Ewa Laurance, 2005’s Trick-Shot Queen
Ewa Laurance won the second annual Women’s Trick Shot Challenge, organized by Matt Braun’s promotional company Billiards International and held at the ESPN Zone in Las Vegas, Nev., on Oct. 4.
Laurance beat Allison Fisher, 10-7, in the final match. Both semifinals and the final match were taped for ESPN broadcasts beginning in November.
Four women played in the one-day event: Laurance, Fisher, Gerda Hofstatter and Dawn Hopkins. Fisher beat Hopkins, 11-8, in one semifinal while Laurance beat Horstatter, 12-11, in the other.
The format required each player to perform ten specific shots, with one point awarded for each successfully executed shot. Then the players challenged each other with shots of their own choice; the player’s opponent had to duplicate the shot or lose a point.
Laurance took home $25,000 for the win; Fisher collected $5,000 for second, and Hofstatter and Hopkins each won $2,000.
IPT Announces the Lucky 150
Marketing maven Kevin Trudeau’s new International Pool Tour has announced the 150 players who were accepted for membership in the IPT for its first regular tournament season, which kicks off with the IPT Masters’ 8-Ball Championship, January 31-February 4, 2006, at the Orlando Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. The advertised prize money for that event is an unprecedented $1 Million, with a first prize of $200,000. Only those players on the 150-person IPT membership list are eligible to enter the tour’s regular tournaments, though there are open events planned that will not have that requirement.
All events are to be 8-ball, on slow-nap cloth with 4 1/2-inch pockets. Jump cues and breaking from the side rail is prohibited, and the format is round-robin with the exception of the final match.
The IPT’s Web site, www.internationalpooltour.com, notes that, now that the 150 have been announced, it is no longer accepting applications for regular tour players.
At the end of 2006, the bottom 50 money earners on the tour will lose their tour card. An open qualifying tournament will be held to determine who gets those 50 spots for the 2007 season.
Here is the complete 2006 IPT membership list:
2006 IPT Players (Last, First – Country)
Adkins, Dee – USA
Alvarez, Frank – USA
Amine, Ouahbi – France
Amir, Ibrahim bin – Malaysia
Appleton, Darren – UK
Archer, Johnny – USA
Bartram, Chris – USA
Basavich, Daniel – USA
Beaufils, Yannick – France
Blyzes, Brian – USA
Brienza, Paul – USA
Broadhurst, Jackie – USA
Bryant, Charles – USA
Bustamante, Francisco – Phillippines
Butera, Lou – USA
Butera, Sal – USA
Calderon, Jerry – Venezuela
Carte,r Linda – USA
Carvajal, Alejandro – Chile
Catledge, Wayne – USA
Cemero, Michael – USA
Chamat, Marcus – Sweden
Chenman, Lee – China/Hong Kong
Chohan, Tony – USA
Colenso, Colin – China
Corr, Karen – USA
Coutts, Glen – New Zealand
Crane, Wade – USA
Czetli, Aaron – USA
Daulton, Shannon – USA
Davenport, Kim – USA
Davis, Mike – USA
Deuel, Corey – USA
Di Liberto, Dany – USA
Di Toro, John – USA
Dodson, Robin – USA
Dominguez, Ernesto – USA
Eberle, Max – USA
Eckert, Ralph – Germany
Edey, Tyler – Canada
Ellerby, Sarah – USA
Facquet, Vincent – France
Feijen, Niels – The Netherlands
Fisher, Allison – USA
Fisher, Kelly – USA
Frank, Troy – USA
Franken, Aaron – Aruba
Friend, Bernie – USA
Fusco, Jimmy – USA
Fusco, Pete – USA
Gay, Leil – USA
Goh, Tuan Kiat – Singapore
Gonzalez, Rafael – Venezuela
Gulyassy, Mike – USA
Hall, Buddy – USA
Hann, Quinten – Australia
