Archives for 9 Ball Challenge category
Posted on Aug 11, 2009 under 9 Ball Billiard, 9 Ball Challenge |
Chinese Taipei 9-ball stars Yang Ching-shun and Liu Shin-mei have advanced without much of a challenge into the quarterfinals of the World Games men’s and women’s 9-ball tournament, but the “Little Monster,” Kuo Po-cheng, was knocked out in a tense match. Billiards, and especially the 9-ball game, is popular in the host country, and local fans are hopeful the event will generate several medals for the Chinese Taipei World Games team. Yang, a two-time Asian Games champion and semifinalist at the 2002 9-ball World Championships shot his way past Ivica Putnik of Croatia 11-2 to reach the quarterfinals of the men’s 9-ball event Thursday. Nicknamed the “son of pool,” the Kaohsiung native won the 2001 World Games 9-ball gold medal, and after missing the 2005 tournament felt he could not pass up returning to the event staged in his hometown. He was joined there by Sweden’s Marcus Chamat, nicknamed Napoleon, who reached the semifinals of the 9-Ball World Championships in 2004. Chamat defeated Alejandro Carvajal of Chile 11-8. On the women’s side, Chinese Taipei’s Liu, the 1999 world 9-ball champion, advanced to the quarterfinals with a 9-4 win over Japan’s Akio Otani, despite not being at her best. Liu struggled to a 5-4 lead before winning the final four games. She will now face the “Duchess of Doom,” Great Britain’s Allison Fisher, in what has to be the marquee match-up of the quarterfinals. Fisher, who has won four 9-ball world championships and was nominated in June to be inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame, set up the showdown with a 9-3 win over Aspra Indurjeeth Panchoo of South Africa. Also reaching the final eight of the women’s draw was 2008 world 9-ball champion Lin Yuan-chun of Chinese Taipei, who brushed aside compatriot Tsai Pei-chen 9-2. In later matches, Kuo, the 2005 9-ball World Championship runner-up, was locked in a struggle the diminutive “Little Monster” stayed with American No. 1 Shane van Boening for much of the match before stumbling on the last rack to lose 11-10. But “Hitman” and 2003 9-ball world champion Thorsten Hohmann had no problem advancing, defeating Chi Dung Luong of Vietnam 11-4. Although Kuo lost, another local favorite Wy Yu-lun got the local crowd going with an upset of second seed Ricky Walden of Great Britain. Walden was the only player ranked in the top 20 in snooker entered in the World Games tournament. After players complained Wednesday that the venue felt like a freezer, the temperature at the Chung Cheng Martial Arts Stadium rose from 20 degrees to a still chilly 22 degrees. But Yang later said the cool temperature bothered him far less than a bout of nerves early in his match.
Posted on Jul 30, 2009 under 9 Ball Billiard, 9 Ball Challenge |
Iris Ranola Captures Oklahoma Women’s State 9-Ball Championship
The OB Cues Ladies Tour and Magoo’s in Tulsa, OK hosted the Second Annual Oklahoma State Women’s 9-Ball Championship on July 25th & 26th. Thirty-five women were in attendance for the event, with 15 ladies competing for the 2010 US Open qualifier. The diverse field that arrived to play proved very tough when the doors opened Saturday morning, as this event is the only OB Cues stop that allows WPBA professionals to participate. Notable players on hand were WPBA Pros Iris Ranola, Janet Atwell, and Heather Pulford, 2009 OB Cues Ladies Tour Champion Lisa Marr, 2009 BCA Women’s Open Champion Cristina De La Garza, 2009 BCA Grand Master Runner-up Julia Gabriel, 2008 BCA Grand Master Runner-Up Bonnie Plowman, and former WPBA professional Julie (Mason) Comitini. There were some key matches early in the event, knocking many tough opponents to the B-side of the bracket earlier than expected and from there, knocking several out of the main event on Saturday evening.
