Shaw Wins Carolina Ladies Event

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Shaw Shows the Ladies How It’s Done

J. Pechauer Carolina Ladies’ Tour / Charlotte, NC

by Lea Andrews

Paradise Billiards in Charlotte, NC, hosted the $500-added sixth event of the inaugural season of the J. Pechauer Carolina Ladies Tour on May 30-31. Out of the field of 18, which included WPBA players Val Finnie, “Jumping” Janet Atwell, Belinda “The Texas Belle” Calhoun, tour newcomer Kim “The Cooler” Shaw came out on top to claim the top prize of $580.

Paradise Billiards in Charlotte, NC, hosted the $500-added sixth event of the inaugural season of the J. Pechauer Carolina Ladies Tour on May 30-31.

There were some surprising early exits on Saturday, including the elimination of Rachel Eliazar and local favorite Katie Cowan, who had won two of the previous five events. Cowan, after a hill-hill loss to Atwell, fell to Buffy Jolie 5-3. On Saturday night, the winners’ side final four featured three of the four pro players in the event as Finnie, who had already sent Calhoun left with a score of 7-5, met strong amateur player Karen Webb, putting her on the one-loss side with a score of 7-2, while Atwell met a sharp-shooting Shaw, who sent her west with a score of 7-5. Shaw then went on to claim the hot seat on Sunday afternoon, holding Finnie to five games.

On the one-loss side Sunday, Calhoun, who had just bested tournament director Alicia Putnam, edged out Atwell 5-4, while Jolie followed up a strong 5-1 win over Erin Watts with a 5-2 win over Webb. Calhoun then rode a 5-2 win over Jolie to a 5-2 win over Finnie, leaving Finnie in third place, while Calhoun earned a spot in the true double-elimination finals.

Shaw outlasted several fellow WPBA pros to take the Carolina Ladies event at Paradise Billiards.

There was no need for the second set, though, as Shaw took an early lead and didn’t let it go. Although Calhoun started off down 4-0, she managed to get within two games of Shaw, putting the score at 5-3 with some strong runs, but she couldn’t get mark up anymore as Shaw, with the same poise and control she’d displayed all weekend, closed out the win at 7-3 to go undefeated in her first Carolina Ladies’ Tour event.

Results:
1st Kim Shaw $580
2nd Belinda Calhoun $290
3rd Val Finnie $160
4th Buffy Jolie $90

Yang Wins Philippine Open

Posted by admin as Billiard Tour News - Pool Tour News

by Edward Asistin

Ricky Yang blitzed through the field of the Philippine Open undefeated and captured the first-place prize of $20,000 USD. His victim in the championship match was Jeffrey “The Bull” De Luna, and this time the bull didn’t know what hit him.

Yang is the number-one-ranked pool player in Indonesia. Up to this date in his professional pool playing career, his biggest accomplishment was achieving a second-place finish in the Jakarta Leg of the 2006 San Miguel Asian 9-Ball Tour. He was bested by one of the greatest cue artists of all time that day, Efren Reyes, but took home prize money of $5,000 USD. He was also the 2007 SEA Games gold medalist in billiards. He was second to none this time around and left everybody in the dust.

The first semifinal of the Philippine Open was a match between Yang and Lu Hui-Chan (Taiwan). The difference in the match was the three scratches on the break by Lu Hui-Chan. At 3-3 he had the break and scratched. Yang ran out and proceeded to break and run the next rack to go up 5-3. Yang had an opportunity to add to his lead the very next game but committed an error and instead of having a three-game lead, Lu Hui-Chan cut the lead to one game. Almost every time Lu Hui-Chan got within one game he would scratch on the break and Yang would run the rack out. Yang eventually finished off his opponent 9-7 to advance to the championship match.

The second semifinal was much like the first when Demosthenes Pulpul (Philippines) faced off against fellow countryman Jeffrey De Luna. Pulpul broke and ran the first two games of the match, then De Luna won the next four, giving him a two-game margin. Pulpul kept bringing it within a game but could not even the score. De Luna had an opportunity with an open table in the ninth to go up 6-3 but played poor position and could not take the commanding three-game lead. De Luna also had another chance to take the lead 8-6 but missed badly on the 6 ball, which led to the score being level at 7-7. With Pulpul being down 8-7 he had the opportunity to level the score once again but rattled the 7 ball in one of the corner pockets and allowed De Luna to finish off the match.

