SVB Claims Three Peat at Players Championship/ Canuck Jason Klatt wins the Pro-Am

Winners of the Pro Events Chip Compton Karen Corr Shane Van Boening
Photo from NYC Grind

The New Jersey Convention Center was swarmed with pool players and fans alike this past week as it played host to the Super Billiard Expo. I have been lucky enough to attend this event twice in the past four years, it really is paradise for pool junkies. There is Amateur, Senior and Pro events to play in or watch as well as tons of late night action matches to play in or to soak in. When you have had your fill of playing, there are vendors from  seemingly every major cue and accessory manufacturer to stroll around and to do some shopping.

Shane Van Boening or "Mr. 10 Ball" as he has become known, is a threat to win any tournament he enters but at 10 ball, he seems unstoppable at times. He has proven this with defending his Open 10 ball Professional Championship the past two years and he appeared to be the favorite for the three peat. SVB beat some notable names such as Denis Hatch, Shawn Wilkie and Warren Kiamco on his way to meet Tommy Kennedy in the winners side final. Kennedy won matches against Johnny Archer, Mika Immonen, Ralf Souquet on his journey to the winner side final  and played with confidence and earned him self a lead in the hot seat match. SVB came back from being 3 games down to tie it 8-8. This is when Kennedy kicked back into gear has he put it in a post match interview and clamped down to seal the 10-8 win. SVB then met a very game Earl Strickland who was on a tear after an early lost to Immonen. The Iceman went to his Facebook wall after the match and shared what the Pearl said to him after his win, "you don't have half the talent I do". Controversial as always that seemed to pump the 5 time U.S open Champion up as he blanked last years World 9 Ball Champion Thorsten Hohmann 10-0 in second match on the losers side. He continued his war path knocking Rodney Morris, Darren Appleton and Warren Kiamco out of the tournament. However SVB found that gear he seems to have above everyone else right now beating Strickland 10-5 then winning his rematch with fan favorite Tommy Kennedy for the prestigious three-peat.

Jason Klatt with his Pro Am Trophy.
From Darren Appleton Facebook Page

Pro-Am
Canadian Jason Klatt added another title to his resume winning the 32 max pro-am event. This is a great tournament for an amateur who believes they are on the verge of reaching Pro status to test themselves. As it doubles as a second chance tournament for the Pro's who were eliminated from the stacked pro event. "Klatticus," did not have an easy draw in this 2/3 races to 6 single elimination tournament wining matches over Mike Dechaine and Shawn Wilkie before beating Ryan McCreesh in the final and claiming the $4000 top Prize.Also Canada's top Women Professional Brittany Bryant had a solid 4th place finish place finish and $1000 for her troubles.

Local Roundup

Rack-M-Up Billiards was also well represented at the Expo this year as Jody "Dirt" Roy, Justin "Killer" Miller and Jason Hall all played in the Amateur event. Which by Canadian standards is nothing like an amateur event  as I could pick out many players I consider Professional but that is the case every year. Danny Normandin who placed 3rd at the most recent Turning Stone Classic was eligible to play and he didn't even make the final bracket of this event, which is a testament to the talent they consider amateur. This is a single elimination tournament that had 800 plus players in it. Roy did the best out of the bunch winning 3 matches and making a deal for the money round which he lost but still took home $150. Miller won two matches and Hall lost his first.

For those of us who were not as fortunate to make the trip to Edison instead drove to Gatineau Quebec to take part in the final ABO tournament of the season before the Grande Finale next month. With most players already qualified by playing in the 4 tournaments necessary, it was not a big showing in either the the Open or A/B division.  In the Open class Randy Mitchel and Norm Pomainville, both regulars at Rack-M-Up Billiards faced off in the bubble match for the money rounds and with Pomainville taking the 9-7 win.  In his next match Pomainville lost to the eventual tournament winner Sebestain Cousineau who was in great form armed with a sledge hammer break and spotting the cue ball with consistency.

In the A/B I placed 2nd place losing 7-5 to Gilbert Carrier who wins his second consecutive ABO. I was playing solid for most of the day excluding the two match I played with Carrier who seems to have my number. It's a case where two conflicting styles clash and I usually get the worst end of it because of a lack of patience, which I will admit left me in this final. This is a credit to my opponent Carrier who has steadily improved over the past few years and is now reaping the rewards. I have always had trouble with a slow pace of play and that goes back to a previous blog where I outlined how I need to focus less on my opponent and more on the table.  Next up for the ABO is the Winning Stroke Cup on April 5th followed by the Grande Finale April 12-13.

