Tailgators to Host Pro & Amateur Events Next Month

By: Markus Noé

Morgan Bistrow and Curtis Houlden of Tailgators in Ottawa are hard at work once again organizing a big tournament. This time it will be the second edition of the  Eastern Canadian 8 Ball Bar Box Championships. Similar to last years format, this will be a 128 player handicap event.

The difference this year is that there will be a separate division for Professionals, this will be a
 $500 entry $2000 added 16 players max event. This past August Tailgators hosted a similar event which was a $300 entry that featured John Morra and Erik Hjorleifson.  Houlden was at the recent edition of the Turning Stone Classic and mentioned the tournament to a few of the top players there including Jason Shaw.

Hjoleifson, who won the "Summer Shootout" , has already confirmed for this upcoming event.  To sign up or find out more about this tournament contact Curtis Houlden with the information provided above.

Luc "The Machine Gun" Salvas Wins First Pro Event Of The Season

Luc Salvas with fellow Pro and friend Jared Amyot 

By: Markus Noé

This past Saturday at Dooly's Valleyfield 44 competitors came to participate in the first Professional event in the Quebec Federation. This year the Professional Circuit has 4 scheduled tournaments with a $3500 guaranteed Grand Finale for those that play in at least two tournaments.

These are non handicapped events, however there are staggered entry fees based on ones ranking. For those like myself who are AAA and under, get in for the bargain price of $30. Semi-Pro's are also getting their money in good having to only pay $30 while Professionals pay $100. This is to encourage players from all divisions to show up to hone their skills and see what it's like to play against some of the world class talent this circuit boasts.

Also new this year for maximum entertainment value, these tournaments will be seeded. This means the top ranked players get byes and the other higher ranked players are likely to play a lower class opponent first round. For me this is a bonus because for $30 I get a chance to play a very high level opponent and gain experience.

My first round match was against well known Semi-Pro Johnny Laprise. This was my first time playing him and I got off to a good start going up 4-2 early on with a couple clearances off his mistakes. To get to 4 he missed a makeable 8 in his opinion, leaving me a cut shot and then gave me the 9. Looking back, that missed 8 was the end of me because it seemed to fuel him and after a dry break I never got another good look losing 9-4. From there I went on to lose to AAA and potting machine Dominic Legault 7-1.

Danny Hewitt 

The benefit about being knocked out of a tournament such as this early on is that I now had the opportunity to rail-bird some great matches. Danny Hewitt, Alain Martel, Luc Salvas, Martin Daigle, Alain Parent and many more were all there for our viewing pleasure and I took full advantage. With the new seeding system most of the top named players did what was expected and cruised through the brackets setting up some big matches.


Luc Salvas and Alain Martel met up in the final four on the Winners side where the "Machine Gun" won. In the winners side final he went on to lose a tight match to Danny Hewitt, who throughout the day looked as if no one would beat him. Salvas then sat ans waited for Martel to knock out both Alain Parent and Dany Nguyen to set up a rematch in the losers side final. Once again Salvas put on a show in front of his legion of hometown fans beating Martel 7-4.

Alain Martel 

In the final Salvas got off to a blistering start, however Hewitt caught up at 4-4 and looked like he was going to take over the match. To me there was one shot in particular that changed the match, this is where Hewitt was forced to play a safe on the 7 ball leaving Salavas nearly frozen on the 8 ball. The 7 ball was about 6 inches away from the side pocket. If you would have blinked you would have missed Salvas stepping to the table bending over and whacking the cue ball two rails potting the 7 and clearing the rack while the hometown crowd of about 60 people erupted. From there Salvas went on to win his first Professional 9 ball tournament in a few years 9-7.

Salvas and Hewitt playing the final 

Salvas has not been competing as much these past few years and the last time I saw him play he was not the same force as I once saw on ESPN. However unknown to those outside Dooly's Valleyfield, which he owns, he has been practicing for a month in preparation for the season. At 28 years old and only competing for 7 years I never saw the form that so many have talked about when it came to Salvas. I have seen him shoot good but never great live like he did on this day, and let me tell you it is a treat.

 For me the best part of this day was sitting on the back patio with Martel and Salvas and about 10 others. It is clear to see that these two are not only some of the best talent to ever come out of Canada but they are good friends as well. We sat there for an hour or so shared a few beverages and listened to Salvas and Martel swap stories about their most clutch shots in big tournaments, and even some embarrassing misses as well. The next Professional tournament will be held Nov 1 at Le Skratch Laval, if you live in the Montreal area I recommend that everyone come to watch or play. To see all my photo's from this tournament go the Cue Sport Nation Facebook page.

Top 3 Pay Outs

1. Luc Salvas-$1000
2. Danny Hewitt-$600
3. Alain Martell-$380

England Survives Holland to Win 2014 World Cup

By: Markus Noé

Team England "A" started with a 7-6 win over Spain and ended with a come back in the final to win 10-9 over Holland, and become the 2014 World Cup Champions. Being down multiple games for the majority of the this set, the team of Darren Appleton and Karl Boyes looked out of this match for the most part.