So the championship match was set, and the final was to be a race to 11 between Yang and De Luna. Here is a quick recap of the final match:

De Luna wins the lag
Rack 1: De Luna leaves Yang a 6-10 combo, Yang hangs it and Jeffrey runs out.
Rack 2: Dry break, Yang runs out the rack.
Rack 3: Ball on break, over cuts 1 ball, De Luna runs out the rack.
Rack 4: Ball on break, runs to 6 ball but misses it badly, Yang runs out.
Rack 5: Ball on break, trade safes on 2 ball, Yang open shot and runs out.
Rack 6: Dry break, De Luna misses 3 badly, Yang runs out.
Rack 7: Break and run.
Rack 8: Break and run.
Rack 9: Ball on break, push out to tough cut on 1 and misses, De Luna runs out.
Rack 10: Ball on break, misses 1 badly, Yang runs out.
Rack 11: Break and run.
Rack 12: Break and run.
Rack 13: Dry break, De Luna runs out.
Rack 14: Break and runs to an easy 9 ball but misses by a mile, Yang runs out.
Rack 15: Break and run.

View the 2009 Philippine Open Tournament Brackets

Yang played near perfect pool and never let De Luna into the match. Only two balls were missed by Yang in the match: a 6-10 combo in the first game of the championship match and a tough cut on the 1 ball after he broke the ninth rack and had to push out after having no shot on the 1 ball. Other than those two misses, Yang never missed another shot, and that led him to an 11-4 victory to capture the title of 2009 Philippine Open Champion.

Ricky Yang blitzed through the field of the Philippine Open undefeated and captured the first-place prize of $20,000 USD. His victim in the championship match was Jeffrey “The Bull” De Luna, and this time the bull didn’t know what hit him.

1ST $20,000 USD
RICKY YANG

2ND $10,000 USD
JEFFREY DE LUNA

3-4TH $5,000 USD
DEMOSTHENES PULPUL
LU HUI-CHAN

5-6TH $3,200 USD
Corey Deuel
RADOSLAW BABICA

7-8TH $2,800 USD
Darren Appleton
MARCUS CHAMAT

9-12TH $2,200 USD
CHANG PEI-WEI
Gabe Owen
Kelly Fisher
RUDY SUSANTO

13-16TH $1,800 USD
KO PIN-YI
ALLAN QUARTERO
OSCAR DOMINGUEZ
ANTONIO GABICA

17-24TH
MARTIN KEMPER
Shane Van Boening
OLIVER VILLAFUERTE
MARIO TOLENTINO
RUSLAN CHINAHOV
Marlon Manalo
SATOSHI KAWABATA
Ralf Souquet

25-32ND
HIYATO HIJIKATA
KUO PO-CHENG
CHAN KENG KWAN
FABIO PETRONI
JAMES AL ORTEGA
YOUNG HWA JEONG
JONNI FULCHER
Karen Corr

Taormina Towers Over Tri-State Field

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Tri-State Tour / Edison, NJ

by Lea Andrews

On May 30, Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ, hosted 32 players competing for first in a B-D $500-added Tri-State Tour event. After a long day of undefeated play, Chris Taormina emerged as the winner, taking home a trophy and pocketing $460.

Taormino began his winning streak with victories over Gary Murgia 7-3, Teddy Lubis 7-4, and Tony Eglesias 7-6 to get himself into the winners’ side final four, where he met up with Ben Sadowski. He sent Sadowski west with a score of 7-4 and joined Rajesh Vannala, who had had a strong 7-2 win over Steve Fette, in the match for the hot seat.

On the one-loss side, George Osipovitch put Jason Egeln into seventh place with a score of 6-5, while Murgia did the same to Eglesias with a score of 7-6. Osipovitch then welcomed Sadowski to the one-loss side by putting him in fifth with a score of 7-6, while Murgia sent Fette to join him with a score of 7-3. Murgia and Osipovitch then fought to get higher than fourth, and it was Osipovitch who held on for a 7-5 win.