Twelve players returned for the main event on Sunday, with four players remaining undefeated: Theresa Wilson, Janet Atwell, Julie Comitini, and Iris Ranola. The first round of the B-side eliminated Laura McDermott, Tara Williams, Shayla Neris, and Natalie Starr in a tie for 9th. Lisa Marr and Kathy McMinn finished a respectable 7th. The 5th place matches pitted the four remaining qualifier contenders against each other, each vying to remain in the running for the spot in the 2010 US Open. Heather Pulford and Julie Comitini were able to keep their qualifier dreams alive, while Theresa Wilson and Ginny Keeler had to settle for a paycheck and a 5th place finish. After all was said and done, Julie Comitini took the 4th place finish and Heather Pulford walked away with the spot for the 2010 US Open event and a chance to improve her standing in the tournament. On the winner’s side, Iris Ranola was matched against fellow professional Janet Atwell. Iris came out on top in a hill-hill match and had to wait for the 3rd place match to see whom she would face in the finals. Janet came out on top against Heather 7-4. Congratulations to Heather Pulford for her 3rd place finish and we wish her good luck next year in the 2010 US Open. In a repeat of the hot seat match, Iris and Janet would face each other once again to see who would be crowned the 2009 Oklahoma State 9-Ball Champion. Before the finals match could begin, two cues donated by OB Cues were raffled to support the event. The lucky winners were regular OB Cue Tour members, Tara Williams and Sandy Rodermund.
-WBPA WOMEN’S PROFESSIONAL BILLIARD ASSOCIATION
Posted on Jul 28, 2009 under 9 Ball Challenge |
Matt Krah wins Raxx Blaze 9 ball.
The Blaze 9 Ball Tour made its way to Raxx Billiards Bar & Grill in West Hempstead, NY. Thirty-four players made there way to the event, players like Matt Krah, Mike “The Baby Face Assassin” Davis, Danny Basavich, Steve Lillis, Spanish Pete, Wali Muhammad to name a few. Special thanks to Holden Chin and Raxx Billiards Bar & Grill for hosting the event, also thanks to the staff at Raxx for a wonderful time.
Leading the way on the top half of the bracket was Wali Muhammad with wins over Carol Martorana 7-1, Vinroy Logan 7-2, Jerry Tarantola 7-6, Mark Pantovic 7-5. Leading the way on the bottom half of the bracket was Matt Krah with wins over Mike Dunn 7-3 Carmen Lombardo 7-6 Holden Chin 7-5 Beau Baer 7-4. Playing for the hot seat was Wali Muhammad Vs Matt Krah, Wali Muhammad jumped out to a 4-2 lead but Krah came right back by winning the next 5 games to win the match 7-4, giving him the hot seat and sending Wali to the one lost side.
Making a run on the one lost side was Mark Pantovic with wins over Mike Fingers 7-3, Mike “The Baby Face Assassin” Davis 7-6 and Wali Muhammad 7-3 to get to the finals.
In the finals it was Matt Krah Vs Mark Pantovic and this would have been a great match since both players where shooting great and on top of their game but due to personal problems Mark Pantovic could not continue so he had to forfeit the match to Matt Krah, Giving Krah the Blaze 9 Ball Tour 9th Stop. Jose Burgos would like to thank the following sponsors for their support; Blaze Cues, Sterling Gaming, Cue Sight, Tiger Products, Ray Shuler Cues, Robin Dobson Frog Jump Cue, Ariel Carmeli Custom Cues, Smith & Weston Cues, Baby’s Pro-shop Sledgehammer, Allen Hopkins Super Expo, Creative Inventions Joe Porper, Longoni Cues, Stealth Cues, Run-Out Sports Wear, Inside Pool, JAB Cues & Things, AZ Billiards, Hustlin Sports Wear, www.highendcues.com, TAS Management LTD 1-888-253-8958, Mike Mosley Insurance Agency 215-672-9900, Predator, NVS Audio, Bullseye Security and Long Island Web Design Company.
blazetour.com 
Posted on Jul 23, 2009 under 9 Ball Challenge |
The Challenge Cup & The GB9 Paul Medati Trophy
Karl Boyes on a tremendous victory in the 128 Player main event at the GB9 Tournament in Barnsley.
This is Karl’s first GB9 title - but it was noted by a few “in the know” players that Karl appeared to have brought his brilliant streak of good form back with him from his recent sucessful visit to Germany where he was playing some of the best pool in his career, ultimately reaching the Quarter-Final stage of the 240 player field of the best pool talent in Europe.