Harrison, Philip – England
Hatch, Dennis – USA
Hill, Mick – UK
Hofstatter, Gerda – USA
Hohmann, Thorsten – Germany
Holtz, Patrick – UK-Scotland
Hopkins, Allen – USA
Hundal, Raj – United Kingdom
Hunter, Bobby – USA
Immonen, Mika – USA
Incardona, William – USA
Jahnke, Bernd – Germany
Jakulj, Zlatko – Croatia
Jones, Loree Jon – USA
Jones, Sammy – USA
Jones, Tammy – USA
Jones, Jeremy – USA
Juva, Markus – Finland
Kelly, Ed "Champagne" – USA
Kennedy, Thomas – USA
Kenniston, Mary – USA
Klasovic, Andreja – Serbia/Montenegro
Kutcher, John – USA
Laurance, Ewa – USA
LeBron, Mike – USA
Lely, Alex – The Netherlands
Leonardo, Gunnar – Aruba
Lin Sheng – Young Taiwan
Lipsky, Steve – USA
Lohtander, Marko – Finland
Macias, John – USA
Manabu, Mori – Japan
Manalo, Marlon – Phillipines
Martin, Ray – USA
Massey, Mike – USA
Mathews, Grady – USA
McCready, Keith – USA
Mckenna, Robert – United Kingdom
Minici, Joe – Australia
Montal, Edwin – Canada
Morris, Carl – UK
Morris, Rodney – USA
Murphy, Austin – USA
O’Sullivan, Ronnie – UK
Owen, Gabe – USA
Parica, Jose – Phillipines
Petroni, Fabio – Italy
Potier, Paul – Canada
Putnam, Shawn – USA
Putnik, Ivica – Croatia
Raney, Jim – USA
Raybone, Neil – UK
Reljic, David – Australia
Rempe, Jim – USA
Reyes, Efren – Phillipines
Roberts, James – USA
Robles, Tony – USA
Runnels, Ike – USA
Sabtu, Suhana Dewi – Malaysia
Sakai, Miyuki – Japan
Saleh, Brian – UK
Salvas, Luc – Canada
Sambajon, Santos – Phillipines
San, Souci George "Ginky" – USA
Santl, Stefan – Germany
Schmidt, John – USA
Schwartz, Larry – USA
Sigel, Mike – USA
Soquet, Ralf – Germany
Stalev, Evgeny – Russia
Storm, Tom – Sweden
Strickland, Earl – USA
Thornfeldt, Helena – USA
Thung, Denny – Indonesia
Tourangeau, Stan – Canada
Townsend, Scotty – USA
Travers, Laurent – France
Van den Berg, Nick – The Netherlands
Varner, Nick – USA
Vickery, Howard – USA
Watson, Gerry – Canada
Webb, Monica – USA
West, Dallas – USA
Wetch, Jimmy – USA
Wheeler, Adam – USA
White, Jimmy – UK
Williams, Charlie – USA
Wims, John – Australia
Yee, Kwan Suet – Malaysia
Younger, Johl – Australia
Yuen, Ooi Fook – Malaysia
Zimmerman, Michael – USA
Irrepressible Pagulayan Wins Second Major in All-Filipino U.S. Open Final
Alex Pagulayan ran undefeated through a 256-man field to win the 30th Annual U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships, which this year could well have been called “The Philippine Open” after placing three Filipinos in the top three spots.
“A win is a win is a win,” an ebullient Pagulayan said after beating Jose Parica in an error-filled final, 11-6. Parica had knocked Francisco Bustamante out of the running in the losers’-bracket final, 11-10.
Pagulayan first beat Parica in the winners’-bracket final, 11-6, and then earned the $40,000 top prize by taking advantage of a Parica miss on the 4 in the 17th rack of the finals. It was a dream come true for the tiny Canadian-by-way-of-the-Philippines, and his second major title after winning the 2004 World Pool Championship.
“The only dream I have left is to grow another two inches – either taller or the other way, I don’t care,” the irrepressible Clown Prince of Pool joked.
It was a bittersweet win for a couple reasons. Parica failed again to take the title after reaching the semis of the U.S. Open several times, and the finals at least twice. And Pagulayan, perhaps the most talented player of his generation, said after the event that he has all but forsaken mainstream U.S. pool events for poker – both tournament play and online gaming.