The semifinal match featured two players who clearly wanted to earn that spot in the finals, but it was Vannala who sealed the deal, putting Osipovitch, who had won a hefty six matches and a break-and-run contest worth $300, into third with a score of 7-5.
The single-race final match began with Vannala getting up 2-0. Taormino, though, was able to tie it up at 3-all and from there allowed Vannala only one more game, closing out his undefeated tournament with a final score of 7-5.

On May 30, Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ, hosted 32 players competing for first in a B-D $500-added Tri-State Tour event. After a long day of undefeated play, Chris Taormina emerged as the winner, taking home a trophy and pocketing $460.

Results:
1st Chris Taormino $460
2nd Rajesh Vannala $270
3rd George Osipovitch $170
4th Gary Murgia $100
5th Ben Sadowski $50
Steve Sette

Billiards Industry Joins JBETPoker to Support at Women’s Event

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Takini Cloth, Predator, Aramith, & AMF Puyat Sports Sponsor JBETpoker.net Women’s World 10-Ball Championship

By Sally Lee

Manila, Philippines - The billiard industry companies of Takini Cloth, Predator, Aramith, & Puyat Sports were given the opportunity to be the official equipment sponsors of the JBETpoker.net Women’s World 10-Ball Championship. JBETpoker.net sponsored and Dragon Promotions produced event will be broadcasted to more countries and viewers than any other women’s event in the history of billiards. ABS-CBN and ESPN Star Sports conglomerate will combine 20 hours of live coverage and 20 hours of taped matches. The event takes place in Manila, Philippines at the SM Mall North Edsa June 2-6,2009. 48 top women pros from around the world will vie for gold to become the Women’s World 10-Ball Champion. The historic event is supported by JBETpoker.net, ABS-CBN, SM Mall North Edsa, Magic 89.9, Predator Cues, Takini Billiard Cloth, Aramith, Puyat Sports, Philippines Star, Bugsy Promotions and recognized by the BMPAP and BSCP.

Takini Cloth is an Asia based company specializing in pool and carom cloth. The cloth is on the rise in popularity and will be looking to expand to more markets in the near future. Their special TV gray cloth will be used for the World Championship. Puyat Sports will be providing their AMF Puyat Tables for the event, as well as the qualifiers. Aramith is the official balls used in all the events while Predator Cues is the official cue sponsor.

“We are always glad to have the billiard industry a part of our international events. Our roots will always be in the billiards community and we have a desire to help promote billiard products as well as our non-billiard industry sponsors”, explained Cindy Lee, CEO of Dragon Promotions.

The billiard industry companies of Takini Cloth, Predator, Aramith, & Puyat Sports were given the opportunity to be the official equipment sponsors of the JBETpoker.net Women's World 10-Ball Championship.

The web site www.WomensWorld10Ball.com will feature the latest news and results of the Women’s World 10-Ball Championship. It will also feature interviews, pictures, and all the info of complete player roster, prize money and match-ups.

The historic event is considered to be the biggest women’s sporting event of the year for the Philippines, and one of the biggest in Asia as it draws massive media attention with 40 hours of match coverage going to over 40 countries with 20 hours live on ESPN and equally in its local partner ABS-CBN, the leading TV channel of the Philippines. 48 women from around the globe will attend the event vying for $20,000 (1M) 1st place prize out of the $75,000 (3.75M) purse available. SM Mall North Edsa, Magic 89.9, Philippines Star, Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila, Predator Cues, and JBETPOKER.net are some of the primary sponsors of the event.

