BCAPL UPDATE: Another Canadian Winner, Morra Wins First Match

By Erik Hjorleifson 

The action continues from the BCAPL National Championships at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas. Friday marked the beginning of the 16 player invitational Pro 10 ball tournament. Play also continued in the Amateur bar able tournaments as well as the Pro/Am ten ball tournament.
 
Straight-Pool is once again pleased to announce our second Canadian winner of this years championships, Ben Liu from Calgary, Alberta. He was  the winner of the open 9-ball division which boasted over 300 players. Randy Bagot from Winnipeg, Manitoba was also in the final with Ben so we were guaranteed our second Canadian Champion of the week. Congratulations to both players and good luck to them the rest of the week.
 
In the Pro/Am 10 ball challenge, the most prestigious of the bar table events, along with the Pro/Am 9 ball challenge we have two Canadians left in the mix. Stan Tourangeau from B.C. had a nice win over Ernesto Dominguez, eventually losing to Josh Roberts. He remains in the tournament with only 8 players left and will try to fight his way back to the final today. Jason Klatt, winner of the Pro/Am 9 ball challenge, won his first three matches in the ten ball tournament eventually losing to Mitch Ellerman from Arizona, who advanced to the winners side final. Klatt remains in the tournament at the start of today and will attempt, along with Tourangeau, to make his way back to the final.

 
 John Morra from Toronto, Ontario has begun his quest in the 16 player invitational 10 ball tournament. The  format is a race to 9 round robin. Players are placed in groups of 4 with each group being comprised of a player from North America, Philippines, Asia and Europe. The player with the best match record in each group will advance to the single knockout semi final and final stages of the tournament. Morra's first match was against Ralf Soquet from Germany in which he came away with a thrilling 9-8 victory, banking in the 4 ball en route to a pressure packed run out in the deciding game. Morra is currently playing his second match against Efren Reyes.