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TONIGHT – IPT’s Sigel vs. Jones on FSN’s Best Damn Sports Show

Tonight, Thursday, Nov. 17, the International Pool Tour’s first event, the “IPT World 8-Ball Championship,” will be showcased on a special one-hour edition of Fox Sports Net’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period.” The match was an exhibition-style 8-ball contest between Hall-of-Famers Mike Sigel and Loree Jon Jones, held at Mandaly Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev, in August.

The show will be broadcast at 10:30pm local time on FSN – check your local listing for availability. In addition to the national airing on FSN at 10:30, the event will also be shown tonight on a number of FSN’s regional sports channels at 9pm and 11:30pm, according to the IPT’s press release.

Ga Young Kim Snaps Off Nationals

Rising Korean superstar Ga Young Kim won the WPBA National 9-Ball Championship, Nov. 9-13 in Lincoln City, Ore. This is Kim’s second WPBA title. “I am so happy and I want to say a lot of things and I don’t know how!,” gushed the giddy champ, for whom English is her third language.

Kim bested Vivian Villarreal in a hill-hill final match, 7-6, and collected $16,000. Kim came through the one-loss side after losing to Villarreal the first time around. Kim beat Monica Webb, 7-4, to advance to the final.

White Upsets Corr in WPBA Nationals Round Three

In round three on the winners’ side of the Women’s Professional Billards Tour’s Cuetec Cues National 9-Ball Championship, newly elected WPBA President Kim White, ranked No. 41, upset No. 2 Karen Corr, 9-6.

The year-end event, being held at the Chinook Winds Casino in Lincoln City, Ore., Nov. 9-13, is down to eight women on the no-loss side going into round four Saturday morning. Sixteen players remain in the one-loss bracket.

At 11am today, the one-loss survivors will duke it out. Melissa Little plays Julie Kelly, Tracie Hine faces Jennifer Barretta, Jennifer Chen faces Megan Minerich and Sarah Rousey plays Karen Corr, among other matches. At 2:30 this afternoon, the winners’ brack will be reduced to four players. Those matchups are Allison Fisher against Tiffany Nelson, Kelly Fisher against Monica Webb, Ga Young Kim against Gerda Hofstatter and Vivian Villarreal against the rampaging White.

Striking Viking Resigns as WPBA President

Tied to a hectic schedule and hoping to make a last big splash in the competitive arena, Ewa Laurance has decided to step down as president of the Women’s Professional Billiard Association with a full year left on her two-year term.

The position will be filled after the WPBA’s board of directors election on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at the WPBA Nationals in Lincoln City, Ore. Once a new seven-person board is constituted, the board members will elect a new president.

“I have never been busier in my life,” said Laurance, who maintains a schedule filled with tournaments, exhibitions, and appearances for sponsors. “I don’t have time to breathe. I barely see my family.

“Plus, I’m starting to play well again, and if I’m ever going to give it a shot, this is going to be it,” she said.

Laurance’s resignation comes as she and several other top WPBA players prepare for the first $1 million International Pool Tour event, to be held Nov. 30-Dec. 5 in Orlando, Fla. Laurance is among 12 Hall-of-Famers who will participate in the “King of the Hill” event, which has promised prizes of at least $30,000 to each Hall member participating.

Laurance also is among the 150 players pegged to participate in the IPT’s 2006 season, and one of only 15 women. Of those 15, nine are regular competitors on the WPBA Classic Tour.

Although her participation on the IPT tour potentially could be seen as a conflict of interest with her presidency, Laurance disagreed with any such assumptions and said they played no role in her decision to resign.

Everything’s Coming Up Kim

Women’s Professional Billiard Association star Ga Young Kim has had quite a week. The day that Westwood Billiards announced their sponsorship of Kim, Nov. 3, she went on to win the Women’s Tournament of Champions at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn.

The made-for-TV event features a two-set single-elimination format, with a single-game sudden-death tiebreaker if each player wins one set. Kim get past Corr on a tiebreaker game, putting Kim into the final. Meanwhile, Julie Kelly beat Allison Fisher, also on a tiebreaker, to gain a finals berth against Kim.

In the final, no tiebreaker was needed. Kim dominated both sets, 5-0, 5-1, to earn the title. That win earned her the $25,000 top prize.

IPT Will Air in Prime Time Nov. 17th

The International Pool Tour has sealed a prime-time television deal with the national Fox Sports Network. The IPT World 8-Ball Championship, a challenge match between hall-of-famers Loree Jon Jones and Mike Sigel which took place Aug. 20th in Las Vegas, Nev., will be broadcast several times on FSN. It premiers nationwide at 10:30pm local time on Thursday, Nov. 17th, showcased on a special one-hour edition of FSN’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period.”

According to the IPT’s press release, FSN reaches more than 81 million homes nationwide. “We look forward to this event attracting more than just billiard fans,” George Greenberg, Executive Vice-President of Programming and Production at FSN, told the IPT. Sigel and Jones are scheduled to make appearances on the “Best Damn Sports Show Period” in the days leading up the to Nov. 17th broadcast date.

