Immonen, Ouschan Named USBMA Players of the Year

Immonen, Ouschan Named USBMA Players of the Year

Finnish-born Mika Immonen, who won his second consescutive U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship title, the world 10-ball crown and the International Challenge of Champions, was the unanimous choice for male Player of the Year in voting conducted by the United States Billiard Media Association, the USBMA announced today. Immonen, 37, was named
on all 21 ballots turned in by members of the media group.

Jasmin Ouschan, of Austria, who won half of the Women’s Professional Billiard Association’s six Classic Tour events, was the USBMA’s choice
for woman Player of the Year. Immonen, who resides in New York City, enjoyed his best year ever as a pro, adding the Galveston World Classic 10-ball title and Qatar Open title to his 2009 haul. Overall, Immonen won five of the seven events that featured a top prize of more than $20,000. His 2009 winnings topped $230,000.

Immonen and Ouschan have been named the USBMA 2009 Player of the Year.

Meanwhile, Ouschan made her mark by winning the WPBA Great Lakes Classic, the WPBA Pacific Coast Classic and the WPBA Tour Championship. She also placed third in the women’s world 10-ball event and second to Allison Fisher at the World Games. Despite finishing second to Korea’s Ga Young Kim in the WPBA year-end points standings for 2009 (26,500 to 26,000), Ouschan picked up 12 votes for player of the year. Kim received four votes, while Karen Corr received two votes.

Reyes and Fisher Named Billiard Players of the Decade

Reyes and Fisher Name Billiard Players of the Decade

Efren Reyes, who amassed nearly $1.7 million in prize money, and Allison Fisher, who won 27 Women’s Professional Billiard Association Classic Tour titles, were named Player of the Decade by the United States Billiard Media Association, the USBMA announced today.

Reyes, the 55-year-old Filipino sensation, won more than 20 major men’s professional pool titles during the decade, starting with his $30,000 Camel Pro 8-Ball Championship win in 2000. Of his 22 major victories, the versatile Reyes won four one-pocket crowns, four 8-ball titles and 14 9-ball titles. He also won the Derby City All- Around title three times.

But it was during the short-lived International Pool Tour that Reyes scored his biggest wins. In three multi-million dollar events, Reyes won two titles (2005 IPT King of the Hill and 2006 IPT North American Open) and pocketed $765,000.

Reyes and Fisher captured the top honors in the Player of the Decade voting held by the USBMA.

Fisher, meanwhile, continued her dominance over women’s pool for a second straight decade. After winning 26 Classic Tour titles during the ’90s, the former snooker champion added 27 more from 2000-2010. In addition to her WPBA Classic Tour titles, Fisher, 41, earned the gold medal at the 2009 World Games, was the 2000 BCA U.S. Open 14.1
champion and won the Tournament of Champions five times. She earned $637,000 over the 10-year span.

Additionally, both Reyes and Fisher were elected into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame during the decade, with Reyes being inducted in 2003 and Fisher in 2009.
In Player of the Decade voting, Reyes out-pointed Johnny Archer, Mika Immonen and Ralf Souquet. Fisher was named woman player of the decade on all but two ballots, with Karen Corr and Jasmin Ouschan each receiving one vote.

U.S. Open 10-Ball Championship Invites WPBA Participation

U.S. Open 10-Ball Championship Invites WPBA Participation

The Women’s Professional Billiards Association (WPBA) has granted CueSports International (CSI) “Recognition Status” for the 2010 U.S. Open 10-Ball Championship. This designation officially allows WPBA professionals to participate.

The U.S. Open 10-Ball Championship will be held May 17-22, 2010, in the Pro Arena at the Riviera Hotel & Casino immediately following the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters (May 12-16, 2010) and in conjunction with the 34th Annual BCAPL National 8-Ball Championships.

With this recognition, CSI, the producer of the U.S. Open 10-Ball Championship, is able to invite the top names in women’s professional pool to compete along the top men from across the U.S and the World.

The top ten-ranked WPBA players have been sent invitations to the $25,000 minimum guaranteed added event: Ga Young Kim, Jasmin Ouschan, Xiaoting Pan, Karen Corr, Kelly Fisher, Allison Fisher, Vivian Villarreal, Gerda Hofstatter, Jeanette Lee, and Monica Webb.

Entering its 17th year, The U.S Bar Table Championships is expanding.

