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Aranas downs defending champ Shuff twice to win 2nd Annual Barry Behrman Memorial at Q Master

It’s shaping up to be a pretty good year for the Philippines’ Zoren James Aranas. He’s already recorded stronger earnings in 2018, than he did in all of 2017. After winning the Music City Classic’s 2018 Open Division in January, he had something of a below-par outing at the Derby City Classic (20th in 9-Ball, 34th in 9-Ball Banks), before bouncing back to win the Scotty Townsend Memorial in Los Angeles, and, less than a week and 3,000 miles later, both the Bob Stocks Memorial Tournament on the Action Pool Tour (APT), and days after that, the Pro Am Bar Box Championships at the Super Billiards Expo. On the weekend of April 21-22, still in the relative vicinity of the SBE locale, he signed on to the $1,500-added, 2nd Annual Barry Behrman Memorial Tournament, hosted by Behrman’s pool hall, Q-Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA. Aranas went undefeated through the field of 35, downing a small set of Mid-Atlantic veterans, in the process, including this event’s defending champion, Brandon Shuff, twice.
 
Aranas opened his winning bid with a 9-7 victory over Mike Davis, Jr. and then downed Ty Laha, Sr. 9-1 to draw Shuff for the first time in a winners’ side quarterfinal. He defeated Shuff 9-3 and moved into a winners’ side semifinal against Eric Moore, the APT’s 2016 Champion, and currently, #4 on its 2018 rankings list. In the meantime, Tim Colvin, who finished 3rd in the inaugural Barry Behrman Memorial, behind Shuff and Davis, squared off against Bernard Andico.
 
Aranas and Moore locked up in a double hill fight that eventually moved Aranas into the hot seat match. He was joined by Colvin, who’d sent Andico to the loss side 9-5. Aranas sent Colvin to the semifinals 9-2 and waited on the return of Shuff.
 
Shuff had opened his five-match, loss-side trek with 9-7 wins over JT Ringgold and Davis, which set him up to challenge Andico. Moore drew Nilbert Lim, who, following a defeat at the hands of Andico in a winners’ side quarterfinal, had eliminated Steve Fleming (the APT’s current points leader) 9-6 and Kelly Farrar 9-4.
 
Shuff and Lim advanced to the quarterfinals; Shuff 9-7 over Andico and Lim, by the same score, over Moore. Shuff ended Lim’s short, three-match run on the loss side 9-3 in those quarterfinals, and then denied Colvin a second shot at Aranas with a 9-7 win in the semifinals.
 
Shuff’s hoped-for defense of his 2017 Barry Behrman Memorial title was at stake in the finals, but he fared no better than Colvin had in the hot seat match. Like Colvin, Shuff managed to chalk up only two racks against him (one less than he’d managed in their winners’ side quarterfinal matchup), and Aranas claimed the event title 9-2. 

Reymart Lim picks up where he left off to chalk up season opener on 2018 Action Pool Tour

Reymart Lim, Raymond Walters (TD) & R.J. Carmona

It was, by far, his most productive year at the pool tables. In the five years that Reymart Lim has been showing up on our tournament payout lists, his 2017 reported cash earnings in 11 tournaments were six times what he’d earned in any previous year. As we reported in December, he chalked up wins on the Viking Cues’ Q City 9-Ball Tour (two, including the NC State Open 10-Ball event) and finished the year by coming from the loss side to win the Action Pool Tour’s season finale on the weekend of December 9-10. A little over a month later, Lim was back on the Action Pool Tour, and once again, coming from the loss side, he completed a run through 41 entrants to defeat a hot seat occupant (R.J. Carmona, in this case) and win the APT’s season opener, held on the weekend of January 13-14, and hosted by Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA.
 
Lim was challenged early and often in this one. An opening 7-3 win over Dwight Cherry was followed by two matches that went double hill, against David Lassiter and Nilbert Lim (no relation, though close friends), before advancing him to a winners’ side semifinal against Eric Moore. Carmona, in the meantime, opened his bid for the season opening title with a 7-2, preliminary-round win over Chris Pyle, defeated Jeremy Wyatt 7-3, and then won two 7-4 victories over Steve Fleming and Tuan Chau to face Danny Bell in the other winners’ side semifinal.
 
Moore downed Lim 7-5, as Carmona chalked up his third straight 7-4 win and sent Bell to the loss side. Carmona claimed the hot seat 7-3 over Moore, and waited on Lim’s return.
 
On the loss side, Lim picked up Tim Colvin, who, after a winners’ side quarterfinal loss to Bell, had defeated Mark Lacson 7-2 and survived a double hill battle versus Tuan Chau. Bell drew Nilbert Lim, who, after defeat by his friend, Reymart, went on to defeat Greg Sabins, double hill and Jason Trigo 7-3. The two Lims advanced to the quarterfinals for their second match; Reymart eliminating Colvin 7-5 and Nilbert, with a 7-5 win over Bell.
 
Though their first match had been a double hill fight, their second proved to be a little easier for Reymart. He gave up only two racks to his friend and advanced to a semifinal re-match against Moore. Reymart gave up three to Moore and advanced to the finals against Carmona. A 9-6 win in those finals allowed Lim to chalk up his first (and presumably not his last) 2018 tour victory.
 