Like many of the best players in the world, Boyes’ results improved throughout the event, despite a “touch and go” result in the Quarter Final (9-8 vs Craig Osborne) Boyes then spread his wings and appeared to cruise through the two final stages with strong victories over his two final opponents—–
Steve Folan was another new name added to the exclusive list of players with a GB9 title to their name.
Folan had just returned from a visit to Las Vegas where he had a couple of momentous victories in the Predator 10 Ball Open. After qualifying for the prestigious single elimination rounds he notched up a strong win over Raj Hundal, now playing for India, and then a notable victory over Shane Van Boening - unarguably the hottest ten ball player in the world at the moment!
Surfing this wave of confidence it’s no wonder that Folan made short work of collecting his first GB9 Trophy.
The Pro Cup
Daryl Peach’s name appears to have tenancy rights on The GB9 Pro Cup trophy, as this was the incredible third time he has won this title in the two short seasons that the GB9 tour has been running.
There were some notable absentees from the Pro Cup line-up, as Imran Majid, the hottest GB9 player of the 2008 season with a staggering set of results and trophies from the GB9 tour was committed to playing ten ball in Sarajevo.
Maltese snooker legend, and former Predator 10 Ball Champion Tony Drago was absent due to a previous snooker engagement, and World 10 Ball Champion Darren Appleton was occupied in his “home from home” in Manila as he was invited to the Philippine 10 Ball Open.
With some of the top players absent due to these prior engagements, Peach, the reigning World 9 Ball Champion from Blackpool, must have known he had a good chance of striking gold again, and sure enough, this was his second Pro Cup win on the spin!
Posted on Jul 07, 2009 under 9 Ball Challenge |
VIA GMAnews.TV
Antonio “Gaga” Gabica and Israel “Amay” Rota were the last two Filipinos still standing when the smoke cleared after the start of the knockout stage Saturday in the 2009 Qatar International 9-ball Pool Championship.
Gabica, who gave the Philippines a gold medal in the 2006 Doha Asian Games 9-ball event, defeated Mateusz Sniegocki, 11-5, at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Doha, Qatar to reach the final 16.
Rota, an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) earning a living as a pool instructor in the Middle East country, posted the biggest victory of his career when he sent Radoslaw Babica packing with an 11-5 win.
Gabica’s next assignment will be against Wang Hsiang Hung of Chinese-Taipei, who defeated Dimitri Jungo of Switzerland, 11-1, while Rota will try to extend his giant-killing ways with a face-off with Mika Immonen of Finland, who nipped Mariusz Skoneczny of Poland, 11-10.
Falling by the way side were Filipino campaigners Marlon “Marvelous” Manalo, Jeffrey “The Bull” de Luna and Raymond Faraon, another OFW working as a pool club pro in Qatar.
Manalo began packing after absorbing an 11-8 defeat at the hands of American Shane “The South Dakota Kid” Van Boening while De Luna suffered an 11-9 heartbreak from Neils “The Terminator” Feijen of the Netherlands.
Faraon’s amazing run was halted by an 11-4 sacking from 2007 World Pool Champion ruler Daryl Peach of Great Britain.
One of the notable wins in the round of 32 matches included the victory of unknown Jalal Al Saresi of Jordan over WPA World no.1 and reigning World 8-ball champion Ralf Souquet of Germany.
Saresi, who will meet Fu Che Wei of Chinese Taipei in the next round, sent Souquet reeling with an 11-4 reversal. Fu downed Mario He of Austria, 11-4.
Other round of 32 results saw Imran Majid of Great Britain eliminating Vilmos Foldes of Hungrary, 11-9; Ricky Yang of Indonesia downing Chris Melling of Great Britain, 11-3; Darren Appleton of Great Britain defeating Marcus Chamat of Sweden, 11-5;
Tohru Kuribayashi of Japan prevailing over Kuo Po Cheng of Chinese-Taipei, 11-5; Yang Ching Shun of Chinese-Taipei giving compatriot Lu Hui Chan of Chinese-Taipei the axe with an 11- 3 win; Karl Boyes of Great Britain giving Yukio Akakariyama of Japan an 11-5 beating; and Ko Pin Yi of Chinese-Taipei nosing out Jonni Fulcher of Great Britain, 11-9.
