Hall-of-Famers Hall, Rempe Opt Out of IPT Again
Hall of Fame Members Jim Rempe and Buddy Hall have withdrawn from the IPT World Open 8-Ball Championship set to take place Sept. 2-10 in Reno, Nev. Both cited “personal reasons” that are keeping them from being able to perform under the grueling tournament format and conditions.
These two spots are now up for grabs and the IPT will fill them based on the qualification tournaments for the World Open. Players who have taken third place in World Open qualification tournaments more than once will be considered first. Then, players who took third place once will be considered. If there are ties, the IPT will consider the total number of qualification tournaments the players have played in. There are still five remaining qualification tournament in which to compete.
Qualification tournaments this weekend are being played in Florida, Chicago, Tokyo, London, and Pasadena. Entry fee deadline is TODAY (Aug. 24) at 4 p.m. CST.
IPT Open Continues: Filipinos Dominate; Fisher’s Perfect While Most Women Falter
The IPT’s North American 8-Ball Open is shaping up to be the Philippines 8-Ball Smackdown.
The Filipino contingent flew their flag high and often on Monday — the second day of the history-making, $2 million event — as six Pinoy shooters scored perfect 4-0 records in round-robin play: Efren Reyes, Alex Pagulayan, Francisco Bustamante, Marlon Manalo, Dennis Orcollo and Ronato Alcano.
Joining the ranks of the undefeated was Brit snooker and 9-ball superstar Allison Fisher, who steamed through a fairly soft bracket to qualify for the next round of play. However, she was one of only two women of the 15 female tour members to score a winning record, and one of only four to advance. The U.K.’s Sarah Ellerby had the other winning record, 3-1.
Top female pros making early exits Monday included Ireland’s Karen Corr, who went 1-3 in a particularly tough draw; the U.K.’s Kelly Fisher, 1-3; Helena Thornfeldt of Sweden, 0-4; and American Monica Webb, 0-4.
Play on Monday centered on the second set of 100 competitors in the 200-player field, divied up into 20 groups of five. The top three in each group advanced to today’s round, featuring the remaining 120 players, parsed into 20 groups of six.
The 80 eliminated players from the first round will settle for $2,000 each. The winner of the event will pocket a record $350,000.
Here’s a brief wrap-up of Monday’s highlights:
• One of the biggest surprises of the Open so far is the number of players who qualified for the event — those not among the 150 regular IPT tour members — who are posting undefeated records. These surprise contenders from Monday’s play include Dutchman Rico Diks; England’s Karl Boyes; and Anthony Ginn of Australia.
• Keith Bennett, a 27-year-old house pro at Breaktime Billiards in Wilmington, N.C., who made it into the Open as alternate after Hall-of-Famer Jim Rempe bowed out, posted a 4-0 record in the first-round on Monday.
• The four women to advance to Tuesday’s matches in the round-of-120 were Allison Fisher, 4-0; the U.K.’s Sarah Ellerby, 3-1; Hall-of-Famer Loree Jon Jones (U.S.), 2-2; and Austria’s Gerda Hofstatter, who managed to limp into the next round with a 1-3 record when her games-won percentage topped two other players in her group with the same record (Ed Kelly and Jim Weast, both of the U.S.; Hofstatter’s games-won percentage was in fact just 1 percent higher than Weast’s).
• Beyond the Filipinos, who were expected to do well, several favorites sent messages to the field that they were not to be underestimated. Also posting 4-0 records were well-regarded Americans Johnny Archer and Shannon Daulton, and Germany’s Oliver Ortmann.
Another One Bites the Dust: Wei Grounded by Visa Woes
Another contender for the $2-million purse at the International Pool Tour’s North American 8-Ball Championship has withdrawn from the running. Liu Wei of China, who won a qualifier to compete in the event in Shanghai in mid-June, officially opted out July 20 after the U.S. government rejected his travel visa. With the event only two days away, IPT officials chose Lee Heuwagen to replace Wei.
Heuwagen played in multiple IPT qualification tournaments. He was the second of only two players to place third in two North American Open qualifiers, a performance statistic that landed him in the number two spot on the alternate list after Keith Bennett, who will replace Hall-of-Famer Jim Rempe.
IPT officials informed Heuwagen yesterday that he would need to get a plane ticket to Las Vegas. The event will take place July 22-31 at The Venetian. Heuwagen was very excited to hear the news, though he did state that he was disappointed for Wei’s unfortunate circumstance.
Elated Bennett Takes Rempe’s Spot at IPT Open
Jim Rempe’s loss is Keith Bennett’s big, big gain.
Hall-of-Famer Rempe has pulled out of the first event of the International Pool Tour’s season, leaving a space for a shocked and elated Bennett, who finished tantalizingly close to the cut at several tour qualifiers.
“It was unbelievable,” said the 27-year-old house pro at Breaktime Billiards in Wilmington, N.C. “I had some really tough beats there. … I can’t wait to get out there and try to get a title.”
The title in question is the $350,000 first prize at the IPT North American 8-Ball Open, starting Sunday at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev. The 200-player field will be chasing $2 million in prizes, a record amount for pro pool.
Rempe withdrew from the tournament citing “personal reasons,” relating to his ability to hold up under the grueling IPT tournament format, according to IPT officials. He’s still eligible to compete in the season’s other four events. Rempe was not immediately available for comment.
Bennett spent much of early 2006 traveling the country and chasing qualifiers for one of 10 open tour member spots. He hit the four U.S. qualifiers, but failed to finish high enough for a slot. He then went to several qualifiers for the 50 additional spots at the North American Open, and finished third at two of them, just missing the cut.
