Warren Kiamco Wins 3rd Annual Steinway Classic

Photp by Alison Fischer 

By: Markus Noé

After two days of jam packed action at Steinway Billiards in Astoria New York, a winner has emerged from this star studded field. The Steinway Classic, in the short three years since its debut on the tournaments scene, has become a must stop for touring professionals around North America. With Earl Strickland being the house pro, combined with  support of the owners of Steinway who are known for giving a lot back to the pool community, it is understandable why this 64 player is poised to to grow to 128 maybe as soon as next year.

Canadian John  Morra was in town to play this event and after suffering a loss early on Morra heated up. On the stream which I purchased for 25$(a steal for how much content we got) for the weekend I was able to catch Morra on the stream Saturday night. His first match I witnessed was against tournament favourite Shane Van Boening. SVB as he so often does, came out in a flurry going up 3-0.

Despite this lead by "Mr. 10 Ball", Morra battled back and tied it up at 3. From there they exchanged games back and forth the rest of the set with Morra winning a crowd pleaser 9-8. Immediately after this match Morra was up against "The Scorpion" Johnny Archer. Once again he was down early in this set 5-2. Morra gained control of the table as a result of an error from Archer and put on a clinic from there winning 9-5 and eliminating another favourite from contention.

"Mr. Smooth", as Morra is sometimes referred to, came back the next day to play Nelson Oliviera who he won against. Then next was house pro Earl Strickland; Morra also knocked him out of the tournament with a 9-3 scoreline. Mike Davis ended Morra's hopes next, beating him 9-6 and knocking him out in a tie for 8th place. Leaving with only $400 for his troubles is a disappointment, however his high level of play was far from disappointing.

Dennis Hatch and Warren Kiamco were the two who survived the field to reach the final. They met originally on Saturday on the t.v table with Kiamco blowing Hatch out 9-2. From there Hatch went on a tear on the B side, winning 10 matches in a row to earn a second shot at Kiamco. This match was a lot closer this time however once again Kiamco was too much for Hatch, winning 13-11 and becoming the 3rd Annual Steinway Classic champion.


 Payouts

1st: Warren Kiamco – $4,000
2nd: Dennis Hatch – $2,500
3rd: Shaun Wilkie – $1,400
4th: Jorge Rodriguez – $900
5th/6th: Evgeny Stalev, Mike Davis – $600
7th/8th: John Morra, Mike Dechaine – $400
9th-12th: Mika Immonen, Tom D’Alfonso, Earl Strickland, Justin Bergman – $250
13th-16th: Nelson Oliviera, Jonathan Smith, Zion Zvi, Jayson Shaw – $125