by Jose Burgos

Josh Brothers and Jeremy Sossei split top honors at the Mezz Pro-Am Tour’s July 25 installment. The $1,000-added tournament drew 52 players to Drexeline Billiards in Drexel Hill, PA.

Josh Brothers and Jeremy Sossei split top honors at the Mezz Pro-Am Tour’s July 25 installment. The $1,000-added tournament drew 52 players to Drexeline Billiards in Drexel Hill, PA.

Manny Chau awaited Sossei on the one-loss side in the semifinal match, but Sossei was driven by a desire for revenge and easily eliminated Chau 6-3 to meet Brothers again. In the true double-elimination finals, Sossei had to win two matches to Brothers’ one, but it was never an issue—the players decided to be co-champions of the event.

Results:
1st Josh Brothers $1,056
Jeremy Sossei $856
3rd Manny Chau $390
4th Shaun Wilkie $225
5th Dave Daya $150
Danny Bell
7th Mark Stewart $100
Brett Stottlemyer
9th Shaun Dobson $80
Eddie Abraham
Matt Krah
Ed Matushonek

by InsidePOOL Staff

Janet Atwell escaped a close call in her double-elimination final match with Ashley Nandrasy to claim the title of Oklahoma State champion at the OB Cues Ladies’ Tour’s July 24-25 stop. Hosted by Magoo’s Billiards in Tulsa, OK, the $750-added tournament attracted 28 ladies to play, including three current WPBA pros.

Atwell (pictured left) escaped a close call in her double-elimination final match with Ashley Nandrasy (pictured right) to claim the title of Oklahoma State champion at the OB Cues Ladies’ Tour’s July 24-25 stop. Hosted by Magoo’s Billiards in Tulsa, OK, the $750-added tournament attracted 28 ladies to play, including three current WPBA pros.

But Nandrasy had managed a tough bracket and had come too far to back down. After ousting Williams at third place 7-3, she went up against Atwell in the double-elimination final match. As the first set commenced, Atwell missed critical shots while Nandrasy finished games to win 7-2 and force a second set. The second set was a back-and-forth battle that saw the score ultimately reach hill-hill. It all came down to Atwell’s kick at an 8 ball—with a little nudge off the 9 ball, the 8 went in, leaving a straight-in shot on the 9 for the win.

Results:
1st Janet Atwell $750
2nd Ashley Nandrasy $550
3rd Tara Williams $335
4th Melinda Bailey $235
5th Belinda Calhoun $150
Lisa Marr
7th Jennifer Kraber $100
Tracie Voelkering
9th Lisa Henderson-Major $50
Cindy Parvala
Julie Comitini
Amanda Lampert
13th Michelle McDermott $30
Kathy Knuth
Theresa Wilson
Veronica Perez

by Lea Andrews

Brian White, who earned his first Great Southern Billiard Tour victory in March, made an undefeated run through the tour’s July 25-26 stop to earn his second. The $1,500-added event, which was sponsored by Nick Varner Cues and Cases, brought 57 competitors to World Cup Billiards in Greenville, SC.

Brian White, who earned his first Great Southern Billiard Tour victory in March, made an undefeated run through the tour’s July 25-26 stop to earn his second.

On the left side of the bracket, recent winner Jordan Grubb, who’d suffered an earlier loss to White, moved past B-ranked John Thompson 9-3 and A-ranked Matt Mancini 9-6 to face Megia. Meanwhile, Josh Newman, a past winner who’d fallen to Megia, ousted B players Justin Price 9-5 and BEF Junior Nationals 14-and-Under Boys’ champion Billy Thorpe 9-5. Newman continued his quest for another first-place finish by planting King in fifth 9-3 to reach the quarterfinals against Grubb, who’d had his own 9-3 win over Megia. The two A players had a close battle, but it was Newman who advanced 9-7 to meet Cairnes in the semifinals. Newman’s smooth shutout earned him a ticket to the finals, while Cairnes settled for third.

The true double-elimination final match was, unfortunately for Newman, a replica of the stellar performances that White had put on the rest of the weekend. White gave it everything he had to earn his first-place finish by a decisive 11-5 margin.

Results:
1st Brian White $1,000
2nd Josh Newman $500
3rd Gary Cairnes $300
4th Jordan Grubb $200
5th Aaron Megia $125
David King
7th Matt Mancini $80
Billy Thorpe
9th John Thompson $45
Tony Morrison
Justin Price
Daniel Rutledge

by Lea Andrews

When the Great Southern Billiard Tour sets up camp in the North, one can expect the unexpected, like a Frost in the middle of summer. Robert Frost went undefeated through a tough 48-player field at the $1,500-added July 18-19 stop, which was held at Michael’s Billiards in Fairfield, OH, and sponsored by Nick Varner Cues and Cases.