Posted on Jul 02, 2009 under 9 Ball Challenge |
World No. 1 Orcollo aces Qatar billiards crown
Also in this year, he won the BCA Open Nine-ball Championship, a tournament where three fellow Filipinos were defeated in the final in past editions of that event. He competed for the second time at the World Straight Pool Championship. Unlike the previous event, where he was the only Philippine player in contention, Warren Kiamco joined him. He had a much better performance in the tournament and achieved a high run of 117 (the fourth highest in the tournament). However, he was defeated by Oliver Ortmann, the eventual winner of the event, in the quarter-finals by a lopsided 200-7 score, the largest margin in the history of the tournament.
2009 Dennis Orcollo trounced veteran Niels Feijen of the Netherlands, 13-5, to win the inaugural 2008 Qatar International Open 9-Ball Championship at the Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation in Doha.
It was the World Number 1’s third title this year after the Quezon City 9-Ball Championship and the All-Japan Open last March, fortifying his tag as the best and most fearsome cue artist today.
“Masayang-masaya ako sa pagkapanalo kong ito, at ang tagumpay kong ito ay iniaalay ko sa lahat ng ating mga kababayang Pilipino (I’m very happy for this win which I dedicate to my countrymen),” said Orcollo, one of the 12 Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP) members who competed in the $150,000 (P6.75-million) event.
The 29-year-old Surigao del Sur native pocketed the $40,000 (P1.8-million) top purse at stake in the week-long event participated by over a hundred world-class players from around the world.
Orcollo was among the 18 Filipinos who were seeded in the 96-man main draw. He swept his group stage matches against Subah Habib of Bharain (9-1) and Darren Appleton of England (9-6) to easily barge into the knockout stage.
There, he blasted former world champion Oliver Ortmann of Germany (11-6) in the Last 32 and countrymen Warren Kiamco (11-6) in the Last 16 and Ramil Gallego (11-9) in the quarterfinals and reigning world 8-ball champion Ralf Souquet of Germany (11-8) in the semis.
Against Feijen, Orcollo romped off to a blazing start, quickly building an 8-3 lead to set the tone for the unexpected rout.
The other Filipinos who competed in the tournament were BMPAP’s former world titlists Efren “Bata” Reyes, Pagulayan and Ronnie Alcano, former world No. 1 Francisco “Django” Bustamante, Gomez, Gandy Valle, Joven Bustamante Lee Van Corteza and Benjie Guevarra, as well as Marlon Manalo, Antonio Gabica, Jeff De Luna and Middle East-based Alan Cuartero, Joyme Vicente and Ruben Cuna.
Posted on Jun 30, 2009 under 9 Ball Challenge |
The Filipino pool wizards would like to thank the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) headed by its president Sebastian Chua and chairman Yen Makabenta and Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Harry Angping for their undying support regarding the China Open.
JEFFREY “The Bull” de Luna scored back-to-back wins on Friday to join WPA World No.1 Ralf “Kaiser” Souquet of Germany in the knock-out stage the 2009 (JUS) World 9-Ball China Pudong Tang Cheng Open gets underway at the Pudong Yuanshen Gymnasium in Shanghai, China.
De Luna, the 2007 Manny Pacquiao International 9-ball Open champion clobbered Mateusz Sniegocki of Poland, 11-7, then subdued He Wen Li of China, 11-4, in Group 3.
Souquet, who beat Ronato Alcano in this year’s World 8-ball finals in Fujairah turned back Yukio Akakariyama of Japan, 11-3, and Shu Chun Zang of China, 11-5, respectively in Group 1.
Antonio “Ga-Ga” Gabica, who earlier beat Chen Cong of China, 11-3, in Group 1 but relegated to the loser’s brackets bowing to Che Wei-Fu of Chinese-Taipei, 11-6.
The Lapu-Lapu City native Gabica failed to advance in the money round losing to Akakariyama, 9-11, from an 6-all deadlock.