In addition to the national airing at 10:30 pm, the IPT World 8-Ball Championship will also be shown on the same date on a number of FSN’s regional sports channels at 9 pm and 11:30 pm.

Sambajon Big Skins Winner

After a fluke scratch cost him a shot at $54,000 at the end of the finals of the Skins Billiards Championship, tiny Santos Sambajon held on to win a three-game playoff to pocket the same amount and bring his total Skins winnings to a gargantuan $73,500.

“It’s unbelievable . unbelievable,” the 45-year-old Filipino native said afterwards. “It’s five times as much as I’ve ever won before in a tournament. Six times!”

It was his second playoff victory of Saturday evening at the Skins, produced by Billiards International at the Resorts hotel and casino in Atlantic City, N.J. Sambajon barely snuck into the finals by winning a three-game playoff for $16,500 at the end of his semifinal bracket.

The finals then brought together Sambajon, Danny Basavich, Cory Deuel and Jose Parica for a shot at $54,000, divided into “skins” for each of 12 games. Any player who could win three games in a row would collect the accumulated value of the skins up to that point. However, unlike in previous rounds, none of the players in the finals could muster three consecutive wins. The value kept escalating until it maxed out at $54,000 in the 12th rack.

The only player with a shot at the astronomical sum at that point was Sambajon, who won the 12th game. Under the Skins rules, he would be allowed two more games in which to win the booty. Otherwise, the four players would draw for spots in a single-elimination playoff.

Sambajon collected the 13th game after Deuel inadvertently fouled on a shot on the 3. Then, in the 14th rack, Parica left Sambajon a wide-open shot on the 4. Breathing heavily to dispel tension, Sambajon sank the 4, but the cue ball spun around the table and caromed off the 6 into the corner pocket. Enraged and frustrated, Sambajon threw his head back and stayed in that position for almost a minute.

A grinning Parica cleaned up to trigger the playoff. Basavich, who had his own shot at the $54,000 dashed by Sambajon in the 12th frame, knocked out Deuel with a daredevil bank on the 2 that comboed in the 9. In the next game, Sambajon took advantage of a loose Parica safety to knock out his Filipino countryman.

It all came down to the lag for the last game, where Sambajon bested Basavich by an inch or so. He promptly sank three balls on his break, and ran out for the mammoth payday.

“Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!” Sambajon screamed, his arms shooting up to the ceiling.

It was a giant blow to Basavich, softened just a bit by his $17,000 in winnings from previous rounds.

“What are you going to do?” the gregarious “Kid Delicious” said with a smile. “It is heartbreaking to know I could have won $54,000 more.”

Iceman Stays Cool in Atlanta

Mike Immonen beat a solid field at the United States Professional Poolplayers Association’s fourth annual Atlanta Open, held at Murphy’s Brass Rail in Athens, Ga., Oct. 12-16.

Immonen came up the one-loss side after losing to Earl Strickland on Saturday. The Iceman beat Luc Salvas, Mike Davis and Troy Frank to secure a spot in the finals.

Waiting in the hotseat was Strickland, who was not as successful against the chilly Finn the second time around. Immonen blasted his way to a lopsided victory, 11-3. Immonen earned $10,00 for first place and Strickland took home $5,000. Frank and Davis came in third and fourth, respectively. Salvas and Tony Robles tied for fifth place.

Fisher Wins WPBA U.S. Open

Allison Fisher beat Karen Corr, 7-6, in the final of the Cuetec Cues WPBA U.S. Open, held Oct. 12-16 at the Sandia Casino in Albuquerque, N.M.

Fisher was sent to the one-loss side by Monica Webb, 7-5, in the winners’-side fifth round. On the left side, Fisher beat Helena Thornfeldt, 7-4, and advanced to play defending champ Ga Young Kim of Korea. Fisher took a 4-1 lead over Kim, and though Kim fought back to a tie, she never held a lead. Fisher won, 7-5, and moved on the play Webb.

Against Webb, the going was tougher for Fisher. Fisher took the first lead, but Webb got ahead 4-3. Tied at 5-5, Fisher again converted her opportunities into wins and took the match, 7-5. Webb collected $7,000 for third place.

Corr was waiting for Fisher in the hotseat. They tied on the hill and Fisher made the most of it, winning 7-6. Fisher took home $16,000 for first place, while Corr settled for $9,500 in second.

WPBA U.S. Open Offers Surprises

There have been a few early upsets at the Women’s Professional Billiard Association’s Cuetec Cues U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship, being held Oct. 12-16 at the Sandia Casino in Albuquerque, N.M.

Taiwanese player Hsin Huang beat No. 4-ranked Kelly Fisher, 9-5, while Megan Minerich defeated Gerda Hofstatter and Sarah Rousey beat Tiffany Nelson in the first round. Terri Mason, described on the WPBA’s Web site as a “WPBA newcomer and New York State champion,” also beat Romana Dokovic in the first round.

The competition continues through the weekend – visit www.wpba.com for the tournament chart and highlights.