Results and Musings from Final Semi-Pro of the Season.

From left to right John Leblan Fred Lapointe
Photo courtesy of poolstream.tv

Yesterday Justin "Killer" Miller and I  took to the road once again, this time to challenge ourselves at a Semi-Professional Tournament at Le Skratch Laval. 55 players with each class from B and up were represented in this $1000 dollar added non handicapped event. These are great tournaments to test your game against some top players as well to rail-bird some fantastic matches, especially if your at an intermediate level like myself.

For my first round I drew a Semi-Pro player who I had never met before, Carol Audet. A very well mannered player who causally shoots lights out with very solid fundamentals making the game look easy at times. I was playing a solid match keeping it close at 4-4 with some solid safety play getting ball in hand and running out. Then I tried a kick shot and the cue ball jumped off my tip and impact upon inspection a chunk of my tip peeled off leaving it useless. Luckily I had a spare shaft, however I am used to my 314 and all I had left was my Z'2 shaft which to me is night and day in feeling. Usually I only pull out the Z'2 for snooker matches preferring the smaller tip. So needless to say this through me for a bit of a loop; not that I was going to win this match, but it was a turning point for me. I went on to lose 9-5 then 7-1 to the most recent AA tournament winner Eric Levesque who's break was working well and basically ran out most of the set on me. My road partner Miller had a good outing wining two matches one against AAA Alain Caya only losing to top ranked Semi-Pro's Jonathan Hebert and Richer Francoeur. 

We left shortly after Miller was eliminated because of hunger and a storm front was blowing in. However the nice people at poolstream.tv  posted all the results. Fred Lapointe from Trois-Rivieres Qubebec was the eventual winner with John Leblanc from Gatineau placing 2nd. 

1er Fred Lapointe
2e John Leblanc
3e Pat Déry
4e Dany Normandin
5-6
Éric Claude
Anas Abrouq
7-8
Jonathan Hébert
Jason Hubert
9-12
Carol Audet
Michel April
Éric Croteau
S. Vandal-Petit
13-16
Richer Francoeur
Éric Fleury
Rinaldo Buttarazzi
Marcel Gilbert
17-24
Steve Roy
Luc Leduc
Francis English
S. Mercier
L. Richard
C. Kham
C. Douros
J. Miller
25-32
David Deschênes
Armand Fradette
Christian Harvey
Pierre Garant
S. Cousineau
D. Legault
Y. Bathalon
M. Harraq
33-48
Éric Horth
Christian Nadeau
Sébastien Binette
Marc-André Roy
Angelo Buttarazzi
Luc Paquette
E. Lévesque
D. Morel
J-P Martin
R. Campbell
P. Otis
D. Byrne
M. Nadeau
G. Remon
A. Caya
M. Moreau
49-64
Étienne Briand
Éric Cloutier
M. Noé
D. Sumun
S. Boudreau
M. Chiasson
P. Jubinville

Local Grinder Makes Finals in Ottawa, Hewitt and Klatt with Strong Showings State Side

Platon Liolios, another up and comer out of Rack-M-Up Billiards made his second finals appearance this past Saturday at Dooley's in Ottawa. This was the second last tournament of the ABO season which has 8 tournaments with a Grande Finale for those who play 4/8. Liolios was cruising until he ran into rival B player Christine Gauthier who has been enjoying her own success this year and showed why sending him to the one loss side 7-1. There he returned back to form eliminating myself and another A player Jim Moffat to earn his finals appearance. Unfortunately for Liolios, fate interfered as his opponent in the finals Gilbert Carrier, was not only playing well but had the rolls on his side as he fluked a few shots that stole some games. All in all it was another good showing for our locals at the ABO as it appears one of us is a threat every tournament to win. Next tournament for this Circuit will be held at Terminus located in Gatineau on March 15th.

Joss N/E Update

Once again Danny Hewitt took down a Joss tour stop without much difficulty. This particular field was not stacked with top players as Hewitt on paper was the run away favorite to win this event. However in 9 ball anything can happen and even if one is the favorite execution is still important. Hewitt charged through to the winners side final to meet Dave Hernandez. It was a close match that Hewitt lost 9-8, showing his experience Hewitt immediately played the losers side final finding his game and quickly won 9-0. This was a true double elimination tournament, meaning Hewitt had to beat Hernandez twice to win. Which he accomplished with ease after finding his game in the previous match and taking the $1,000  top prize.