“Billiards, the sport of the Philippines. The sport of the people.”
For more info email womensworld10ball@gmail.com

Women Billiard Players Take a Shot

Posted by admin as Billiard Tour News - Pool Tour News

Loraine and Delrosario Take Underdog Shot while Taiwan Dangerous at JBETpoker.net Women’s World 10-Ball Championship

By Sally Lee

Manila, Philippines - Heavyweight champions and underdog favorites foil each other at the JBETpoker.net Women’s World 10-Ball Championship. Taiwan will be sending a lethal force of femme fatales that include reigning World 9-Ball Champion Yuan Chun Lin. Meanwhile, Guam’s beautiful Shanelle Loraine and amateur newbie Zarah Delrosario of Philippines will lead the underdog bets. The JBETpoker.net sponsored and Dragon Promotions produced event will be broadcasted to more countries and viewers than any other women’s event in the history of billiards. ABS-CBN and ESPN Star Sports conglomerate will combine 20 hours of live coverage and 20 hours of taped matches. The event takes place in Manila, Philippines at the SM Mall North Edsa June 2-6,2009. 48 top women pros from around the world will vie for gold to become the Women’s World 10-Ball Champion. The historic event is supported by JBETpoker.net, ABS-CBN, SM Mall North Edsa, Magic 89.9, Predator Cues, Min Billiard Cloth, Puyat Sports, Philippines Star, Bugsy Promotions and recognized by the BMPAP and BSCP.

Taiwan has been long standing as the most organized billiard country, and has produced numerous junior, women, and men’s world champions. In the modern times, more than any other country. Five Taiwanese women will vie for the title, with the two notable names Yuan Chun Lin who won the last World 9-Ball, and Chieh-Yu Chou who recently won the Amway Cup.

The vastly popular up and coming Shanelle Loraine will be taking her first World title shot. The vastly improved Loraine recently finished 2nd in JBETpoker.net’s Women’s World qualifier and last week defeated Allison Fisher in a televised 3cushion match in Korea. Following beside her is amateur Filipina Zarah Delrosario, who is sponsored into the event by Pressure Billiards in Chicago where she has been religiously practicing daily and with the help of US Pro Charlie Williams and esteemed Billiards Digest writer George Fels.

Fil-Am Zarah Delrosario wants to help change the image of women's billiards in the Philippines.

“I’m really excited and of course very nervous. This is a kind of thing as a newbie that you can never be prepared for 100%, even if you had three years. You just have to go out there and do it and get that experience”, said Delrosario. Delrosario won the Predator Pro Pool School Tournament and finished 3rd at the Poison Women’s Orlando Open earning herself a Poison Cue and case as well as a spot into the World Championship.

“The sponsors and local partners in the Philippines wanted to give a rising Filipina up and comer a chance to get experience. Their hope is that one she’ll become a champion. Zarah has the potential to help women’s pool over there”, said Cindy Lee of Dragon Promotions.

The web site www.WomensWorld10Ball.com will feature the latest news and results of the Women’s World 10-Ball Championship. It will also feature interviews, pictures, and all the info of complete player roster,prize money and match-ups.

The historic event is considered to be the biggest women’s sporting event of the year for the Philippines, and one of the biggest in Asia as it draws massive media attention with 40 hours of match coverage going to over 40 countries with 20 hours live on ESPN and equally in its local partner ABS-CBN, the leading TV channel of the Philippines. 48 women from around the globe will attend the event vying for $20,000 (1M) 1st place prize out of the $75,000 (3.75M) purse available. SM Mall North Edsa, Magic 89.9, Philippines Star, Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila, Predator Cues, and JBETPOKER.net are some of the primary sponsors of the event.
“Billiards, the sport of the Philippines. The sport of the people.”
For more info email womensworld10ball@gmail.com

Global Billiard Poker Tournament to Award 1 Million Euros

Posted by admin as Billiard Tour News - Pool Tour News

New Format Blends Online Poker and Pool to Create Huge Prize Funds

Professional pocket billiards player Vincent Facquet is pleased to announce the inception of a dynamic and innovative blend of pool and poker tournaments—PoolPok. Combining the intensity of Texas Hold ‘Em with the thrill of 8-ball tournaments, PoolPok’s ground-breaking new format will have twice the excitement and feature a million-euro prize fund.

Stage 1 of PoolPok will consist of an online Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournament with an unlimited amount of participants. Only 1 percent of the players from each tournament will qualify for the next stage of PoolPok. Once 128 players qualify, the second stage begins. This will comprise a single-elimination 8-ball tournament with a field of 128. Last place pays 4,000 euros to a man and 5,000 euros to a woman, while first place pays 150,000 euros. The top 8 finishers in the first tournament will automatically be invited to return to the second.

