Ozone Billiards US Amateur Open Concludes

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Ryan Stone captured his first U.S. Amateur Open title by winning 7 straight matches on the one-loss side. He double dipped that player that dealt him his first loss, Germany's Dominic Jentsch, in the finals.

Ryan Stone captured his first U.S. Amateur Open title by winning 7 straight matches on the one-loss side. He double dipped that player that dealt him his first loss, Germany’s Dominic Jentsch, in the finals.

The Open 8-Ball, Women’s 8-Ball and Seniors 8-Ball divisions of the Ozone Billiards U.S. Amateur Open at Bankshot Billiards in Jacksonville, FL concluded Thursday. 

In the Seniors’ 8-Ball Open hot seat match featured David Ross and Tom Lapointe, where David Ross bested Lapointe and sent him on to play Bill Stoll in the finals of the one-loss side.  Stoll dispatched Lapointe after a tough match and proceeded into the finals where he dealt David Ross a pair of losses for the championship.

In the Womens’ 8-Ball Open, the hot seat match featured Samm Diep of Colorado and Monica Riley Jacksonville, FL where Riley handed Diep her passport to the west side of the brackets.  There Diep encountered the straight-shooting Ashea (pronounced Asia) Erdahl.  Diep proved to be too much for Erdhal as Diep capitalized on a few unforced errors by Erdahl and crossed the finish line first.  It was not all roses for Diep though as she ran into an eager Monica Riley in the finals.  Riley turned up the heat and once again served Diep her second loss to win the Womens’ title.

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The Amateur 8-Ball Open started the day with the hot seat match between 16 year old German phenom Dominic Jentsch defeating Bobby Livrago.  Livrago headed the one-loss side of the brackets only run into a buzz saw named Ryan Stone of Dayton, Ohio.  Stone dismantled Livrago to set up a rematch with Jentsch.  This time it was Stone winning both sets, 4-3, to capture his first Open Amateur 8-Ball title.

Immonen Heats Up Lucasi Hybrid Classic

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Mika Immonen posted a tournament high run of 119 balls in the first round of play against Brandon Shuff.

Immonen Heats Up Lucasi Hybrid Classic
 
The Lucasi Hybrid Invitational Classic is underway at Bankshot Billiards in Jacksonville, Florida with 39 players competing in the 14.1 division.

The big upset of the day happened in the match between Corey Deuel and Tim Hall.  Hall went on the win the match, 125-86.

While all of the top seeds received byes into the second round, Mika Immonen FIN has quickly staked his claim to the high run honors with a 119 ball run against Brandon Shuff. Immonen won that match 125-19.  Charlie Williams defeated junior up comer Adam Behnke 125-34. Other results of first matches are Van Boening over Neil Fujiawara, Sambajon PHI over Chavez MEX 125-51. NYC 14.1 legend Danny Barouty defeated Florida pro Dave Grossman.

View the Lucasi Hybrid Invitational Classic image gallery
 
In another match of interest to the fans in Jacksonville, 14 & Under USA Junior Champ Landon Shuffett defeated 19 & Under USA Junior Champ Austin Murphy. Shuffett will face Tony Crosby in round two.
 
Currently at this time #1 seed Thorsten Hohmann GER was leading 107-12 against USA’s Dave Broxson.
 
Marquee matches coming up include Johnny Archer USA vs Santos Sambajon PHI, Williams vs Barouty.

All the events are sponsored by Lucasi Hybrid, Cue & Case, Ozone Billiards, and Bankshot Billiards. Official equipment is Simonis Cloth, Aramith Balls, Master Chalk, and Delta-13 Rack. Clothing wear will be available at event by Gambler Clothing and cue repair by Image Que’s John Spidel.
 
Tickets on sale now at Bankshot Billiards Playatbankshots.com
More info on events can be found at Dragonpromotions.com

Pagulayan Wins Singapore Guinness Billiard Event

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2004 World Pool champion Alex Pagulayan ended the Chinese Taipei stranglehold of the Guinness 9 Ball Tour 2008 as he defeated compatriot and current world number one Dennis Orcollo, 11 - 6, in the All-Filipino finals of the Singapore leg of the Guinness 9 Ball Tour 2008 at Velocity@Novena Square.

Pagulayan’s victory earned him the top prize of $15,000 top prize while Orcollo, who entered the tournament as a wild card bet, settled for $6,000.

The Chinese Taipei players previously dominated the Tour as they swept all six legs last year and this year’s first three legs, which were all won by Chang Jung-Lin.  

Pagulayan managed his victory with a cue brand new cue from his Mezz Cues, which is an Alex Pagulayan Limited Series with a Hybrid Pro 2 shaft.  The cue is one of the first ever Limited Editon cues made by Mezz for a player and only 50 cues were made.

Chang was booted out of the competition by Orcollo in the group stage last Friday.

The last time a Filipino won a title on the Tour organized by ESPN STAR Sports was in 2006 when Efren “Bata” Reyes beat Ricky Yang in Jakarta, Indonesia.

This also marks the first time since Lee Van Corteza defeated Francisco “Django” Bustamante in Manila in 2004 that two Filipinos battled for the crown.

Not counting an exhibition match in Guangzhou match in 2006, Pagulayan’s victory gave the Philippines a 13 - 12 advantage over Chinese Taipei in the number of titles won since the Tour started in 2003. No other country has won on Tour.

Known for his comical antics, Pagulayan actually trailed Orcollo, 2 - 0, but seized control of the match as he won the next five consecutive racks. Orcollo managed to make the match interesting as he only trailed by two, 8 - 6, after capitalizing on a scratch by Pagulayan in the 14th rack.

