, Inc. and Emerald Billiards.
Sponsors for this event included Emerald Billiards and PoolActionTV.com as well as JB Cases, Durbin Custom Cues, Aramith and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Thanks go out to Keith Hulin and his staff for rolling out the red carpet for all the players and fans as well as Tournament Director Jimmy Rogers for doing a great job.
PoolActionTV.com would like to thank Larry Schwartz, Josh Roberts, Scott Frost, Hunter White, Mike DeLawder and Ray Hansen for their topnotch commentary.
We’d also like to thank our fans and sponsors. Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Lomax Custom Cues, Savage Billiards, Durbin Custom Cues, Simonis, Aramis, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore in Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the Inaugural $14,000 added Skinny Bob’s Nine Ball Classic in Round Rock, TX. Tournaments include a one pocket division, ladies nine ball and open nine ball. Dates are February 14th-20th – hope to see you there!
CR’s Sports Bar in Coon Rapids, MN – a suburb of Minneapolis – was the place to be this past weekend! Owner Jerry Johnson and his staff laid out the red carpet for all the players and fans for the inaugural HEX.COM Pro/Am.
A total of $26,000 was added to this event. Featuring four divisions, there was the $8,000 added Open 10 Ball Championship, a $3,000 added Skills Challenge event, a $5,000 added Amateur 8 Ball Championship and a $10,000 added Open 8 Ball Championship.
After the players auction and the draw, play in the Open 10 Ball Championship began. The $300 entry fee format was winner breaks with races to nine. After they battled it out, there were four men undefeated. John Morra defeated Joven Bustamante 9-6 to move in the hot seat match as did Roberto Gomez over Vitaliy Patsura – also 9-6.
After losing to Patsura in the first round 9-6, Alex Pagulayan had another shot at him but to no avail. He was spanked 9-2. Bustamante defeated Robert Mattson 9-5 to move into the match with Patsura. Both Alex and Robert finished in 5th-6th place. Joven made short work of Patsura 9-3 leaving him in fourth place. Bustamante then cooled his heels while awaiting the results of the hot seat match.
The hot seat match was pretty much all Morra as he sent Gomez west after a 9-2 crushing. Roberto then survived his match with Joven 9-5 to move into the finals against Morra. Bustamante finished in third place.
As this was true double elimination, Roberto would have to defeat John twice to claim the title. Morra was having none of that as he trounced Gomez again 9-4 to take the title! Congratulations, John! Good effort, Roberto!
Both 8 Ball events began on Friday night after the players auction and draw. The Amateur 8 Ball event was open to players with a 675 and under Fargo rating. Players paid a $100 entry fee and played with BCA rules and a format of races to five with winner breaks. When the smoke cleared, it was Cornell McLean taking top honors and Sam Henderson finished second. Congratulations to both players!
And, congratulations to Jesse Engel for winning the nine foot Table Brains Skills Challenge and to Kevin McGrath for taking down the Table Brains Skills Challenge on the seven footer!
Shane Van Boening, Jerry Johnson and Roberto Gomez
Again, after the players auction and draw, the 8 Ball Open began. Players paid a $300 entry fee – format was races to nine winner breaks and take what you make.
After many hours of play, four players remained undefeated. The red-hot pair of John Morra and Roberto Gomez played for a berth in the hot seat match. This time, it was Roberto who took the match with a 9-6 score. Shane Van Boening locked up the other seat with a 9-5 victory over the always tough Alex Pagulayan.
On the west side of the chart, waiting for Morra was Russia’s Fedor Gorst. They battled down to the wire – Gorst was eliminated 9-8. Pagulayan was ousted by young gun Sergio Rivas 9-3. Both Alex and Fedor finished in 5th-6th place. Rivas then went on to eke out a 9-8 win over Morra leaving John with a fourth-place finish. Sergio then waited for an opponent from the hot seat match.
The hot seat match was as close as ever but a determined Gomez sent Van Boening packing with a 9-7 score. Shane head over to play Sergio to see who would return to the finals. Van Boening took dead aim as he dashed Rivas’s hopes 9-4. Sergio finished in third place.
Again, as this was true double elimination, Shane would have to defeat Roberto twice to win the tournament. And he did! He dispatched Gomez 9-2 and9-3 to take it down! Congratulations, Shane! Good effort, Roberto!
PoolActionTV.com would like to again thank HEX.COM for sponsoring this event as well as Jerry Johnson and his staff for taking such good care of all the players and fans. We’d also like to thank Tournament Director Scott Norberg for doing such a great job running the various events.
Thanks to our commentators Larry Schwarz, Jerry Johnson and Ray Hansen for a great job.
We’d also like to than our fans and sponsors for making this all possible. Our sponsors include JB Cases, Lomax Custom Cues, CR’s Sports Bar, Diveney Cues, EnviroAssessments, Hanshew Jump Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Durbin Custom Cues, Simonis, Aramith and Fort Worth Billiard Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next stop is Skinny Bob’s n Round Rock, TX for the 49th Annual $40,000 added Texas Open. Dates are August 27th– September 5th! Hope to see you there.
Owners Jim Landrum and Randy Hanson welcomed hundreds of pool players, fans and cuemakers to Big Dog Billiards in Des Moines, IA this past week to show their stuff at their Seventh Annual Midwest Billiards & Cue Expo.
Presented by Diveney Cues, Big Dog Billiards and PoolActionTV.com, the $18,000 added event featured a One Pocket Championship, a Nine Ball Championship (played on nine foot tables), a Bar Table Nine Ball Championship and a Banks Ring Game – something for everybody!
This year’s event kicked off on Wednesday with the $5,000 added One Pocket Championship. Eleven players paid a $500 entry to compete in this race to four, alternate break double elimination event. Following the players auction and draw, play began.
