Archer wins Big Apple 9-Ball Challenge
Johnny Archer has won the Master Billiards Big Apple 9-Ball Challenge.
Archer defeated Jose Parica to earn the hot-seat early Sunday afternoon and then defeated longtime friend and rival Jeremy Jones 13-12 in an epic battle.
Archer won $10,000 for first place while Jones settled for $6,000. Parica and Rodney Morris filled out the top four spots.
Big Apple Day Two Complete
The big name matches are piling up at the Master Billiards 9-Ball Challenge in Queens NY. Multiple battles deserve star billing on Friday evening, with Thorsten Hohmann facing Rodney Morris on one side of the arena while crowds also gathered around the Danny Harriman/Young Hwa Jeong match and a Jose Parica/Danny “Kid Delicious” Basavich battle.
By 9PM, Parica, Morris and Harriman were the ones still standing in the winners bracket. Other strong contenders still in the fight include George ‘Ginky’ San Souci, returning from his declared retirement to play in this event, and the always dependable Ralf Souquet.
Saturday morning will feature a marquee match between Francisco Bustamante and Johnny Archer with the cameras of worldpool.com running at 11:00 AM EST. The match will be available for internet PPV at Worldpool.com.
Online brackets are updated with all of Friday’s winners at http://www.azbilliards.com/bigapple2004/brackets.cfm
Alex, the Lionhearted
Alex Pagulayan
Hometown favorite Pei-Wei Chang seemed invincible in the early rounds, drilling tough shots from every point on the table and stymieing Pagulayan with lock-tight safeties. But, at 11-6, Chang missed a 2 ball and gave Pagulayan some breathing room. Slowly gathering momentum and falling into his familiar jaunty rhythm, the 26-year-old Filipino (now living in Canada) started stitching together racks and forged an 11-11 tie. With Chang back on top, 13-11, Pagulayan threaded the cue ball through a tight opening in a Chang safety to sink the 1 ball and score a carom on the 4 on the same shot, blowing a hole in Chang’s title hopes. He then cruised through six consecutive racks to claim the $75,000 title, sparking a wild celebration that sent him leaping and dancing around the arena.
Chang, a 25-year-old Taipei resident, won $35,000 for his second-place finish. He ably represented an enormously impressive Taiwanese contingent at the WPC, which placed four shooters in the final eight. They had no answer for Pagulayan, however, who defeated no fewer than four Taiwanese aces on his way to the title.
It was a career-defining victory for the so-called “Killer Pixie,” who refused to relive the 2003 WPC final when he fell into a hole against Germany’s Thorsten Hohmann and couldn’t recover. He also hoped not to repeat the final of the 2002 U.S. Open, where he lost to Germany’s Ralf Souquet.
“No more second place!” Pagulayan screamed as he ran through the arena after his victory, soon breaking into a rendition of “We Are the Champions.”
For more details from the 2004 World Pool Championship, check out the event’s Web site at www.worldpoolchampionship.com.
“Killer Pixie” gets shot at redemption
Alex Pagulayan has earned a return trip to the finals of the World Pool Championship, set for Sunday night in Taipei City, Taiwan. The fiery Filipino (now living in Canada) came up short against little-known Thorsten Hohmann in the finals of the WPC in 2003. This year, the “Killer Pixie” will meet an even more obscure opponent, 25-year-old Pei-Wei Chang from Taiwan, who shocked Johnny Archer 11-10 in the quarterfinals and then came back from a 6-1 deficit against Sweden’s Marcus Chamat to win his semifinal match, 11-9.
Check out http://www.billiardsdigest.com/tournaments/index?tournament_id=11 for BD’s on-the-spot coverage, or check out the event’s Web site at http://www.worldpoolchampionship.com
Host Country Celebrates WPC
The field of 128 of the world’s best 9-ballers has been whittled to eight at the World Pool Championship in Taipei, Taiwan, and the host country has a lot to celebrate. When play begins on Saturday evening (Taipei time), no less than half the field will hail from Taiwan, including two-time world champion Fong-Pang Chao (1993, 2000). Here are the matchups for the quarterfinals, which will be immediately followed by semifinal matches:
Pei-Wei Chang (Chinese Taipei) vs. Johnny Archer (USA)
Alex Pagulayan (Canada) vs. Fong-Pang Chao (Chinese Taipei)
Marcus Chamat (Sweden) vs. Marlon Manalo (Philippines)
Po-Cheng Kuo (Chinese Taipei) vs. Ching-Ching Kang (Chinese Taipei)
Check out http://www.billiardsdigest.com/tournaments/index?tournament_id=11 for BD’s on-the-spot coverage, or check out the event’s Web site at http://www.worldpoolchampionship.com
World Pool Championship Final 16
The original field of 128 9-ballers has been hittled down to 16 at the World Pool Championship in Taipei, Taiwan. As play was set to begin Friday, only former champs Earl Strickland and Johnny Archer remained from the American contingent, and 2000 titlist Fong-Pang Chao represented a surprisingly strong charge from the Taiwanese ranks. Check out http://www.billiardsdigest.com/tournaments/index?tournament_id=11 for BD’s on-the-spot coverage starting July 15, or check out the event’s Web site at http://www.worldpoolchampionship.com
World Pool Championship Underway
The top 128 9-ballers in the world are furiously breaking, banking and watching the brackets at the World Trade Centre in Taipei City, Taiwan, in hopes of pocketing the coveted title of “World Champion” and its $75,000 prize. Play at the 2004 World Pool Championship began on Saturday, July 10 and will continue through the white-knuckle finals on Sunday, July 18.
