Strickland Aces 8-Ball Champs

Strickland Aces 8-Ball Champs
U.S. Open Bar Table Championship / Reno, NV

by InsidePOOL Staff

Former world 9-ball champion Earl Strickland took home the 8-ball division title of the U.S. Open Bar Table Championship February 28, besting Darren Appleton in the finals. The 8-ball division was the final of a three-pronged event, hosted by the Sands Regency Hotel and Casino in Reno, NV, that saw Shane Van Boening win both the 10-ball and the 9-ball crowns.

Appleton had a rough week at the start, feeling under the weather, but he rallied in the final division, which attracted 184 players. He won his first four matches but ran into trouble in the form of Oscar Dominguez in the fifth round. “The Big O” sent Appleton to the left side of the chart. From there Appleton had to win another five matches just to reach the quarterfinals against the event’s all-around champion, Van Boening.

On the flip side, Strickland sailed through the winners’ bracket untouched, defeating players such as Dan Louie, Sylver Ochoa, and Beau Runningen to reach the hot seat match. His opponent there was Scott “The Freezer” Frost, recent Derby City Classic one-pocket victor. Frost faltered against Strickland 5-1 and was sent to the left side of the chart, while Strickland awaited a finals opponent.

Against “The South Dakota Kid” Appleton earned a convincing win 5-2 and then advanced to meet Frost. Frost was tough competition for Appleton but ended up settling for third place 5-3. On a roll, Appleton whitewashed Strickland in the first set of the double-elimination final match, leveling the playing field. But in the second, Strickland took no prisoners, winning the deciding set 5-2.

In the 38-entrant ladies’ division, Melissa “The Viper” Little took home the first-place prize. Little went undefeated through the field, defeating Tina Pawloski twice to earn the title. She defeated Nicole Hellmer 4-3, Karla Bagley-Tias 4-1, Kimberly Benson 4-1, and Sunny Griffin 4-1 to reach the hot seat match.

Pawloski bested Paula Davis 4-2, Kim Anderson 4-2, Andrea Wilson 4-0, Susan Williams 4-3, and Heather Pulford 4-1 to meet Little in the hot seat match. After Little won by a convincing 4-1 score, Pawloski was sent to the west side of the chart to the semifinal match, where she again faced Pulford and won 4-2 to earn her rematch with Little. However, little changed in their second meeting: Little again managed to defeat Pawloski 4-1 and claim the title.

Results:
1st Earl Strickland $6,200
2nd Darren Appleton $3,800
3rd Scott Frost $2,000
4th Shane Van Boening $1,300
5th Chris MacDonald $850
Beau Runningen
7th Sylver Ochoa $600
Oscar Dominguez
9th Glenn Atwell $400
Tyler Edey
Chris Melling
Matt Clatterbuck
13th Steve Moore $275
Rylan Hartnett
Josh O’Neal
Thorsten Hohmann
17th Stan Tourangeau $200
Gabe Apollos
Nicholas Kruger
Charles Bryant
Edwin Montal
Gregory Harada Jr.
Johnathan Pinegar
Derek Pogirski

Ladies’ Results:
1st Melissa Little $1,250
2nd Tina Pawloski $800
3rd Heather Pulford $500
4th Sunny Griffin $300
5th Bonnie Plowman $175
Kimberly Benson
7th Julie Hunter $125
Noel Campos

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.

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.

Reyes Captures Fifth Derby City Classic All Around Title

Reyes Captures Fifth Derby City Classic All Around Title
Claims 9-Ball Title For Icing

Efren Reyes has been considered the best pool players alive for the last decade or so, give or take a few. As the 12th Annual Derby City Classic kicked off, many top handicappers asked if Reyes had what it took to take down yet another All-Around title. There question was answered Saturday evening as Reyes n ot only won the 9-ball division but sealed the All-Around title several rounds before the end of the event. The All-Around

The $25,000 added 9-ball division kicked off on Wednesday, January 27 with 257 of the world’s finest professionals vying for the $16,000 first place prize.

The semifinals witnessed a great match between Shannon Murphy and Efren Reyes. At one point, Reyes was trailing in the match, 4-1. Reyes would parlay a few good rolls in to a lead and victory to earn his shot at the 9-ball title against “Rocket” Rodney Morris.

As the finals kicked off, the scuttlebutt around the arena was split between to the two players. The stands filled to see who would win the rematch of the 1996 U.S. Open finals that saw Morris emerge as the victor.

The match went back and forth for a few games until Reyes gradually eraned a lead. The turning point came when Morris won a game only to be a victim of a freakish scratch on the break. Though the b attle dragged on for a few more shots, Reyes came through in the end and sealed the victory, 7-4.

For Reyes , this is his fifth trip to the winners’ circle as the All-Around champion in twelve years. His name litters the roster of past champions in all three divisions. His sucess this year is not limited to the 9-ball and All Around though. Reyes snapped off Fatboy 20-Ball event and added $8,500 to his total winnings of $44,500 for the span of the 9 day event, excluding the proceeds picked up during his one-on-one matchups.