Coming off his big win over One Pocket Hall of Famer Scott Frost last week, Fedor Gorst shot out of the gate with decisive wins over the current Iron City One Pocket champ, Josh Roberts, (4-1) and this year’s Music City Open Nine Ball champ, “Champagne Shane” Wolford (4-0). Warren Kiamco also defeated Sergio Rivas and Pedro Botta by identical scores of 4-2.
Undeniably the hottest one pocket player this year with victories at the Southeastern Triple Crown, the US Open andBuffalo’s Pro Classic One Pocket championships, Tony Chohan methodically dismantled Winter Classic One Pocket champ Roberto Gomez 4-3. George Walters and the red-hot Gorst were Tony’s next victims – both with scores of 4-2. On to the hot seat match he went!
After securing a first round bye, Sky Woodward blistered his next two opponents 4-0. Corey Deuel and Warren Kiamco both headed to the one loss side. He joined Chohan to await the hot seat match.
Over on the west side of the chart, Roberts edged out Deuel and Gomez 4-3 before being skunked by Gorst. Rivas outlasted Walters 4-3 and Wolford 4-2 before being eliminated Kiamco.
And now, the hot seat match! Woodward and Chohan both fought hard and it went down to the wire – 4-3. Sky sent Tony west to await an opponent.
Struggling to survive, Gorst and Kiamco battled it out to for the chance to move on and play Chohan. The Russian proved to be too much for The Warrior to overcome. Fedor won the match 4-2 leaving Warren with a fourth place finish.
Fighting to get to the finals, this one was a real nailbiter but when it was all over, Tony squeaked out the win 4-3. Fedor finished in third place.
As this was true double elimination, Chohan would have to beat the undefeated Woodward twice to claim the title. Grinding it out, Tony won the first set 4-3. One more set for it all!
Although Sky was a tough customer, Tony showed why he is the one pocket king claiming the match and the title 4-2!
Congratulations to both Tony and Sky for a well-played event!
Thanks again to both Jim and Randy for hosting this event as well as their excellent staff for taking care of all the players and fans.
We’d also like to thank Tournament Director Ray Hansen and his able assistant, Jason Hill, for an excellent job. Thanks go out to our topnotch commentators – Larry Schwartz, John Henderson, Josh Roberts, Corey Deuel and Ray Hansen.
In addition, PoolActionTV.com would like to thank our fans and sponsors. They include JB Cases, CR’s Sports Bar, Hanshew Jump Cues, EnvironmentalAssessments.com, Lomax Custom Cues, Aramith, Simonis, Diveney Custom Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Durbin Custom Cues and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore.
There’s plenty more pool to come! So don’t go far!!!
All year long, one pocket aficionados look forward to the biggest tournament of the year!
Held in Jefferson, LA, a suburb of New Orleans, players and fans streamed into James Leone’s Buffalo’s on Bloomfield for the Seventh Annual Buffalo’s Pro Classic. Local sponsors for this year’s event – Buffalo’s, PoolActionTV, Lomax Custom Cues, Joseph P. Long, Aramith, ART CO, Diamond Billiards and Fort Worth Billiards – added a total of $26,000! $20,000 was added to the Pro One Pocket, $5,000 to the Open Nine Ball and $1,000 to the One Ball One Pocket.
Some of the best one pocket players came to play including Buffalo’s house pro, defending champ and current US Open One Pocket and Midwest Open One Pocket champ Tony Chohan.He was joined by current Scotty Townsend Memorial One Pocket champ Alex Pagulayan, current Iron City One Pocket champ Josh Roberts, this year’s Derby City One Pocket and Master of the Table Fedor Gorst, last week’s Big Tyme Classic One Pocket Champ Robert Frost and last year’s One Ball One Pocket king John Morra.
Billy Thorpe and Robbie Langford
Wednesday night kicked off with the 32 player One Ball One Pocket tournament. Posting a $200 entry fee, the format was single elimination with races to four. Including the players auction, there was a total purse of $21,430!
Two-time Derby City Classic One Pocket champion, Billy Thorpe, plowed through the field on his way to the finals leaving Shane Winters, Hunter White, Josh Roberts and John Morra in his wake. The always tough Robbie Langford beat Kenny Nguyen, Mike DeLawder, Ike Runnels and Evan Lunda to get there. The final match was all Billy as he smoked Robbie 4-0 to claim the title. Congratulations, Billy! Good tournament, Robbie!
The following evening, the $2,000 entry fee double elimination one pocket event began with a rousing player auction and was followed by the players meeting and draw. Twenty eight players racing to five and competing for a record $228,600 total purse! WOW!!!
Play began with Corey Deuel edging out Justin Hall 5-4 while Fedor Gorst skunked Sky Woodward 5-0. Ike Runnels had Danny Smith down 4-0 but ended up losing the match 5-4! Josh Roberts outmoved Roberto Gomez 5-1 and Billy Thorpe escaped with a 5-4 win over Robert Frost as did Scott Frost over Alex Calderon by the same score. Chip Compton got off to a great start as he defeated Warren Kiamco 5-1.
Gorst won over Deuel 5-4, Evan Lunda spanked Earl Strickland 5-0 and Chohan beat Smith 5-3. Jeremy Seaman skunked Omar Al Shaheen 5-0 and Thorpe dusted Compton 5-2. Frost had Alex Pagulayan 3-0 and watched his opponent win five in a row to claim the match.
Fedor and Evan went down to the wire with Gorst claiming the win while Tony breezed past Jeremy 5-0. Billy started out strong against the Lion but he went down 5-2.
