Rack-M-Up Summer Series#4: Miller With First Win of the Season

Killer moments after sinking the final 9

 For the third time in four tournaments a full field of 16 showed up to take part in the Rack-M-Up Summer Series this past Saturday. Once again the series saw a new winner as local player Justin "Killer" Miller(7) who was playing in his first tournament of the season, took home top prize.

Not much success for me again on this day as I played Jay Hall (7), who was also playing his first tournament of the season. At 3-3 with me going to 5, things were looking up however his strong play and my inability to play a decent safety ended my hopes swiftly from there with a 7-3 loss. 

Next up was Walter Szydlowsky, the same wile old veteran who ended my tournament a few weeks ago, was looking to do the same. He left me a gift in the first game with a 3 ball run out. Somewhere between a lack of concentration and a continuation of my bad play of late, I rattled the ball and donated the rack right back. Smelling blood in the water after this, Sydlowsky played very tight and did not let me back in this set winning 6-3.

Miller, who recently bumped up to a 7, did not seem phased by the added game to his ranking  and easily won his first few matches. That is until he met up with Jacques Sauve (7) in the winners side final who has done everything but win this season. Sauve played a solid match and came from 5-3 down to win 7-5.

With Sauve in the hot-seat, Miller patiently waited for the losers side to play out. It was no surprise that Jody Roy, a two time finalist this season, earned another opportunity to win. This was an interesting match with Roy being a slight favorite. However Miller, who frequently plays cash games with Roy and is familiar with his style, took control of this match from the start with his safety play. Miller stifled Roy and went on to win 7-4.  

Killer playing Roy Loser Side Final

In the final, Sauve had no answers for Miller as he was able to build a 4-1 lead. Sauve had his moments and after a controversial no call on a two rail kick, that looked to carom off the 9 before the 7 which resulted in him winning the rack. From there is appeared as if Sauve was poised to come back. However "Killer", cool and calm as always, stayed the course and dispatched his opponent 7-4 to win the top prize.

 For all players at all levels the lesson learned in this match is anytime you think there is a possibility of a foul you need to have a ref watching. Otherwise if there is a dispute and no designated official, the argument is automatically won by the shooter.

The next tournament will be July 12. Call Doug Disotell at 613-933-9362 to register early. Remember there are only four left and you need four to qualify for the Grande Finale with added money and a Calcutta. 

1.Justin Miller-$160

2.Jacques Sauve-$100

3. Jody Roy-$60

4.Jeff Flemming -$40

 

Final Update From Big Red: And the New World Champion is...

Courtesy of E&R Walker Photography

The 2014 World Nine Ball Championships is now in the books and the winner is... Niels Feijen! from Holland. The semi finals were also played today and in a somewhat surprising result 23 year old Albin Ouschan defeated Chang Yu Lung, who seemed unstoppable yesterday. In the second semi-final the more predictable result came through as Neils Feijen defeated Elmer Haya. Both matches finished with an 11-7 scoreline. I was able to make it down and watch the final today at the Al Sadd stadium. The score was tight all the way with Feijen finally putting some distance between the two, taking a 10 to 7 lead. The match was characterized, as was most of the tournament, by strong tactical play and disciplined run outs. There was no room for free wheeling in the 4 inch pockets this week. The break and run again seemed fairly elusive for both players. Feijen was hitting the break with a little more consistency and came up with a few more shots after the break than Ouschan did.

Courtesy of E&R Walker Photography

In Ouschans defense he only missed one ball in the whole match, and he performed overall very well in his first World Final. With the score 12 to 10 for Fiejen in the race to 13, he missed a tough 4 ball but was fortunate to leave Ouschan snookered and in an offensive attempt to kick the ball in Ouschan ended up missing the ball completely. Feijen then ran out the remaining five balls for his first world title; well played and well deserved.
Overall this tournament had all the ingredients necessary to make it a well run and successful tournament. The venue was excellent, accommodations were great as well as the equipment. I guess the one thing that we can question is the prize money but seeing the improvement and genuine respect for the game the Qatar organization has shown, I believe that we can expect this aspect to improve as well. Thanks to everyone for following the blog this week and I will be back with some instructional articles very soon as well as other projects that you be seeing in the near future.

