Deuel wins UPA Championship
Corey Deuel completed an undefeated run to win the UPA Pro Tour Championship at the Bicycle Club in Bellflower California this weekend.
Deuel, known as the master of the soft break, was working that break to perfection all weekend and had wins over Charlie Williams, Mika Immonen and Efren Reyes before a 7-5 win over Danny Basavich for the hot-seat.
On the one-loss side, Basavich eliminated US Open Champion Gabe Owen 7-3 and forced Owen to settle for third place.
The finals were one race to seven on the ESPN table, and it went all the way to hill-hill before Corey put it away.
Deuel earned $10,000 for first place, while Basavich settled for $5000 in second place prize money. Owen and Efren Reyes filled out the top four places.
Complete Results:
1st Corey Deuel $10,000
2nd Danny Basavich $5,000
3rd Gabe Owen $4,000
4th Efren Reyes $3,000
5th/6th Rodney Morris, Mika Immonen $2,400
7th/8th Ralf Souquet, Santos Sambajon $1,850
9th/12th Frankie Hernandez, Mike Davis, Paul Potier, Troy Frank $1,350
13th/16th Francisco Bustamante, Johnny Archer, Tony Robles, Rodolfo Luat $900
17th/24th Charlie Williams, Neil Fujiwara, Bill Ferguson, Danny Kuykendall, Dave Hemmah, Max Eberle, Robb Saez, Charlie Bryant $400
Sambajon’s Train Finally Arrives
After four previous failures, Santos Sambajon, Jr., finally added his name to the list of Filipino imports to win major pro tour titles in the U.S. when he defeated Mike Davis, 7-5, Sunday afternoon in the finale of the World Summit of Pool in New York City.
“This is good for me,” said the 44-year-old Sambajon, whose most recent bridesmaid appearance came at the Billiard Congress of America Open 9-Ball Championships in Las Vegas in May. “This is good for me up here,” he said, pointing to his head. “And here,” he added, tabbing his hand over his heart.
Sambajon went undefeated through the 68-player field in the United States Poolplayers Association (UPA) tournament, staged with substantial fanfare at the city’s landmark Grand Central Station.
Earlier in the day, Sambajon had squeaked past Davis, 7-6, in the winner’s bracket. The final four matches were shortened to races to seven to accommodate taping for future airing on ESPN.
After struggling through the early racks of the finale, Sambajon ran out from the break on his final three attempts in the alternating-break format. With the match tied, 5-5, Davis attempted to slide the 1 ball into the side pocket but missed, a tricky shot that would prove to be his last of the match. Sambajon cleared the table, then ran out from the break to seal the match.
“I think he’s supposed to play safe there,” said Sambajon, who earned $12,000 for the title. “But I’m glad he didn’t.”
Davis earned $6,000 as runner-up. Earl Strickland placed third in the event, followed by Danny Harriman.