Down to four on the winners side, Chohan battled Gorst to a 5-3 win while Roberts kept Pagulayan off the board with a 5-0 score. Tony and Josh moved to the hot seat match where Chohan sent Roberts west to await an opponent – score 5-1.
After losing to Gorst in the third round, Lunda defeated Mike DeLawder 5-1 and Compton 5-3. Moving into his match with Pagulayan, he hung tough but Alex pulled out the win 5-4.
Calderon had a tougher road. After losing his first match, he beat Deuel 5-1, Strickland 5-2, Hunter White 5-4 and Thorpe 5-3. He went down to the case game with Gorst but was eliminated 5-4.
This set up the match between Fedor and Alex Pagulayan. A man on a mission, he defeated Gorst 5-1 and then Josh Roberts 5-2. And to the finals he went!!!
Since this was true double elimination, Alex would have to beat Tony Chohan both sets to claim the title. With tens of thousands of dollars on the line, both players put their heads down and played their hearts out.
Alex won the first two games and then Tony won three in a row. Tied again at 4-4, you could’ve heard a pin drop in the arena. Nerves got them both as they both missed makeable balls but this one is finally in the books! Tony Chohan successfully defended his title!
Alex Pagulayan and Tony Chohan
Congratulations, Tony! Great tournament, Alex!
While the Pro One Pocket was in progress, 115 players filled the house on Saturday night to play in the Open Nine Ball event. Familiar faces such as defending champ Warren Kiamco, Sky Woodward, Roberto Gomez, Corey Deuel, Omar Al Shaheen, Justin Hall, Chip Compton, Charlie Bryant, Chris Reinhold, James Baraks, Richie Richeson, Robb Saez, Shane Winters, Jeremy Seaman, Sergio Rivas, Mike DeLawder, Justin Espinosa, Joey Aguzin, Derek Fontenet, Robert Frost and Kristina Tkach joined the fray.
Played on seven foot Diamonds, players paid $100 to play in this double elimination portion of the event. The format was rack your own, alternate breaks with races to seven until down to the final sixteen players. At that point, it was single elimination – races to nine.
Omar Al Shaheen and Jeremy Seaman tied for third place. James Baraks moved into the finals to face Sky Woodward.
The finals were neck and neck until the very end! Sky won the match 9-8!!! Congratulations, Sky!! Good tournament, James!
It was a helluva week! Great pool everywhere you looked! Once again, PoolActionTV would like to thank James Leone and his staff for going the extra mile as they took care of all the players and fans.
We’d like to thank Tournament Director Jason Hill for doing a great job running the show – always with a smile on his face!
Last but not least, we’d like to thank our fans and sponsors. They include ART CO, JB Cases, CR’s Sports Bar, Hanshew Jump Cues, EnviroAssessments, Lomax Custom Cues, StraightPoolEye, Durbin Custom Cues, Aramith, Simonis, Diamond Billiard Products and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore.
Our next stop is Leisure Time Billiards & Sports Bar in East Moline, IL for the $16,000 added Bar Box Classic featuring three divisions – Ten Ball, Eight Ball and One Pocket. Dates are June 1st-5th – hope to see you there!
Kristina Tkach, April Larson, Sofia Mast and Ming Ng
The Ninth Annual $14,000 added Big Tyme Classic was held over the last few days in Spring, TX – a suburb of Houston. Players and fans were treated to topnotch one pocket in addition to the open nine ball and ladies nine ball events.
Hosted by owners Billy Sharp, Mark Avery and Jim Henry, the local sponsors were Star City Amusements and Jim Stinson of AM, Inc.
The festivities kicked off on Thursday with the One Pocket Championship. Thirty players put up a $250 entry fee to play in this double elimination event. The format was races to 4/3 with the finals to be one extended race to five.
After the players auction, a players meeting was held, the brackets were posted and the matches started.
First round saw two of the heavyweights score knockouts! Robert Frost was defeated by Chip Compton while Alex Calderon fell victim to Fedor Gorst.
Tony Chohan and Josh Roberts met in the second round – Josh prevailed. Compton advanced after a battle with Charlie Bryant as did Gorst over Tommy Tokoph.
Compton then mowed down both Ernesto Bayaua and Roberts while Gorst continued his winning ways over Warren Kiamco and Ray Lopez.
Finally meeting in the hot seat match, Fedor locked up his seat in the finals and sent Chip west to await an opponent.
After losing their first round matches, Calderon and Frost were dismantling their opponents left and right! Alex defeated Bernard Walker, Kenny Price, Charlie Bryant, James Baraks, Warren Kiamco and Josh Roberts until he met up with Frost. In the lower portion of the chart, Robert defeated Darryl Amos, John Infante, Tommy Tokoph, Jake Weaver, Raed Shabib and Ray Lopez.
Locked in battle, Alex and Robert both fought hard but it was Frost who took it down leaving Calderon in fourth place.
In dead punch and playing great, Robert’s next victim was Chip Compton. Chip finished with a third place finish.
As previously mentioned, the finals were one extended race to five. Robert won the first game and the second game went down to the case ball. Robert won that one and then the third game. Then the unexpected happened! Since both Fedor and Robert were still in the Nine Ball, they had to halt the finals and go play their matches!
After several hours, play resumed and Fedor finally won a game – score 3-1. Gorst’s hopes to tighten up the match faded as Frost took the fifth game to make it 4-1. Not rolling over yet, Gorst clawed his way back to take the next two games! Score now 4-3! And then, 4-4! WOW! One game for it all!