“The money is terrible,” he said, echoing a longtime lament of many top pool pros. “I can make a lot more playing poker.” For the time being, Pagulayan expected only to compete in the States at the Derby City Classic and U.S. Open.
Upsets Galore at U.S. Open as Former Champs Drop to One-Loss Bracket
The giants all fell from the winners’ bracket on Friday night at the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship in Chesapeake, Va., as Johnny Archer, Francisco Bustamante, Efren Reyes, Ralf Souquet, Niels Feijen and Jeremy Jones dropped to the one-loss side in the same round of matches.
The carnage started at 9 p.m. Friday with Filipinos Alex Pagulayan and Francisco Bustamante lagging on the TV table. The wily Pagulayan jumped to a quick 5-0 lead, allowing his foe near the table only once – and that was for a push. Regaining his world-beating form after two years of ho-hum play, the resurgent Bustamante rocketed back to take the lead at 9-8, but a hung 4 ball in the 18th rack brought Pagulayan back to the table, where he ran out and then ran the next two racks for an 11-9 victory.
“At the end I got lucky with the 4 ball,” Pagulayan said. “That was the key to the match. I was thinking when it was 8-8, just give me one more chance.”
On the next table over, Filipino expatriate Jose Parica kept one step ahead of countryman and longtime rival Reyes to win, 11-9. Reyes was joined soon on the one-loss side by several other former Open champions: Johnny Archer fell to Troy Frank, 11-6; Jeremy Jones lost to Andreas Roschkowsky, 11-9; and Ralf Souquet dropped a hill-hill slugfest with upstart Sylver Ochoa, 11-10.
This was all in the same round, mind you, and all within an hour of each other. Other significant winners’-bracket results from the 9 p.m. round included Nick Van den Berg smashing Charlie “Hillbilly” Bryant, 11-4; Viet Nam native Tang Hoa elbowing Holland’s Feijen, 11-8; and Charlie Williams halting Ernesto Dominguez.
That left eight men still in the winners’ bracket, and dozens left to brave the extraordinarily deep one-loss bracket in this field-of-256 competition with a $200,000 prize fund. At 3 p.m. EST, Tang will play Roschkowsky, Pagulayan will face Frank, Van den Berg will meet Parica, and Williams will lag against Ochoa.
U.S. Open Field Down to Half
Ochoa’s play is turning some heads.
Reno Open winner Marlon Manalo and 2003 BCA 9-ball Open titlist Tony Robles found themselves slugging it out deep in the one-loss bracket on Friday afternoon. Nearby, major event winners Marcus Chamat and Mike Davis faced off as red-hot Robb Saez and 2004 BCA champion Thorsten Hohmann battled for survival in the one-loss bracket.
Playing on diamond tables with 4 1/2 inch pockets and an absolutely unforgiving cut the finesse players and most experienced pros seemed to have an edge.
“You aren’t seeing a lot of guys breaking and running out,” said pro Tony Crosby.
Among the 16 players left in the winners’ bracket was Efren Reyes, who dropped defending U.S. Open champ Gabe Owen to the one-loss side, 11-8 on Thursday night. Reyes will meet Filipino countryman Jose Parica on Friday night. After a weak showing at the World Pool Championships, the Filipino contingent is performing quite well here; Alex Pagulayan and a resurgent Francisco Bustamante will meet in a winners’-bracket match on Friday night as well.
So far, the surprise of the tournament is young Sylver Ochoa, 19, a college sophomore at Texas-Pan American and a mainstay on the Fast Eddie’s regional tour. Ochoa beat Keith McCready Thursday night, 11-8, to stay undefeated. He will face Ralf Souquet on Friday night in a winners’-bracket match.
The sixteen players now left in the winners’ bracket are:
Nick Van den Berg, Charlie “Hillbilly” Bryant, Jose Parica, Efren Reyes, Ernesto Dominguez, Charlie Williams, Ralf Souquet, Sylver Ochoa, Tang Hoa, Niels Feijen, Andreas Roschkowsky, Jeremy Jones, Alex Pagulayan, Francisco Bustamante, Johnny Archer and Troy Frank.
