Reyes win San Miguel Tour Taipei Stop
It was a different opponent in the finals, but the same result for Efren Reyes over the weekend at the San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour stop in Taipei.
Reyes, vieing for his third tour win this season, faced off against Young-Hwa Jeong from Korea in the finals and trailed 10-8 late in the match. Reyes lived up to his ‘Magician’ nickname and took advantage of some great shotmaking to win the next five games and the title.
Reyes won $10,000 for first with Jeong pocketing $5000 for second. Reyes countryman Warren Kiamco and Chatchawal Rutphae from Thailand finished in a tie for third.
Liu Takes Amway Title for Taiwan
Liu remained placid, even after winning a momentous title for her country.
This time, the British perennial champ took a brutal 11-2 loss . She did not score a point until a seventh-game run out brought the score to 6-1, and she failed to pick up momentum from there, scoring only once more. Fisher didn’t capitalize on several of Liu’s mistakes, including a 7-ball bank that left the ball sitting on the lip of the pocket.
Liu took the final game with a tricky run-out that included jumping out of a safety on the 1 and recovering from poor position on the 4. As icing on the cake, she sank the 5 and 7 in one shot before running what was left of the rack. She registered little emotion as she won the title, but did say that this was the first time that she had beaten Fisher in Taiwan.
Fisher took home $10,000 for second place, Monica Webb took $8,000 for third, Karen Corr took $7,000 for fourth, and Jeanette Lee and Korean Ga-Young Kim tied for fifth and $5,000 each.
Yang Ching Shun Takes Hong Kong
Yang took his second-ever San Miguel win.
The match between Hsai and Yang was the first all-Taiwanese final in the Tour. Hsia took the lead in the early part of the game until 9-6, when Yang started his comeback and won five racks in a row to defeat Hsia by 11-9. This is Yang’s second title on the tour (his first was last season); it pushed him to third in the tour’s rankings.
Yang took home US$10,000 for the win, while Hsia settled for $5,000. For more information, check out www.asian9-balltour.com.
(All information courtesy ESPN STAR Sports)
WPC Ups Prize Fund for 2004
The World Pool Championships have announced the prize breakdowns for this year’s event, to be held July 10-18 in Taipei, Taiwan. They have added $50,000 this year’s prize purse, bringing to total purse to $350,000 and pushing last year’s $65,000 first-place prize up to $75,000. Last year’s runner-up got $30,000; this year’s will take home $35,000. See the full payouts below, with indications of the changes made from last year’s amounts.
2004 World Pool Championship Prize Fund:
Winner: $75,000 (was $65K last year)
Runner-Up: $35,000 (was 30)
Semi-Finalists: $20,000 (was 17.5)
Qtr Finalists: $10,000 (was 8.5)
Last 16: $5,000 (was 4)
Last 32: $2,500 (was 2)
Last 64: $1,750 (was 1.5)
5th Place in Group: $1,000 (same)
6th Place in Group: $500 (same)
“Law & Order” Puts Pool in the Spotlight
Ewa Laurance enjoyed a moment with special guest Jerry Orbach at Laurance’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Mr. Orbach is an accomplished billiard player and recently was a special guest at the Billiard Congress of America (BCA) Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (held April 1, 2004 at the Las Vegas Hilton) as the industry honored the 2004 inductees Ewa Mataya Laurance and George Balabuska.
Please check your local listings for time and channel.
Griffin Purchases BCA League System
Mark Griffin, a poolroom owner and partner in table manufacturer Diamond Billiard Products, has agreed to purchase the Billiard Congress of America’s 60,000-player amateur league system, despite the efforts of a group of regional league officials to form their own association in opposition to the sale.
The BCA’s board of directors agreed to the general terms of the deal during a meeting on March 31, the first day of the BCA’s annual industry trade show in Las Vegas. Griffin, a BCA board member who was recused from league-sale votes, made a substantial payment toward the total purchase on April 1.
Griffin was quick to quell fears that he would substantially alter the way the 26-year-old league system operates.
“Nothing will change,” said Griffin, 57, himself a master-level player in the league. “Not the entry fees, or the rules, the regulations, the sanctioning of the teams — there will be no changes.”