Robert moved out to a 5-1 lead in the case game. Soon, the balls were all moved up table. Fedor banked a shot and left it deep in his hole. Robert gave him the ball making it 5-2. Two shots later, he made one for himself and then banked in another. Frost was on the hill – 7-2! With no reasonable safety options, Fedor was forced to bank towards his hole and left Robert a semi-tough shot at his pocket. Swish! Nothing but net! Robert Frost takes down his first major one pocket title leaving Fedor Gorst with a well-deserved runner-up finish!!!
What a match!!! After losing his first match, Robert won nine in a row to win the tournament! Congratulations, Robert!
The Open Nine Ball had started on Friday night with 136 players paying an $80 entry fee. Using a Magic Rack with the nine racked on the spot, players broke from the box. Played on seven foot Diamonds, the format was double elimination, races to 10/8, alternate breaks, three foul rule in effect – the nine didn’t count in the bottom two pockets.
In the top portion of the bracket, Justin Espinosa and Alex Calderon met in the third round with Alex sending Justin packing. Tony Chohan and Andy Jethwa collided in the fourth round – Andy was defeated and headed west. Warren Kiamco tore through his first four opponents until Calderon cut him off at the pass.
At the bottom of the bracket, Tommy Tokoph and Robert Frost defeated their first three opponents. They met in the fourth round with Frost notching the win. James Baraks and Kristina Tkach also won their first three matches – James put an end to Kristina’s march and sent her to the one loss side. Baraks and Frost duked it out in the next round – James prevailed. Meanwhile, Sergio Rivas and Charlie Bryant won their first four matches. Charlie beat Sergio when they also met in the fifth round.
Now down to four on the winners side, Calderon defeated Kiamco and Baraks took care of Bryant. Playing for the hot seat, James defeated Calderon and locked up his seat in the finals. Alex headed west to await an opponent.
Over on the one loss side, Rivas knocked Bryant out of the tournament leaving Charlie in fourth place. Next up for Sergio was the always tough Alex Calderon. Alex proved to be too tough for Sergio this time – Alex moved on to the finals leaving Sergio in third place.
Due to the very late hour, James & Alex decided to split with James claiming the title. Congratulations to both!
Last, but not least, was the Ladies Nine Ball Championship. This double elimination event had 44 ladies posting a $55 entry fee. Also played on seven foot Diamonds and using the Magic Rack, the format was alternate break with races to seven on both sides.
After defeating the always tough Ming Ng in the first round, Sofia Mast won five matches in a row to meet Russian star Kristina Tkach for the hot seat match. Kristina won the match sending junior champ to the one loss side to await an opponent.
After losing her first match, Ming fought her way through until she met April Larson. April had also lost her second match to Sofia. Both players played hard for another shot at her and when the dust had settled, it was April who won the match. Ming finished in fourth place.
Looking to make it into the finals, it was another hard fought match. Sofia survived the match leaving April in third place.
Kristina had smoked Sofia in the hot seat match 7-0. Sofia remarked on her Facebook page after the finals that her only goal when she made it back to the finals was to at least win one game. She won four! What a great attitude!
And, congratulations to Kristina for claiming the title! Great tournament, Sofia!
Once again, PoolActionTV.com would like to thank the owners of Big Tyme and their staff for taking such good care of all the players and fans. We’d like to thank Tournament Director Teresa Garland for doing an exemplary job running three events at the same time!
In addition, we’d like to thank our fans and sponsors for their support! Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Lomax Custom Cues, StraightPoolEye, Durbin Custom Cues, Aramith, Diamond Billiard Products, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX and the Action Palace of Dayton, OH.
Our next stop is the Seventh Annual Buffalo’s Pro Classic in Jefferson, LA (New Orleans). Featuring $1,000 added One Ball One Pocket, $5,000 added Open Nine Ball and the main event – the $20,000 Pro One Pocket! Dates are May 25th-29th! Hope to see you there!
Once again, PoolActionTV.com would like to thank the owners of Big Tyme and their staff for taking such good care of all the players and fans. We’d like to thank Tournament Director Teresa Garland for doing an exemplary job running three events at the same time!
We’d also like to thank Larry Schwartz, John Henderson, Mary Kenniston and Ray Hansen for their topnotch commentary.
In addition, we’d like to thank our fans and sponsors for their support! Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, Lomax Custom Cues, StraightPoolEye, Durbin Custom Cues, Aramith, Diamond Billiard Products, Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX and the Action Palace of Dayton, OH.
Our next stop is the Seventh Annual Buffalo’s Pro Classic in Jefferson, LA (New Orleans). Featuring $1,000 added One Ball One Pocket, $5,000 added Open Nine Ball and the main event – the $20,000 Pro One Pocket! Dates are May 25th-29th! Hope to see you there!
Las Vegas, NV was pool player central for the last couple weeks! Starting this past Sunday and immediately following the CSI Nationals, the WPA World 10 Ball Championship and the CSI/Predator US Pro Billiard Series’ Alfa Women’s Las Vegas Open, OB Cues presented the $45,000 added US Open Championship Series.
Hosted by Griff’s owner, Mark Griffin, the US Open Championship Series was comprised of four events – Ten Ball, Eight Ball, One Pocket and Bank Pool. $10,000 was added to each event plus $5,000 for the All-Around. Players paid a $330 entry for each event.
Promoted by Cue & A Promotions, the sponsors for the US Open Championship Series were OB Cues, Griff’s Billiards, Simonis, Aramith, Diamond Billiard Products, JB Cases, Keller Billiard Products and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
The US Open 10 Ball started on Sunday afternoon with 51 players entering this double elimination, race to nine, alternate break event. PoolActionTV’s Ray Hansen conducted the players auction which was followed by a players meeting and the draw.