Also at the Chuck Markulis Memorial Jason Klatt had an impressive 8th place finish out of a field of 128 top pros. His next stop is the U.S Barbox Championships in Reno this week where he will get a chance at 8,9 and 10 ball titles. Klatt is a contender in any tournament he enters but even more so in Reno as he is the defending  U.S 8 ball Barbox Champion, good luck to all out Canadians this week!

Canadians Making Presence Felt Down South

Joss NE Tour Stop

This has been a great month for our Canadian talent who have headed south to partake in some professional tournaments.  It started with Montreal native Danny Hewitt being victorious at a Joss NE-9-ball tour stop held at Sharp Shooters Billiards in Amsterdam NY which took place February 8th and 9th.

A field of 45 showed up and Hewitt crushed the winners side of the bracket as no one got past 5 games on a race to 9. Notably on his way to the finals he beat veteran professional Jeremy Sossei 9-0. Sossei is no push over as he is a regular winner on the Joss Tour and this pas September finished runner up at the Turning Stone Classic Final to Earl Strickland.  Hewitt met Sossei again in the final as he fought his way through the losers side, once again Hewitt was too much easily winning 9-2 and  $1000.  I had the pleasure of watching this stream live for free and Hewitt was amazing to watch has he put on a break and run clinic. Its easy to forget what kind of talent Hewitt really is as he is not a touring professional per say mostly playing in upper New York State when he does cross in to the U.S.  Also up and comer and friend of Rack-M-Up Billiards Mike Donnelly won the second chance tournament who is not Canadian but gets honorable mentions.


WPBA Masters

Next up is Brittany Bryant who was fresh of her win at the Music City Open last month  and was playing with confidence has she battled back from an early loss to finish tied for 7th. This was an impressive showing for the 22 year old who has been a well known professional in Canada for a few years now. However she is really starting to make her mark among the best women players in the world. Also Bryant followed up this performance by returning to her hometown of Guelph Ontario to cut through a field of 32 to win the Royal City 9 Ball Challenge.

Jay Swanee Memorial

John Morra who has been the most consistent Canadian this past year, had another impressive performance finishing 5th at the Jay Swanee Memorial. This annual event is very popular among the professionals as 192 players showed up to partake. Morra won three matches on the winners side before matching up against Filipino world beater Carlo Biado who sent him to the losers bracket.  There he won six matches getting wins over top players such as Ernesto Dominquez and Brandon Shuff. Morra is one player all Canadian fans are keeping an eye on as it is evident he has the talent to take down a major tournament such as a U.S Open or a Worlds. With his continuous improvement this year could be the year.

Local Shooters and More Descend Upon Rack-Em-Up Billiards For Heart and Stroke Event

Part owner Doug Disotell congratulating the top two. 

This past weekend  February 8th/9th Doug Disotell and Amanda Collins owners of Rack-M-Up Billiards donated their services to host the second annual "Billiard for Heart Tournament." A full field of 32 showed up to support the cause. Mostly locals however some came from as far as Valleyfeild, Waterloo, Akwesasne, Plattsburg N.Y and Lake Placid. Money was donated through way of Raffle, Calcutta and entries from the tournament. A $1000 was raised  which goes towards the "Heart Month" fundraising campaign put on by the Heart and Stroke Foundation

This was a handicapped event with the lowest ranked players racing to 4 games while the highest ranked players raced to 9. Local pool hall junkie J.R Cook got off to a good start wining  his first match 5-3 against rival player Kevin Thibeault (5). It was smooth sailing for J.R after that as no one was able to threatened his handicap the entire tournament as he booked his seat into the final  5-2 against Jay Hall in the winners side final (9).

Much of the same could be said for former local Jayson Montgomery(7) who now plays out of Waterloo. He went 3 rounds on the winners side of the bracket before running into Christian Isabelle out of Valleyfield (8) who was an early favorite to win this tournament. After losing a tough match Montgomery got to work grinding out the "B" side of the bracket getting wins over Denis Ryan, local journeyman Mike (Nature Boy) Mitchell and Jayson Hall.  Montgomery played some solid pool to get through the "B" side as he eliminated 3 top players who were favored by many to win this event. Montgomery on fire form his previous matches made quick work of J.R Cook in the final winning 7-2, an unfortunate end for J.R but all in all an impressive weekend for him as it is clear all of his practice is beginning to pay off.

I am pleased to say the weekend went off without a hitch. Matches were played relatively on time and at reasonable pace. There were no arguments as each player respected their opponent and the referee's in charge. Spectators were treated to some exceptional pool from local favorites and out of town road warriors such as Denis Ryan and Christian Isabelle, all while helping a great cause. A big thank you goes out to everyone who supported this weekends event and we all look forward to the next pool tournament at Rack-M-Up Billiards.

