It’s Sigel vs. Reyes for King of the Hill!
In a dream match-up for pool fans, Hall-of-Famers Efren Reyes and Mike Sigel will meet in the finals of the International Pool Tour’s King of the Hill event on Sunday afternoon, playing for the biggest payday in the history of billiards.
Forty-two of the world’s best cue artists started play on Nov. 30 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. After four rounds of round-robin 8-ball play, Reyes emerged as the victor and earned a shot at Sigel and the $200,000 first-prize in the finals.
“This is the match that everyone of the planet wants to see,” said Sigel. “It’s classic. Half the people in the world think that he’s the greatest player, the other half think I’m the greatest player.”
In a typical gut-check performance for the legendary cue wizard, Reyes came back from a 4-0 deficit in a must-win match against fellow Filipino Marlon Manalo to win eight straight games and earn his berth against Sigel, 8-4.
“I’m coming after you – you wait for me!” Reyes said, after repeated promptings from the video production staff at the King of the Hill to say something for the cameras that sounded like he was taunting Sigel.
“I think it will be a very good match,” Reyes continued. “I haven’t played Mike Sigel in 10 years. He has a better record [against me]. Whoever gets the first break and breaks good may win it.”
Just six players were left standing for the final round-robin stage on Saturday, and, perhaps to no one’s surprise, three were ball-control mavens from the Philippines: Reyes, Manalo, and Francisco Bustamante. Perhaps the biggest surprise survivor was Hall-of-Famer Nick Varner, who underwent major heart-related surgery less than two years ago. The six were rounded out by Finland’s Mika Immonen and America’s Johnny Archer.
The Filipinos quickly took over the bracket, and going into the fifth and final match of the last round-robin, each Pinoy player had a record of 3-1. When Bustamante lost badly to Immonen to fall to 3-2, it was announced to the crowd and the players that the winner of the Reyes-Manalo match, which was still in progress, would meet Sigel in Sunday’s final.
It was a wild match to begin with, as Manalo took a quick 4-0 lead. Reyes began to mount a comeback, and the score was 4-2 when play was forced to stop for 20 minutes after an incredible and embarrassing gaffe by the match’s referee. Reyes had run out all the solids and had a clear shot on the 8, and decided to return to his chair for a moment before taking the shot. Evidently not paying attention, the referee absent-mindedly cleared the balls from the table before Reyes returned. Fortunately, each match at the King of the Hill was being videotaped, so the production crew soon was able to cue up a portion of the tape with the correct layout. After officials reset the balls, Reyes promptly sank the 8.
Soon, he was celebrating his big comeback and the potential to take home $200,000 from Sunday’s match. The runner-up will receive $100,000.
Sigel told BD that he was concerned with Reyes’ stellar record in high-pressure situations. Perhaps not so coincidentally, Reyes holds the current record for most money won in a pool match: $160,000 for a Japanese event several years ago.
IPT King of the Hill Kicks Off!
The International Pool Tour’s first large-field event has begun. The IPT “King of the Hill” shootout, going Nov. 30-Dec. 4, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., is offering a record-breaking top prize of $200,000, and a total prize fund of $1,000,000.
The field of 43 consists of thirteen Billiards Congress of America Hall of Fame members and thirty invited IPT members. Forty-two players will compete in a round-robin phase, and the top dog from that tousle will challenge Hall-of-Famer Mike Sigel in the final match.
Buddy Hall Wins Senior Masters
“Rifleman” Buddy Hall won the Senior Masters VI over the weekend at Steve Mizerak’s Billiards in Lake Park, Fla.
The event was double elimination, race-to-9, with a single race to 11 in the finals. The event was sponsored by The Seminole Tribe of Florida.
Hall lost his first match of the tournament to bearded sharpshooter Howard Vickery. After nine wins on the one-loss side, including triumphs over Ron Park and Bob Ogburn, Hall secured a spot in the final. He faced Wade Crane in the title match, and at first he trailed Crane 6-1, but he caught up with and passed by his competitor for an 11-7 win.
Hall took home $10,000 for the win, while Crane settled for $6,000. Ogburn and Vickery took third and fourth, respectively.
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.
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.”