2008 World Ten Ball Semi-Finalists Demosthenes “Plong-Plong” Pulpul, playing under the banner of Cebuano sportsman Paul Monera Magadan of Magi Group and MPC Glass and Alluminum trading GM Mark Monera Magadan also start to packed his things suffered two consecutive loss to Jinhu Dang of China, 11-6, and current two-time WPA World Junior Champion Ko Pin-Yi of Chinese, Taipei, 11-7, in Group 8.
Last Filipino entry Marlon “Marvelous” Manalo bowed to two-time Asian Games 9-ball gold winner Yang Ching-Shun of Chinese-Taipei, 11-6, in Group 5 then stuns Louis Condo of Australia, 11-5, in the one-loss side but yielded to Kuo Bin-Won of Chinese-Taipei, 11-10, for the last 32 seat.
The format calls they will play a double round robin for the race-to-eleven in the last 64 (Stage 2), while single knock-out affair will be employ in the last 32 in the US $40,000 championship prize with the runner-up will bring home $20,000 while the losing-semi-finalists gets $5,500 each. The prizes up to the last 32 according to the organizing group.
The Filipino pool wizards would like to thank the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines (BSCP) headed by its president Sebastian Chua and chairman Yen Makabenta and Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Harry Angping for their undying support regarding the China Open.
Posted on Jun 27, 2009 under 9 Ball Challenge, Uncategorized |
Darren Appleton, the reigning World 9 Ball Champion became the third ever Englishman to win the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters title following a fighting 8-4 win over Holland’s Nick van den Berg at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas.
The 33 year-old, who converted to big table pool in recent years, following an outstanding career at English 8 Ball, beat Raj Hundal, Ralf Souquet and Mika Immonen en route to the final.
As well as the title and magnificent trophy, Appleton takes a cheque for $20,000 while Van Den Berg earned half that amount.
“It’s unbelievable to win the World Pool Masters,” said Appleton. “It has been my goal to win a Matchroom event and to win this is like winning another world title.
“After the 9-ball victory I put a lot of expectation on myself and hopefully this will help me get in the World Cup of Pool and the Mosconi Cup. We all want to play in Matchroom tournaments and this hasn’t done me any harm.”
“This gives me a lot more belief that I can go on and keep winning titles. My target has been to get in the Mosconi Cup and winning this puts me in the mix. It is every pool players dream to play in the Mosconi Cup.”
Appleton won the lag but delivered an illegal break as the requisite number of balls failed to travel past the headstring. Both players had visits but it was the Dutchman who took the rack.
Van den Berg, whose break had served him so well throughout the tournament came up with a dry break but his opponent missed a routine 6-ball but then made up for it with a fine 6-8 combination to level the score at 1-1.
Appleton produced a legal break and a fine long pot on the red 3 set himself up to run out the rack which he did to lead 2-1. That became 3-1 as he produced one of the best breaks of the tournament as four balls disappeared.
Van den Berg had a chance after Appleton missed the red 3 into the centre pocket, but he over- screwed and scratched potting the 4 ball and with ball-in-hand, Appleton moved 4-1 in front.
A scratch from Darren Appleton gave ball in hand to van den Berg and the score quickly moved to 4-2. In the next a fluke from Appleton gave him a three-rack advantage after a fortunate 4-6 combination helped him.
Appleton had a dry break in the eighth and the rack wasn’t a long one as van den Berg closed the gap to two thanks to a 1-9 carom. After serving him well, Van den Berg was beginning to struggle with his break. An illegal one helped Appleton inch closer to the title as he moved into a 6-3 lead in the race to 8.
Fortune went with van den Berg in the tenth rack as Appleton made an illegal break and then failed with a 2-7-9 combination. The Dutchman avoided scratching by millimetres after he potted the 6-ball and saw the cue ball hanging on the edge. He went on to win the rack to reduce the deficit to 4-6.
Appleton moved to the hill after another breaking error from van den Berg - this time a dry break,
and he clinched the title thanks to a 4-9 combination in the 12th rack to win by an 8-4 margin.
“I probably didn’t play as well in the final as I did in the semi-final,” added Appleton. “I didn’t break as well as I had done and neither did Nick - he had three dry breaks in the final.
“Nick recently won the European Championship so I had him as the favourite and had broken the best to get to the final.