Tour representatives thanked the ownership and staff at Q Master Billiards, as well as sponsors Kamui, Diamond Billiard Products, Simonis Cloth, Aramith, Tiger, Predator, Viking, Ozone Billiards, Cue Sports International (CSI) and George Hammerbacher Instruction. The next stop on the Action Pool Tour, scheduled for February 10-11, will be the VA State 10-Ball Championships, hosted by Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA.
 
The APT also announced some major changes for 2018. In recognition of the fact that in previous years, the ‘points race’ for the title of Tour Champion (and runner-up), in competition for free entry, hotel and airfare to a major event the following year, had, by mid-season, become irrelevant to most players, the APT announced the creation of a “$10,000 Top 64 Shootout” event. Players with an active one-year membership on the tour will be competing throughout the year to be among the top 64 players in tour rankings. At the end of the tour season (on a date to-be-determined), those 64 will be invited to the “Shootout,” which will feature a total prize fund of $10,000. Those who finish among the top 16 in that “Shootout” will be guaranteed $500, with the winner guaranteed $2,500.
“We are confident,” notes the tour’s Web site announcement of this event, “that this will keep the points race interesting for more players.”
 
The tour also announced that the VA State 10-Ball and VA State 8-Ball Championships will be restricted to the first 64 paid entries. The women’s events in both will be restricted to the first 16 paid entries. As noted in the 2017 Season Finale report, separate women’s events will not be held in 2018, although the APT has reinstituted the Top Female Bonus, which will grant the top-finishing female in each event a bonus cash award, based on the number of women in the field. This will range from $100 (with 3-5 women in the field) to $600 (with 18-20 women in the field).
 
For further information on the Action Pool Tour, including its plans to begin streaming its events on an APT YouTube Channel, on which all events will be stored for later viewing, visit the tour Web site at http://www.actionpooltour.com.

Conway, Jr. wins 10 on the loss-side, double dips Mitchelltree to win GSBT

Mike Conway Jr, Shannon Daulton and John Mitchelltree

Pool players will tell you that it’s often better to be lucky than good. In the wake of his recent victory on the Great Southern Billiard Tour, Mike Conway, Jr. might tell you that you’d better be both. Luck played a role in Conway’s semifinal victory, while ‘good’ took the stage in 10 straight loss-side matches and the second set of the double elimination finals against John Mitchelltree, that earned him the event victory. The $1,500-added amateur 9-ball tournament drew 60 entrants to QMaster Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA on the weekend of February 4-5.

Conway was working from the loss-side from the conclusion of his opening match; a 9-4 victory for Dwight Cherry, who would advance to the winners’ side final four, and then meet up with Conway again in his first loss-side match. Chris Futrell sent Cherry west 11-7, and in the battle for the hot seat, met up with Mitchelltree, who’d just sent Cheryl Pritchard to the loss side 9-5. Mitchelltree survived a double hill contest against Futrell and sat in the hot seat, waiting for Conway.

With five down and five to go on the loss-side, Conway defeated Tim Colvin 9-2, and Dave Bollman 9-4 to earn a re-match against Cherry. Pritchard drew Justin Squires, who’d eliminated John Hernandez 7-7 (Hernandez needing to reach 9), and Jimmy Byrd 7-4. In a straight-up race to 9, Conway wreaked his vengeance on Cherry 9-7 as Pritchard (a C player) survived a double hill battle against the B-rated Squires 6-6. Conway chalked up loss-side victory # 9 with a 9-7 win over Pritchard in the quarterfinals. 

“A stellar performance,” said co-tour director Marge Daulton of Pritchard’s fourth place finish; the highest for a woman in the five year history of the Great Southern Billiard Tour.  “She was down in a few and battled back, winning some key double hill matches.”

“We’re proud to see her accomplish this,” Daulton added. “She earned it.”

Conway, in the meantime, was on his way to the semifinals and his date with Lady Luck. His opponent, Futrell, needed to reach 11 games before he reached 9. Futrell was on the hill, at 10 games, when Conway (at seven games) shot at the 9-ball that would bring the match to double hill. Conway missed, and watched as the 9-ball kept traveling. . .one rail, two, three. . and then dropped into a hole. He even apologized, before settling in to take the final game and finish his 10-match streak on the loss-side.

With some ‘good’ and some ‘luck’ behind him, Conway added momentum to his repertoire and took the opening set of the straight-up race to 9, true double elimination finals handily 9-2. In the second set, he found himself down 4-0, and then after chalking up his first, gave up two more, giving Mitchelltree a 6-1lead. Conway called on some ‘good’ to catch up, winning eight of the next nine games to secure the event victory.

Tour directors Shannon and Marge Daulton thanked Barry Behrmann and his staff at QMaster Billiards for their hospitality on Super Bowl weekend, as well as sponsors Andy Gilbert Custom Cues, Nick Varner Cues and Cases, Mike Davis Exterminating, Tiger Products and Delta-13 racks. The GSBT shifts to Michael’s Billiards in Fairfield, OH on the weekend of February 18-19, for a $2,000-added 9-ball/8-ball tournament, with a 9-ball bank tournament, scheduled for Friday night at 7 p.m.