The Champ being interviewed photo by John Morra 

Big Red's Final Four Update From Qatar

Today was another action packed day at the world 9 ball championships in Qatar. The field was narrowed down from 32 to just 4 players who will play the semi-final and final matches tomorrow. Remaining in the field is one Filipino player, and probably not one of the ones you would expect, two Europeans and one player from Taiwan. Jason Klatt, the lone Canadian left in the field, started his quest today against top Filipino Carlo Biado. This match never seemed to have much flow to it as most of the other matches. When these two had completed 6 games most other matches had completed 12 games. Jason did very well in the early stages hanging in with the very creative and strong all around Filipino, winning some safety battles and showing a lot of poise while grinding through some tough racks. After 8 games the score was tied at 4 each, from there Biado held strong and Jason made a few errors in some difficult spots, neither player made any easy errors in the match. The biggest difference for Klatt was that he wasn't getting the shots off the break that he had earlier in the week. Biado only missed one ball the whole match with numerous break and runs and took over the match and won 11-5.

Jason Klatt 

Biado continued to impress by beating out tournament favorite Ko Pin Yi in the next round. Overall I felt like this was a very strong tournament for Klatt,.He had some wins against top players and as I mentioned in previous articles, the level of control and skill he displayed in those wins was very impressive. As usual the very thoughtful Klatt reflected with me after the match and it is evident that he has gained valuable experience at this years tournament and I can guarantee you he will be back!
For me the match of the day was between Wu Jiaqing from Taiwan and Chang Yu Lun also from Taiwan. This was a very high quality match in which after a positional error by Yu Lun a great safety battle ensued, ending eventually with Jiaqing attempting a very tough kick safe in which he missed the ball completely. Yu Lun went on to run out the rack for the win. Another high profile match-up started just 15 minutes later when Yu Lun would play Shane Van Boening who was vying for his first overseas win. 

Before today I had never seen Yu Lun play and I can tell you that he is some kind of special talent. There are certain players that have a eerie presence at the table, to me it's like they are basically walking around like they own the whole room. Wu Jiaqing is one of those players and from what I saw from Yu Lun today I would put him in that category as well. Against Van Boening, Yu Lun made at least 3 supremely tough shots while winning every game on his break whether it was a run-out, a lockup safe, or a push to a jump. The only way Van Boening was going to be beat in this tournament was for a player to come out with a match like Yu Lun did. He went on to win the match 11-8 and in my opinion will be the favorite for the title tomorrow.

Chang Yu Lung

Two Europeans have advanced to the final four as well, Niels Feijen from Holland and Albin Ouschan from Austria. Both players have advanced fairly quietly but without a doubt had some strong wins today. Ouschan defeated last years runner up Antonio Gabica 11-10 after being down 10-7 and then went on to beat Li He Wen from China runner up in 2012. Feijen had wins over Radoslaw Babica, Mario He and most notably finished the day off with a solid 11- 6 win over Carlo Biado. The fourth player through to the final four was Elmer Haya from the Philippines, the Cinderella story of the tournament who advanced all the way from the pre-qualifying stages.
The match ups tomorrow will be as follows: Elmer Haya vs Niels Feijen Albin Ouschan vs Chang Yu Lun Both matches will be at 630 am eastern time and the final will be played at 10am eastern time

Update from Big Red: Klatt Last Canuck Standing in Final 32

Jason Klatt playing De Luna Photo by Erik Hjorleifon

The World Nine Ball Championships has kicked into full gear at the Al Sadd Sports Stadium in Qatar. Today saw another 32 eliminated and the list of casualties was indicative of the overall quality of the players in the field. Some big names who ended up on the short end of the scoreline today included Ralf Souquet, Mika Immonen, Lee Van Corteza, Chang Jun Lin, Dennis Orcollo and the reigning champion Thorsten Hohmann.
Canada had two players remaining in action today, both playing during the 1:30 pm time slot. Alex Pagulayan was up against Mario He from Austria and Jason Klatt played Jeffrey Deluna from the Philippines. Alex took the early lead in his match at 3-0, Mario He then evened the score at 5 all. The turning point in the match came at 9 to 8 when He pushed out to a tough jump, he made it and proceeded to run the rack including a nice bank on the 3 ball. Mario finished off the match with an 11-8 win. He also defeated Chang Yu Lun, recent winner of the china open, earlier in the tournament. I've had a few conversations with the Lion this week and he seems enthused and rejuvenated about playing pool, particularly playing snooker. I believe his next snooker tournament will be the first week of July.