Superstar-in-the-making Jesus Atencio charged out of the gate with wins over veterans Ronnie Wiseman 9-1, Warren Kiamco 9-3. Tony Chohan 9-2 and young Canadian Joe Spence 9-3 until he ran head on into another young star-in-the-making, Canada’s Stephen Holem. Holem had just defeated recent back-to-back Andy Mercer Memorial champ, Vilmos Foldes 9-5, and sent Jesus packing 9-4.
Meanwhile, another young champ was methodically dismantling everyone in his path until he ran into the always tough Roberto Gomez. They duked it out and Roberto was finally toppled 9-7. However, Fedor was sent west by Roberto’s fellow Filipino, Lee Vann Corteza, by the same score – 9-7.
After starting out with that coveted bye, Corteza had much tougher opponents to get to his match with Fedor but he blistered both Evan Lunda 9-2 and Sergio Rivas 9-1. Shane Winters gave him a harder time but Lee Vann prevailed 9-6 and went on to vanquish Gorst 9-7.
Corteza and Holem made it to the hot seat match. Stephen shot out to a 2-0 lead and then 4-2 until Lee Vann caught a gear. He took off from there to win his spot in the finals 9-4. Stephen headed over to the one loss side to await an opponent.
After losing his third round match to Joe Spence 9-6, Roland Garcia was tearing the west side apart with wins over Lunda 9-4, Frost 9-0, Gomez 9-4, Winters 9-5 and Atencio 9-4 until he ran into that buzz saw named Gorst. Fedor put an end to the hopes of Roland 9-4 leaving him in fourth place and squashed young Holem’s title dreams 9-0. Stephen finished in a well-earned third place and Fedor marched into familiar territory – the finals.
The final match was one extended race to thirteen. Although close, Corteza lead for most of the match until Gorst pulled away in the second half to win the match 13-8! Great event, Lee Vann! And, congratulations to Fedor as he wins once more – his first US Open Ten Ball title!!!
The US Open Eight Ball Championship started on Wednesday following the players auction, players meeting and draw. 48 players paid their entries into this double elimination, race to eight, alternate break tournament.
Carlo Biado began his march to the hot seat with victories over Jonny Siraphong 8-2, Tony Chohan 8-6, Redgie Cutler 8-0, Roberto Gomez 8-4 and Jesus Atencio 8-6. Justin Sajich began his run with wins over Eric Vargas 8-2, squeaked by Edgie Geronimo 8-7, Evan Lunda 8-6, Danny Olson 8-4 and smoked Josh Roberts 8-2.
The hot seat match was a battle with Sajich getting to the hill first – 7-6. Running out for the win, he hooked himself on the last ball before the eight! Biado jumped out of his chair to tie it up & escaped with an 8-7 win! A disappointed Sajich headed west to await an opponent.
Roland Garcia emerged from the pack to face Justin – the winner of this match would advance to the finals. Garcia came out of the gate strong and was just too much for Justin to overcome. He rallied a bit at the end and got close but Roland was just too strong – final score 8-6. Justin finished in third place.
The finals were an extended race to eleven and everyone expected it to be a real dogfight but it was just the opposite. Carlo cruised to an easy 11-3 victory! Great tournament, Roland, and congratulations to Carlo on his first US Open Eight Ball title!
There’s more great pool coming so stay tuned for the US Open One Pocket and the US Open Bank Pool Championships! If you haven’t already, get your pass at PoolActionTV.com!!!
West Monroe, LA was the place to be this past week for the 5th Annual Scotty Townsend Memorial Pool Tournament. It was hosted by owner Josh Hoff at Arena Billiards.
Boasting $15,000 added, this year’s tournament had several events – one pocket, a 10 ball mini, open 9 ball and ladies 9 ball. Produced by Cue & A Promotions, local sponsors included James Hanshew of Hanshew Jump Cues, Interstate Dodge, Joe Long Attorney at Law, Magic Grill, Tommy Semmes Surveying, Simonis Cloth and Diamond Billiards.
The six-day poolfest started Tuesday evening with an auction and players meeting for the $7000 added Pro One Pocket event. Although the field only had eleven players, there wasn’t a lightweight in the bunch! Each paid $1000 to compete in this double elimination race to four event. Finals was to be one set – race to six.
Garcia, Calderon, Corteza, Chohan and Pagulayan drew the coveted byes. Frost and Morra, Biado and Woodward plus Compton and Gomez all battled down to the wire with Frost, Biado and Compton claiming victory 4-3.
Second round matches saw Frost edging out Garcia as did Calderon over Biado – each match also 4-3. Pagulayan defeated the always tough Chohan 4-2 and Compton skunked Corteza 4-0.
Down to four on the winners side, Frost pummeled Calderon and Pagulayan did the same to Compton with identical scores of 4-1. Compton and Calderon headed west while Frost and Pagulayan awaited the hot seat match.
Working their way through the one loss side of the chart, Woodward and Biado emerged to play each other. Carlo easily defeated Sky 4-1 leaving him with a fourth place finish.
The following day, fighting tooth and nail, Frost and Pagulayan battled it out in the hot seat match. Scott emerged the victor 4-3 locking up his seat in the finals. Alex had to play Carlo for the other berth.
Not to be denied another shot at Frost, Pagulayan defeated Carlo 4-2 leaving Carlo in third place.
As mentioned previously, the finals would be one set – race to six. Taking no prisoners, Alex smoked Scott 6-2 to claim the title!
Continuing his winning ways, Alex and Lee Vann split the top prize in the $1,000 added 10 Ball Mini!
The next day, 150 players put up their $100 entries for the $6,000 added Open 9 Ball event.Being played on bar boxes, the format was alternate break, rack your own and races to 9/7.
In dead punch, Alex Pagulayan continued on the warpath dispatching opponents Jeff Davies 9-1, James Jordan 9-0, Monroe Jones 9-3 and Jonathan Martin 9-0.
