Big Apple Day Two Complete
The big name matches are piling up at the Master Billiards 9-Ball Challenge in Queens NY. Multiple battles deserve star billing on Friday evening, with Thorsten Hohmann facing Rodney Morris on one side of the arena while crowds also gathered around the Danny Harriman/Young Hwa Jeong match and a Jose Parica/Danny “Kid Delicious” Basavich battle.
By 9PM, Parica, Morris and Harriman were the ones still standing in the winners bracket. Other strong contenders still in the fight include George ‘Ginky’ San Souci, returning from his declared retirement to play in this event, and the always dependable Ralf Souquet.
Saturday morning will feature a marquee match between Francisco Bustamante and Johnny Archer with the cameras of worldpool.com running at 11:00 AM EST. The match will be available for internet PPV at Worldpool.com.
Online brackets are updated with all of Friday’s winners at http://www.azbilliards.com/bigapple2004/brackets.cfm
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.
Reyes Shines at Derby City
Reyes like what he saw on the table at Derby City.
A 24-hour, 9-day pool orgy for both gamblers and serious tournament players, the Classic kicked off on Jan. 16 with a $30,000 ring game between Cory Deuel, Jimmy Wetch, Alex Pagulayan, Earl Strickland, Rodney Morris and Charlie Williams. Deuel eventually outlasted Pagulayan for the $30,000 prize in a match that went well past five hours. The event proved so popular that Derby City organizers hastily assembled a six-man cast for the next night for another $30,000. In that six-hour tilt, BD Player of the Year Johnny Archer bested Pagulayan, Reyes, Ralf Souquet, John Schmidt and Jose Parica.
More than 300 players entered each of the three main events at Derby City this year. Jason Miller of Dayton, Ohio, took the 9-ball bank pool crown and its $8,000 first prize after besting undefeated John Brumback twice in the true double-elimination final (Derby City players with one loss can buy back into the tournament once in each division). Reyes mopped up Chicagoan Marco Marquez in the one-pocket final, 3-0, after his foe failed to take advantage of a commanding lead in the first game.
Pocketing the $9,000 one-pocket prize, Reyes then plowed through the 9-ball field, only to meet the similarly undefeated Souquet in the final. Souquet took the first match, 7-2, and after Reyes bought back in, “The Kaiser” toppled Reyes again by an identical score. The win brought a $13,000 payday for the German, who entered all three events this year without ever having played bank pool or one-pocket in a serious tournament setting.
Mika Immonen Crowned UPA Champion
Mika Immonen scored a 13-2 win over Charlie Williams and won the UPA Pro Tour Championship held at The Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens, Ca.
Immonen survived two hill-hill matches on his way to the finals, one with Jose Parica and another with Ralf Souquet for the point.
Immonen earned $10,000 for the win, the first major event of the new year. Williams won $5000 for second.
Scorpion Tops Dragon in D.C.
Johnny Archer registered a come-from-behind 9-8 victory in the 9-ball final of the Capital City Classic on Jan. 27 to win $6,500 for first place. The inaugural event marked the third straight major tournament of the 2002 season, following the Derby City Classic (Jan. 4-12) and Music City 9-Ball Open (Jan. 19-20).
Derby City one-pocket runner-up Jose Parica captured the one-pocket division at the Capital City Classic, topping Pete Fusco, 5-3, in the final to claim $6,000.
Charlie Williams led for most of the final against Johnny Archer, but Archer rallied to claim the victory. Williams settled for the $4,000 second-place check. Allen Hopkins finished third, worth $3,000.
Lee and Deuel Victorious in Vegas
Jeanette Lee ended Karen Corr’s two-tourney win streak when she came from the one-loss side to hand Corr her only loss of the tournament, 7-5, at the Billiard Congress of America Pro 9-Ball open. Lee also ended a drought of her own, taking her first tournament top prize since prior to her 2000 back and shoulder surgery.
On the men’s side, Cory Deuel came through the left side and won 12 consecutive matches to take the top prize, defeating Jose Parica, 7-5, with a jaunty 8-9 combo in the final.
Lee and Deuel each won $15,000.
Jones’ All-Star weekend
Jeremy Jones bounced back from the one-loss bracket to defeat Corey Deuel in the final match of the Lexington All-Stars Championships in Lexington, Ky., Feb. 28-March 4. Two months after the two finalists played as teammates during Team USA’s win in December’s Mosconi Cup, Jones held off Deuel in the final match, 15-8, to earn $5,000 and his first tournament win of the year.
Deuel collected $2,500 for second place, and defending champion Jose Parica won $1,800 for third.
Daulton Master of the Table
Shannon “The Cannon” Daulton punctuated his claim as All-Around Champion at the Derby City Classic in Louisville, Ky., Saturday night by winning the multi-discipline tournament’s 9-ball division. The 28-year-old Kentuckian, who had already clinched the event’s all-around crown prior to the 9-ball division finale, defeated Finland’s Mika Immonen, 7-4, to earn the $8,000 top prize. With his $5,000 prize as All-Around Champion, and $1,675 earned in the 9-Ball Banks and One-Pocket divisions, Daulton’s weeklong stay at the Derby City Classic garnered him $14,675. Jose Parcia, winner of the 9-Ball Banks event, was second in the all-around race. Buddy Hall earned he $5,000 One-Pocket title.
Reno Open Underway
The 2003 Reno Open is down to 48 players as of 7PM EST on Friday.
The winner from last June, John Schmidt, is still undefeated and will play Jimmy Mendoza from Phoenix Arizona on Friday night. Other top seeds who are still undefeated include Rodney Morris, Jose Parica, Santos Sambajon, Jeremy Jones and Max Eberle.
The final winner crowned on Sunday will pocket $12,000 for the win.
Archer Wins World Summit of Pool
Southern gentleman Johhny Archer had a little something to teach the city slickers at the World Summit of Pool, at Amsterdam Billiards Club East in New York City, Oct. 8-12.
Archer triumphed over Santos Sambajon in the final, 13-5. Archer gained momentum as the final progressed, picking up speed and confidence with every game won. He produced seven break-and-run racks on his way to the win. Sambajon, who had a red-hot breaking game during his hot-seat match against Jose Parica, saw his inertia flag and his break fail in the final. After the score tied at 3-3, Archer took the lead and held it through the end.
Archer took home $12,000 while Sambajon settled for $6,500. Parica and Max Eberle took third and fourth, respectively.