A smooth 9-5 victory over B-ranked Joe Pierce put A-ranked Frost into the hot seat match against Joe Brown, who’d just sent fellow A player Alex Olinger west 9-7. That score got flipped on him against Frost, though, who sent him to the left side to try to earn his way back.

On the one-loss side, BEF Junior Nationals 14-and-Under Boys champion Billy Thorpe made his way past Bill Farmer 7-2 and last week’s winner Jordan Grubb 7-6 to meet up with Olinger. The 13-year-old Thorpe, who started the weekend as one of the three junior champions competing in the event (Boys 19-and-Under champ Landon Shuffett and Girls 19-and-Under champ Liz Lovely finished out of the money), ended the weekend as the one who went furthest, landing in fifth while Olinger moved on to the quarterfinals 9-5. Meanwhile, Mike Leek, who’d suffered an early loss to Brown 9-6, swept past Chris Collins 9-6 and Eric Hinx 9-5 to face Pierce, who ended Hinx’s chance at another go at Brown 7-6. In the quarterfinals, Olinger took care of Pierce smoothly 9-4 to match back up with Brown in the semifinals, where he earned his revenge and a spot in the finals 9-7.

The two evenly-matched A players battled back and forth to hill-hill in the true double-elimination final match, and in the final rack, after Olinger missed position on the 5 ball and hung up the cross bank, Frost cleaned up what was left to earn his victory in one set 9-8.

When the Great Southern Billiard Tour sets up camp in the North, one can expect the unexpected, like a Frost in the middle of summer.

by Jose Burgos

Manny Chau took down the Second Annual New Jersey State 8-Ball Championships, winning the lion’s share of the $2,000-added prize purse and defeating Josh Brothers in the final match. The event was hosted by Atlantic City Billiard Club in Egg Harbor, NJ, July 17-18, and a field of 33 players participated.

Chau made his way through the top half of the bracket with victories over Ed Robson 7-0, Kevin Guimond 7-5, and Brent Boemmels 7-0. In the winners’ side final four, he met Brothers for the first time in the event and sent him west 7-5. “Forty” worked his way through the bottom half of the bracket and notched wins over Chris Ruggerio 7-4, Bruce Nagle 7-5, Rob Metz 7-3, and Jose Cruz 7-4.

“Forty” and Chau met in the hot seat match, which saw Chau pull away late to win the match 7-5, sending “Forty” to the one-loss side. Brothers, meanwhile, was making his move, eliminating players such as Joey Testa 5-3 and Matt Krah 5-2. In the semifinals Brothers ousted “Forty” at third place 5-3 to earn a rematch with Chau. In the double-elimination finals, Brothers would have had to defeat Chau twice to claim the title. He gave it his best shot, but with the score knotted at 5 apiece, Chau surged ahead to win the final two games and the championship.

Manny Chau (pictured left) took down the Second Annual New Jersey State 8-Ball Championships, winning the lion’s share of the $2,000-added prize purse and defeating Josh Brothers (pictured right) in the final match.

by Lea Andrews

Jordan Grubb battled first-time finals jitters and a persistent Mark Patterson to end his weekend with a first-place finish at the July 10-11 Great Southern Billiard Tour Stop. Grubb and Patterson were among the field of 39 that arrived at Corner Pocket Sports Bar in Albemarle, NC, for the $1,500-added event, which was sponsored by Nick Varner Cues and Cases.

A-ranked Grubb breezed past B-ranked Jeff Bean 9-2 to meet up with Patterson for the first time in the hot seat match. B-ranked Patterson, who’d just edged out A-ranked Younger Chapman hill-hill 7-8, came out on the other side of a hill-hill match against Grubb, who earned the hot seat 9-6.

On the left side of the bracket, AA-ranked Sam Monday blew through B-ranked Brian Simpson 10-1 to face fellow AA-player Brian White, who was coming off a shutout win over B-ranked Bobby Farmer. Against Monday, though, White managed just three games, landing in seventh. Meanwhile, an early victim of Patterson’s, A-ranked Jeff Pruitt, was making his way through B-ranked Kent Lacy 9-3 and A-ranked Tony Morrison 9-7 to meet up with Chapman. Pruitt’s 9-5 victory over Chapman pushed him into the quarterfinal match against Bean, who’d held Monday to 7 games, and a 9-4 victory over Bean gave him another crack at Patterson in the semifinals. But he came up one rack shy of revenge, finishing in third 7-8 and allowing Patterson his own chance at revenge against Grubb.

