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.
Hewitt and Martel cruise to Saturday Showdown
Danny Hewitt
Hewitt defeated Martin Daigle 11-2, while Martel defeated Craig Cochrane 11-1. Hewitt will face Martel on Saturday. Ronnie Wiseman did not fare as well on Friday, as he dropped his match to Erik Hjorleifson. Hjorleifson will face Paul Potier on Saturday.
On the one-loss side, Brady Gollan lost to Eddie Galati and was eliminated from the event. Another early elimination was Brad Poorman who lost to Glen Seesemann on Friday. Poorman opened the tournament with a win over Luc Salvas but lost his next two matches.
Photo courtesy of Diana Hoppe – Pool Pics by Hoppe
Canadian 9-Ball Championship Underway
Luc Salvas
Salvas, who has posted some nice finishes in recent events was shown to the one-loss side in the first round by Brad Poorman. Poorman was sent on his way to the left side of the board in round two by Martin Daigle. Daigle will have the unenviable task of taking on Danny Hewitt on Friday. Another top player upset on Thursday was last year’s runner up Chris Orme. Orme started with a win over Harold Rousseau, but then lost to Craig Cochrane in the second round.
Photo courtesy of Diana Hoppe – Pool Pics by Hoppe
World Pool Chmpionship Final Set
For the first time since 1996, a European player will take home the top prize in pool. The final of the 2001 Admiral World Pool Championship comes down to two Europeans – Finland’s Mika Immonen and Germany’s Ralf Souquet. The winner of today’s final tilt will take home $65,000, while the loser will pocket $30,000.
Souquet, who won the World Pool Championship in 1996, coasted into the final match with wins over Marcus Chamat in the quarterfinals, and later Chia-hsiung Lai in Saturday evening’s semifinal on the main table. During his two matches, Souquet outscored both of his opponents by a total margin of 22-3.
“It’s not easy to be out there in the arena and play your best all the time but I think over the years, I’ve mastered playing on the TV tables,” said Souquet, who beat Lai 11-2.
Immonen, meanwhile, had a more difficult time with his opponents on Saturday. He beat Niels Feijen, 11-7, in the quarterfinal, then rallied from a 5-2 deficit for another 11-7 win over Alain Martel in the semifinal.
“Me and Ralf have got a lot of respect for each other and he is a real gentleman,” said Immonen. “We’ll both be concentrating on our respective games and not worry about each other.”
The final match is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. EST.