Third Round Brings All-Star Match-ups at the Reno Open
The 2006 Reno Open is underway at the Sands Regency in Reno, Nev., yielding a field of 156 players.
Tournament coordinator Mick McMillin said that the number of players at the tournament, usually at or above the 200 mark, has decreased this year due to the International Pool Tour qualifiers.
Nonetheless, some great pool is being played. The third round brought about several marquis matches, including a match between longtime friends Gabe Owen and Jeremy Jones. Jones now has the upperhand, defeating his friend, 9-5.
Edwin Montal came up against Rodney Morris in the third round, besting him, 9-2, and Dennis Orcollo sent Cory Deuel to the one-loss side, 9-5.
Kim Davenport remains undefeated in the fourth round, and will match up against Filipino Jose Parica. Young Austin Murphy also remains on the winners’ side, winning his first three matches, and will face Bobby Hunter today.
Enjoypool.com 9-Ball Championships Underway
Pool heavyweights and hopefuls alike arrived in Las Vegas over the weekend to compete in the Enjoypool.com 9-Ball Championships, which got underway May 14, at the Riviera Hotel and Casino.
This event always draws the top fields from both the men’s and women’s games, and this year is no different. Reigning champions Allison Fisher and Thorsten Hohmann will both be defending the titles they earned last year. Fisher will started off with a 9-1 win over My-Hahn Lac, while Hohmann will get his start today at 11 a.m. with a match against Bruce Wilkinson.
The first round of matches on Sunday featured a fair share of marquee matches. Johnny Archer defeated Kim Davenport, 11-4, and Jose Parica bested veteran Nick Varner, 11-8. On the women’s side, Chinese newcomer Xiao-Ting Pan tipped the scales against Tracie Hines, 9-6.
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.”
Irrepressible Pagulayan Wins Second Major in All-Filipino U.S. Open Final
Alex Pagulayan ran undefeated through a 256-man field to win the 30th Annual U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships, which this year could well have been called “The Philippine Open” after placing three Filipinos in the top three spots.
“A win is a win is a win,” an ebullient Pagulayan said after beating Jose Parica in an error-filled final, 11-6. Parica had knocked Francisco Bustamante out of the running in the losers’-bracket final, 11-10.
Pagulayan first beat Parica in the winners’-bracket final, 11-6, and then earned the $40,000 top prize by taking advantage of a Parica miss on the 4 in the 17th rack of the finals. It was a dream come true for the tiny Canadian-by-way-of-the-Philippines, and his second major title after winning the 2004 World Pool Championship.
“The only dream I have left is to grow another two inches – either taller or the other way, I don’t care,” the irrepressible Clown Prince of Pool joked.
It was a bittersweet win for a couple reasons. Parica failed again to take the title after reaching the semis of the U.S. Open several times, and the finals at least twice. And Pagulayan, perhaps the most talented player of his generation, said after the event that he has all but forsaken mainstream U.S. pool events for poker – both tournament play and online gaming.
“The money is terrible,” he said, echoing a longtime lament of many top pool pros. “I can make a lot more playing poker.” For the time being, Pagulayan expected only to compete in the States at the Derby City Classic and U.S. Open.
Upsets Galore at U.S. Open as Former Champs Drop to One-Loss Bracket
The giants all fell from the winners’ bracket on Friday night at the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship in Chesapeake, Va., as Johnny Archer, Francisco Bustamante, Efren Reyes, Ralf Souquet, Niels Feijen and Jeremy Jones dropped to the one-loss side in the same round of matches.
The carnage started at 9 p.m. Friday with Filipinos Alex Pagulayan and Francisco Bustamante lagging on the TV table. The wily Pagulayan jumped to a quick 5-0 lead, allowing his foe near the table only once – and that was for a push. Regaining his world-beating form after two years of ho-hum play, the resurgent Bustamante rocketed back to take the lead at 9-8, but a hung 4 ball in the 18th rack brought Pagulayan back to the table, where he ran out and then ran the next two racks for an 11-9 victory.
“At the end I got lucky with the 4 ball,” Pagulayan said. “That was the key to the match. I was thinking when it was 8-8, just give me one more chance.”
On the next table over, Filipino expatriate Jose Parica kept one step ahead of countryman and longtime rival Reyes to win, 11-9. Reyes was joined soon on the one-loss side by several other former Open champions: Johnny Archer fell to Troy Frank, 11-6; Jeremy Jones lost to Andreas Roschkowsky, 11-9; and Ralf Souquet dropped a hill-hill slugfest with upstart Sylver Ochoa, 11-10.
This was all in the same round, mind you, and all within an hour of each other. Other significant winners’-bracket results from the 9 p.m. round included Nick Van den Berg smashing Charlie “Hillbilly” Bryant, 11-4; Viet Nam native Tang Hoa elbowing Holland’s Feijen, 11-8; and Charlie Williams halting Ernesto Dominguez.
That left eight men still in the winners’ bracket, and dozens left to brave the extraordinarily deep one-loss bracket in this field-of-256 competition with a $200,000 prize fund. At 3 p.m. EST, Tang will play Roschkowsky, Pagulayan will face Frank, Van den Berg will meet Parica, and Williams will lag against Ochoa.
U.S. Open Field Down to Half
Ochoa’s play is turning some heads.