PoolPok is using online poker and pool to create a new tournament format that plans to build prize large funds.

CEO and founder Vincent Facquet said, “I was inspired to create PoolPok after performing extensive research into the structure of successful poker tournaments. With the success of poker and the fact that many pool players also play poker, I feel that having an online tournament to qualify is a great way to introduce a tournament that has a true global reach and give pool players the opportunity to compete for the larger prize funds that they deserve and that this sport has been missing.”

About Vincent Facquet
Vincent Facquet, born in Forges-Les-Eaux (Normandy, France) on December 20, 1968, first picked up a pool cue at the age of 7. By the age of 19, he had discovered English 8-ball and snooker. After winning tournaments on the local and then national level, Facquet began to represent France at pool tournaments in Europe and throughout the world. He competes on the Euro Tour, at the world championships, and at other professional events. Facquet won three world titles in 1997, 2005, and 2006 on both pool and snooker tables. Additionally, his ability to entertain led him to artistic pool, and he is a renowned trick shot performer in much demand.

Allison Fisher Leads World Team To Victory Over Powerhouse Korea

Posted by admin as Billiard Tour News - Pool Tour News

Bucheon, Korea - The 3rd Annual Korea vs World Team took place again at La Festa Shopping Mall featuring some of the brightest stars of billiards today. Making her debut appearance in Korea, Allison Fisher made a huge impact on this year’s outcome. The World Team consisted of Captain George Breedlove (USA), Allison Fisher (ENG), Shanelle Loraine (GUAM), and newbie Zarah Delrosario (PHL). Team Korea was a powerhouse with Captain Hyun Ho Kim (aka Charlie Williams), Yu Ram Cha, Gui Young Lee, and Jeanette Lee. The Dragon Promotions event is aired on XTM and XPORTS, leading Korean channels and sponsored by Takini Cloth, Predator Cues, Poison Cues, Vigma Balls, Ra Beauty Core, Whois.co.kr, La Festa, and Min Tables.

The more experienced Korea Team seemed the likely favorites, and in previous years dominated the event with back to back wins. Players such as Mika Immonen, Thorsten Hohmann, Miyuki Sakai, and Mike Davis played on past teams. The event was the first team to reach 5 matches and the first match was 4-on-4 and the Koreans won easily 3-0. Next was the Mixed Doubles and the Team of Fisher/Breedlove played well to win over Kim/Cha 3-1 to tie the match at 1-1.

Then came the first upset as the dream partner match up of Yu Ram Cha and Jeanette Lee were upset by Fisher/Loraine. Some mistakes by the Koreans gave opportunity to Fisher/Loraine, and some great coaching by Fisher helped them scrape by 3-2 to take the lead over Korea 2-1 in matches. The lead was short lived as Korea bounced back with a quick 3-0 win of Kim over Loraine. Korea then regained the lead 3-2 as they won the next 4-on-4 3-1.

A brief intermission with a special TV show bringing Korea’s famous comedic married couple Junhyeong Park and Jihye Kim. The couple played an 8-Ball challenge game with George Breedlove and Jeanette Lee, pool’s most famous married couple. Breddlove played one handed while Lee played left handed scotch doubles. The Park/Kim team played well to lead needing only 2 balls for a win, but Breedlove made some outstanding one handed shots for the to win.

Fisher was all thumbs up with her contribution to the World Team.

Back to the main event, Korea with a 3-2 lead looked great to get on the hill when underdog Guiyoung took a 2-1 lead over Fisher. G. Lee had an impressive 2nd place finish at 2008 Asia 10-Ball Championships, and had a 2/9 combo looking good. Lee surprisingly rattled the shot and Fisher was able to comeback and win the match 3-2 keeping the team match tied 3-3. Jeanette Lee then easily dispatched Delrosario 3-0 to put Korea on the hill, which left Breedlove/Fisher re-team again to take down Cha/J.Lee. Cha and Lee went up 2-1, but Breedlove and Fisher made great safeties and had good repor and discussions for a fine team effort to win 3-2 and take the match to hill hill .