More Information on upcoming events by the Heart and Stroke Foundation can be found @ www.heartandstoke.com 

Jayson Hall left and Jayson Montgomery right playing their B side Final Match

                                            Tournament Payouts                         Calcutta Payouts
1. Jayson Montgomery                     425                                                   450                      
2. J.R Cook                                     275                                                   325
3.Jayson Hall                                   175                                                   225
4.Mike Mitchell                               125                                                   180
5.Denis Ryan                                     90                                                    97.50
6.Christian Isabelle                            90                                                    97.50
7.Justin Miller                                    50    
8. Maurice Hearne                            50

Canadians Klatt & Morra Impressive at Derby City Classic.

Throughout this past week in southern Indiana the Horseshoe Casino played host to one of the biggest events of the year, the Derby City Classic. Pool Legends, Hustlers and up and comers  alike flock to this eight day event each year. There truly is something for everyone at Derby City as events include 9 Ball, Banks, One Pocket, 14.1 Straight Pool and of course lots of gambling action.

Dennis Orcollo won the 14.1 and with impressive finishes in the other events was awarded the coveted Master of the Table award which added 20,000 to Orcollo's pocket.  Canadians were well represented as Jason (Klatticus) Klatt finished third in the 9 ball event only to lose to friend and fellow Canadian John Morra.

Klatticus who became known a few years ago with his 5th place finish at the U.S Open lost a close match 9-8 to Morra who ended up playing none other than top American, Shane Van Boening, in the final. Morra who's coming out party happened last year when he won the Derby City 9 Ball Banks Tournament was looking to finish a successful week by adding another Derby City title to his resume.

Morra, who lost 11-10 to SVB in the 10 ball Big Foot challenge, was looking for a little revenge as he was on the hill first in that match before SVB won. He then went on to win the tournament. Morra got off to an early 4-1 lead as he came with a good break to start the match and was running racks. Eventually SVB went on to tie it at 5-5 then broke in a 9 to take a 6-5 lead. To Morra's credit he did not let his misfortune bother him and tied the match up at 7-7 then went to the hill first at 8-7. Unfortunately Morra came up with what I believed to be his only dry break of the match and SVB ran out that rack. Morra had another chance in the final rack; he played a beautiful safety but got a bad roll and fluked a ball while leaving himself hooked which cost him the match. However as quoted in an AZbilliard article by David Thompsom from Medium Pool "There was no player, this week, who compared with John's ability to spear in balls, the length of the table, under pressure." 

Morra, who is only 24, is really starting to show his potential. With him and Klatticus playing at such a high level it leaves us Canadians hopeful for another World or U.S open Champ in the near Future.

Charity Pool Tournament to Be Hosted at Rack-M-Up Billiards

Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death for Canadians. Thus, February is dubbed "Heart Month" by the Heart and Stroke Foundation. During this month the H&S Foundation will have a blitz of events geared to promoting awareness of the risk of heart disease. Doug Disotell and Amanda Collins, owners of Rack-M-Up Billiards, have decided to donate the use of their pool tables during the day Saturday, February 8 and Sunday, February 9 for a charity pool event.

This event will be handicapped and it is open to C level players up to AAA, with no Pro's or Semi-Pros permitted. AAA will be racing to 9 and C players to 4 while A and AA will be somewhere in between depending on ranking given by Doug Disotell. These Handicaps are tentative for now and might be subject to change; these numbers are just to give people an idea of the system. This event will max out at 32 players which is expected to happen as 9 are already signed up and these tournaments are historically very well attended.

Entry deadline, if the field is not full, will be 11:00 a.m. the day of the tournament. There will also be a Calcutta which will start at 11:15 a.m.. Play will start at noon sharp until 7:00 p.m. then continue the next day at noon. Rack-M-Up Billiards has ten 9ft tables, seven which are Black Crown Original and two Black Crown 2's.

For any question regarding the tournament or if interested in donating a door prize please call Doug or Amanda @ 1-613-933-9362. All players that meet the criteria are welcome to play. If you are an unknown player feel free to stop in sometime this week to be assessed or call in with a reference. All entries will be either accepted or declined by Doug Disotell. Spectators are welcome as some of the best local talent we have to offer will be on display.

Finally, the Owners of Rack-M-Up Billiards, would like to thank the people at Sports Energy News who lowered their usual advertisement rate for their front page banner as a donation. Do not forget to check back next week as all the results and payouts will be reported here. Good luck to all the shooters and don't forget to support all of the events the Heart and Stroke Foundation has to offer this month!