Jun Lin Chang and Yu Ram Cha are the 2011 Champions of the Beijing Open. Chang, a former winner on the Guinness Tour, proved his mettle this week by taking on a series of tough opponents and vanquishing them all. He first eliminated Carlo Dalmatin of Croatia who had earned his pedigree by bettering Thomas Engert (9-6) and Charlie Williams (9-2) Just to get into the Championship draw sheet.

His next opponent had promise of being a very tough match. Feng-Ban Zhao had just come from a solid 11-4 trouncing of newly crowned Philippine Open champ Thorsten Hohmann but Chang was simply an over-reach for Zhao as Chang mangled him 11-5 to earn the right to do battle with Nick Van Den Berg.

Van Den Berg had done some giant-killing of his own. He had beaten both Shane Van Boening (9-3) and Dennis Orcullo (9-4) in the primary rounds and continued to grind it out through the final brackets. He took down Hao-Xiang Han (11-8) and Quingshun Yang (11-8) before destroying former World Champion Ronnie Alcano 11-5 to find his way into the ring against Chang. This one was a great match that could have gone either way but when Chang prevailed 11-9 he was only one victory away from the Championship.

Chang and Cha are the 2011 Champions of the Beijing Open.

He would have to get past Superman to get to the brass ring. Roberto Gomez had finished 2nd four years ago at the World 9-Ball Championship and he was determined not to play the bridesmaid again. Gomez’s first challenge was 2008 Challenge of Champions and 2010 World Cup of Pool winner Jian-Bo Fu. It was not the closest of matches but the 11-7 win was tight enough to temper the sword. Gomez then had to take on friend and countryman Antonio Lining. Lining had just eliminated current World 9-Ball and new Hall of Fame inductee Francisco Bustamante 11-7 but even he could not hold up under the withering fire of Gomez. Gomez advanced 11-5.

Gomez then polished off Chia-Ching Wu (now renamed Jia-Ging Wu) 11-9 and Che-Wei Fu 11-9 even after Fu had just ruined all of the Magicians tricks as he overwhelmed Efren Reyes 11-3.

The Championship was a great fight. They don’t get closer than double-hill and both men showed their best promise as they kept the crowd enthralled throughout. In the end the last-rack decider went to Jun-Lin Chang and our new champion presented himself to the crowd owning the 11-10 win over Gomez.

The ladies’ division was captured by 2010 Amway Cup Champion Cha.

The ladies’ division was captured by 2010 Amway Cup Champion Yu Ram Cha. Cha really had her work set out for her this week. Her first opponent in the final bracket was Miyuke Fuke of Japan. Fuke, former runner-up in the Japan Open, just couldn’t hang with Cha and fell 9-4 before her onslaught. Then Cha had one of the toughest opponents ever to grace a stage. She had to take on Kelly Fisher. This was one for the ages but even Fisher was forced to bow 9-8 to the never-say-die cueing of Yu Ram Cha.

Shu-Han Chang is a perennial top-five finisher who is due more championships. The former Japan Open Champion could not get anything going against Cha and Cha eased into the Championships against Chieh-Yu Chou. Chou is another Japan Open Champion. She won in 2010. She also won the 2009 Amway Cup and had finished second at the Japan Open in two other years. She’s a tough nut Read more ...]]> http://www.cuesandpool.com/billiard-news/beijing-open-has-crowned-new-champions.html/feed 0 http://www.cuesandpool.com/billiard-news/powers-grabs-the-brass-ring.html http://www.cuesandpool.com/billiard-news/powers-grabs-the-brass-ring.html#comments Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:00:10 +0000 admin http://www.insidepoolmag.com/?p=8246 Powers Grabs the Brass Ring
Billiard Congress of Wisconsin Open 9-Ball Tour / Madison, WI

by Jonathan Demet

Instead of staying home to watch the Packers versus the Cardinals playoff game, ten players decided to compete at the Billiard Congress of Wisconsin’s Open 9-Ball Tour stop January 10. The $400-added stop was hosted by The Brass Ring in Madison, WI, where Craig Powers took home the first prize of $345.

In the top bracket of the winners’ side Powers made it to the hot seat match with a bye in the first round and then 9-5 wins over Jonathan Demet and Chris Gitzlaff. In the bottom bracket straight pool world champion Bob Hunter received a bye the first round and then went on to defeat Jim Fitzpatrick 9-6 in the second and Bob Treffeisen 9-1 in the third. Powers went on to best Hunter 9-3 to claim the hot seat match.

Jim Fitzpatric fought back from a first-round loss with wins over Terry O’Brian7-6, Chris Mason7-4, and Treffeisen 7-3, putting him in a match with Demet. It was a close match, but luck came into play, leaving Demet a run-out in a double-hill match to advance.

Craig Powers and Bob Hunter

Results:
1st Craig Powers $345
2nd Bob Hunter $210
3rd Jonathan Demet $140

by InsidePOOL Staff

Fifteen of Wisconsin’s best amateurs showed up at the November 1 installment of the Billiard Congress of Wisconsin’s new tour, with Tom Radowitz taking home first place. The $400-added event was hosted by the Brass Ring in Madison, WI.

The field was whittled down to the final three players. Radowitz earned the hot seat, taking wins over 14-year-old Tyler Styer 6-1, Haven Ben 6-4, Jon Giles 6-5, and Francis Rave Sr. 6-5 on the way. On the one-loss side, young gun Giles went toe to toe with Rave. Both competitors did their best, and it came down to who remained in control of the game. The score seesawed to hill-hill, and though it looked like it would be all Rave when Giles scratched, Rave in turn scratched on the 7 ball, and Giles cleaned up the last two for the win.

Fifteen of Wisconsin’s best amateurs showed up at the November 1 installment of the Billiard Congress of Wisconsin’s new tour, with Tom Radowitz taking home first place.

Results:
1st Tom Radowitz $330
2nd Jon Giles $200
3rd Francis Rave Sr. $150
4th Dean Durge
5th Bob Treffeisen $50
Duncan Kaufman