Jan

Souquet Last Player Standing in 9 Ball and Bustamante Wins All-Around

Posted by admin as Independent Tournaments - Derby City Classic

Souquet Last Player Standing in 9 ball and Bustamante Wins All-Around
Ralf Souquet is making a habit of winning the Derby City Classic 9-ball division. The 10th year winner also won in ’06 and ’04. He outlasted runner up Francisco Bustamante and third place finisher John Schmidt in a marathon circus fitting of the third and final event of the 2008 DCC. Around 8:00 pm at the conclusion of round 11, only three contestants remained and they all had their re-buy available.
John Schmidt, Francisco Bustamante, and Ralf Souquet all made it to round 12 without dropping a match. One player would get a bye and Souquet could take a break while Schmit and Bustamante played. After falling behind 4-0, Schmidt caught up and went on to make a one-nine carom to take the match 7-5.
Tournament director Scott “The Shot” Smith called for all three players to meet in the TV table area for a flipping of coins to determine the odd man to get the bye. Souquet, the last of the three to arrive under the hot lights, declined to flip coins and said, “Let the computer draw. It has been doing it all tournament.” Smith asked the staff at the desk to run the draw on the computer. Bustamante received the bye.
Souquet and Schmidt squared off as now the only two undefeated players. This close match began with Souquet winning the first three games but then tied at 4 games each and ended when Souquet made a terrific run from the two-ball to win the match 7-6. John Schmidt was asked if he’d like to exercise his re-buy to which he does.
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Once again the three players are asked to center court for the draw. This time the match announcement booms, “Ralf Souquet plays John Schmidt.” Immediately, Bustamante jumps out of the player chair and begins to bend his knees, clench his fists in front of him and hollers, “Ahhhh!” to the on-lookers. Even the stoic German smiled at the wild twist that allowed Bustamante to sit by the sidelines as Souquet and Schmidt played one more time.
The rematch went much like the first with Souquet edging Schmidt out 7-5 this time. John “Mr. 403” Schmidt finished third place grumbling about the luck of drawing Souquet twice in a row.
No draw was needed as only Bustamante and Souquet remained, Souquet having the advantage of having his re-buy, Bustamante the advantage of being Filipino and having locked up the Master of the Table award. The match started at 1:15 am thanks to a very effective cut break, Bustamante gave Souquet very few chances and ran four racks from the break and took the set 7-2 ending at 2:00 am sharp.
After Souquet used his re-buy, the players lagged for the right to break first in the second set at 2:20 am. As if to tease the players and spectators into thinking it would be an all night affair, Scott Smith could not determine the winner of the lag so he announced, “Tie! Re-lag.” This time Bustamante won the lag and the first game. The rest of the match was the opposite of the first with Souquet running five racks from the break. The final score of the last match was seven games to two with Souquet netting $17,500 for first.
Bustamante was also given an oversized check after the match, his for $20,000 as Master of the Table. Souquet finished third in all-around points and Gabe Owen the one-pocket champion finished second in the points race. Bustamante quipped to Souquet, “Ha, I lost the match and got a check bigger than yours!” Souquet replied, “That’s ‘cause my bank pool sucks!”

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Jan

Owen Still Riding High

Posted by admin as Independent Tournaments - Derby City Classic

Owen Still Riding High
Mike Fieldhammer, InsidePOOL Staff
As the winner of last night’s one-pocket event, Gabe “The Babe” Owen leads the points race for the Master of the Table award and is still playing in the late rounds of the 9-ball event. Six players remain in round 11, and Owen is in control of his own fate. He will have to play Francisco Bustamante in one of the three matches just announced on the final night at the Tenth Annual Derby City Classic.
Bustamante is the only player with enough points accumulated to take the crown of all-around champion away from Owen. Owen has 141.3 points with approximately 50 points guaranteed should he drop the match to Bustamante, who has 116.7. He would need to oust Owen and finish first or second to leapfrog Owen for the most all-around points.
The six players remaining in the 9-ball event will play as follows: Bustamante vs. Owen on the TV table, John “Mr. 403” Schmidt vs. Michael Dechaine, and Ralf Souquet vs. Ryan Stone. Bustamante, Schmidt, and Souquet all have their re-buy option.
Round 10 match results were John Schmidt over Steve Moore 7-5, Gabe Owen bested Michael Fuller 7-1, and Francisco Bustamante topped Michael Dechaine who immediately went to the registration booth to re-buy. Crowd favorite Shane Van Boening went down to Ralf Souquet. “The South Dakota Kid” admitted to being very tired this evening after an all-night gambling session with Alex Pagulayan.
Visit the Derby City Classic image gallery (/gallery2/v/Pool+Tournaments/derby_city_classic_2008/)
Visit the billiards video podcasts area (/pool-and-billiard-podcasts/pool-podcasts-and-videos.html)
The 9-ball tournament will be played Saturday evening until one man is left standing. Master of the Table and the 9-ball champion will be announced later this evening right here at InsidePOOL.