In the final match of 4-on-4, Team Korea looked nervous as the underdog World Team took the first game. But Korea caught a lucky break when Delrosario missed an easy 8ball and let Korea take the lead 2-1. A missed 9ball by Loraine left Kim a tough cut on the 9ball down the long rail which he barely missed but left an easy game for Team World. It came down to the final game, and almost the final ball as both teams jockeyed and blowing chances to run out. At the end of the game , Delrosario made the 7ball but left Breedlove stuck on the 8ball with no shot. But a great safety by him left G.Lee with a kickshot. A good hit by Lee but left Fisher a missable 8ball. Fisher made the 8ball and luckily clipped the 9ball afterwards leaving Loraine almost dead straight for the win on the 9ball. World Team upsetted the Korean giants 5-4!

When asked what made the difference this year in them able to win, Breedlove answered, “Allison lagging!” Fisher was chosen to lag for the matches each time and won all her lags against Lee, Cha, and Kim.
“Seriously though, Allison really made the difference this year in the World Team’s victory. She is definitely the MVP of the event.”

“Fisher won all her matches today, aside from the 4-on-4. But the key one was with her and Shanelle defeating Jeanette and Yu Ram. That gave them the real chance to keep it close”, said Kim (Williams).

The lady players continue tomorrow in the 3rd Annual Empress Cup 9-Ball Tournament.

photo coutesy of Dragon Promotions

Philippine Open Comes Down to Four

Posted by admin as Billiard Tour News - Pool Tour News

Final Four Set for Philippine Open

by Edward Asistin

Day four of the Philippine Open started off with a bang with all of the remaining players playing in the first session of the day. In half of the matches, it was either do or die—win or go home. The other half were matches to reach the play-in matches on the winner’s side.

On the one-loss side, Ko Pin-Yi was down to Corey Deuel 8-3 and mounted a comeback to fall short after a scratch on the break in rack 15 to lose 9-6. Darren Appleton survives a scare down 8-7 to Antonio Gabica but pulled it out. Gabe Owen bested Allan Cuartero handily 9-4. Jeffrey De Luna won over Oscar Dominguez 9-4. Losers received $1,800 USD.

On the winners’ side, Kelly Fisher missed two 10 balls and didn’t get any rolls, always ending up hooked on misses by Demosthenes Pulpul, and she fell 9-2. Radoslaw Babica made quick work of Marcus Chamat 9-2. Ricky Yang battle with Chang Pei-Wei and outlasted him 9-6. Lu Hui-Chan handled Rudy Susanto fairly easily.

The first match on the TV table was one of the play-in matches on the winners’ side that featured Radoslaw Babica (Poland) and Ricky Yang (Indonesia). The second match on the TV table broadcast the other play-in match on the winner’s side that featured Demosthenes Pulpul (Philippines) versus Lu Hui-Chan (Taiwan). The winners moved on into the final four single-elimination bracket and are guaranteed to take home at least $5,000 USD.

Ricky Yang is the top-ranked player from Indonesia and has made his way through the winners’ side by besting the top-two-ranked players from Japan; Filipino Leonardo Didal, who disposed of top-ranked Taiwanese Fu Che-Wei; and Chang Pei-Wei, also of Taiwan. Babica is the “seed killer” and disposed of the fifteenth seed Karen Corr, fellow European Martin Kemper, reigning world 10-ball champion and number-two seed Darren Appleton, and seventh seed Marcus Chamat. Their match was tied at 2-2, then Yang won the next three. From 6-3, Babica took the next three to get it back to 6-6. Yang won the next two to make it 8-6, and though Babica made a combo on the 10 in rack number 15 to get to 7, Yang ran out the next rack to finish Babica off 9-7.

The rest of the second session were elimination matches. Tied at 4 at one point, Darren Appleton won the next five games to oust Kelly Fisher 9-4. Corey Deuel dominated Chang Pei-Wei 9-3 and sent him packing. Jeffrey De Luna handled Rudy Susanto 9-4 to eliminate him, and Marcus Chamat bested Gabe Owen and sent him home 9-6. Losers in this round received $2,200 USD.