Running into Roberto Gomez, they battled it out but licking his wounds, Alex took him down too – final score 9-7. Not getting any easier, Singapore’s Aloysius Yapp was next. He fell too – 9-4! Then, Hong Kong’s Robbie Capito fought hard but he lost also – 9-7. Alex had arrived at the hot seat match.
Meanwhile, on the lower portion of the bracket, Joe Keith of Dyersburgh, TN, was slowly working his way through the mine fields! After initially drawing a bye in the first round and having a no-show in the second, Joe defeated Ceza Mungal 9-5, Eric Alcinena and Mark Krech – both 9-2 –before meeting Lee Vann Corteza.
They went down to the end but Joe pulled out a 9-7 victory! Sergio Rivas was next and Joe won 9-6. He had arrived at the hot seat match!
Hot seat action was pretty much all Alex as he sent Joe west with a score of 9-3. Joe headed west to await the results of the Capito-Rivas match.
This was a tough one too but when the smoke cleared, it was Robbie over Sergio 7-5. Capito and Keith were to cross swords to see who’d face Alex in the finals!
Joe Keith’s Cinderella story was not to be…Robbie Capito defeated him 9-3 to move into the finals against Alex. Joe finished in a solid third place for the event.
Only twenty years old and a former junior champion, Robbie would have to defeat the Lion twice to take the title.
The match started out neck and neck until Capito pulled out to an 8-3 lead! He was on the hill and breaking!
Robbie broke the balls but had no shot. Alex won the next two games to make it 8-5. Robbie broke the balls and made five balls on the break! Left with a long straight shot on the four, he fired it in, ran out the remaining few balls and forced a second set – final score 9-5.
Having won the flip, Alex won the first two games but Robbie tied it up. Alex went ahead the next two games and Robbie tied it up again. Alex pulled ahead to 5-4 and again, Robbie tied it up! Alex got to the hill first and Robbie tied it up! 6-6! WOW! One game for it all! To Robbie’s disappointment, Alex broke and ran out for the title!!! Good tournament, Robbie! So close…
What a great finals! Congratulations to Alex for taking both the nine ball and the one pocket events as well as splitting the 10 ball mini!
While the Open 9 Ball was in progress, the $1,000 added Women’s 9 Ball event began. Twenty eight ladies posted their $100 entry fees into this double elimination, alternate break event – races were also 7/5.
April Larson (Pool Action TV)
April Larson took top honors leaving Nicole Keeney in runner-up position & Janeen Lee finished in third place. Good job, ladies!!!
Thanks again to owner Josh Hoff and his staff for going the extra mile to make everyone feel at home while Tournament Director Jason Hill kept things running smoothly.
We’d also like to thank our sponsors and fans for another fantastic event! Our sponsors include Lomax Custom Cues, JB Cases, Durbin Custom Cues, StraightPoolEye, Hanshew Jump Cues, Aramith, Simonis, Diamond Billiard Products, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next stop is the Midwest Open Billiards Championships at Michael’s Billiards in Fairfield, OH. Dates are March 15th-20th. Hope to see you there!!!
Skinny Bob’s Billiards & Sports Bar in Round Rock, TX was the venue for the 7th Annual Texas Open 10 Ball Championships.
Produced by Cue & A Promotions, this event featured three divisions – the $2,000 added Scotch Doubles, the $2,000 added Ladies 10 Ball and the 10,000 added 10 Ball Open. A total of $15,750 was added to the prize fund.
Local sponsors included Mints Amusements, Hanshew Jump Cues, Austin Pro Siding, Windows & Roofing, GAF, DigitalPool.com and ABC Supply Co., Inc.
The tournament began on Wednesday night with a $500 added 10 Ball mini tournament. This $25 entry single elimination race to three event had a full field of 64 players. Hailing from Sarajevo, Bosnia, Sanjin Pehlivanovic took the cheese. Defending US Open Pool champ Carlo Biado took second while Lima, Peru’s Gerson Martinez and Roland Garcia each tied for third place.
Following a players meeting and auction, play commenced on Thursday afternoon in the Jack & Jill Scotch Doubles 10 Ball Championship. Twenty three teams posted $125 entry fees to play in this double elimination, race to seven event.
Thursday evening also featured the $500 added Banks Ring Game. At the end, Denmark’s Mickey Krause, John Morra and Manny Chau did a three-way chop of the cash.
Carlo Biado and Mary Rakin Tam (Pool Action TV)
Friday began with both a $500 added Open Ring Game and a $250 added Ladies Ring Game. John Morra won the Open Ring Game and the Ladies was won by Jenna Bishoff.
Later that evening, a players meeting and auction kicked off the main event. 125 players paid their $150 entry fees into this double elimination, race to seven with alternate break format. Play began the following day.
Meeting in the first round, Roland Garcia edged out Josh Roberts 7-6 and Alex Pagulayan defeated Evan Lunda 7-3.
Second round action saw Lee Vann Corteza spank John Gabriel 7-2 as Gerson Martinez squeaked by Sergio Rivas 7-6. Robbie Capito eked out a 7-6 win over recent Music City Open champ Shane Wolford, Singapore’s Sarik Sayed trounced local favorite Justin Espinosa 7-2 while Pagulayan toughed out his match with Pehlivanovic 7-5.
In the third round, straight shooting veteran Tommy Sanders shot down Blaine Barcus 7-3 as did Biado over Krause with an identical score. Gerson Martinez sent Lee Vann west 7-4 while Sean Black upset the legendary David Matlock 7-5.John Morra blistered Shane McMinn 7-2 while Manny Chau sent Michael Yednak packing 7-3. Fellow Houstonians Roberto Gomez and Tommy Tokoph duked it out with Tommy emerging the victor 7-3 and Sayed lost to Pagulayan 7-4.