For at least the first couple years, the league would maintain the “BCA” name in its moniker, Griffin said. He expected to hire a new administrative staff for the league, the headquarters of which likely would move from Colorado Springs, Colo., to Las Vegas.
[Griffin has created a Web site for those interested in more information on his plans: www.bcapoolleague.com]
The BCA had received multiple offers for the league system, according to John Stransky, chair of the BCA’s league sale committee. Griffin’s bid was considered the strongest overall, in part because “he was very much in favor of keeping things intact,” Stransky said. “BCA players could continue to play under his ownership and expect things to be greatly the same.”
Griffin’s agreement with the BCA came less than a week after news that a group of BCA league operators and state association presidents had decided to form a new association in opposition to the pending sale.
By forming its own league, dubbed the American Cuesports Alliance, the group sought to preserve the BCA system’s not-for-profit modus operandi. Alliance members expected to have the support of a majority of BCA league operators and players, and announced their intention to hold their own national championship in 2005.
[The Web site for the American Cuesports Alliance can be found at www.americancuesports.org]
W.C. Dixon, president of the BCA league’s Texas state association and vice-president of the Alliance, told BD on April 1 that Griffin’s purchase of the league system would have no bearing on the Alliance’s plans.
It all pointed to a war for the hearts and minds of the rank-and-file players at the 2004 BCA National 8-Ball Championships, to be held in mid-May in Las Vegas. Stransky said the BCA would make overtures to players and operators at the event supporting Griffin’s leadership.
For in-depth coverage of the BCA league sale and its ramifications for players, see the May issue of Billiards Digest, mailed to subscribers in mid-April.
Archer Takes Players Championship
Johnny Archer won the Brunswick Men’s Professional Players Championship, held March 25-28 at the Super Billiards Expo in Valley Forge, Pa.
Archer took a surprise second-round loss to Frankie Hernandez, 10-2, and then charged through 10 straight matches in the left bracket for the win. Notable victories included a hill victory over Charlie Williams, plus wins over Mika Immonen and Ralf Souquet.
In the final against Jose Parica, Archer dominated, 10-4, collecting $10,000 for the title. Parica took home $5,000 while Souquet and Jose Garcia took home $3,500 and $2,500 for third and fourth places, respectively.
Davis Wins Joss
Continuing his recent run for the top, Mike Davis won the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour stop held March 20-21 at Renaissance Billiard Club in Quincy, Ma. Other Davis wins of note in the past season include a third-place finish at an early-March 111-player Planet Pool Tour stop, ad a top-place finish at the Sands Regency Reno Open 9-Ball Championships.
In Quincy, Davis defeated a field of 68, who defeated Robb Saez, 9-6, for the hotseat, before facing Saez again in the the finals. Saez took the first match of the double-elimination set, 9-8, before Davis closed the door on him with a 9-7 second-match win. Davis collected $2,500 for his win, while Saez settled for $1,900.
Check out Billiards Digest’s April issue for an in-depth profile of rising star Mike Davis.
Varner Doing Fine
Hall-of-Famer and BD columnist Nick Varner is recuperating nicely from aorta femoral bypass surgery performed on Jan. 29. Although currently in the midst of an anticipated two-month recovery, Varner hopes to return to competition as early as the BCA Open 9-Ball Championships in mid-May.
Varner was rushed to the hospital on Jan. 20 when, during a match at the Derby City Classic in Louisville, Ky., he began to have trouble staying on his feet. Doctors discovered a blockage in the major artery near his abdomen that feeds both the right and left leg.
Varner is still feeling the effects of the particularly invasive procedure, which called for temporary displacement of his intestines. “It really screws up your digestive track,” Varner said. However, all signs point to full recovery: “It looks like everything went okay.”
Doctors recommended that Varner quit smoking, and, indeed, he hasn’t had a cigarette since first entering the hospital. For the time being, he’s happy to lead a relatively sheltered life away from the poolroom while the nicotine leaves his system. He also is looking forward to April 26 — the date his wife, Toni, is expected to give birth to their first child. Best wishes from BD.