However, the player known as the “Lion” had the final roar as he won the next three racks courtesy of another Orcollo dry break in the 15th rack and a scratch in the 17th to cap off his first victory on Tour.

“Everything went wrong for Dennis and all the rolls went my way. It’s about time that we (the Philippines) won because the Taiwanese kept on winning all the legs since last year. It feels good and extraordinary to beat the number one player in the world,” said an extremely giddy Pagulayan.

“Alex was really lucky and it seemed that he was motivated ever since the quarterfinals. I played my game, but sometimes it’s all about the breaks of the game,” revealed Orcollo.

The 30-year old Pagulayan earlier reached the Finals after a 9 - 6 triumph over 2005 World Pool champion Wu Chia Ching. Orcollo advanced following a scintillating 9 - 8 semi-final victory over Taiwanese Yang Ching-Shun.

Pagulayan dictated his semi-final match from the start as he established a comfortable 7 - 2 advantage following two dry breaks and miss on the pink four ball by Wu.

However, Pagulayan suffered a dry break in the 11th rack and missed a corner pocket shot in the 13th, allowing Wu to win the next four racks and make it 7 - 6. Wu had the break in the 14th rack, but an exchange of misses on the blue two ball turned possession over to Pagulayan as he cleaned the rack to stand on the hill.

Pagulayan then had a clean break and clinched the victory with a run-out of the 15th rack

Orcollo had a more dramatic finish in the final four.

Precariously ahead 7 - 5, the player dubbed as “Robocop” missed an attempt on the one ball blocked by the four ball, paving the way for Yang to claim three of the next four racks to make it hill-hill.

With the match and a place in the finals on the line, Orcollo displayed impressive composure as he had a clean break in the 17th rack, putting him in good position for a run-out. After pocketing the four-ball, the Surigao-native found himself in a very fortunate situation as the five-ball lined up right in front of the nine-ball, setting it up for a match-clinching combination. The Filipino ace then calmly hit the cue ball which struck the five-ball before bouncing against the nine-ball that fell into the corner pocket to the collective roar of the crowd.

Up for grabs in the Singapore leg was a total prize purse of US$50,000 as well as points to qualify for the Tour’s Grand Final in Jakarta, which will feature the Top Ten players in the overall Order of Merit.

The winners of each leg will get to earn US$15,000 while the Grand Final Champion will pocket US$36,000. In addition, the Tour’s Top 10 players will also automatically qualify for pool’s most prestigious event, the 2008 WPA World Pool Championships later his year. The Guinness 9-Ball Tour remains the only ranking tour in Asia for players to qualify for the WPA World Pool Championship.

Following stops in Chinese-Taipei, Penang, Genting Highlands and Singapore, the six-city Tour will have its penultimate leg in Guangzhou in September before heading to Jakarta for the Grand Finals in October.

Ozone Billiards U.S. Amateurs Open Kicks Off

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Ozone Billiards U.S. Amateurs Open Kicks Off

Asher Le

The Ozone Billiards U.S. Amateurs Open kicked off at Bankshot Billiards in Jacksonville, FL, July 30.  Three divisions started today that included the Ladies’ 8-Ball Open, the Open 8-Ball, and the Seniors’ 8-Ball Open events.  In total, 60 amateur players hit the tables on the first day of play.

In the Ladies’ Open 8-Ball division, which featured 10 players, Samm Diep and Monica Riley are scheduled to play for the hot seat match Thursday.  David Ross and Tom Lapointe are scheduled to match up in the Seniors’ 8-Ball Open no-loss side action.  

The Open 8-Ball division, which started with 35 players, is down to 8 players on the winners’ side.  The most notable match scheduled for Thursday’s action is junior superstar Chad Behnke against Mike Fieldhammer. 

Thursday will see the start of the Lucasi Hybrid Classic.  On hand to play is an assortment of top professional pool players, such as Thorsten Hohmann, Tony Crosby, defending U.S. Open champion Shane Van Boening, and Charlie Williams.  Jeanne Seaver is the sole professional woman player competing in the event and is seeded seventeenth. 

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Abraham Cracks Egg Harbor Billiards Event

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Abraham Cracks Egg Harbor Billiards Event
Blaze 9-Ball Tour / Egg Harbor, NJ

by InsidePOOL Staff

Eddie Abraham and Atlantic City Billiard Club owner Ernie Arcaro.

Eddie Abraham earned first place at the July 27 stop of the Blaze 9-Ball Tour, defeating Adam Kielar in the finals. Atlantic City Billiard Club in Egg Harbor, NJ, hosted the one-day event, which garnered 45 top pool players from the Northeast. 
 
Abraham went undefeated to the finals, taking victories over Joey Testa 7-5, Danko Campese 7-3, Matt Krah 7-6, and Allen Hopkins 7-2.  Leading the bottom half of the bracket was Dawn Hopkins, notching wins over Lloyd Price 7-1, Mel Free 7-2, Rob Palm 7-4, Christine Liotti 7-2, and Evan Bostron 7-1.
 
Hopkins and Abraham met up in the winners’-side finals. In this lopsided match, Abraham handled Hopkins easily, sending her to the semifinals with a 7-2 victory. Waiting there for her was Kielar, who pulled away to win the match 6-3 and reach the finals.
 
Kielar had to best Abraham twice in the finals to win the tournament. The first set went hill-hill, with Kielar winning 7-6. In the second set, Abraham won easily 6-3.

Results:
1st Eddie Abraham
2nd Adam Kielar
3rd Dawn Hopkins
4th Joey Testa
5th Evan Boston
Allen Hopkins
7th Matt Krah
Mike Miller