Matches in the fourth round saw Sanders bow to Krause 7-4 and Chris Reinhold lose to Gerson Martinez by the same score. Morra toasted Sean Black as did Chip Compton versus Nicholas De Leon – both matches were 7-3. Sending another Houstonian to the one loss side, Tokoph bested Chau 7-5 – Capito went down to Pagulayan 7-4.
Round five had Gerson Martinez mowing down Krause 7-4 and Tokoph easing past Christopher Teves 7-3. With identical 7-1 scores, Pagulayan bested Souto as did Tokoph over Christopher Tevez.
Now down to four players on the winners side, Gerson Martinez defeated Morra 7-5 while Pagulayan beat Tokoph 7-3. Both Alex and Gerson moved into the hot seat match as their opponents headed west.
Saturday evening saw the players meeting and auction for the Ladies 10 Ball event. A full field of 32 players posted a $100 entry – same format as the Open 10 Ball.
Notable first round matches included perennial favorite Ming Ng’s victory over Kelly Durbin 7-5 with both Kim Sanders edging out Mary Avina and Margaret Fox over Tam Trinh 7-6.
Second round action saw Jenna Bishoff eke out a win over Jennifer Kraber 7-6 as Mary Rakin Tam defeated Ng by the same score. Sanders defeated Emily Sumrall 7-3 and Melissa Rushton took care of Fox 7-4.
After skunking her two previous opponents, April Larson had a bit of a tougher time with Kim Pierce – April won 7-3. Tam sent Bishoff packing 7-5, Chris Fields pummeled Rachel Hurst 7-1 and Rushton notched another win over Sanders 7-5.
Down to four on the winners side, Tam sneaked past Larson 7-5 and Fields beat Rushton 7-4. Both Tam and Fields advanced to the hot seat match. Mary handily beat Chris 7-2 and claimed her seat in the finals. Chris headed west to await an opponent.
On the one loss side, Bishoff defeated Rushton 7-4 while Larson eliminated Trinh 7-5. Larson won her match with Bishoff 7-4 leaving Jenna in fourth place. April then defeated Chris 7-2 to move into the finals. Chris finished with a third place finish.
Since this was true double elimination, April would have to defeat Mary twice to claim the title. However, it was not to be as April was relegated to a well-deserved second place finish and Mary went undefeated to claim her first Texas Open 10 Ball title!!!
Meanwhile, the Open 10 Ball was winding down to its last few players! In the hot seat match, Gerson Martinez mowed down his last opponent to lock up his berth in the finals. Pagulayan lost 7-4 and headed to the other side of the chart to await an opponent.
Lee Vann Corteza ended Tommy Tokoph’s hopes for the title 7-3 as John Morra did the same to Jonas Souto 7-3. Lee Vann and John locked horns and battled it out to a 7-6 result. Leaving Lee Vann in fourth place, Morra’s next opponent was fellow Canadian, Alex Pagulayan. Also a tough one, John emerged to take on Gerson for the title. Alex finished in third place.
Again, as this was true double elimination, Morra would have to defeat Martinez twice to win the title. The match started out close until John pulled away to close out the first set 7-4. The final set was also close but this time, Gerson pulled away to put him one game away from the title – 6-4. John clawed back to win another game but that was it. Gerson won the final game & the title leaving John with a well deserved runner-up finish!
Congratulations to both Gerson Martinez and Mary Rakin Tam – this year’s Texas Open 10 Ball champions!!!
PoolActionTV.com would like to thank owners Kim and Tracy Sanders as well as their General Manager, Shayla Neris, and their staff for rolling out the red carpet for all of the players and fans.
Thank you to Tournament Director Jason Hill for doing an exemplary job juggling all the various events.
We’d like to thank Blake Kamiab, Clint Palaci and David (“Doc”) Reyes for running the DFW Tour setup broadcasting the ladies event on our free channel.
And, last but not least, we’d like to thank our sponsors and fans. Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, StraightPoolEye, Lomax Custom Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, Aramith, Simonis, Durbin Custom Cues, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and the Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the 5th Annual Scotty Townsend Memorial in West Monroe, LA featuring three divisions – Pro One Pocket, Open 9 Ball and Women’s 9 Ball. The dates are March 1st-6th. Hope to see you there!!!
The 34th Annual Music City Open was once again hosted by JOB’s Billiards in Madison, TN – a suburb of Nashville. Played on seven foot Diamonds, $7,000 was added to the event. Owner Ricky Gamble and his staff went all out to welcome all the players and fans.
Kicking off the event on Wednesday evening was a single elimination open 9 ball mini tournament. Sixty four players joined the fray – format was races to seven, winner breaks.
Directed by our own Ray Hansen, the field was whittled down to four players. Manny Perez handily beat Josh O’Neal 7-0 while James Davee beat Jeremiah Petty 7-3 to move into the finals. Due to the late hour, Manny and James decided to split the pot.
The $6,000 added Open 9 Ball division began the following evening. 127 players paid their $100 entry fees into this double elimination event. Races were to eleven with winner breaks. Following the players meeting, a rousing players auction and draw, play began.
Notable matches in the first round action saw John Gabriel thump Chris Baskerville 11-1 as did Shane Wolford over Raed Shabib 11-3. Brian Bryant had a bit of a tougher time with cuemaker Mike Durbin – the final score was 11-7. Young guns Sergio Rivas smoked Tracy Blevins 11-2 while Manny Perez defeated Steve Legace 11-3. John Hennessee blitzed Bob Ferrell 11-0 and Dave Matlock notched a forfeit over Jesse Couch.