U.S. Open Update!
Gabe Owen is the defending champ.
But many favorites are still undefeated after two rounds, including Efren Reyes and John Schmidt (who play each other today), as well as former U.S. Open Champs Johnny Archer and Francisco Bustamante and defending champ Gabe Owen.
BD Live Chat with Barry Behrman
Behrman (l.) with 2003 Open runner-up Jose Parica.
Behrman will make himself available for a live online chat beginning at 8 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Sept. 14, right here on the BD Web site. Just click the live chat icon on Wednesday for access.
Creator and promoter of the longest running major championship event in pool, Behrman has a unique and authoritative perspective on the history of the game and its current state. Among other topics, Behrman will hold forth on his special plans for the 30th annual U.S. Open, which will kick off Sept. 19; the upstart International Pool Tour, financed by controversial informercial magnate Kevin Trudeau; and perhaps even how Behrman is rehabilitating his image after legal troubles and skirmishes with the UPA men’s player association earlier in the decade.
Behrman’s always candid and eloquent, so don’t miss this chance to learn more about one of pool’s most fascinating figures. And with BD’s Player of the Year award entirely up for grabs this year, the Open could be 2005’s most important event. Don’t miss out.
England’s Raj Hundal Wins World Pool Masters
Hundal made a prize winning comeback.
But the 23-year-old Londoner wasn’t finished just yet. He’d already had the run of his life, beating Niels Feijen and Thomas Engert, among others, to get to the finals. Morris got to the hill after Hundal scratched on the break, and victory seemed unimaginable for Hundal, but he wasn’t ready to hang up his stick. Morris missed a long cut on the 1 in the next game, and Hundal turned it into the opportunity of a lifetime.
Game after game, Hundal put himself back on the scoreboard. He won eight consecutive games to win it all with a final score of 8-7. “I guess what goes around comes around,” Morris told event promoter Matchroom Sport. “But that’s pool. I don’t mind losing to Raj, though, because he’s a cool guy!”
Hundal, who collected $20,000 for the win, was overwhelmed: “It was the best day of my career, but now I’m just at a loss for words,” he said.
Jones No Match For Sigel
Mike Sigel leaned on his experience to secure pool’s biggest bundle.
Presented with bundles of cash that totaled a highest-ever $150,000 top prize, Sigel tried to put the moment into words. The only thing that came out, however, were tears.
“Six weeks of practice, and all the hype, and what this means for pool, it was too much,” said Sigel of the much-anticipated “battle of the sexes” head-to-head match.
Jones, who admittedly was no match for her own nerves, still received a tidy $75,000 paycheck for the afternoon’s work.
The Sigel-Jones match will serve as the launching pad for bigger and more elaborate events for pro pool in the future, according to entrepreneur/promoter Kevin Trudeau.
“Just think,” Trudeau said after the match. “Mike Sigel just earned the biggest single payday in the history of the sport, and it will be the smallest first prize in IPT events!”
As expected, both players were shaky at the start of the match, played in an elaborate arena setting and witnessed by 500-plus fans, including numerous sports and entertainment celebrities. Jones missed several chances to put pressure on Sigel, who rolled off from a 3-2 lead to a 9-2 first-set win. In the second set, a relaxed Sigel played more to expectations, while Jones again missed several critical shots.
“BD Live Chat” Tonight with Kevin Trudeau
Who is the man behind this weekend’s $225,000 Battle of the Legends match between hall of famers Mike Sigel and Loree Jon Jones?
It’s millionaire entrepreneur Kevin Trudeau … the informercial pioneer and author of The New York Times bestseller, “Natural Cures.” And Trudeau’s grand plan for pool extends well beyond Saturday’s marquee match-up at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Trudeau’s International Pool Tour is the buzz of the pool world.
Tonight at 8:00 p.m. EST, Trudeau will be live on “BD Live Chat,” answering YOUR questions about Saturday’s big match, the IPT, his formula for bringing pool into the big time, and why 8-ball is pool’s future.
The BD Live Chat room will open at 7:30 p.m. EST to give users an opportunity to begin posting questions.