Patterson got off to a good start in the true double-elimination final match, claiming the first set 7-5 to put the two on equal footing. In the second set, though, Grubb got his nerves under control to allow his game to reach its potential, and he closed out his first GSBT victory very decisively 9-2.

Jordan Grubb battled first-time finals jitters and a persistent Mark Patterson to end his weekend with a first-place finish at the July 10-11 Great Southern Billiard Tour Stop.

Results:
1st Jordan Grubb $1,000
2nd Mark Patterson $500
3rd Jeff Pruitt $250
4th Jeff Bean $150
5th Younger Chapman $90
Sam Monday
7th Tony Morrison $40
Brian White

by InsidePOOL Staff

The Billiard Congress of Wisconsin’s State Championships wrapped up June 26, crowning numerous victors in their respective divisions. The event was hosted by Ho Chunk Gaming Wisconsin Dells in Baraboo, WI.

The $2,500-added amateur 9-ball championships attracted 37 players, with Varun Raheja taking first place. In the winners’ side final four, Tyler Styer defeated Raheja 6-4 and went on to the hot seat match to face John Barton, who had just bested Jason Jick 7-6. Styer triumphed in the hot seat match 6-5, and Barton was sent west. In the semifinals he faced off against Raheja, who eked by with a 6-5 win to earn a rematch with Styer. In the double-elimination final match, Raheja double-dipped Styer, winning the sets 6-4 and 6-5 to earn $1,600 for first place.

The open 9-ball division saw 36 players vying for their shares of the $4,000-added prize purse, and it was Jeff Carter who took home $2,300 for first place. Like Raheja in the amateur division, Carter was defeated in the winners’ side final four and came back to double-dip his finals opponent. Carter was sent west by Jesse Engal 7-3, while Gene Albrecht defeated Tony Hilla 7-3. In the hot seat match, Albrecht came out the winner 7-3. After Carter eliminated Hilla in fourth place 7-5, he went on to the semifinal match against Engal, whom he ousted 7-5. In the finals against Albrecht, Carter won both sets with double-hill margins 7-6.

There were 108 players in the $1,500-added singles 8-ball barbox championship event, with Jack Wu taking first place. Wu went undefeated through the event, defeating Jeff Potts in the winners’ side final four 5-4 to reach the hot seat match against Matt Berg, who had just bested Shane Minihan 5-4. Another hill-hill match saw Wu take the king seat 5-4. Ryan Behnke took on Potts in the quarterfinal match and eliminated him 5-4, and he kept his momentum going by ousting Berg 5-4 in the semifinals. But he was stopped in the finals by Wu, who won the single-set finals 5-3.

The open one-pocket division boasted a $2,500-added purse and drew 23 players, with Beau Runningen taking the undefeated route to the winner’s circle. Runningen bested Jeff Carter 3-2 to reach the hot seat match against Ike Runnels, who had just whitewashed Tony Hilla 3-0. In the king seat match, Runningen eked out a 3-2 victory, while Runnels went west. Sylver Ochoa was working his way through the one-loss side and met up with Mike Perron Jr. in the quarterfinals, eliminating him 3-1. Ochoa also defeated Runnels 3-2 to reach the final match against Runningen. It was a close battle, but Runningen slid by with a 3-2 victory.

The Billiard Congress of Wisconsin’s State Championships wrapped up June 26, crowning numerous victors in their respective divisions.

9-Ball Open Results:
1st Jeff Carter $2,300
2nd Gene Albrecht $1,275
3rd Jesse Engal $875
4th Tony Hilla $575
5th Manuel Chau $300
Ramesha Gokhul
7th Sylver Ochoa $150
Billy Lasee
9th Beau Runningen $75
Jason Barnhall
Jon Giles
Randy Lamar

8-Ball Barbox Results:
1st Jack Wu $1,251
2nd Ryan Behnke $625
3rd Matt Berg $417
4th Jeff Potts $295
5th Ray Skinadore $208
Shane Minihan
7th Chad Cunningham $125
Chad Behnke
9th Jared Anderson $90
David Wilbelhouse
Reggie Runnels
John Pfeffer

One-Pocket Results:
1st Beau Runningen $1,296
2nd Sylver Ochoa $720
3rd Ike Runnels $504
4th Mike Perron Jr. $360
5th Jeff Carter $216
Tony Hilla
7th Billy Lasee $144
Bill Fowler

by InsidePOOL Staff

Eddie Abraham and Josh Brothers opted to split first place at the June 27 installment of the Mezz Pro-Am Tour. The stop was hosted by Main Line Billiards in Frazer, PA, where a strong field of 30 players came out, such as Ed Matushonek, Shaun Wilkie, Chip Klein, Bruce Nagle, and Derek Schwager.