That left us with the last Canadian standing, Jason Klatt. Once again he was very impressive in this tough test against top Filipino player Jeff Deluna. As in his previous match, he jumped out to an early lead at 6 to 0. What was particularly impressive about his play in the beginning of the match was that he was playing a controlled break, taking the 1 ball on the same path at the same speed and playing the cue ball in the same area every time. This is the first player that I have seen that has played some sort of consistent break. There are a few reasons it is so hard to have a controlled break under these conditions. Mainly the 1 ball is coming past the side with frequency because of the speed requirements that must be met in order to not risk committing an illegal break. Klatt broke and ran his first three racks, shooting a very similar opening shot each time. He finished with about 5 or 6 total and was in control the whole match extending that lead to 9-2 and after a small comeback, Jason finished the match off with an 11-6 win. Going into the final 32 we have one Canadian left. The only other North American left is Shane Van Boening, who plays Dang Jin Hu from China at 6:30 am Eastern time. Klatt will play Carlo Biado from the Phillipines at 4 am Eastern time tomorrow. There will be 3 rounds total tomorrow narrowing the field down to 4 players. Let's go Jason!!

Jason Klatt Photo by Erik Hjorleifson 

Big Red Update: Klatt and Pagulayan Keep Canadian Hope's Alive

Jason Klatt, photo by Erik Hjorleifson

Today was another important elimination day at the World Championships in Qatar with 32 matches played. The winners of these matches joined the 32 undefeated players making up the second stage single elimination portion of the tournament. Canada started the day with three players left fighting for their tournament lives and looking to move on to stage 2.
The 12 o'clock time slot saw myself play Masakaa Tanaka. The early lead went to Tanaka despite only one mistake made by me in rack three; we split the next six racks making the score 7 to 3. It looked like it would be tough for me from there considering the alternate break format. An unexpected missed nine left the door open for me and I took advantage leveling the score at 7 all. Tanaka then broke and ran to go ahead 8 to 7. On the hill, after I made two safes, my opponent from Japan kicked in the two ball and ran out. Overall I feel like I played pretty well this tournament especially considering that it was my first international tournament in three years. I feel like the biggest thing that held me back was that I was not used to hitting the break at a higher speed which was required this week. Thanks to everyone who sent me messages of support and encouragement and to everyone who was able to cheer me on even in the early hours of the morning. My sister told me that my father had been setting his alarm to watch my matches, which meant a lot to me. In the 2 o'clock time slot Jason Klatt, originally from Selkirk, Manitoba, was up against Ivo Aarts from Holland. I stayed around to watch this match and I caught up with it when the match was 3 to 0 for Jason. Once again Klatt looked in very fine form, hitting the break with precision and with the pressure on, his opponent made some errors with the few chances he had. This match was a runaway as I only saw Aarts pocket 2 or 3 balls leading up to an 8 to 0 scoreline. He eventually closed out the match with another strong 9 to 1 victory and became the first Canadian through to the final 64 stage. Alex Pagulayan was looking to join Klatt in the final 64 spot during the 4 o'clock time slot. After trailing 5 to 2 he came back to win a thrilling hill hill match with a nice clutch shot on the 7 ball in the case game. Today I also saw a great match between Karl Boyes and Efren Reyes. Boyes got to the hill first at 8 to 5 but after he hooked himself a game later, you just knew this one would come down to the wire. In the hill game the two players traded safes which eventually lead to having a long tough shot on the 2 ball, which he failed to make much to the dismay of the partisan Filipino crowd who came to cheer on Efren. There are a lot of Filipinos who work in the service industry in Qatar and the Middle East and they always come out in droves to watch their hero. Boyes then proceeded to run out the rack with nice shots on the 2 ball and the 8 ball.
We are down to the final 64 now and I was surprised at the lack of super marquee match ups; I guess partly due to the fact that players from the winners side play players who qualified through the losers side in the first round. A couple that caught my eye though were Darren Appleton vs. Darryl Peach and Chang Jun Lin vs Shane Van Boening. For our two remaining Canadian players, Alex Pagulayan will play Mario He from Austria and Jason Klatt will play Jeff Deluna from the Phillipines. Both matches will be played at 6:30 am Eastern time so set your alarm and maybe you will be able to catch a couple racks before work tomorrow.

Efren Reyes playing Karl Boyes photo by Jason Klatt

Big Red's Update: 3 Canadians in the Hunt for Final 64 Spot

Erik Hjorleifson and John Morra photo by Jason Klatt

Hello again from Qatar. Today was all winners side matches with the losers going to the one loss side to play elimination matches tomorrow. Alex Pagulayan, the last undefeated Canadian remaining, played Radoslaw Babica from Poland who has been playing in international events for quite some time now. Babica managed to pull off the minor upset today with a 9 to 6 scoreline.