“He’s a great guy and we’re very good friends so we both tried to enjoy the final and was just a shame someone had to lose.
“He was on a great run so to beat him in the final is a dream come true especially with the three other players that I defeated.”
Posted on Jun 25, 2009 under 9 Ball Challenge |
Three players continued their excellent run of form in recent weeks and capitalised by lifting GB9 Titles, two of them for the first time.
Newly installed Professional number 1, and reigning World 9-ball Pool Champion, Daryl Peach took his second consecutive Pro Cup title with a 9-2 victory over Scott Higgins. Higgins was in his third GB9 final and it is the second time he has been beaten by Peach in an attempt to pick up a trophy.
In the Challenge Cup, fresh from a very productive trip to the USA where he beat top professional Shane Van Boening, Stephen Folan played magnificently for a 9-4 win over Challenge Cup promotion favourite Anthony Ginn. The standard across all divisions of the GB9 tour is continually improving with now at least 16 players capable of lifting a title at any given event.
The main event is the one that everyone wants to win and the Paul Medati Trophy was all the more special as it was named in memory of GB9 regular, Paul Medati, who died of cancer last year.
GB9 is turning out to be very exciting this year with a number of first wins already having been achieved by Michael Valentine, Steve Petty, Craig Osborne, Damian Massey and now Stephen Folan. Well the trend continued into Sunday as the very in-form Karl Boyes finally lifted a GB9 title that he has been threatening to win for some time. His 11-5 victory over Adam Benn Smith (a Pro Cup player last year but with undoubted talent) was fully deserved and he has been playing really well for the last 4 weeks.
The next event’s venue has yet to be decided so stay tuned.
Videos from the tournament will be available very soon on CueSport TV.
The Venue
I don’t normally leave a section of a report to talk about the venue, but with all the recent discussions about the quality and standard of equipment across the Rileys chain I thought it was worth a mention.
Barnsley Rileys is the best Rileys club I have ever been in, the club is clean, the tables are well maintained and through the efforts of George Vetters and his staff the equipment is treated with respect. I personally think that it is this ‘education’ of the punters that keeps a club in check and other venues across the UK should start taking note.
Posted on Mar 02, 2009 under 9 Ball Challenge |
SE Open
John Schmidt Rolls Over The Pechauer Open
It was the time of year again for Pockets in Donthan, Al. Tommy Kennedy and the Pechauer Tour brought a field of a little over 30 players on the 21st & 22nd of February. John Schmidt, Tommy Kennedy, Stoney Stone, Scotty Townsend, Josh Hillard and Matt Bulfin just to name a few.
As the brackets drew out it was Scotty and Schmidt in the top portion with Stoney, Kennedy, Hillard and Bulfin all in the bottom. The way Scotty has been playing and John in pure punch it was inevitable. They faced each other after only a few matches and John was more than prepared.
Playing flawless and giving Scotty no real opportunity at the table. John cruised to a 7-0 victory and waited for his next opponent, T.F. Whittington.
On the other half it would be a long road for any player looking to meet up with T.F. or John for he is the rock to the other player for there path. It saw Kennedy defeating Hillard by a score of 7-5 and Bulfin passing by Stoney Stone at an unknown score. This left Bulfin and Kennedy, John and T.F. fighting out the winners side
Speeding through some matches of the player and moving in on day two, It saw an extended race to 9 for both sides with everyone in the money. First matches of the day for the losers side saw Scotty defeat Kevin Duffy 9-3 and Stoney steam roll Hillard 9-2. Winners side featured Schmidt passing by T.F. and Bulfin handing Tommy his first loss 9-8 after being down 8-6.
Matt Bulfin who appeared to be in high gear attempted to take Schmidt down for the hot seat. Just as it looked like he might do it, John came through with a break and run to take down the set 9-7. Matt now in the losers side would have a long wait for his next opponent and a chance to get back at Schmidt. But could he stay in stroke during his wait would be the question.
At the losers side began the next round of the matches. With an unknown score, T.F. would fall to Stoney while Scotty knocked off Tommy Kennedy 9-2, leaving a very talented final four players. It was unclear who would end up challenging Schmidt in the final race to 11. Only time would tell.