However every time that the duo of Niels Feijen and Nick van den Berg from Holland was about to stretch their lead from 2 to 3 games, an error or a dose of bad luck would keep that from happening. Compacted with the pressure of being in a World Final and being continuously denied opportunities to run away with the title proved too much in the end for Holland.

This title adds to the already impressive resume of both Boyes and Appleton who were already world title holders. Darren of course winning that thrilling hill-hill match in Qatar in 2012 and Boyes is the 2007 World 8 ball Champion.

Something that stuck out during this World Cup was how dominate the Europeans teams were. The final four consisted of Austria, Finland, England and Holland. Notice that there was no Philippine or Asian representation which adds to my argument as of late that the best players in the world are European and not Asian but that is a discussion for another day.

The main reason why the European dominance jumped out at me is that we are now only a few short months away from another Mosconi Cup, which the Europeans have won virtually uncontested the past few years. In an article last year I mention my fear that if the U.S does not find away to win or at least compete, the Mosconi Cup could lose its legitimacy as a prestigious title.

The American team has been advertising all year their youth movement plan to reestablish the team. Change in the ranks has been needed for some time in American pool. However they could be sending a heard of sheep over to some very fierce wolves this year, and potentially risk a bigger blow out than last year.

In conclusion England played an amazing World Cup and gave us a thrilling final. Match-Room Sports showed the pool community once again why they are the best promoters on the planet. With the help of SkySports they are the only ones getting cues-sports on Television and the only ones finding substantial sponsors and adding to the prize money. In comparison Boyes and Appleton each are walking away with 30K a piece for this win, which is roughly the same amount the single winner of the U.S Open will win next month.

 

World Cup Final 8: Canada Drops Nail-Biter to Germany

By Erik Hjorleifson

 The field is now down to 8 teams and most of the favourites have come through, the only heavy favorite to go down in defeat so far is Taiwan. Finland is among the teams making waves and has yet to drop a game; the team of Petri Makkonen and Mika Immonen have a good chemistry going again and will look to better their second place finish in 2012. Team China came out on fire in round two and toppled their opponents England B with a 7-0 score in a match that lasted about 30 minutes.

One of the most highly contested matches of the day was between Germany and Canada. Despite a few early errors by Canada they were able to stay close in the beginning splitting the first 4 games. Germany then took the lead at 5-2.

 After a dry break in rack 8 the Canadians took advantage of a tied up table layout and won the game on 3 consecutive fouls. The next 3 games were all Canada as a couple of strong safes and a break and run put them on the hill at 6-5.

 In the 12th game after gaining control of the rack, it was all there for the taking.  The fateful error came when Pagulayan left Morra with a funny angle on the 8, no fault of his as he was just trying to get him close to the shot and caught a bad angle on it. The unfortunate result was that Morra missed an 8 that looked like it was impossible to miss. 

To the untrained eye it would seem this way, but I was watching the match live and the problem was that if Morra pocketed the ball in the center of the pocket the cue ball would have drifted toward a frozen position on the side rail. The shot was too straight to cheat the pocket to the outside so he chose to try and cheat the pocket to the inside to hold the angle of draw. 

He just barely caught the inside rail and because of the speed of the shot it rattled the pocket. Again, to the untrained eye it would seem that he just choked, but I can tell you that definitely wasn't the case. It was a real heart breaker that he didn't have more of a natural angle for position because the nine was wide open for the win. Of course as fate would have it Germany made a tough break and run for the hill-hill victory. In closing team Canada played well this year and will be hungry for revenge in the years to come.

In other matches, the interesting pairing of Shane Van Boening and Earl Strickland advanced after a close match with a talented Russian team. The last remaining English team of Darren Appleton and Karl Boyes had a strong match advancing with a 7-1 score line against Greece. Austria squeaked by Qatar after Qatar made a routine error that would have put them ahead 6-4. They also made a fairly easy safety error in the next game, however they will draw positives from this event as they had a great first round win against Taiwan.

Here are the quarterfinal match-ups for Saturday:

China v Austria
Philippines v Finland

Holland v Germany  

England A v USA  

Canada Wins First Match at The World Cup of Pool

Play continued today at the World Cup of pool and the field is now down to 16 teams. Early round matches today featured tournament favorites Holland and Germany and a strong Canadian side featuring John Morra were also in action. 

Canada was slated to play Vietnam but due to travelling complications, Malta took their place last minute and the team of Alex Borg and Tony Drago fell short in a one sided affair that that Canadians took with a score of 7-1. 

Powerhouse Germany will be a force to be reckon with this tournament, the pairing are not only friends off the table but are both past world champions. They were in fine form in their first match posting a 7-1 victory against Malaysia. Germany will now move on to play Canada in round two. The Dutch team of Neils Feijen and Nick Van Den Berg, runners up at last years event, also began play and advanced with a 7-3 victory against Belgium.

