The "Lion" Makes History at the Derby

By: Markus Noé

Yesterday was the final day of the 1 Pocket Division, those that tuned in last night to the Accu-Stats stream were treated two a few fantastic matches. The final three in this division were Canadian Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan, Mosconi Cup Team member Justin "Hollywood" Hall and a bit of a surprise as he is not known for this 1 pocket play was Mike "Fireball" Dechaine.

Just like in the Banks Division at the end of the bracket there is an odd number of players so they do a draw and someone gets an automatic buy into the final. The lucky one this time was Dechaine. What made things even tougher for Hall and Pagulayan wass that Dechaine marched though this giant field undefeated meaning he was the only on left with a re-buy.Thus whoever was going to make it to the final would have to beat Dechaine twice in order to take the 1 Pocket crown.

Going into the semi-final the "Lion" was in top form as he just beat out the legend and 6 time Derby City 1 Pocket Champion Efren Reyes by a 3-0 scoreline. Pagulayan also made quick work of Hall knocking him out in third place with an identical scoreline of 3-0. After winning 6 games in a row against some of the best 1 Pocket players in the world, the "Lion" continued his charge in the first match of the final winning 3-0.

It took 10 wins in a row before Dechaine grabbed a game of Pagulayan to tie the last match of the tournament at 1-1. Unfortunately for Dechaine who had an amazing tournament that was as close as he would get, as Pagulayan went on to win his first Derby City 1 Pocket title 3-1. In the 17 year storied history of the Derby City Classic, Alex Pagulayan has etched himself in the history books by becoming the first ever player to win the triple crown. As he has won both the 9 Ball Division and the Banks Division earlier on in his career.

To add to this historic moment Pagulayan has been playing well enough throughout the week that he is a favourite to win the Master of The Table honours. This goes to the player who has performed the best during the week in all three divisions: Banks, 9 Ball and 1 Pocket. Winning this title means an extra $20,000 in his pocket. Congratulations to him on his big win and good luck to the rest of the way. Make sure to share this historic moment with your friends and tell them Cue Sport Nation is the place to go to get all the Derby City Classic updates.