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Jan

Gabe Owen Wins the Derby City Classic One-Pocket

Posted by admin as Independent Tournaments - Derby City Classic

Gabe Owen Wins the Derby City Classic One-Pocket
Mike Fieldhammer, InsidePOOL Staff
Gabe Owen won the Tenth Annual Derby City Classic one-pocket tournament over Larry Nevel this evening. Owen entered the thirteenth round when he drew the bye, and Nevel bested Francisco Bustamante 3-0 for the right to battle Owen once more. Owen drew the bye in the seventh round as well as the twelfth, but in response to questions that he was lucky to get two byes, Owen said, “Lucky? Have you seen the players I had to beat?”
Owen played a spectacular tournament by all counts. The final match was not his best performance, he admitted, but the grind of the tournament has taken its toll on many. Still, Owen found a way to do something that no player has ever done: won the DCC one-pocket tournament when Efren Reyes played in it. In fact, Owen is the only one who has knocked Reyes out of the tournament. Owen said after the win, “Sure, other players have won a match against Reyes, but he still won the tournament. I knocked him out!”
Reyes isn’t the only heavyweight Owen had to duke it out with. His road to victory was without a blemish. He never lost a match and his victories in order were against this formidable list of one-pocket competitors:
Jeremy Brown
Richard Harris
Huidji See
Robert McCormick
Jim Weast
Francisco Bustamante
Cliff Joyner
Scott Frost
Larry Nevel
Efren Reyes
Larry Nevel
The win netted Owen $12,000 and put him in contention for the Master of the Table prize. Nevel and Bustamante are also contenders for the because of their to high finishes in 9-ball banks.
Visit the Derby City Classic image gallery (/gallery2/v/Pool+Tournaments/derby_city_classic_2008/)
Visit the billiards video podcasts area (/pool-and-billiard-podcasts/pool-podcasts-and-videos.html)
Saturday is all 9-ball! We will have tournament coverage as the 9-ball wraps up in the evening. Visit InsidePOOL for all the latest news on the Tenth Annual Derby City Classic.

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Jan

No Repeat for Reyes

Posted by admin as Independent Tournaments - Derby City Classic

No Repeat for Reyes
By Mike Fieldhammer, InsidePOOL Staff
Efren “The Magician” Reyes was bested by former U.S. Open champ Gabe Owen in the eleventh round of the one-pocket competition at the Tenth Annual Derby City Classic. Reyes, the two-time defending DCC one-pocket champion, went down three games to one as crowds watched from any vantage point that they could. In the fourth game, with Owen leading two games to one and the ball count 6-3 in Owen’s favor, Reyes back-cut a ball poorly, allowing Owen a bank shot with position on the 1 ball for the match. Owen exclaimed, “Yes!” as the 1 hit the pocket and strode toward Reyes for a handshake. In typical Reyes fashion, he smiled and shrugged slightly as he exited toward the masses.
Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan met Francisco “Django” Bustamante for the right to move on to pick up some Master of the Table points. Both players were ousted from the bank pool tournament in the same round, finishing tied for seventh place. Bustamante took the match three games to one. Pagulayan said after the match, “I had a chance to tie it up. I missed an easy shot, pretty easy. I should have got it to two-two.”
Larry Nevel and Tony Mougey drew each other for the final pairing. Nevel, the All-Around champion in 2003, finished the bank pool in tenth place and could accumulate some more all-around points. Nevel struck swiftly and won three games in a row to end Mougey’s tournament run.
Three players remain: Nevel, Owen, and Bustamante. Owen seems to have luck running on his side. With his re-buy option still in his pocket, Owen drew the bye and awaits the winner of Nevel/Bustamante.
Visit the Derby City Classic image gallery (/gallery2/v/Pool+Tournaments/derby_city_classic_2008/)
Visit the billiards video podcasts area (/pool-and-billiard-podcasts/pool-podcasts-and-videos.html)
A one-pocket champion will be crowned Friday. The champ and results of round five of the 9-ball tournament will be known Saturday. Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news on the Tenth Annual Derby City Classic.