Results of the 9-Ball division
1st Eferen Reyes $16,000
2nd Rodney Morris $8,000
3rd-4th Shannon Murphy, Jeremy Sossei $4,000
5-6th Bill Bailey, Justin Hall $2,250
7th-12th Mike Dechaine, Robert Frost, Rudolfo Luat, Alex Pagulayan, Jamie Baraks $1,300

Frost Nips Ochoa for Derby One Pocket Title

Frost Nips Ochoa for Derby One Pocket Title

As evening fell on Elizabeth, IN at the Derby City Classic there was talk of an upcoming storm and how cold the air felt outside. According to the National Weather Service, the storm is scheduled to hit Friday, but nobody watching the final day of action cared too much about the cold weather approaching. They seemed to fixated on Frost, Scott Frost. Scott Frost, Francisco Bustamante and Sylver Ochoa survived a field of 287 hopefuls to gain the spotlight and one pocket infamy.

The semifinal match between Francisco Bustamante and Sylver Ochoa proved to be a replay of the classic “youth versus experience” match. This match saw the youthful Ochoa prevail over the experienced Bustamante not by just ball making and shear firepower, but skill and knowledge as well.

In the finals, Scott “The Freezer” Frost met Ochoa for what promised to be another memorable duel. In a moment of levity, Accu-Stats commentator Jimmy Mataya stated, “Am I the only one that finds it ironic that we just got told how cold it was outside from a guy named Frost?” As the finals got kicked off, it was Frost that thawed out the crowd with his play by winning the first game within only a few shots. Ochoa answered the call with a quick win of his own to knot the match at 1-1.

The third game proved to be just a electric with Frost taking advantage of an Ochoa mistake and running the score to 2-1 in favor of Frost. That would be the end of the fast action. In game 4, Ochoa and Frost made a combined effort to move the remining ten balls to the non-business end of the table, all in one corner, thus creating what is known as “the Wedge” to one pocket players and fans. After what seemed like 30 shots per player, Ochoa saw an opening and tied the set at 2-2.

In the final game, Ochoa broke and almost scratched, leaving Frost nearly corner-hooked. Frost made a fantastic recovery to get out of the break but quickly fell behind 4 to -1 in ball count. Ochoa’s luck didn’t stop there. As Frost kept grinding out shot after shot to get back into the match, Ochoa “shot up in the air” at a bank and left what was surely to be the match balls only to have the balls come back together in a manner that gave Ochoa the reprieve that he needed. The match looked like they were about to get even more exciting when Ochoa shot a ball at his hole and accidentally made Frost’s game and match ball.

Early tallies of the all-around points standings show defending champion John Brumback in the lead with 136 points. In a close second at 116 points is the legendary Efren Reyes.

One Pocket Results:
1st Scott Frost $12,000
2nd Sylver Ochoa $6,000
3rd Francisco Bustamante $2,500
4-5 Corey Deuel, Nick Vita $1,800
6-8th Shannon Daulton, Rafael Martinez, Santos Sambajon, Jr.
9-12th Jesse Bowman, Danny Harriman, Joshua Oneal, Alex Pagulayan
13-19th Mark Haddad, Shane McMinn, Sam Monday, Jose Parica, John Schmidt, Adam Smith, Charles Williams

Brumback Repeats as Derby City Classic Banks Champ

Brumback Repeats as Derby City Classic Banks Champ

After four days of competition at the Derby City Classic, the Bank 9-Ball division ended Monday night with John Brumback successfully defending his title as Derby City Classic Bank Champion by defeating Filipino billiards legend Efren Reyes. In addition to being the defending Banks Division champion, Brumback is also the defending Derby City Classic All-Around champion.

The event kicked off Friday, January 22 with 352 competitors. It was originally thought that the field was 353, but Roberto Gomez was not registered and his entry was withdrawn. The total prize fund for the event was $45,200 with $10,000 being added by the Derby City Classic promoters.

Efren Reyes defeated Larry Nevel in the semis to earn his chance to win the one discipline that has eluded him in the past. Though Reyes has won several titles, including the All-Around, the Banks division has remained out of his reach. His highest finish in the Banks division was runner-up against Steve Moore.

With Brumback being a Kentucky native and Reyes being a legend know around the world, the finals was a classic home crowd favorite versus the world. As Brumback won the lag, the crowd barely cheered. But as Brumback broke, made several banks, and then went on the close out game 1 without a contest, the crowd erupted with hope. Brumback continued to fire in banks and play smart safeties and won the second game. Brumback was met in the third game by a determined Reyes. The game went to a 4-4- tie in ball count before Brumback fired the last bank in for the win.

Derby City Classic 2010 Banks Division Results
1st John Brumback $10,000
2nd Efren Reyes $5,000
3rd Larry Nevel $2500
4-5th Rafael Martinez 1,375
Alex Pagulayan
6-9th Chris Bartram $850
George Breedlove
Shannon Daulton
Truman Hogue
10-16th Bill Bailey $550
Danny Harriman
Neil Jacobs
Michael Laney
Clent McCollough
Steve Moore
Mark Slye, Jr.