The second match on the TV table was not a match but an exhibition of excellence when Demosthenes Pulpul demolished Liu Hui-Chan 9-1. There was no stopping Pulpul as his break was working like magic, making three or more balls on his break a few times. With that win he advanced to the final four single-elimination bracket.

Ricky Yang (left) and Demosthenes Pulpul hang around for some photos at the Philippine Open.

Corey Deuel defeated Marcus Chamat to reach one of two play-in matches on the one-loss side. Deuel controlled the match throughout and even missed a 10 ball in the sixth rack, but he didn’t let it bother him and won the next five games before finishing his opponent off 9-4. Deuel won seven straight matches on the one-loss side, but he needed an eighth to get into the final four and fell short.

View the 2009 Philippine Open Tournament Brackets

Deuel had played in every session on Saturday and just couldn’t muster enough energy and focus to finish out the day against Lu Hui-Chan, who extended his lead from the start 5-1. Corey could never get back into it and lost 9-4. Lu Hui-Chan was proving that his loss to Pulpul on the TV table was a fluke and Deuel ended up taking the brunt of it.

Jeffrey “The Bull” De Luna eliminated Darren Appleton 9-6 to reach the last play-in match. Appleton had the lead 6-5, and De Luna played solid pool while Appleton made some mistakes to let De Luna win the next four games. De Luna would play Radoslaw Babica in the play-in match, where he controlled the entire match and won 9-4.

The final four, then, are set for the Philippine Open: Lu Hui-Chan versus Ricky Yang, and Jeffrey De Luna versus Demosthenes Pulpul.

Fisher Defeats Owen at Philippine Open

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Fisher Dominates, Top Seed Ousted

Philippine Open

The men better watch out, because the 2008 WPBA Player of the Year is on a roll! Kelly Fisher trounced Gabe Owen (US) in the round of 16 of the winners’ bracket of the Philippine Open. Owen never had a chance as Fisher jumped out from the start and eventually ended up with an 8-1 lead. Fisher actually had a chance to put away the match in the eleventh rack when Owen broke dry and left the 10 ball hanging in the corner pocket. Instead of lining up the 4-10 combo, she decided to run the rack out but missed the 6 ball that was tight on the rail. She was just delaying the inevitable and ran out the next rack to finish out the match 9-3 when Owen once again broke dry.

The third session of the day featured the remaining matches of the round of 16 on the winners’ side who were not played on the TV table. Winners of the matches in this round would be guaranteed to receive at least $2,200 USD.

Numerous seeds fell in the winners’ bracket matches leaving only two seeded players remaining in the quarters of the winners’ bracket. The seventh-seeded Marcus Chamat (Sweden) defeated tenth seed Antonio “Ga Ga” Gabica (Philippines) by a score of 9-2, and the sixteenth-seeded Demosthenes Pulpul defeated fellow Filipino Mario Tolentino 9-4. Number two seed and reigning world 10-ball champion Darren Appleton suffered his first loss of the tournament by falling to Radoslaw Babica (Poland) 9-6. Top American and number-five seed Shane Van Boening also suffered his first loss of the tournament in a hill-hill thriller to wild card entry Rudy Susanto (Indonesia). Other seeds to fall in this round were fourth seed Ko Pin-Yi, eleventh seed Satoshi Kawabata, and fourteenth seed Jeffrey “The Bull” De Luna.

The first session of day three produced some unexpected results as two more seeded players were eliminated from the tournament. The number-six seed and the Taiwanese number-one-ranked player Fu Che-Wei fell to Young Hwa Jeong of Korea. Fu Che-Wei was always behind in the match and lost 9-5. The number thirteen seed, Thorsten Hohmann (Germany), fell to fellow European Ruslan Chinahov (Russia). Hohmann was leading in the match by a score of 6-3 when Chinahov went on a winning streak of five games and got to the hill first. Hohmann brought it back to hill-hill before Chinahov had a nice run-out in the final rack to put the match away. Another seeded player was at risk of also being eliminated when hometown favorite Marlon Manalo was down 7-4 to Kim Hee Sup (Korea) but managed to win the next five games and fend off elimination.

Fisher defeated Owen at the Philippine Open. 9-3. after leading at one point, 8-1.