Alex will play at 9 am Eastern time tomorrow against Ivica Putnik from Croatia. Canadian hopefuls Jason Klatt and Erik Hjorleifson will also be in action tomorrow with matches against Ivo Aarts from Holland and Masaa Tanaka from Japan. A win for any of the three players will grant them a birth in the final 64 redraw stage of the tournament.

Players advancing to the winners side undefeated included:

5 players from Taiwan
7 Filipinos
14 Europeans
1 North American
And the rest from other countries mainly China and Japan

As per W.P.A (World Pool-Billiards Association) standards, Europe has the most invites to the tournament with 32 allocated spots. Surprisingly the Philippines are not a part of any association recognized by the W.P.A so any Filipinos that are not in the top 16 in the W.P.A rankings must win qualifying tournaments. I believe about 4 or 5 did this year and all have fared well in the main tournament.

Today was an off day for me and I went to practice at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation, which is a government funded national billiards training facility. It is a beautiful venue and each year the association is equipped with tables that are identical in playing condition to the tables in the main tournament. I have seen three different styles of tables in the federation, all according to which manufacturer is sponsoring the World Championships.  It is evident that all Middle Eastern countries are making a big effort to become competitive on the international pool scene. Most countries including Qatar, Iran, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the U.A.E (United Arab Emirates)  are currently employing mostly Filipino house pros at several rooms in each country. Their job is to teach the top Middle Eastern prospects what they have learned in the knowledge rich pool atmosphere of the Philippines. This also provides some nice employment opportunity for many Filipino players to earn a living and support their families back home.

We will be back at it tomorrow and again. The match times are:

Hjorleifson vs. Tanaka 5am
Klatt vs. Aarts  7am
Pagulayan vs. Putnik 9am
All matches listed in Eastern time

Picture of the practice room. Photo by Big Red

Another Exclusive World Championship Update from Big Red

Hello again from the World 9 ball Championships in Qatar; the Canadians fared a little better today winning 3 matches and losing 3 matches. The first match of the day was Alex Pagulayan vs. Naoyuki Ohi, one of the top players from Japan. I was only able to catch the end of the match but from what I saw Alex looked in fine form, en route to a 9-6 victory.  

In the 2 o'clock time slot I played a player from Qatar, which is usually a good sign as there are only a few world class players from the Middle East. Although it must be said they have all come a long way since they started competing about six years ago. This was a very odd match and a bit of a testament to what can happen when you cannot control the break. Things just weren't clicking on the break for me and an early missed 9 ball put my opponent up 4 to 1. He lead the entire matching including getting to the hill first at 8-6. If it wasn't for a missed 7 ball by my opponent at 8 to 7 it would've been a very tough loss for me; fortunately I escaped with a break and run on the hill. I learned a couple things in this match that I will carry on to my next matches. 

John Morra wasn't so fortunate today as he lost to Scott Cooney 6-9,  it seemed like it just wasn't meant to be for him this time around. At the beginning of the tournament he was ranked number 11 in the world and will have plenty to look forward to in the future. Mario Morra also lost to Artem Koshovoy from the Ukraine 9 to 4 in this time slot.

In the 4 o'clock slot Jason Klatt played Karol Skowerski, from Poland, who was the World Pool Masters Champion in 2012. I stayed after my match to take this one in, as I knew it would be a great match. Jason's play was near flawless on his way to a 9 to 3 win including 5 break and runs. Sometimes it's not just the end result of the match but more the way it was executed, and this was a strong confident win for Jason. Mario Morra also played his losers side match today and lost a tough one 9 to 6 after being up 6-3 on one of the toughest players in the field, Lee Van Corteza.

From what I have seen thus far, players haven't been able to come up with a consistent break where they are controlling position on the 1 ball. The World 9 Ball and all international 9 ball tournaments use what is called "the three point rule". This means that the total of balls pocketed and balls past the head string must total 3 or more to constitute a legal break. This forces the players to hit the break with speed. Players have generally been attempting to hit them at a higher speed, focusing on cue ball control to the center of the table and just hoping for a shot on the one.  

Going  into day three we have 3 out of 5 Canadian players left. Jason and I will have the day off and Alex plays at 9 am Eastern Standard Time against Radoslaw Babica from Poland. I will play my next match on the 24th, 5 am EST and Jason will play on the 24th as well at 7 am EST. Thanks for all the support back home and I'll be back with another update tomorrow.

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