by InsidePOOL Staff

James Baraks bested Dustin Wilgus twice in the final set to take the Lucasi Hybrid All-American Tour by storm February 27. Held in Decatur, IL, this $500-added event featured a 52-player field in a double-elimination 9-ball format on 8-foot tables.

Wilgus took the undefeated route to the hot seat, including an A-side semifinal win over Sergio Perez 8-6 and the A-side finals win over Mike Dunklin 8-6. Dunklin won his A-side semifinal match over Chris Austin 8-7 prior to his loss to Wilgus, and Dunklin then awaited his opponent in the B-side finals.

In the B-side round of eight, Baraks and Rick Halls eliminated Chris Winschief 8-4 and Ike Runnels 8-6, respectively, at seventh place. The B-side quarterfinals featured Baraks and Halls continuing by ousting Perez 8-5 and Austin 8-7, respectively, at fifth place. In the B-side semifinals, Baraks edged Halls at fourth place by an 8-7 margin. Baraks maintained his momentum in the B-side finals by defeating Dunklin 8-5. Versus the undefeated Wilgus in the finals, Baraks displayed conviction in winning two sets for the title, 8-2 and 8-6.

James Baraks bested Dustin Wilgus twice in the final set to take the Lucasi Hybrid All-American Tour by storm February 27.

by InsidePOOL Staff

Tommy Hernandez took hold of the Pechauer All-American Tour’s January 17 stop and rode it out to the finish, besting Gil Hernandez in the final match. The event was hosted by Rudy’s Place in Aurora, IL, and featured a $500-added purse with 45 players in a double-elimination 8-ball format on 7-foot bar boxes.

Tommy Hernandez took the undefeated route to the finals, which included an A-bracket semifinals win over Sergio Perez 5-2 and the A-bracket finals win over Gil Hernandez 5-2. The B-side bracket featured Angel Reyes and David Hennessy being stopped in seventh place by the sticks of Marlon Angeles 4-2 and Eddie Balderas 4-2 respectively. Angeles’ progress ended at fifth place via a loss to Bob Nodine 4-2, while Eddie Balderas moved on by eliminating Sergio Perez 4-2. Balderas dropped Nodine into fourth place by a 4-2 score, but he was in turn was stopped in third place via a loss to Gil Hernandez 4-2. The finals between Tommy Hernandez and Gil Hernandez was anti-climactic, as Tommy took the first set 5-2 for the title.

Tommy Hernandez took hold of the Pechauer All-American Tour's January 17 stop and rode it out to the finish, besting Gil Hernandez in the final match.

Results:
1st Tommy Hernandez $500
2nd Gil Hernandez $300
3rd Eddie Balderas $200
4th Bob Nodine $150
5th Marlon Angeles $100
Sergio Perez
7th Angel Reyes $50
David Hennessy
9th Ernesto Contreras $30
Jerry Hausler
Robert Schiffino
Tony Loper

by InsidePOOL Staff
Fifty-six billiard players turned out at River Grove, IL, the weekend of January 26-27, with Gil Hernandez ending up the big winner. This Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour event was hosted by Chris’s Cue Phoria Billiards and saw over $4,000 added to the prize money.
Hernandez went undefeated to the finals, besting Jon Kucharo 9-4, Tommy Hernandez 9-8, Santos Sambajon Jr. 9-4, and Sergio Perez 9-7 to claim the hot seat. Meanwhile, on the one-loss side, Shawn Putnam breezed through Sambajon 7-2 and Andy Friedhofen 7-1, only to be relegated to third place by Sergio Perez 7-2 in the semifinals.
Perez punished Hernandez 9-6 in the first set of the true double-elimination format finals, setting up a race to 7 for the title. The fans were not disappointed as the second set went hill-hill and Perez fouled, leaving Hernandez a 2-9 combo for the win. Hernandez could have run out the table but elected to shoot the combo and missed. Perez played safe on the 2 ball, and Hernandez jumped the 8 ball and lucked the 2 ball in off the 8 ball, at which point he proceeded to run out for the win.