Reno Open winner Marlon Manalo and 2003 BCA 9-ball Open titlist Tony Robles found themselves slugging it out deep in the one-loss bracket on Friday afternoon. Nearby, major event winners Marcus Chamat and Mike Davis faced off as red-hot Robb Saez and 2004 BCA champion Thorsten Hohmann battled for survival in the one-loss bracket.
Playing on diamond tables with 4 1/2 inch pockets and an absolutely unforgiving cut the finesse players and most experienced pros seemed to have an edge.
“You aren’t seeing a lot of guys breaking and running out,” said pro Tony Crosby.
Among the 16 players left in the winners’ bracket was Efren Reyes, who dropped defending U.S. Open champ Gabe Owen to the one-loss side, 11-8 on Thursday night. Reyes will meet Filipino countryman Jose Parica on Friday night. After a weak showing at the World Pool Championships, the Filipino contingent is performing quite well here; Alex Pagulayan and a resurgent Francisco Bustamante will meet in a winners’-bracket match on Friday night as well.
So far, the surprise of the tournament is young Sylver Ochoa, 19, a college sophomore at Texas-Pan American and a mainstay on the Fast Eddie’s regional tour. Ochoa beat Keith McCready Thursday night, 11-8, to stay undefeated. He will face Ralf Souquet on Friday night in a winners’-bracket match.
The sixteen players now left in the winners’ bracket are:
Nick Van den Berg, Charlie “Hillbilly” Bryant, Jose Parica, Efren Reyes, Ernesto Dominguez, Charlie Williams, Ralf Souquet, Sylver Ochoa, Tang Hoa, Niels Feijen, Andreas Roschkowsky, Jeremy Jones, Alex Pagulayan, Francisco Bustamante, Johnny Archer and Troy Frank.
BD Live Chat with Barry Behrman
Behrman (l.) with 2003 Open runner-up Jose Parica.
Behrman will make himself available for a live online chat beginning at 8 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Sept. 14, right here on the BD Web site. Just click the live chat icon on Wednesday for access.
Creator and promoter of the longest running major championship event in pool, Behrman has a unique and authoritative perspective on the history of the game and its current state. Among other topics, Behrman will hold forth on his special plans for the 30th annual U.S. Open, which will kick off Sept. 19; the upstart International Pool Tour, financed by controversial informercial magnate Kevin Trudeau; and perhaps even how Behrman is rehabilitating his image after legal troubles and skirmishes with the UPA men’s player association earlier in the decade.
Behrman’s always candid and eloquent, so don’t miss this chance to learn more about one of pool’s most fascinating figures. And with BD’s Player of the Year award entirely up for grabs this year, the Open could be 2005’s most important event. Don’t miss out.
Buddy Hall Wins Hard Times Summer Jamboree One-Pocket Title
Buddy Hall won the One-Pocket division at the Hard Times Summer Jamboree, June 16, at Hard Times Billiards in Bellflower, Calif. Hall went to the one-loss side at the hands of Billy Palmer, but then fought his way through the likes of Greg Sullivan and Tony Chohan, among others. Hall faced Jose Parica in the race-to-5 final; The Rifleman won, 5-1, and collected $3,000.
The Hard Times event goes from June 14-19, and also features a $10,000-added 9-ball division, which concludes on Sunday. For more information and complete brackets, check www.azbilliards.com.
Parica fills out Skins Semifinals
Jose Parica snared the final spot in the semifinal round of the Skins Billiards Championship late on Friday night and, in doing so, narrowly averted a playoff with at least two other opponents to reach the big-money rounds of the $130,000 tournament.
Parica will be joined in the semis – where $42,000 will be up for grabs – by Johnny Archer, Luc Salvas, Rodney Morris, Santos Sambajon, Ralf Souquet, Cory Deuel and Danny Basavich. The four players then advancing to the finals will play for an additional $54,000.
The Skins opening round kicked off Friday afternoon at the Resorts hotel and casino in Atlantic City, N.J., with 16 players divided into four brackets, playing for $500 per game. Each bracket consisted of 16 games, thus allowing a total of $8,000 in prize money per bracket. The eight players with the highest prize totals at the end of the round would advance to the semis.
By the end of play in the third bracket, it became clear that a player would need at least $2,000 to have a shot at the semis. When Basavich reached $3,000 late in the fourth bracket, all the pieces fell into place. If Parica could win one more game and reach $2,500, the final eight would be set. If he finished with just $2,000, he and at least two other players with $2,000 would have to duke it out in a playoff for the eighth spot
It came down to the 15th game, when the shooting order allowed Parica one final turn to break.
Charlie Williams and Mika Immonen, both with $2,000 from previous rounds, huddled in the back of the cavernous Superstar Theatre, rooting for Basavich to win the deciding game. But even on the ropes, Parica was too clever for his foe. Stymied by a safety, Parica decided to foul intentionally and sabotage Basavich’s runout by nestling the 5 next to the 8. Sure enough, Basavich’s runout stalled at the 5, and Parica nailed a tough cross-side bank on the 5 to take control of the table and eventually win the game.
“I’m more experienced than anybody,” the plucky Filipino said. “I think. I make the smart play.”
The Skins action will finish up Saturday evening. Check back for the final results.
Archer wins Big Apple 9-Ball Challenge
Johnny Archer has won the Master Billiards Big Apple 9-Ball Challenge.
Archer defeated Jose Parica to earn the hot-seat early Sunday afternoon and then defeated longtime friend and rival Jeremy Jones 13-12 in an epic battle.
Archer won $10,000 for first place while Jones settled for $6,000. Parica and Rodney Morris filled out the top four spots.