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Jan

Louisville Billiards Action on Fires Up! Really!

Posted by admin as Independent Tournaments - Derby City Classic

Louisville Billiards Action on Fires Up! Really!
By Mike Fieldhammer, InsidePOOL Staff
Shortly before 8 p.m. Thursday, in the midst of the ninth round of the one-pocket event and the second round of the 9-ball event, a loud alarm bell was heard throughout the tournament room at the Executive West Hotel. Most of the matches continued to play on, while many spectators looked around for some indication of what they should do. Scott Smith made an announcement that everyone needed to evacuate the building.
Within minutes, the entire hotel was evacuated and two fire engines arrived. Some people waited in their cars for warmth, others just stood outside smoking and chatting, and many just drove away. Alarms were silenced around 9 p.m. and players and fans repopulated the hotel. Details on the cause of the fire are still unclear at this point, but it is suspected not to have been a false alarm. Hotel management said they were not in a position to make an official comment, but InsidePOOL will have word Friday.
Nine one-pocket contestants had to fade the alarm delay before the draw for the tenth round was announced. Defending one-pocket and all-around winner Efren “The Magician” Reyes drew the bye. Francisco Bustamante downed Shannon Daulton in three straight games, and Alex Pagulayan bested Darren Appleton 3-2. Both Daulton and Appleton have used their re-buy option and are out of the tournament.
In an all Ohio match-up, Tony Mougey topped Ryan Stone in a thriller. Mougey from Columbus won the match against the West Alexandrian sharp-shooter three games to one. In the final game with ball count 4-3 in Mougey’s favor, he banked the 7 ball out of the wedge up-table and ended up winning a couple of innings later.
Visit the Derby City Classic image gallery (/gallery2/v/Pool+Tournaments/derby_city_classic_2008/)
Visit the billiards video podcasts area (/pool-and-billiard-podcasts/pool-podcasts-and-videos.html)
Gabe Owen and Larry Nevel played the most dramatic match of the evening. Nevel won the first two games and up two balls to nothing in the third game attempted an aggressive bank shot that left Owen a shot on the 6 ball. Owen plucked off six more and then scratched in the side pocket when the object ball skidded. Nevel ran a couple of balls before he had to play safe. Owen firmly banked a ball into his pocket and Nevel conceded the final ball. Owen took the last two games to survive round ten as the only player with his re-buy in tact.
The final rounds of the one-pocket event have been pushed to tomorrow because of the lengthy matches and the evacuation delay. Stay tuned to InsidePOOL for more results on the Tenth Annual Derby City Classic.

