Thirty-two Remain in the World 14.1 Straight Pool Championship
The World 14.1 Straight Pool Championship got underway May 30 at the Hilton in East Brunswick, N.J., the first competition of its kind in over 15 years.
The 64-player field included some of pool’s elite players, including Mika Immonen, Nick Varner, Mike Sigel, Allen Hopkins, and Oliver Ortmann. Top women pros Jeanette Lee, Jasmin Ouschan and Megan Minnerich were also invited to play.
The event kicked off with an opening ceremony in which the players were divided into eight groups of eight players. The first round was a round-robin format, with only the top 32 advancing to round two, which is currently underway, employing a double-elimination format.
After round one, Max Eberle, Go Takami and Mike Sigel remained undefeated. Lee, losing only to Sigel, had a 6-1 record going into round two. Big names eliminated early include Johnny Archer, Larry Schwartz, Luc Salvas, Tony Robles, Jimmy Mataya, Varner and Minerich.
Players recording high runs thus far include: Mike Sigel – 125, Ralf Souquet – 99, John Schmidt – 91, Danny Harriman – 83 and Thorsten Hohman – 71.
Sambajon’s Train Finally Arrives
After four previous failures, Santos Sambajon, Jr., finally added his name to the list of Filipino imports to win major pro tour titles in the U.S. when he defeated Mike Davis, 7-5, Sunday afternoon in the finale of the World Summit of Pool in New York City.
“This is good for me,” said the 44-year-old Sambajon, whose most recent bridesmaid appearance came at the Billiard Congress of America Open 9-Ball Championships in Las Vegas in May. “This is good for me up here,” he said, pointing to his head. “And here,” he added, tabbing his hand over his heart.
Sambajon went undefeated through the 68-player field in the United States Poolplayers Association (UPA) tournament, staged with substantial fanfare at the city’s landmark Grand Central Station.
Earlier in the day, Sambajon had squeaked past Davis, 7-6, in the winner’s bracket. The final four matches were shortened to races to seven to accommodate taping for future airing on ESPN.
After struggling through the early racks of the finale, Sambajon ran out from the break on his final three attempts in the alternating-break format. With the match tied, 5-5, Davis attempted to slide the 1 ball into the side pocket but missed, a tricky shot that would prove to be his last of the match. Sambajon cleared the table, then ran out from the break to seal the match.
“I think he’s supposed to play safe there,” said Sambajon, who earned $12,000 for the title. “But I’m glad he didn’t.”
Davis earned $6,000 as runner-up. Earl Strickland placed third in the event, followed by Danny Harriman.
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
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.
Archer Takes Predator Central Florida Title
Johnny Archer earned his second big win this year with an undefeated run through the field of 64 players at The 4th Annual Predator Central Florida Pro Open, held at Pro Billiards in Orlando, Fla., May 27-30.
Archer went undefeated to the title at this same event last year. This year, after a first-round 9-8 win over Josh Degler, Archer did not let any opponent win more than 6 games against him.
Archer sent “Hillbilly Charlie Bryant to the one-loss side, 9-4, and then met Bryant again in the final, where Archer took a decisive 13-3 win for the title.
Archer collected $5,000 for first, while Bryant settled for $2,500 for second place. Danny Harriman and Charlie Williams filled out the top four places.
For details and brackets, visit www.azbilliards.com
Efren’s Revenge!
After losing to countryman Francisco Bustamante in the Challenge of Champions, and to Charlie Williams in the final of the Big Apple 9-Ball Challenge, Efren Reyes nabbed his second U.S. title of the year at the Gabriel’s Las Vegas 9-Ball Open in Las Vegas. Reyes, who exacted revenge by beating Williams, 10-5, in the winner’s bracket semi-final of the 64-player field, defeated Dutchman Neils Feijen, 10-7, in the title match to earn the $10,000 top prize. Reyes also won the Mid-Atlantic Open in January.
Johnny Archer finished third at the Riviera Hotel, followed by Williams in fourth place. Feijen, the 26-year-old current European 14.1 champion, reached his spot in the final by surviving loser’s bracket shoot-outs with Alex Lely, Danny Harriman, Max Eberle, Williams and Archer. He earned $5,000 as runner-up.
Daulton Triumphs at Derby City
Shannon “The Cannon” Daulton shot his way through the competition at Derby City
Earlier in the 9-day tournament, held in Louisville, Ky., Jose Parica defeated Larry Nevel in the One-Pocket competition, and Danny Harriman (voted BD’s Most Improved Player of 2002) took the 9-Ball Bank Pool title by besting Steve McAninch.
Nevel proved to be the iron man of the grueling event, winning the all-around title by virtue of his second-place finish in one-pocket and third-place finish in 9-ball banks.
Derby City Starts Off With a Bang
Harriman is enjoying a streak of good fortune.
The 9-ball banks competition has wrapped up after four days, and Danny Harriman of Springfield, Mo., came out on top. Fresh off his first-ever pro tour win at the Predator UPA Pro Tour Championship, Dec. 8, Harriman seems to be on a roll. He defeated Steve McAninch of Toledo, Ohio, 3-0, in the final after making judicious use of the Derby City’s buy-back option to get back into the action and win.
Round four of the one-pocket division is now underway, and Alex Pagulayan, Charlie Williams, and Nick Varner, among others, are all contenders for the title.