Former champions Mika Immonen, Earl Strickland, Fong-Pang Chao and Oliver Ortmann are acing the group rounds and will be heavy favorites once the field is narrowed to 64 men on Wednesday, July 14. Check out http://www.billiardsdigest.com/tournaments/index?tournament_id=11 for BD’s on-the-spot coverage starting July 15, or check out the event’s Web site at http://www.worldpoolchampionship.com
Pro-Celebrity Pool Tournament Will Raise Money for Asthma
The 8th Annual Sorvino Asthma Foundation’s “Pro-Celebrity Pool Tournament” will take place Aug. 21-23 at the Venetian Casino Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev.
The celebrities scheduled to attend are: Paul Sorvino, Mira Sorvino, Jerry Orbach, Hulk Hogan, James Tolkan, David Brenner, Pat Cooper, Joe Piscopo, Ray Franza, Penn Gillette, Alfredo Versace, Yogi Berra, and others.
The pool players who will be in attendance include: Loree Jon Jones, Ewa Laurance, Fran Crimi, Lou Butera, Allen Hopkins, Paul Brienza, Mike Massey, and Tony Robles.
There will be 8 scotch doubles teams playing 7-ball races to 5. The event will be taped for possible later airing. For more information, contact Charles Ursitti, Executive Director or the Sorvino Asthma Foundation at (212) 941-8686 or Jackie Zlatanovski, Special Events at the Venetian, at (702) 414-1501.
Schmidt wins Firecracker Open
John Schmidt came back from a long stay on the one-loss side to avenge his only loss to Mika Immonen and won The Florida Firecracker Open at Capones Billiards in Springhill, Fl.
The tournament, a stop on the Seminole Florida Pro Tour, drew a field of 62 players to Capones for the two day affair. Schmidt had a perfect Saturday with wins over Rick Croney, Eric David and Robb Saez. Sunday was a different story though, as Schmidt lost a 9-4 match to ‘The Iceman’ Mika Immonen.
After the victory over Schmidt, Immonen cruised into the hot-seat relatively untested with a 9-2 win over Capone’s housepro Rodney Morris and a 9-4 win over ‘The Korean Dragon’ Charlie Williams.
Schmidt took the trip to the one-loss side and landed on his feet. A 9-3 win over Jimmy Wale got a five match winning streak started on the left side of the board. Schmidt beat Ray Martin 9-3, Danny Harriman (who won at Capones last year) 9-7, Buddy Hall 9-4 and Charlie Williams 9-4 to get to the finals.
Schmidt was not content with just a trip to the finals though, as he quickly jumped out to a 5-1 lead over Immonen in the final set. The players traded games until the 7-3 mark when Immonen put on a run and tied the match at 7-7. With the match tied at 7-7, both players knew it was a straight race to four for the title and Immonen was breaking. Immonen may have reached back a little too far looking for a strong break as he knocked the cue-ball off the table in rack 15 and was forced to watch Schmidt take control of the match again. From that point, Schmidt won the next four games to score the 11-7 victory.
Schmidt pocketed $3500 for first place, while Immonen was forced to settle for $2000. Charlie Williams and Buddy Hall filled out the top four spots. The Seminole Florida Pro Tour will be at Planet 9 Ball in Tampa, Fl on July 31st – August 1st for their next event. That event is limited to the first 64 players who pay their entry so players should get their entry in soon. Players can contact Planet 9-Ball owner Ken Miller at 813-891-1450 to sign up.
Martel wins Canadian Championship
Alain Martel has been crowned the new Canadian Cue Sports Association 9-Ball Champion.
Martel lost to 21 year old Erik Hjorleifson for the hot-seat 11-6 in a match that saw Hjorleifson take a 7-0 lead before Martel even hot an open shot at a ball. After the loss to Hjorleifson, Martel went to the one-loss side and brought Luc Salvas’ run through the left side of the board to a halt. Salvas has lost his first match but had won nine matches prior to the loss to Martel.
The final match between Hjorleifson and Martel was much different than the first. Where Hjorleifson looked perfect in the first match, a couple early errors from him allowed Martel to take control of the match and Martel never looked back. Hjorleifson fought back to get close but in the end it was Martel scoring the 15-11 win.
Martel won $6500 along with an expense paid trip to the World Championships. Hjorleifson settled for $4000 and an expense paid trip to the World Championship. Salvas earned $2500 and an invitation to the World Championship.
The Women’s division was won by Myriam Lafranchise who defeated Marianne Mcconnell in the finals and the Snooker division was won by Alain Robidoux who defeated Tim Finstat in the finals.