England B vs India was the last match of round 1 and was the best match of the tournament thus far. Team India got off to a blistering start going up 5-2, before two errors allowed team England to tie this match up at 5 a piece.  Chris Melling and Daryl Peach ended up getting to the hill first however another mistake cost them that rack and for the second time in two days the UK crowd had to sweat out a double hill match. 

India had the break and made a ball however under these tournament rules 3 balls need to pass the head string. Even though they pocketed one ball, two other balls did not make it past the head string forcing a ball in hand situation, which team England took full advantage of winning the rack and the match. Round 2 begins tonight; we will be back tomorrow with more updates. 

Update: Two other matches have completed these were the first matches of the second round. The Filipinos dodged a very game Team France 7-5, and team U.S.A beat Russia by the same score. 

Canadian Women Tour First Stop

By: Markus Noé

This past Saturday another tour in the G.T.A got underway. This time it was the Canadian Women's Tour which took place at On the Snap Billiards in Stoney Creek Ontario. This is the only amateur women's handicap tour in the country. The goal here is to expand competitive pool for women in Canada outside of league play.

14 players participated in the inaugural event and by all accounts the tour got off to a good start. No arguments or issues with the handicaps and there was fair play all day in this 250$ added event. The winner of the first C.W.T stop was  Maureen Van De Ven who came back on the losers side after suffering an early loss to Hanna Kwon.

From left to right Sylvia Hadaway, Maureen Van De Ven 

In the final Van De Ven,  beat Sylvia Hadaway 9-8 who went undefeated until this point. The next tournament will be October 18 at Le Spot in Toronto. For more information on the C.W.T talk to Suzanne Peters Owner of On the Snap Billiards.

Upcoming events: Oct. 18, 2014 - Le Spot, Toronto
Nov. 15, 2014 - Petrinas, Ajax
Dec.  6, 2014 - Strokers, London
Jan. 17, 2015 - Petrinas, Ajax
Feb. 21, 2015 - Strokers, Ajax

draw sheet and pay outs 

 

Day 2 Results From The Betway World Cup of Pool

By: Erik Hjorleifson

Most of the first round matches at the World Cup of Pool are in the books and there has been one major upset so far. The Qatari team of Waleed Majeed and Bashar Hussain have defeated the Taiwanese pairing of Chang Yu Lun and Hsu Kai Lun with by a score of 7-5. I'm sure the first thing people will say is that it was only a race to 7 and there is merit to that argument but I believe the fact that there is also more pressure in a race to 7 should be considered.

Majeed has had a break through year on the international scene, with a notable win against Darren Appleton in the World Championships along the way to a top 16 finish. Hussain has been competing on the international scene for a while now with the help of sponsorship from the Qatar Billiards Federation. This is a historic and proud day for billiards in the Middle East and it looks like their investment in the sport is beginning to pay off.

Qatar now moves on to play Austria in round two; now the inevitable question will arise as to why the dynamic sibling duo of Ko Pin Yi and Ko Pin Chung were not representing Taiwan. In other first round matches the Philippines survived a close match with Chile which again was a strong statement from a country and actually a whole continent that has not had much success in the past.

Pool truly is being played at a high level all around the world now in this modern day and age. In other matches China, one of the tournament favourites, won their match 7-5 against the Czech Republic. Like the Taiwanese the Chinese pairing, although both highly accomplished players is a little surprising. This year Dang Jinhu and Wang Can are the representatives. France also advanced to round two against a highly competitive Italian team.

  The American team of Van Boening and Earl Strickland were up against a dark horse Croatian team. After getting up to a 5-0 lead, a few mistakes from Strickland gave the Croatians a glimmer of hope. However it was not to be as the Americans went on to win 7-2. Another thrilling match on this day was England vs Spain. In a surprise move the tournament directors did not think that Spain deserved a top 16 seed, thus lining up this heavy weight match-up of sorts. After being down 5-3 the team of Darren Appleton and Karl Boyes pulled out a nail biter 7-6 to move on to the final 16.

Canada will play Malta on Thursday and tournament favorites Holland and Germany are still among the last matches yet to play in the first round. The World Cup of pool carries a $250 000 total prize fund with the winners receiving $60 000. Check back on Friday to see how team Canada and the rest fair.

Thursday matches :

Reigning Champions Survive Early Scare at World Cup of Pool

By: Markus Noé

The Betway World Cup of Pool scotch doubles event began today at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth UK. Teams from all around the world have gathered as this is one of the most coveted and lucrative events in the sport.

Last years winning team of Dennis Orcollo and Lee Van Corteza  got anything but an easy match in day 1. The Filipinos came in the heavy favorites as they decimated team Chile the last time they met. After taking an early lead it looked as if this match was all but in the books for the defending champs.
However after a thrilling run-out that did not see much in position play but gave the audience a thrill in shot-making and one 9 ball which flucked double cross corner the score was 4-2 (Phi.)

After a scratch on the break the Filipinos pushed their lead to 5-2. Then suffering from a bad break of their own, the Chileans stepped up to the table and took over cleaning that rack and running out the next to go 5-4 down. The reigning champs however in the end kept their nose ahead winning this match 7-5. As the top picture shows they felt the heat and Chileans fans can only wonder what the outcome would have been if they played better position.

