by Inside POOL

The Turning Stone Classic XVIII has begun, once again boasting a full field of 128 of top players from all over the world. The Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, NY, is hosting the $25,000-added event, put on twice a year by Mike Zuglan of the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour.

Flying directly from Las Vegas, the entire American Mosconi Cup team is present, including defending champion “Rocket” Rodney Morris, who lambasted Mike Selig 9-1 in his first-round match. The rest of his teammates won their matches as well: Mosconi rookie Mike Dechaine bested trick shot artist Steve Lillis 9-1, Shane Van Boening defeated Alex Platonov 9-2, Shawn “Big Bubba” Putnam won 9-6 over Greg Antonakos, and Johnny Archer defeated Gregg McAndrews 9-5. Archer’s first-round win lines him up to face off with Earl Strickland in the second round, which is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

From the victorious Team Europe, Darren Appleton, current U.S. Open 9-Ball champ the last two years, won his first match over Steve Way 9-0. Recent Hall of Fame inductee Ralf Souquet won his first match as well, besting 9-4. His next challenger will be young gun Jesse Engel, who made such a splash at the 2010 U.S. Open with his back-to-back victories over Strickland and Mike Sigel.

The Turning Stone Classic XVIII has begun, once again boasting a full field of 128 of top players from all over the world.

Brittany Bryant, Kathryn Fairchild, and Dawn Fox join New Yorker Jennifer “9MM” Barretta as the four female participants of the event. Barretta won her first match in fine style with a 9-7 win over Randy Labonte, while Bryant one-upped her with a 9-1 rout over Jesse Janovsky.

View the Turning Stone tournament brackets (updated continuously)

Father and son team Ernesto and Oscar Dominguez both won their first matches, defeating John Babravich 9-2 and Dave Ascolese 9-6, respectively. Ernesto next faces Canada’s Eric Hjorliefson, and Oscar’s next match will be against Putnam.

Friday will see the beginning of the elimination rounds, as the field whittles down from its original 128 players. Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

by InsidePOOL Staff

The Turning Stone Classic XVI, produced by the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, kicked off December 16 with a full field of 128 players vying for their share of the hefty $25,000-added prize fund. The event is hosted by the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, NY.

With the first round done, several key match-ups have aligned for Friday’s second round. All of the American players just returned from the Mosconi Cup won their matches. With his 9-1 routing of Carl Bailey, Thorsten Hohmann advanced to meet defending champion Johnny Archer, who bested Tony Antone 9-3 in the first round. Also just back from the Mosconi Cup is Corey Deuel, who won his first match against Bucky Souvanthong 9-2 and will play Marco Kam, who defeated John Babravich 9-5, in the next round.

The Turning Stone Classic XVI, produced by the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour, kicked off December 16 with a full field of 128 players vying for their share of the hefty $25,000-added prize fund. The event is hosted by the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, NY.

“Rocket” Rodney Morris bested Jason Robichaud 9-3 and advances to face Matt Crawford, who just edged out Dave Ascolese in a hill-hill match. Shane Van Boening had no troubles with Holden Chin and walked through their match 9-1 to reach Paul Dreyden, who won a tight 9-7 match over Erik Hjorliefson, in the next round.

View the Turning Stone Brackets

Dennis Hatch, a frequent winner on the Joss Tour but yet to win the Turning Stone title, breezed through his match with Manny Chau 9-2 and will play Willie Oney, who defeated Walter Szydlowski 9-3, in the next round.

A forfeit by Greg McAndrews advanced Charlie Williams to the second round with no trouble, and he will face off against Tom D’Alfonso, who just bested Hunter Lombardo 9-3. If Williams and Deuel win their second-round matches, they will meet in the third round.

Interesting second-round matches include Shaun Wilkie versus Danny Basavich, Jerome Rockwell versus Mike Zuglan, and Al Lapena versus Raj Hundal.

Only two ladies opted to participate in the event this time. Canada’s Britney Bryant went hill-hill in the first round against Kevin Bauccio but succumbed 9-8, while Karen Corr, who is currently ranked fourth on the Women’s Professional Billiard Association, faltered in her match with David Grau and was sent west 9-4.

Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

by InsidePOOL Staff

Christian Smith and Vinny Zuniga made a quick end to the Tri-State Tour finals with a sudden-death match that saw Smith come out on top for first place. The $750-added event brought in 24 players to host room Sandcastle Billiards in Edison, NJ.

Christian Smith and Vinny Zuniga made a quick end to the Tri-State Tour finals with a sudden-death match that saw Smith come out on top for first place.

Smith went through the winners’ side undefeated, besting Teddy Lubis 7-4 on the winners’ side final four to reach the hot seat match. Meeting him there was Vinny Zuniga, who eked out a hill-hill victory over Ken DeBroske 7-6. Zuniga whitewashed Smith in the winners’ side finals 7-0 to advance to the hot seat unchallenged.

On the one-loss side, DeBroske regrouped and put in a solid defeat of Duane Toney 7-5, while Teddy Lubis ousted Dave Ascolese 7-4. The two went on to meet in the quarterfinal match, where DeBroske squeaked by Lubis 7-5.

It was touch and go in the semifinal match, but Smith managed to edge out DeBroske 7-6 in the semifinals to earn a chance to go up against Zuniga in the finals. Once there, though, the two players opted to play a single game to determine top honors. Smith won, and the rest was history.