In the second round and still having a fairly easy time of it, Tulsa’s John Gabriel then defeated Dominick Iraggi 11-3. Shane Wolford, owner of the Wolf’s Den in Roanoke, VA made short work of Mark Nanashee 11-4 and Jeremiah Petty skunked Brandon Andre 11 zip. Manny Perez claimed victory over Chris Busby 11-5 and Hennessee spanked Michael Williamson 11-3. Robert Hall defeated Ron Frank 11-7, James Davee outran Andrew Stroup 11-8 and Mike Gann forfeited his match to Josh O’Neal.
Legendary bar box king Dave Matlock had his hands full with the straight shooting Sergio Rivas. Hoping for a flashback, Dave played well but Sergio took him down 11-7.
Third round action saw John Gabriel run into a buzz saw named Shane Wolford. Catching up to the great breaking Shane a couple of times, Wolford finally pulled away to a 10-6 lead. No slouch himself, John clawed his way back to tie it up at ten apiece! In a heartbreaker of a game, a relieved Shane finally edged him out.
Other matches from that round had Rivas easing past Tab Pranee 11-5 as Chuck Raulston eased past Steve Cruse 11-2. Seemingly unable to find his game, Manny Perez was smoked by Rusty Jackson 11-3 and Hennessee from Tennessee took care of Anthony Gunn 11-5. Joey Yarbrough was no threat to Robert Hall – he lost 11-2 while James Davee wrestled Lee Uhles for an 11-8 win.
With both the Open and Ladies event in full swing, Saturday night was ground zero for the Midnight Madness nine ball mini. Eight players put up a $500 entry fee. Format was single elimination with races to eleven and winner breaks. Shane Wolford and Hennessee were the last men standing – they also decided to split the pot.
After a scare in his previous match with John Gabriel, Shane Wolford cruised to an 11-2 victory over Scott Roberts and Rivas was in the zone with an 11-1 win over Gene Drerup. Raulston sent Kevin Ping packing – same score – 11-1.
After his big win over Manny Perez, Rusty Jackson had his hands full with Hennessee – he lost 11-7. James Davee also survived a tough one – he defeated Joey Yarbrough 11-9.
Playing great, Wolford swept past Chip Gaither 11-2. Same great play by Rivas got him past Chuck Raulston 11-6 while Hennessee sent Davee west 11-6.
As the Open 9 Ball played on, the $1,000 added Ladies Division began on Friday night. Forty two players entered this double elimination event – format was races to seven with winners break. As always, there was a players meeting and auction followed by the draw.
The ladies played down to the final four on the winners side. Nicole Keeney defeated Amanda Huff 7-3 and Amy Theriault was defeated by Edie Dean. Edie & Nicole advanced to the hot seat match where Nicole breezed through the match and locked up her berth in the finals 7-1. Edie headed west to await an opponent.
After losing her first match, Laura Kanov’s run to the finals was finally thwarted by Julie Skirpac 7-3. Laura finished in fourth place. Julie then went on to face Edie Dean but lost 7-5. She finished third – Edie would get another shot at Nicole in the finals.
Since this was a double elimination event, Edie would have to win two sets to claim the title. She won the first two games but Nicole came roaring back to win the next four. Edie managed to put two more games on the board but it wasn’t enough – Nicole took the match and the title 7-4! Fantastic tournament for both players!!!
Finally down to four on the winners side in the Open event, Wolford made short work of Brian Bryant 11-5 while Rivas outlasted Hennessee 11-7. Sergio and Shane headed to the hot seat match – their opponents slogged over to the one loss side of the chart.
The hot seat match was all Shane Wolford. He kept Rivas pretty much nailed to his chair and moved undefeated into the finals – 11-4.
On the other side of the brackets, Bryant and Mike Gann battled – Gann was eliminated 11-8. On the other table, Josh O’Neal and Hennessee took it down to the wire – Josh was eliminated 11-10. After escaping his previous match, Hennessee tortured Brian Bryant 11-1 – Brian finished in fourth place.
Fighting to claim the remaining berth in the finals and looking to avenge his previous loss to Rivas, Hennessee was taking no prisoners this time. Hennessee defeated Sergio 11-6 and headed to the finals. Sergio finished in third place.
As this was double elimination, Wolford would have to be beaten twice for Hennessee to win the tournament. By mid-match, it was tied at five apiece. Shane won the next three games – making it 8-5. Could he run out the set?!!!
Nope!!! Hennessee rallies and ties it up at eight!!! Wins the next game and takes his first lead of the match!!! His lead didn’t last long though as Shane tied it up again at nine games each but once again, Hennessee won the next game. He was on the hill – 10-9. Could he win this last game and force a second set?
Not so fast!!! He scratched on the break!!! A dejected Hennessee slowly walked back to the chair to watch Shane run out the rack making it 10-10!!!
Making the one on the break, he had a wide open rack! Methodically running the balls but leaving himself a little long on the seven, he took a deep breath and rifled it in to win the event!!! Great tournament for both players!!!
PoolActionTV.com would like to again thank Ricky Gamble and local sponsor Action 24/7 for another fabulous event. Tournament Director Jason Hill – ably assisted by Steve McDonald – did an excellent job coordinating the various events.
We’d also like to thank our sponsors and fans. Our sponsors include JB Cases, Hanshew Jump Cues, StraightPoolEye, Lomax Custom Cues, Diamond, Durbin Custom Cues, Simonis, Aramith, the Action Palace of Dayton, OH and Fort Worth Billiards Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next stop is the long awaited Derby City Classic in New Albany, IN – dates are January 21st-29th. As always, we hope to see you there and in our Aramith Action Room!!!