The Canadian team of Alex Pagulayan and John Morra get their World Cup bid underway Thursday against team Malta. This is a single elimination format so the pressure is on all teams and even more so being that this event is played in front of the always boisterous UK crowd. They are the only fans in my opinion who can compare to the Filipino fans, who if you have no reference for I recommend the Gomez vs Peach World Final which can be found on youtube.

Below are the scores of today's matches, check back daily as we will be covering the entire event.

Jayson Shaw Breaks Through At Turning Stone

File Photo from Classique Du Applache by Mario Paradis

By: Markus Noé

The Turning Stone Classic had a triumphant return after taking a year off due to renovations. It was a full field as always, the only difference was with the World Cup of Pool a few days away some of the top players chose to sit this one out.  However with names like Boening, Stickland, See, Immonen , Archer and Dechaine this tournament was anything but a cake walk.

After an early loss to Alain Parent from St.Hubert Quebec, Shaw caught fire and crushed the losers side bracket . The 26 year old Scotland native  won 9 matches in a row before he met up with Mika Immonen in the final.

Alain Parent

Shaw has been a noticeable talent since his arrival on the scene  around 4 years ago. He has shown signs of brilliance with a 3rd place finish in the 2013 U.S. Open along with some strong finishes in tournaments filled with good players.

Mika Immonen

Shaw came out to an early lead in the final and just kept the ball rolling, easily winning his first major  9 ball title 13-6. This was also a break out tournament of sorts for Mika Immonen who played in his first major final since he won the 2013 Ultimate 10 ball championships.

Rodney Morris

 Earlier in the day Immonen defeated Earl Strickland 9-6 and then Rodney Morris in the winners side final 9-7. On the losers side Thorsten Hohmann won his first match against Archer then lost a close match to Dechaine 9-7. On the other side of the losers bracket Shaw started his run back to final with wins over Ernesto Dominguez, Earl Strickland and finally Dechaine before beating Rodney Morris in the losers side final. 

It is a real pleasure to see a player like Shaw snap off a big win like this. It is a testament to the youthful talent in the sport. Shaw has been one of the most entertaining players to watch these past few years because of his charisma around the table, and simply put his pace of play and shot making ability is unworldly. As this sport continuous to break back through to the mainstream, players such as Shaw will likely be a big part of that. 

Turning Stone Results From Day 3

Venue Pic by Calk Cube manufacturer Mario Paradis 

By: Erik Hjorleifson

Saturday was moving day at the Turning Stone Classic in Verona, New York. The day began with 64 players and the field was narrowed down to 8 by midnight. There are 4 remaining on the winners side to face off in the winners side semi finals and 4 on the losers side who will play in the 7th/8th place elimination matches.

Earl Strickland is back in the spotlight again as he won his round of sixteen match against Dave Daya 9-3 and then went on to defeat 6 time Turning Stone Champion Johnny Archer with a convincing score line of 9-2. Earl advanced to the semi finals and will play Mika Immonen who defeated Danny Hewitt (Quebec) and Jerry Crowe.

In the other half of the draw Mike Dechaine started out his day with a strong victory against John Morra 9-5 and then went on to defeat tournament favorite Shane Van Boening in a hill hill match. Rodney Morris who had complained of inconsistent play throughout his first few rounds, found his gear on Saturday and defeated Warren Kiamco and Hunter Lombardo to set up a match with Dechaine on Sunday.

Picture of Hohmann by Mario Paradis of Chalk Cube. 

On the losers side the competition was fierce and after many hard fought battles Thorsten Hohmann came through the pack including a hill-hill win over John Morra. Jayson Shaw is still alive after an early loss, he finished off the day with a 9-6 win over Shane Van Boening.  Johhny Archer will also be back and will play Hohmann in the 7th place match and Ernesto Dominguez has come all the way back from a first round loss and will play Shaw in the other losers side match.

Overarll the Canadians had a pretty good showing at the fall edition of the classic, Danny Hewiit played his first major U.S. Tournament in a while and came away with a 17th place finish. Unfortunately three Canadians got funneled in to a certain section of the draw and in those matches Alain Parent defeated Martin Daigle and John Morra defeated Alain Parent.
Here are the top four Canadian finishers:

Martin Daigle 25th/32nd
Alain Parent   17th/24th
Danny Hewitt 17th/24th
John Morra    13th/16th

Play begins at 11am on Sunday and promises to be another full day of world class nine ball, the stream will be up again free of charge at http://www.azbilliards.com/tours_and_events/1-joss-northeast-9-ball-tour/5848-turning-stone-casino-classic-xxii/live/.

Day 2 From Turning Stone: Morra and Hewitt in The Thick of Things

Manufacturer of Chalk Cube Mario Paradis and SVB

By: Erik Hjorleifson

Play continued today at the Turning Stone Casino as the field has been narrowed down to 64  players from the original 128 that entered. There now remains 16 players on the winners side and 48 on the losers side. Of the 16 remaining on the winners side 12 are American 2 are Canadian and two are international players. To my knowledge 11 of the 16 would be considered full time touring professionals.