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Jan

Derby City Classic One-Pocket Matches Reaching Epic Lengths

Posted by admin as Independent Tournaments - Derby City Classic

Derby City Classic One-Pocket Matches Reaching Epic Lengths
By Mike Fieldhammer, InsidePOOL Staff
Round seven of the one-pocket division at the Derby City Classic finished at 5:30 a.m. with Ralf Souquet outlasting Ron Casanzio. The players drew each other in consecutive rounds, with Casanzio winning the first contest. Eager to repay Casanzio but patient enough to grind out the win in a five-hour match, Souquet rushed off to bed to prepare for his 11 a.m. 9-ball match.
Souquet completed his first-round 9-ball match with Paul Song from Atlanta and began his eighth round one-pocket match with Shannon Daulton. Even more bizarre, Souquet drew Song again in the second round of the 439-player 9-ball tournament. Souquet and Daulton’s marathon match tried the patience of the enthusiastic crowd from the start with a two-hour-long first game. In the end, Souquet bested Daulton 3-1, handing “The Cannon” his first loss. Daulton topped Cliff Joyner a lengthy match last night, too, and will use his re-buy to advance to round nine.
Joyner ran into rested and red-hot Gabe “The Babe” Owen in round eight. Owen said after the match, “Cliff’s break was so strong in the last game I had to take two fouls in a row to get out of it.” Owen seized the match with a nifty nine-ball run, showing some more of his ball-running skills in the main tournament arena. Owen ran an astounding 60 balls out of a possible 75 in the five-rack format of the one-pocket challenge earlier this week.
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Owen and Larry “The Truth” Nevel are the only players in the final 17 without one loss. Nevel, who has played all of his matches listening to his headphones, defeated Rafael Martinez three games to one.
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Results from eight great one-pocket matches and round two action of the 9-ball tournament will be coming soon. Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news on the Tenth Annual Derby City Classic.

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Jan

Derby City Classic One-Pocket Field Thinning

Posted by admin as Independent Tournaments - Derby City Classic

Derby City Classic One-Pocket Field Thinning
Mike Fieldhammer, InsidePOOL Staff
Round seven of the one-pocket division began Wednesday evening with 35 billiards players and fans are stacked in the aisles to get a glimpse of some of the great matches.
Larry “The Truth” Nevel bested Shane Van Boening 3-1, but it didn’t dampen Van Boening’s spirits. He smiled and signed autographs after the match. Thorsten Hohmann was knocked out of the tournament by Scott “The Freezer” Frost with a tricky three-rail bank shot on the 14 ball. This was right after some fireworks by Hohmann when “The Hitman” jacked up and jumped an object ball clear over two interfering balls to count one.
Ronnie Wiseman won three racks in a row against Louis Ulrich for his first loss of the tournament. Wiseman said, “I had him trapped pretty good on both my breaks. I won the lag. The second game, I forced him to shoot at a tough shot and I ran out.” About Ulrich being undefeated thus far he added, “The draw is everything. I know he’s having a good year, but he might have drawn seven easy matches in a row.” Asked if he has ever gambled with Ulrich, Weisman said, “No … but I’d like to!”
Gabe Owen, who downed Francisco Bustamante on the TV table in round six with a spectacular and daring bank shot and run-out to win, drew the bye.
More one-pocket results and 9-ball coverage will be available as the tournament progresses. The 9-ball event kicked off today with a staggering 439 entrants. Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news on the Tenth Annual Derby City Classic.

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Jan

Reyes Suffers First Loss at Derby City One Pocket

Posted by admin as Independent Tournaments - Derby City Classic

Reyes Suffers First Loss at Derby City One Pocket
By Mike Fieldhammer, InsidePOOL staff
Efren “The Magician” Reyes has lost his first one-pocket match at the Derby City Classic since 2006. Reyes played Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan on the Accu-Stats Arena table this afternoon 3-2. The marathon game four of the match stretched the contest to nearly three hours. A defensive battle developed with Reyes ahead two games to one. Pagulayan clawed his way to a 7-6 in ball count when Reyes scratched attempting to cut in the 7 ball. Pagulayan pocketed the spot shot with a firm, confident stroke to tie the match at 2-all.
The final game started with an excellent break from Reyes. “The Lion” chose all out offense and tried a thin cut on the 6 ball at his pocket. The cue ball missed the 6 completely and smashed into the underside of the stack. Reyes ran six and got his seventh ball on a carom shot that didn’t leave him an out ball. After the safety, Pagulayan made an extreme bank shot and ran the remaining balls on the table for the win.
Reyes and Pagulayan both have one loss, leaving players Francisco Bustamante, Ralf Souquet, and Shane Van Boening among the few with their re-buy option in place.
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First-round 9-ball matches are underway and a couple of WPBA players have already notched wins. Playing on tables next to each other, Helena Thornfelt and Allison Fisher won in front of an unusually large crowd in the upstairs tournament room.
In the one-pocket ghost challenge, Gabe Owen was the winner with 60 balls out of a possible 75. The runner-up in this event was Mika Immonen, who managed to get 46 balls. Entrants were given a total of five racks to see how many balls they could make.
Check out more videos from the Derby City Classic.
More one-pocket and 9-ball results will be posted soon. Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news on the Tenth Annual Derby City Classic.