Abraham led the top half of the bracket, taking wins over Sam Quinzi 7-3, Lou Patrikios 7-1, and Nagle 7-6. Leading the bottom half of the bracket was Brothers, who scored victories over John Talamini 7-4, Larry Ingram 7-0, Klein 7-2, and Shaun Dobson 7-0. The two met in the hot seat, but it was a one-sided match, with Abraham taking an easy 7-1 win.

Eddie Abraham and Josh Brothers opted to split first place at the June 27 installment of the Mezz Pro-Am Tour.

Results:
1st Eddie Abraham $620
Josh Brothers
3rd Ed Matushonek $250
4th Shaun Wilkie $150
5th Bruce Nagle $100
Shawn Dobson

by Lea Andrews

The first and last face Josh O’Neal saw at the June 26-27 Great Southern Billiard Tour event belonged to Russ Edwards, the first and last of O’Neal’s many victims. AA-ranked O’Neal went undefeated through the field of 40 that arrived at Murfreesboro Billiards in Murfreesboro, TN, for the $1,500-added event, which was sponsored by Nick Varner Cues and Cases.

While AA-ranked Edwards was moving steadily through the left side of the bracket following his first-round 10-5 loss to O’Neal, O’Neal was making his own steady path through the winners’ side. A strong 10-2 win over A-ranked Ryan Dunn put him into the hot seat match against Mike Laney, who’d just sent AA-ranked Billy Young west 10-6. O’Neal, who’d had several high finishes on the tour but had yet to make it to the finals, earned his first finals appearance with a convincing 10-1 victory.

On the one-loss side, former winner Daniel McKinney took care of fellow A-player Brad Hutchins 9-5 and B player Ricardo Nixon 9-5 to face Young, whom he ousted by yet another strong score of 9-5 to reach the quarterfinals, where he met up with a determined Edwards. Edwards, who’d just run through B players Heath Reynolds 9-5 and Jeremy Scarpace 9-1, and A-ranked Dunn 9-4, went smoothly through McKinney 9-7 to advance to the semifinals against Laney. Both of O’Neal’s victims fought hard all the way to hill-hill for the right to the rematch in the finals, but Edwards marked up the final game, moving on to the true double-elimination final match 9-9.

But revenge was not in the cards for Edwards. The fact that O’Neal was in the finals for the first time, and that he could stand to lose the first set, didn’t slow him down at all—he pushed hard to maintain complete control throughout the set, earning his first tour win 10-3.

The first and last face Josh O’Neal saw at the June 26-27 Great Southern Billiard Tour event belonged to Russ Edwards, the first and last of O’Neal’s many victims. Pictured (L-R) April Dobbins - owner of Murfreesboro Billiard Club, Josh O'Neal, Russ Edwards, and Shannon Daulton

Two Spots in Main Event Available in Austria

Matchroom Sport can announce that there will be a European qualifying event offering two spots in the 2010 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool. Taking place on Sunday 11th July at the Sporthotel Alpina in Sankt Johann im Pongau, Austria, the tournament will be open to pairs from nations not otherwise represented in the competition.

Taking place directly after the Austrian Open on the Euro Tour, as in the main event, all matches will be scotch doubles, races to 8, with the winner breaking. The format will be double elimination until the last four and then single elimination.

Organised by the EPBF, the tournament will offer two spots directly into the World Cup of Pool, which takes place in Manila, Philippines from 7th to 12th September and carries a prize fund of $250,000.

The European teams already selected are Austria, Croatia, England, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Malta, Poland, Russia, Spain and Sweden so players from all other European nations are eligible to apply for entry.

There will be a maximum of two teams per country in the event and precedence will be given to the current Euro Tour rankings (after the German Open). Obviously, no two pairs representing the same countries can qualify.

Matchroom Sport can announce that there will be a European qualifying event offering two spots in the 2010 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool.

‘No one can argue that the ‘big guns’ of England, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain etc should be in the starting line up but over the past few years, more and more countries are upping their respective games and they should all be given a chance to compete in the World Cup.’

The entry fee is €100 per pair, and payable to organizers prior to the tournament. Players should register their interest with either luke.riches@matchroom.com or gre.leenders@planet.nl