The Canadians had a decent day today as Alain Parent posted a very respectable 9-3 win against highly regarded player Jayson Shaw from Scotland. Parent who I am told returned to competitive pool recently after a lengthy hiatus has pulled off big wins before, recently beating John Morra in a $5000 first prize tournament in Quebec called  the Classique des Appalaches this May.

Parent went down to Michael Yednak in his round of 32 match and will be back tomorrow on the losers side. Quebec's biggest hope Dany Hewitt has moved along undefeated into the final 16 on the winners side and  will play Mika Immonen . John Morra has been relatively untested advancing with wins of 9-1, 9-5 and 9-1, he is also now in the final sixteen on the winners side and will play Mike Dechaine at 2pm eastern time on Saturday.

I was able to catch the live streamed match between Earl Strickland and Karen Corr and Earl played nearly flawless. He is a big favorite in his final 16 match as well so look for him to go deep in this tournament. Mika Immonen escaped a second round hill-hill match with Donnie Mills in which apparently there was a big racking disagreement in the hill-hill game.

Personally I don't blame either of them and think there are so many negatives that arise from players racking the balls for each other.  I would compare it to having to let you opponent tee your ball for you in golf or your opponent tossing the ball for you on the serve in tennis. I think that overall players are tolerant but rack your own or magic racks are definitely the way to go in my opinion ,all World Championships now use the magic rack.

Dennis Hatch had to suffer through the day as he broke his left shooting wrist last night. He was in so much pain that he had to break opposite handed, I give him a lot if credit for not withdrawing from the tournament and he still managed a respectable score against Thorsten Hohmann playing with a cast.

Most of the American pro's have advanced as well, here are the highlights from those matches:

Mika Immonen  9 vs. Donnie Mills  8
Mika Immonen  9 vs. Robb Saez  4
Earl Strickland  9 vs. Karen Corr  4
Shane Van Boening  9 vs. Jeremy Sossei  5
Thorsten Hohmann  9 vs Dennis Hatch  5
Warren Kiamco  9 vs Hudjie See 8

Marquee match-ups for today include:

Morris vs. Kiamco
Van Boening vs. Hohmann
Hewitt vs. Immonen
Morra vs. Dechaine

Today will be a full day of pool at the Turning Stone Casino as the field will be narrowed down to six players that will advance for a shot at the title on Sunday. Matches will begin again at 11 am and will be streamed for free at http://www.azbilliards.com/tours_and_events/1-joss-northeast-9-ball-tour/5848-turning-stone-casino-classic-xxii/live/

Day 1 Results From The Turning Stone Classic

Event Room at Turning Stone Casino, Photo By Alain Parent 

By Erik Hjorleifson 

Day 1 at the Turning Stone Classic is in the books. Yesterday featured 64 first round matches which were played on the 16 diamond tables set up at the event center in the Turning Stone casino in Verona, New York.  Most of the favourites advanced, although this tournament is not seeded there weren't to many match ups of  tournament favourites. 

Some of the more notable match-ups were former World Champion Hudjie See (Holland) against Oscar Dominguez; See came away with a strong 9-3 victory. Dominguez's father Ernesto Dominguez also had a tough first round opponent in Ron Casanzio, a consistent performer on the Joss tour. Casanzio came away with the 9-6 victory.

Canadians Martin Daigle and Dany Normandin

In total there are 15 Canadians in the tournament all from Quebec and Ontario. The most highly contested opening match was between Martin Daigle from Quebec City and Danny Hewitt from Montreal. Both are very capable players who are among the best in Canada. 

Daigle jumped out to a 5-1 lead but fell short in the end with Hewitt making a strong comeback to advance with a 9-6 win. Look for Hewitt to be one of the contenders as the tournament progresses. John Morra, the other strong hope for Canada moved on to the second round with a 9-1 victory where he will be tested against a strong player from the Northeast, Travis McKinney. In another all Canadian battle Mario Paradis manufacturer of the increasingly popular Chalk Cube (Quebec) defeated Brittany Bryant multiple time 
Canadian women's champion with a 9-4 score line. Canadians advancing on the winners side today include:

Dany Normandin
Roger Miller
Frank Peters 
Kayla Jones
Jay Goyer 
Karim Attia
Alain Parent

Players coming back on the one loss side:

Richer Francoueur
Chris Bateman 
Jesse Piercey

American and international favourites such as Van Boening, Hatch, Dechaine, Strickland, Hohmann and Archer advanced with combined scores of 54-2 against their underdog opponents. Tomorrow's feature matchups include:

Donny Mills vs. Mika Immonen
Johhmy Archer vs. Matt Krah
Tom D'Alfonso vs. Thorsten Hohmann
Warren Kiamco vs Hudjie See

Play begins again Friday at noon, matches will be run all day and can be viewed on Ustream free of charge at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/turning-stone.

Turning Stone Classic Begins Today!