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Jan

Derby City Classic One-Pocket Field Down to 134

Posted by admin as Independent Tournaments - Derby City Classic

Derby City Classic One-Pocket Field Down to 134
Of the original field of 390 billiard players, the DCC one-pocket division entrants have been whittled down to 134. Shawn Putnam, third-place finisher in the banks, suffered a serious blow to his chances of winning the all-around title. Putnam lost to Brian White and then was knocked out in the fourth by Mitchell Ellerman. Putnam said earlier in the day, “I wasn’t that upset about finishing third in the banks and not winning it. I really just want to win the all-around.”
Putnam finished has previously finished high one-pocket division, and many people thought he was a possible spoiler to Efren “The Magician” Reyes’ run at a repeat of the all-around title. As yet, Reyes remains undefeated in the one-pocket division.
The father and son pair of Ernesto and Oscar Dominguez can sleep in tomorrow morning. Both suffered their second loss tonight. Legendary one-pocket player Buddy “The Rifleman” Hall beat Ernesto 3-1 in under an hour. On a neighboring table, Minnesotan Beau Runningen took a bit longer to put away Oscar three games to two.
Other fourth-round matches of note include Charlie Williams over Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan, Santos Sambajon Jr. over Fabio Petroni, Ike Runnels against Mike Davis, and Tony Mougey handed Corey Deuel his first one-pocket loss.
The last division at the DCC, the 9-ball event, begins Wednesday, and the players who did not participate in the first two divisions have begun to arrive.
The One Pocket Hall of Fame, headed by Steve Booth, inducted several past greats into their hallowed halls. Joining the select few members this year were Jimmy Fusco, Jimmy Hippie Jimmy Reid (Lifetime Action Award), Billy Pittsburgh Billy Incardonia, George and Paul Jansco (the Jansco Brothers), and Donnie The Cincinatti Kid Anderson. See the videos to check out some of the festivities from the induction ceremony.

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Jan

Derby City Classic Banks Finish With a Bang

Posted by admin as Independent Tournaments - Derby City Classic

Derby City Classic Banks Finish With a Bang
By Mike Fieldhammer, InsidePOOL Staff
Larry Price reclaimed the title of Derby City Classic bank pool champion in a rapid-fire final match against Texan Sylver Ochoa. Price, the 2002 DCC bank pool winner, gained entry to the final match via a bye when Ochoa and Shawn “Big Bubba” Putnam were the last three bank pool players in the tournament.
Ochoa beat Putnam in the semifinals three games to two in a safety-filled match. Each player, knowing the importance of the match, took care in playing two-way shots and leaving the cue ball safely against the head rail or foot rail, whichever didn’t offer position to shoot a cross-side bank. In the fifth game Putnam got a double-kiss on a 2 ball, which left Ochoa an excellent chance to make the 2 cross-corner. Ochoa then finished with a flurry. He ripped the 3 ball straight back for the 3-2 victory and chance to play Price again.
Price had been the only player to defeat Ochoa in a match in the tenth round when 14 players remained. The match between Price and Ochoa took on a different flavor than the defensive semifinals. Ochoa, only 22 years of age, relished the wide-open offense of the final match. Price, 56 years old next Sunday, may be older and wiser, but he displayed vigorous offense in the intense finals.
In the fourth game, with Price ahead two games to one, a cluster of three balls near a corner pocket forced each player to duck. After a quick series of safeties, where each player barely stepped away from the table until Price plopped one of the balls into the corner pocket, Ochoa missed a cross-side bank on one of the remaining balls near the corner pocket. Price then crossed the ball on the spot in the side pocket and cleaned up the 6 ball cross-corner for the title and $10,000. Putnam finished third, and Tony “Fargo” Ferguson, Michael Surber, and Neal Jacobs all tied for fourth place
Round two of the one-pocket division is in progress. Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news on the Tenth Annual Derby City Classic.