Fortuitously, Bennett recently had been helping Hall-of-Famer Ewa Laurance prepare for the North American Open. They were in the midst of a practice session on Thursday when Bennett received the cell-phone summons from IPT tour director Deno Andrews.
Bennett spent much of Friday making hurried preparations for his week-long trip to Vegas, including making arrangements for his two children, ages 10 and 6. “I have a lot of stuff to take care of,” he said.
He wasn’t intimidated by what promises to be the strongest field ever assembled for a pool tournament, or the round-robin format that will have players competing 10 hours a day.
“I’ve been playing with the pros since I was 14 years old, so I don’t think the nerves will affect me,” he said. “And the format is pretty much alien to everyone. I feel like I have good shot at it if I get a couple rolls.”
Byrne, Ceulemans get BCA Hall of Fame nods
The voters have spoken, and Earl Strickland can begin making plans to attend the World Pool Championship in Cardiff.
In a vote that seemed to underscore the business nature of the BCA electorate, author Robert Byrne and legendary Belgian 3-cushion star Raymond Ceulemans earned entry into the Billiard Congress Hall of Fame, according to the BCA. Byrne and Ceulemans become the 39th and 40th members of the Hall. The duo emerged as the top vote-getters on a five-person ballot that included Strickland and fellow contemporary players Jim Rempe and Allen Hopkins. Strickland had previously insisted that, if elected, he would bypass the $300,000 world championship to attend the BCA Hall of Fame banquet.
Byrne, 70, credited with drawing thousands of players into the game through his seven books and five videos on billiards, will become the eighth person to be inducted in the Meritorious Service category. Ceulemans, 63, dominated the world 3-cushion scene from the ’60s into the ’90s, winning 16 of his 19 world-titles in an 18-year period between 1962 and 1980.
That the Hall of Fame vote is in the hands of BCA’s 125 Voting members and 175 Associate members (nearly 60 percent of the Voting membership voted, while just 25 percent of the Assoicate members submitted ballots, according to the BCA) probably increased Byrne’s chances, since his books and videos are well known to the BCA business populace. Meanwhile, industry pundits will likely wonder whether the lack of support for Strickland was a direct reflection of his sometimes volatile career.
Hall of Fame Ballot Released
Three first-timers joined a pair of returning nominees on the 2001 Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame Ballot. Author Bob Byrne, three-cushion legend Raymond Ceulemans and player of the year Earl Strickland all make their first appearance on the ballot. Allen Hopkins and Jim Rempe are holdovers from last year. The voting membership of the BCA will elect one or two of the nominees and the winner will be announced in the spring.
Danny Hewitt Takes 10-Ball Crown
Danny Hewitt of Montreal, Quebec, defeated Hall-of-famer Jim Rempe in a tense hill-hill match, 10-9, to take the title at the Trump Marina 10-Ball Challenge in Atlantic City, N.J., held Feb. 19-23.
Hewitt was fresh off a second-place finish at the Joss Northeast 9-ball tour’s stop at Cap’s Cue Club in Syracuse, N.Y., where he had met defeat in the form of Alex Pagulayan.
On his way to the 10-ball win, Hewitt got his revenge over Pagulayan. He lost his first match to fellow Canadian Claude Bernatchez (winner of this year’s Senior Masters Tournament) before plowing through the likes of Luc Salvas, Pagulayan, Ronnie Alcano, and Francisco Bustamante, to name a few. Rempe, for his part, defeated Hungarian star Sandor Tot, Pagulayan, and Earl Strickland, among others, to earn his shot at the big prize.
Hewitt earned $20,000 for coming out on top while Rempe took home $14,000 for second place; Alcano and Bustamante rounded out the top four spots.
Efren Reyes Takes Mid-Atlantic 9-Ball Crown
The ever-humble Reyes chalked his win up to luck.
Efren put in a stunning run to get to the finals, holding his opponents to the single digits in race-to-11 games. He defeated Leonardo Andam, 11-5, Mike Lebron, 11-3, Tony Robles, 11-7, Jose Parica, 11-5, Jim Rempe, 11-3, and Francisco Bustamante, 11-6, before losing to Jeong, 11-8, and taking at trip to the losers’ side. Once there, he defeated Bustamante again, 11-8, to earn himself the final rematch with Jeong.
Both finalists were in top form for the duration of the tournament, and the final showcased nearly flawless play by both competitors. Reyes felt that the turning point in the final was a single missed shot by Jeong, coupled with a dose of luck: “I was behind 4-3 and Young missed a shot. This is when I got lucky, because the gods smiled on me and I knew it was my chance to win. I am very lucky.”
Jones and Rempe Elected to Hall of Fame
Loree Jon Jones, 36, and Jim Rempe, 54, have been voted into the BCA’s Hall of Fame. They will become the 42nd and 43rd members of the Hall.
Jones was the youngest world champion when she won the Professional Pool Players Association world 14.1 title in 1981, beating Vicki Paski in the final. “It’s like the ending of a great book. I still want to play, but this makes it easier to walk away now. I’ve had such a fulfilling career. I went into a sport and met more goals than I could have imagined,” said Jones.
Rempe holds numerous titles, was dominant on the men’s scene in the ’70s and is well-known overseas as an ambassador of American pool. Rempe was a holdover from last year’s ballot. “I had a feeling this would be my year,” he said from his Scranton, Pa., home. “I just felt like it was my time. It’s the cherry on top of the cake. The culmination of a life’s work. And to go in with Loree Jon is great,” he said.
While the two players have long lists of achievements, both are still very active. Jones is ranked No. 13 on the Women’s Professional Billiard Association tour, while Rempe has recently topped the field at Joss Northeast regional tour stops.
The newest Hall of Fame members will be inducted at a banquet on July 27 at the BCA International Trade Show in New Orleans.