By: Erik Hjorleifson 

Today will be day one of the four day Turning Stone Classic, held in Verona New York at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino.This is a semi-annual event for the  which kicks off and ends the Joss Northeast 9 ball tour, the tournament has become very popular with players that compete on the regular tour as well as for North American and International pros from around the world. 

For me this is one of the nicest tournament venues I have ever played in, there are sixteen Diamond tables lined up end to end so there is very limited interference from other tables. Stadium seating is also available for fans, if you have never been it is definitely something to put on your pool bucket list. This year I called 4 months in advance to enter and the tournament was full!

The usual suspects of Thorsten Hohmann, Mika Immonen, defending champion Earl Strickland, Mike Dechaine, Dennis Hatch and 6 time past champion Johnny Archer will all be present. There have been tournaments in the past that have had brutally strong fields. However this year the line up is a little softer because of a conflict for some players at the World Cup of pool and many Filipino players were home for the Pacman Cup. 

Representing the Canadian side will be John Morra from Toronto and 7 players from Quebec including Dany Hewitt and Martin Daigle. The format for this event is winner breaks, rack for your opponent, race to 9 and double knockout, the finals is one race to 13.

 One of the best features of the Turning Stone Classic  is the free live stream courtesy of Upstate Al at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/turning-stone. All matches from the morning to evening sessions will be streamed for free and considering how many paid streams there are out there now, it is nice treat to be able to watch some great pool free of charge. We will be following all the results over the next 4 days, stay tuned for all the latest.

Final Results from the Pacman Cup in the Philippines

Thorsten Hohmann, Manny Pacquiao, John Morra

By Erik Hjorleifson. 

A very successful week of billiards has come to an end in General Santos, Philippines. Yesterday the 60 team pick your own partner single elimination scotch doubles event came to an end, with the winning team going home with the lofty $40 000 first prize.

These were the scores from the quarter final matches:

Hohmann and Morra 11  Silvano and Esquillo 6
Pin Yi and Pin Chung  11   Kiamco and Gomez   4
Bustamante and Reyes 11  Bongay and Labrador 10
De Luna and Ignacio  11    Lining and Gallego  10

The semi final matches truly represented the cream of the crop in this event as Reyes and Bustamante, both past world champions, were up against young guns from the Philippines De Luna and Ignacio. Hohmann and Morra were up against Pin Yi and Pin Chung, the sibling duo from Taiwan. Pin Yi is currently one of the most highly regarded players in the world.

Pin Chung had his coming out party at the C.S.I invitational 8-ball championships in Las Vegas this past July. He became the youngest player to win a major international event at 18 years of age; not since Chia Ching Wu won the World nine ball crown in the mid 2000's has something like this been seen. As the saying commonly goes when billiard giants like these match up, "it could have gone either way." On this occasion De Luna and Ignacio beat Bustamante and Reyes 11-8, Morra and Hohmann advanced against Pin Yi and Pin Chung with an 11-9 scoreline.

This set up an exciting final match-up with the local favorites De Luna and Ignacio going up against Hohmann and Morra. For Morra this would be his first international final, although not a stranger to the final in North American events. Hohmann was looking to collect his second victory of the week.

Ignacio has had a break through year on the international scene with a runner up finish at the China open in May. De Luna has surprised many people with more than one challenge match win against Dennis Orcollo (with no handicap) unofficially crowned the top player in the Philippines in the eyes of many.  

When it was all said and done De Luna and Ignacio took home the title 11-6, winning the first ever Pacman Cup doubles 10 ball title. I would like to add that Morra was a last minute entry with Hohmann, as his original partner Ralf Soquet was forced to withdraw.  Considering that most of the other teams truly picked their own partner and assuming that most of them were friends off the table, it speaks a lot to the easygoing personalities of both players allowing them to be able to work well together despite only being acquaintances before the tournament began.   

Payouts

1st Ignacio and De Luna $40 000

2nd Hohmann and Morra $18 000

3rd/4th Reyes and Bustamante/Pin Yi and in Chung  $7000   

Rack-M-Up Summer Series Grand Finale

Doug Disotell, Jason Hall, Jody Roy, Amanda Collins 

By: Doug Disotell

On Sunday September 7th Rack M Up Billiards hosted their summer series 9 ball Final Tournament. Twenty players converged to take aim at the $1580.00 in prize money. With seven different winners in eight qualifying events, the Calcutta added another $1030.00 making a total of $2610.00 for the top six finishers. Reaching the A side final was Jacque Sauve who had wins over Amanda Collins, Randy Mitchell, Gus Jacobs and Leon Cook Jr. Sauve. Save would be facing Jody Roy who had wins over Eric Mallet, Kirk Pawis, Morris Hearn and Jason Hall; the winner of this was guaranteed 2nd place. Roy played flawlessly sending Sauve to the B side 7-2. There was no shortage of action as it was win or go home for the B side players. Shawn Cummings ended Walter Szydlowsky's day, Clayton Disotell ended Eric Mallet's day and Matt Cook ended Amanda Collin's hopes. 