Results:
1st Christian Smith $570
2nd Vinny Zuniga $285
3rd Ken DeBroske $170
4th Teddy Lubis $110

by InsidePOOL Staff

Rafael DeBreo came out on the winning end of a hill-hill final match to take the December 5 stop of the Tri-State Tour, defeating Troy Deocharran 7-6. This $750-added stop attracted 28 B-D players to Master Billiards in Queens, NY.

DeBreo and Deocharran met twice in the event—the first time, DeBreo sent Deocharran to the one-loss side 7-5 en route to the hot seat match. There he faced Dave Ascolese, who was just finished with Alex Borukhovich 8-6. DeBreo was able to easily handle Ascolese, whom he defeated 7-4 to rest on his laurels in the hot seat.

Scott Simonetti, who won the last two Tri-State Tour stops, was waiting for a chance to make it three in a row. Unfortunately for him, he was stopped in his tracks by Deocharran, who squeaked by their hill-hill match 8-7. Borukhovich was eliminated in a fifth-place tie with Simonetti by Justin Muller 8-5.

Rafael DeBreo came out on the winning end of a hill-hill final match to take the December 5 stop of the Tri-State Tour, defeating Troy Deocharran 7-6.

Results:
1st Rafael DeBreo $650
2nd Troy DeoCharran $350
3rd Dave Ascolese $220
4th Justin Muller $110
5th Alex Borukhovich $60
Scott Simonetti

by InsidePOOL Staff

Lionel Rivera triumphed over a 79-player field at the April 18-19 stop of the Blatt Billiards Predator 9-Ball Tour. This event was hosted by Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY, and was the tour’s second A-B-C-D stop of the 2009 season.

The main tournament began Saturday and drew 62 of the Tri-State area’s strongest players. Picking up right where he left off from the first A-B-C-D event, where he took third place, Rivera took advantage of a first-round bye and fell into dead stroke by defeating John Mazes 7-2, Craig Seal 7-4, Mike Wong 7-4, and Thomas Wan 7-4 to remain unscathed after the first day. Albert Estevez also enjoyed a first-round bye and then defeated Dave Ascolese 7-3, Bobby Varughese 7-3, and Shawn Sookhai 7-6.

As day one came to a close, only four were left undefeated—Rivera, Beau Baer, P.J. Puma, and Albert Estevez. On the A-B side, Rivera faced Baer for a chance at the hot seat, while in the C-D bracket, Puma battled Estevez.

(L-R) Albert Estevez, Tony Robles, Lionel Rivera and Gail Glazebrook

While Rivera remained in control of his game on day two, Baer seemed to be a different player. Rivera took advantage of a couple of mistakes and dominated Baer 7-2 for a chance at the hot seat, while Estevez took care of Puma to earn his shot at the hot seat, winning 7-5. The match for the hot seat was a barn-burner, with Rivera squeaking out the win 7-6.

On the one-loss side, Shawn Sookhai staged a comeback by winning four in a row—three of them hill-hill matches—to earn a shot at the semifinals against Estevez. But Sookhai seemed to lose his steam against Estevez, who won 7-3 for a chance to redeem himself.

In the finals, Rivera could not be denied as he calmly ran rack after rack to claim his first Predator Tour stop of this season, winning 7-4.

The tour also hosted the Delta-13 second-day B-C-D event that was won Charles Lentini, who defeated Dave Deserio in the final 7-4.

Charles Lentini (L) and Dave Deserio (R)

Results:
1st Lionel Rivera $1,000
2nd Albert Estevez $ 675
3rd Shawn Sookhai $ 500
4th Beau Baer $ 350
5th Thomas Wan $ 250
PJ Puma
7th Alex Gonzalez $ 175
Shorty Santiago
9th Charlie Lentini $ 100
John Alicea
John Hacsi
Bobby Varughese
13th Bob Mammarella $ 50
Dave Manasseri
Mike Ettl
Ryan Klett

by InsidePOOL Staff

The second day of the Turning Stone Classic XII is well underway, with another round in each bracket completed. The four-day event is hosted by the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, NY, and boasts a $25,000-added prize fund.

Women’s pro Allison Fisher, ranked sixth on the WPBA, bested Tony “The Sniper” Crosby in the second round of the winners’ bracket matches, sending him west to face off against Steve Moore, who lost his first match to Jack Smith but defeated Dave Ascolese 9-1 in his second. Fisher’s next match will be against reigning world 9-ball champion Daryl Peach.

Fisher deafeated Tony "The Sniper" Crosby in the secopnd round of play at the Turning Stone Classic.

Sarah Rousey, also still in the winners’ bracket, survived a hill-hill bout against Randy Labonte in the second round and will face off against Matt Tetreault. In the late-night round Thursday evening, Karen Corr advanced over David Wetmore 9-0 and will next play Liz Ford, who came through a hill-hill match against Caroline Pao.

View the Turning Stone Classic brackets updated after each round

The strong European contingent also continues to thrive in the winners’ side. Player of the Year Mika Immonen bested Adam Radomski 9-2, while Thorsten Hohmann squeaked past Josh Ulrich 9-8. England’s Darren Appleton and Peach also won their matches over Tamiko Kumatori 9-2 and Holden Chin 9-4, respectively.

Up-and-comer Oscar Dominguez out of Los Angeles made it through round two unscathed, defeating Earl Herring 9-4. Shawn Putnam bested Greg Priest 9-6, Dave Grau sent Dave Fernandez west 9-8, and George “Ginky” San Souci dealt Jonathan Smith a 9-0 donut.

Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.