In accordance with Billiard Congress of America (BCA) regulations as a recognized point event, the top 20 U.S men on the BCA points list will receive invites to the tournament. By virtue of their finishes at the 2009 NCS 9-Ball and NCS 10-Ball National Championship, the following four players will receive paid entry to the U.S Open 10-Ball event: Jose Parica, Sal Butera, Santos Sambajon Jr., and Shaun Wilkie.

U.S pool rooms and participating regional tours will be hosting U.S. Open 10-Ball Championship qualifiers. A list of qualifier dates and hosting tours and rooms will be listed on the CSI website by January 1, 2010 (playcsipool.com).

For more information about the U.S. Open 10-Ball Championship, please call the CSI office at (702) 719-7665 or e-mail holly@playcsipool.com.

CueSports International is dedicated to creating more choices for all players. CSI is the parent company of the BCA Pool League, the National Championship Series (NCS), and the USA Pool League. CSI also produces independent events such as the U.S. Bar Table Championships, the Jay Swanson Memorial and the U.S. Open 10-Ball Championship. Visit playcsipool.com, playbca.com, and playusapool.com for more information about CSI and its divisions.

Fisher Wins KwikFire Stop

Fisher Wins KwikFire Stop
KwikFire Tour / Charlotte, NC

by InsidePOOL Staff

Recent Hall of Fame inductee Allison Fisher brought doom to her opponents at the December 5-6 stop of the KwikFire Tour, taking first place. The $2,500-added stop was hosted by The Smokin Cue in Charlotte, NC. Also at this event the KwikFire Tour was able to raise over $1,200 in donations for Michaela Pittman, a young girl who has recently been diagnosed with dermatomyositis.

Fisher went undefeated through the winners’ side, meeting up with Kelly Fisher in the hot seat match for the third time in a row on the tour. A. Fisher had just dominated Katie Cowan 9-1, while K. Fisher delivered Kim Shaw west 9-5. Their score seesawed to 7 apiece, at which point A. Fisher surged ahead to win the next two racks and the match 9-7.

The final four saw Gerda Hofstatter match up with Kim Shaw on the one-loss side. Though Hofstatter took an early 2-0 lead, Shaw’s consistent play ultimately saw her become the 9-5 victor. Now Shaw moved on to face K. Fisher, who was responsible for her earlier loss, in the semifinal match. Shaw earned her revenge 9-5 and went on to face A. Fisher in the finals. A. Fisher was her usual, steady self and won the match 9-5.

Results:
1st Allison Fisher $950
2nd Kim Shaw $650
3rd Kelly Fisher $525
4th Gerda Hofstatter $360
5th Katie Cowan $230
Val Finnie
7th Terry Faulk $165
Lisa Cossette

Field Reduced to Final Four in China

Field Reduced to Final Four in China
Jerry Forsyth, WPA Press Officer

Two rounds were completed on Saturday at the Kappa 209 Women’s World 9-Ball Championship. In the first round the field was reduced from sixteen players to eight. This round found number one seed Chou Chieh-Yu (CHN) upset 9-4 by Zhou Doudou (CHN) and Allison Fisher (GBR) eliminated from the field 9-8 by Chen Xue (CHN). The top-bracket action also found Fu Xiafang (CHN) beating Han Fang (CHN) 9-8 and Karen Corr (GBR) rolling over Tsai Pei Chen (TPE) 9-3, making Ms. COrr the only western player to survive into the round of the great eight.

The bottom bracket found crowd favorite Pan Xiaoting ((CHN) defeating qualifier Gao Meng (CHN) 9-4, Korean powerhouse Yu Ram Cha beating Gao Shu Pin (TPE) 9-3, Liu Shasha (CHN) getting by Chen Siming (CHN) 9-7 and former world champion Liu Shin-Mei ((TPE) progressing 9-5 over Gerda Hofstatter (AUT).

Two rounds were completed on Saturday at the Kappa 209 Women’s World 9-Ball Championship.

View the Kappa 2009 Women’s World 9-Ball Championships Double Elimination tournament brackets

View the Kappa 2009 Women’s World 9-Ball Championships Final Single Elimination tournament brackets

The round of the great eight began with five Chinese players still in the mix, an incredible feat for the representatives of the host nation. But Karen Corr kept western hopes alive as she defeated Zhou DouDou (9-3) to make the final four. She is joined in the elite group by Fu Xiofang, who easily escaped Chen Xue 9-2. The last two slots are filled by Pan Xiaoting with her victory over Yu Ram Cha (9-4) and Liu Shasha who steamrolled Liu Shin-Mei 9-1.

Sunday will find a single victor.