Two previous winners squared off when Jeff Flemming defeated Kevin Thibeault. Cummings defeated previous winner Pawis while Matt Cook defeated Louanne Leger. Disotell made a great come from behind winning over Platon Liolios and Flemming took down  Randy Mitchell. Gus Jacobs ended Cummings day in a 9-12 position as two time winner Justin Miller lost to Matt cook. Bob Label ended Disotell's run as Flemming defeated Morris Hearn. Jacobs would then end Matt Cooks day as Flemming continued rolling through the B side taking out Bob Label leaving them tied for 7/8th.

 Jacobs then faced Jason hall in the first money round but could not win as Jason played excellent under pressure. Leon Cook Jr. played one of his best matches ever to eliminate Flemming in 5/6th beside Jacobs. Hall then dominated Leon with a 7-1 win ending Cook's day in fourth place. Hall had not won all summer and now faced Sauve with the winner taking on Jody Roy. Hall would take a 4-0 lead on Sauve and then watch him come back to win the next three games. Hall won the next two games to reach the hill first at 6-3. Sauve never gives up and takes the next two games to close the gap to 6-5 and a chance to tie it up. Pressure mounts and Jacque misses, leaving Hall the final 9 ball and the win. Sauve would finish third today. Jody Roy had put Hall on the one loss side earlier with a 7-5 win over Hall. Hall would meticulously jump ahead 6-0 as Roy could not get anything going. 

A miss by Hall woke Roy up and he took the next two games before Hall ended his hopes at 7-2. Congratulations to JASON HALL Our SUMMER SERIES CHAMP!! Rack M up Billiards would like to especially thank Denise Lalonde our Chef for the day, Andre from National Grocer's, Mike and Joan Collins, And Rick and Elizabeth Flynn for donating all the goods for the BBQ at the back door. Without these people we would not have raised $185.00 for the Children's Aid Society Purple Ribbon Campaign for abused and under privileged children. Thanks to all of the players who supported the campaign and our second annual summer series of 9 ball Tournament!! 

"Pacman"10 Ball Doubles Event: Final 8 Left Playing For 40k

Manny Pacuiao with John Morra

By: Erik Hjorleifson

The week of billiard festivities at the Long Tuna festival in General Santos Philippines is into full swing now with the pick your own partner down to the final eight teams. The week kicked off with a 90 player singles tournament which featured virtually every notable Filipino player. Thorsten Hohmann (Germany) made an epic comeback in the singles event winning no less than 11 matches straight and overcoming a 12-7 deficit in the final to defeat Roberto Gomez (Philippines) 13-12.

Both events are being promoted by multiple time World Champion boxer Manny Pacquiao. I have been in contact with Canada's John Morra while he is in the Philippines and he has informed me that there have been official announcements that Pacquiao will be promoting another set of tournaments in December with a similar format.

Here are some of the notable pairings of the 60 team event:

Francisco Bustamante and Efren Reyes 

Ko pin Yi and Ko Pin Chung (Taiwan)

John Morra and Thorsten Hohmann 

Ramil Gallego and Warren Kiamco

Manny Pacquiao and Ronnie Alcano

Alex Pagulayan and Gandy Valle

Carlo Biado and Dennis Orcollo

No draw was easy in this event and the pairing of John Morra and Thorsten Hohmann were thrown into the fire from the get go against Elvis Calasang and Michael Feliciano both highly regarded Filipino players. They were up to the challenge and came away with a 9-6 victory. Their second match would be no easier as they would be up against Alex Pagulayan and Gandy Valle (Philippines).

The Venue "Pacman" Sports Stadium

Morra informed me that they got off to a flawless start in the single knockout race to 9 format taking a 6-0 lead, they closed out the match with a 9 4 win to advance to the final 16 on the winners side. Morra and Hohmann were expecting to play one of the tournament favourites in the next round but two junior players from the Phillipines, Centeno and Roda, defeated the pairing of Orcollo and Biado 9-7. This is a major accomplishment for the young players from the Philippines!! Morra and Hohmann who have been in fine form however ended the dream run of the junior pair this morning defeating them 9-2.

In Other notable matches Manny Pacquiao and his partner Ronnie Alcano were victorious in their first match. International legends Francisco Bustamante and Efren Reyes have advanced to the final 8. Young guns Jeffery De Luna and Jeffrey Ignacio remain undefeated and experienced veteran Ramil Gallego and Antonio Lining are still in the hunt.

Final 8 matchups:

Gomez and Kiamco vs Pin Chung and Pin Yi

Hohmann and Morra vs Esquillo and Silvano

Gallego and Lining vs De Luna and Ignacio

Labrador and Bongay vs Bustamante and Reyes

We have also received word that the semi-finals and finals will be streamed at http://www.welovesport.com/ . Time of the final match is unavailable but we will put up a link on our Facebook page. Good luck to all the remaining players.

 

Québec Federation Kicks Off The Season with Handicap Event

Tournament Winner Gaston Boisvert (wearing a Cue Sport Nation shirt ;)) and Eric Gaudreault

The days are getting shorter and the weather is becoming cooler; the leaves are beginning to change colours and the kids are back to school. For most this would signify the beginning of the fall season. However for pool players it is the sign that the lengthy off season is done and that it is time to dust off the cues and get ready for tournament season.