The noon session also produced three other exciting matches that went down to the wire at hill-hill. In addition to the Hohmann/Chinahov match, Oscar Dominguez (US) was able to hold off Victor Arpilleda (Philippines) 9-8 after Dominguez got to the hill first at 8-5 before Arpilleda brought it back to hill-hill. Second-chance alternate James Al Ortega (Philippines) prevailed over Naoyuki Oi (Japan) 9-8. Another Filipino was eliminated when countrymen Jestoni Magadia and Allan Quartero faced off against each other and Quartero triumphed 9-8.

View the 2009 Philippine Open Tournament Brackets

The second session of the day produced some great come from behind victories. Corey Deuel (US) trailed Kuo Po-Cheng by a score of 6-3 when Deuel won the next six games to win the match 9-6. Ruslan Chinahov trailed James Al Ortega (Phillipines) by a score of 7-4 when Chinahov put together five games in a row to win 9-7.

In another second-session match fifteenth seed Karen Corr (Ireland) never was behind in her match with Kok Hon Keong (Malaysia) and won 9-4. But her next opponent was world number one and number-one seed Ralf Souquet and as a result would be eliminated from the tournament with a 9-2 loss. For her efforts she will take home the $800 USD prize for 25-32nd place.

The last session of the day resulted in more seeded players being knocked out of the tournament because they had to play each other. The losers of these matches took home $1,200 USD. Fifth seed Shane Van Boening and ninth seed Corey Deuel battled it out with Deuel winning 9-4. Tenth seed Antonio Gabica and twelfth seed Marlon Manalo clashed with Gabica sending the hometown favorite home 9-4. Top seed Ralf Souquet played fourteenth seed Jeffrey “The Bull” De Luna, and the world number one was ousted by the score of 9-3. Last but not least, eleventh seed Satoshi Kawabata (Japan) lost to Oscar Dominguez (US) 9-4. Only seven of the sixteen seeds remain in the tournament.

Junior Billiards on Nation TV This Weekend

Posted by admin as Billiard Tour News - Pool Tour News

JUNIOR BILLIARDS ON NATIONAL TV THIS WEEKEND
“Teen Kids News” to Air Segment on World’s Greatest Young Players

May 28, 2009 (Lafayette, CO) - The Billiard Education Foundation (BEF) is pleased to announce that a segment on junior billiards, including highlights from the WPA World Junior 9-Ball Championships, will air on TEEN KIDS NEWS Saturday at 9:30 a.m. EST.

Junior pool players from across the globe gathered in Reno, Nevada for the 2008 World 9-Ball Championships. “Teen Kids News” will feature footage from the event and discuss the BEF’s Pool in Schools program reaching into schools across the country! North American teen pool phenoms filmed included Brittany Bryant, Austin Murphy, Braden Murphy, Briana Miller, Joshua Newman, as well as the BEF’s Dawn Hopkins.

The Billiard Education Foundation (BEF) is pleased to announce that a segment on junior billiards, including highlights from the WPA World Junior 9-Ball Championships, will air on TEEN KIDS NEWS Saturday at 9:30 a.m. EST.

About Teen Kids News
Teen Kids News offers guaranteed airing on 200 TV stations, reaching more than 91% of US households and over five million viewers. In addition, the program is seen weekly in 1,000 locations in 175 other countries, and via the American Forces Network. Teen Kids News is also seen in 7,700 schools by an estimated 4.5 million students each week in a special “in the classroom” education feed. For more information, visit www.teenkidsnews.com.

About the BEF
The Billiard Education Foundation (BEF) is a 501(c) (3) non-profit charitable organization committed to the growth and promotion of billiards among youth. The BEF supports youth billiard programs by funding academic scholarships, produces the Junior National 9-Ball Championships and sponsors billiard athletes to attend the WPA World Junior 9-Ball Championships. The BEF encourages youth to stay in school and further their education while building and maintaining a lifelong love of billiards through the “Pool In School” program, which promotes billiard clubs, teams and billiards as part of the physical education “Lifetime Sports” class. For more information about the BEF, please visit www.BilliardEducation.org or contact Laura Smith at 303.926.1039, e-mail LauraSmith@BilliardEducation.org.