Manalo Hits His Stride in Reno
Filipino player Marlon Manalo went undefeated to win the Sands Regency Reno Open, June 3-12, in Reno, Nev. The win comes on the heels of his unexpected tie-for-fifth finish at the BCA Open 9-Ball Championships in May.
Manalo beat countryman Santos Sambajon Jr., 9-8, and advanced to vie for the hotseat against Shawn Putname, winning 9-7. On the one-loss side, Tony Chohan beat Putnam, 9-8, to advance to the final.
In the final, Chohan took a 6-2 lead, but then let victory slip through his fingers. Manalo won, 9-6, and collected $12,000 for top prize. Chohan earned $5,400 for second place.
Archer Regains His Place With Florida Open Win
After unexpectedly taking a 7-0 drubbing from Thorsten Hohmann in the final of the BCA Pro 9-Ball Open last week, No. 1 ranked Johnny Archer got back into the groove with a title win at the 5th Annual Predator Florida Open, at Bankshot Billiards in Jacksonville, Fla., May 25-29.
Archer bested Mike Davis, 10-5, to take the hot seat. While Archer waited, Davis took on Hohmann in the one-loss bracket and beat him, 10-9. In the final rematch, Davis put up a fight, but in the end, Archer triumped, 11-8, for the $10,000 win.
Davis accepted $5,000 for second, and Hohmann took home $3,200 in third place, followed by Ralf Souquet, who collected $2,400 for a fourth place finish.
New President for Brunswick
Brunswick Billiards has announced that Sean Cummings has been named Presdient of Brunswick Billiards. Cummings succeeds former Billiard Congress of America President John Stransky in the position. Stransky left the position, and the BCA presidency, when he was promoted to President of Brunswick Bowling and Billiards.
In his new post, Cummings will oversee the management of Brunswick Billiards and Valley-Dynamo. Cummings most recently was Managing Director of Teignbridge Propellers Ltd., a division of Mercury Marine (itself a division of Brunswick Corporation) in England. He has been employed by Brunswick Corporation in various roles for nine years. He earned an MBA degree from Northwestern and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
BCA 9-Ball Champs Crowned
Thorsten Hohmann and Allison Fisher have taken titles at the Billiard Congress of America’s annual pro event, the BCA Pro Open 9-Ball Championship.
Fisher fought off three-time defending champ Karen Corr in the final, and won, 7-5.
The men’s final match was a shocker. Hohmann kept Johnny Archer in his chair for nearly the whole match, laying down a break-and-run each time he broke in the alternating format. Archer, meanwhile, struggled with the break, sinking nothing once and scratching once. The result was a lopsided 7-0 win by Hohmann.
Both winners collected $15,000. For detailed brackets from both divisions, visit www.wpba.com.
Lions Gate Films Developing Kid Delicious Movie
Lions Gate Films has made a development deal for a feature film to be loosely based on the life of Danny “Kid Delicious” Basavich. Basavich is currently ranked No. 1 on the Billiards Digest Power Index. The deal was announced May 9 by Peter Block, Lions Gate President of Acquisitions and Co-Productions and Michael Paseornek, President of Production and Development.
The deal includes right to the recent Sports Illustrated article “The Amazing Adventures of Kid Delicious and Bristol Bob,” written by L. Jon Wertheim, in addition to a life-rights and consulting agreement with Basavich and his former road partner “Bristol” Bob Begey. The first draft of the screenplay will be written by Wertheim, who is also writing a book based on Basavich, to be published by Houghton Mifflin publishers.
“Kid Delicious is a true American success story, and we are thrilled to be developing a film based on his incredible journey from being one of the most creative and successful pool hustlers to being the top-ranked professional billiards player in the country,” Block said.
Fisher Takes Fifth Amway Title
Fisher grabbed Amway title number five.
In the final, televised live on Taiwanese television station Videoland, Fisher bested Korea’s Ga Young Kim, 11-6. Fisher collected $24,000 for her win. Kim took home $12,000 for second place.
The rest of the field finished as follows: 3. Karen Corr; 4. Shin-Mei Liu; 5. (tie) Yuan-Chun Lin, Wendy Jans; 7. (tie) Jasmin Ouschan, Jennifer Chen; 9. (tie) Shu-Han Chang, Jeanette Lee; 11. (tie) Jennifer Barretta, Kajitani Akimi.
Finals Set for Amway Cup
The quarter- and semifinal rounds are complete at the Amway Cup World Women Billiards Invitational, being held May 6-9 in Taipei, Taiwan. Korea’s Ga Young Kim is slated to face British “Duchess of Doom” Allison Fisher in the final tonight.
In one quarterfinal round, Karen Corr bested Yuan-Chun Lin, advancing to a semifinal against Fisher, where Corr was eliminated, 7-3. In the other quarterfinal, Shin-Mei Liu beat young Belgian Wendy Jans, 7-5. Liu then took a 7-2 beating from good friend Kim.
The playoff for third place between Corr and Liu takes place this evening before the final. All matches are being shown live on Taiwanese television.
European Pool Championships Wrap-up
The European Pool Championships, held April 20-30 in Veldhoven, The Netherlands, has wrapped up the last of the divisions, with 9-ball and team competitions finishing up over the weekend.
The 9-ball competitions began with double-elimination brackets, and became single-elimination showdowns in the final 32. On the men’s side, the final four were Alex Lely, Thorsten Hohmann, Mika Immonen and Ralf Souquet. Lely beat Souquet, 9-8, in the final. In 9-ball, Jasmin Ouschan, Kim Shaw, Katrine Jensen and Charlotte Sörensen were the last four women in the arena. Ouschan took the title, making her a double-title winner in Veldhoven (the first being in straight pool).
In the men’s team championships, Team Germany looked like the team to beat from the start, with Souquet, Hohmann and Oliver Ortmann, among others, on board. Indeed, they beat the team from the Czech Republic, 4-0. In the women’s team event, Germany was again the victor, with The Netherlands in second.