Living in Cornwall Ontario, which is situated between Ottawa and Montreal, I have easy access to two big circuits. The Québec Federation circuit which I play in was the first to get started this year. 58 players showed up at Dooly's in St. Hyacinthe, Quebec this weekend, which is 45 minutes east of Montreal, to take part in the Federations season opening tournament.

Being that this Federation boast a division for every level "C to Pro" handicap tournaments are a rare treat for players which happens 3 times a season. They are always well attended because of the added money and the chance for weaker players to take the win based on the handicaps.

Living in Ontario I try to make it to this pool hall anytime I can. It is always a great atmosphere to play in and the owners cater to the players by having top notch equipment. All the tables in this establishment were recently re-clothed with Simonis 860 tournament blue. Many pool halls are switching over to the blue now as many players prefer it as the edges of the balls a lot more visible.

Second place Andre Gagnon

I was able to win my first two matches playing very strong in my first match and admittedly got a little lucky in my second. Then I ran into strong AA player Gaston Boisvert, when I first met him a few years ago he was an A player. Now he is only a few points away from AAA, I have to say he is one of the steadiest and calm players on the circuit. He made quick work of me 9-1 and continued on  undefeated the rest of the tournament, winning the 800 $ first prize and an undisclosed amount from the Calcutta.

Third place André Morel

I went on to lose my next match as well to Serge St. Onge who has been my Kryptonite as of late. Eliminating me just before the money the last few times we played. All in all a great tournament. Congratulations to the winners and I look forward to the next tournament in St. Hyacinthe. See below for full tournament pay out.

Nom	Position	Bourse
Boisvert, Gaston #626	1	800 $
Gagnon, André #396	2	600 $
Morel, André #1814	3	400 $
Lessard, François #3311	4	300 $
Fiset, Daniel #85	5 - 6	200 $
Caya, Alain #2576	5 - 6	200 $
Savoie, Jean-Louis #2288	7 - 8	140 $
Ranger, Bruno #2871	7 - 8	140 $
St-Onge, Serge #1249	9 - 12	95 $
Moreau, Michel #1298	9 - 12	95 $
Bernard, André #3002	9 - 12	95 $
Lefebvre, Rémy #3037	9 - 12	95 $
Poulin, Patrick #2324	13 - 16	50 $
Guertin, Stéphane #3525	13 - 16	50 $
Morel, Daniel #1842	13 - 16	50 $
Cicero, Joey #3796	13 - 16	50 $
Barbieri, Tino #736	17 - 24	0 $
Noé, Markus #777	17 - 24	0 $
Falardeau, David #1534	17 - 24	0 $
Jourdain, François #2085	17 - 24	0 $
Breton, Claude #3633	17 - 24	0 $
Leblanc, Michel #3635	17 - 24	0 $
Dufresne, Sylvain #3894	17 - 24	0 $
Vallières, Gaston #3904	17 - 24	0 $
Roy, Pascal #3546	25 - 32	0 $
Fillion, Martin #96	25 - 32	0 $
Gohier, Philippe #1616	25 - 32	0 $
Hall, Liliane #2575	25 - 32	0 $
Couture, Luc #2612	25 - 32	0 $
Sévigny, Éric #3898	25 - 32	0 $
Simard, Luc #2796	25 - 32	0 $
Boileau, Martin #3085	25 - 32	0 $
Raymond, Bertrand #3419	33 - 48	0 $
Gagné, Gilles #4016	33 - 48	0 $
Beauchamp, Éric #3880	33 - 48	0 $
Richard, Bertrand #3458	33 - 48	0 $
Zbikowski, Denys #3053	33 - 48	0 $
Raymond, Normand #2057	33 - 48	0 $
Giguère, Patrick #2011	33 - 48	0 $
Bergeron, Roger #684	33 - 48	0 $
Fradette, Armand #679	33 - 48	0 $
April, Michel #397	33 - 48	0 $
Gilbert, Styve #274	33 - 48	0 $
Duteau, Denis #76	33 - 48	0 $
Martin, Jean-Pierre #59	33 - 48	0 $
Martin, François #53	33 - 48	0 $
Abbasi, Abu #1590	33 - 48	0 $
Pétrin, Karl #3648	33 - 48	0 $
Dozois, Jean-Guy #32	49 - 128	0 $
Miller, Patrick #3817	49 - 128	0 $
Hudon, Michel #3265	49 - 128	0 $
Noël, Éric #1612	49 - 128	0 $
Thériault, Roger #1248	49 - 128	0 $
Gagné, Daniel #735	49 - 128	0 $
Bélanger, Jean #551	49 - 128	0 $
Mercier, Sylvain #521	49 - 128	0 $
Gaudreault, Éric #79	49 - 128	0 $
Quinn, Claude #3840	49 - 128	0 $
Gill, René #145	49 - 128	0 $