1st Gil Hernandez
2nd Sergio Perez
3rd Shawn Putnam
4th Andy Friedhofen
5th Adam Maloney
Santos Sambajon Jr.
7th Tommy Hernandez
Ike Runnels

by Paul Berg, InsidePOOL Magazine Staff
Taking center stage at the Qlympics in Louisville, KY, Tony “T-Rex” Chohan and Kentucky favorite John Brumback have claimed the first two of four U.S. Open billiards titles up for grabs in the Clarion Conference Center. Chohan brought his aggressive style of one-pocket past Shannon Daulton to claim the hot seat in the one-pocket event last night, and he stopped the charge of Gabe Owen in the second race to four of a true double-elimination final. Brumback came from the one-loss side after a lackluster performance against Jason Miller yesterday in the winners’-bracket banks final, getting past Brian Gregg in today’s semifinal before beating Miller twice in a row for the crown.
Chohan and Daulton engaged in a slug-fest of powerful bankers and smart aggressive play, but Chohan caught better rolls as Daulton bobbled a few more opportunities on his way to winning the first three games by progressively larger margins. “The Cannon” fought back, joining the shootout with two run-out wins of his own, but “T-Rex” reasserted himself there. Daulton ran five balls off of Chohan’s break, trailing three games to two, but had to survive the Sacramento native and Detroit resident’s kicking prowess in the subsequent shot. Chohan hung that kick attempt up, and Daulton didn’t clear the first ball in a combination at it from the hole. Seven and out dealt Daulton his first loss, the 8-5 win securing a 4-2 ticket to the finals for Chohan.
Owen worked last night to get a chance at Daulton in the semifinals. With a convincing 4-2 win over mastermind Rafael Martinez-Chavez and another by the same score over capable Sergio Perez, Owen looked prime to roar back from his first defeat at Daulton’s hands. While Owen is a less risk-oriented player, he showed spurts of strong offense against fourth-place finisher Perez, who had left all-around threat Miller in fifth place the match before but succumbed to an explosive two-inning loss in the midst of three opening wins for Owen and finally an eight and out to finish the night’s play.
The reigning Music City 9-Ball champ, Owen was known as a one-pocket threat well before claiming a U.S. Open 9-Ball crown in 2005. Despite a weak break that kept showing Daulton opening shots, Owen was able to take the first three games of the semifinal. While Daulton earned an 8 to -1 reprieve in the next, it was his only glimmer of hope to add another title to his impressive one-pocket resume. Daulton would settle for third place after an awesome 8-7 win for Owen, a classic game that carried Owen to the final. Daulton’s fourth-place finish in banks makes him an interesting candidate against other all-around contenders, but “The Cannon” has a tournament to run on his Great Southeastern 9-Ball Tour this week and will be absent for the 10-ball and straight pool events that start next Monday.
Chohan waited for Owen, who, by virtue of a 4-3 win, forced a second set. From a tie at one, Chohan’s aggressive play stopped generating opportunities for Owen and suddenly ended games in Chohan’s favor. With stunning shows of fearless firepower, Chohan swept the next three games 8-1, 8-0, and 8-1. The 4-1 victory finally validates the backroom conviction in Chohan’s amazing potential in all games, and perhaps maturity and seasoning have made the young “Cha-Ching” a new tournament threat.
While Chohan forfeited his first round in banks and surged back to the edge of the money with a seventh-place finish, established masters of the game were in position today. Gregg is from across the Ohio River in Indianapolis, and Miller is from Dayton, OH, but the Midwest bank eminence resides in Kentucky. Brumback overcame Gregg 3-1, the final game of long-rack banks a fine 8-7 shooter’s duel.
Miller had ruined Brumback’s one-pocket tournament the night before in a match determining a seventh-place tie. Facing 2006 World All-Around champion Miller in the final, the perennial high Derby City Banks finisher and former Lexington All-Stars Banks champ took the first game, only to watch Miller come to life. Down three balls to one in the second game, Miller rained down cross-side shots in a run of six banks on his way to an 8-3 equalizer. Forced by the rules of the tournament to break open, Miller took it to heart for the rest of the afternoon, this time making four balls on the break, running four banks, and slopping a fifth attempt into a different pocket. Five balls spotted surrounding the cue ball, and Brumback fought his way to a 6-3 deficit despite two scratches. Miller stopped him there and reached the hill first, but it would be his last win of the day.
With an 8-2 win that saw Miller finally miss a few, Brumback joined him on the hill, and Miller seemed to lose momentum there, missing banks he normally shoots a high percentage on repeatedly and allowing Brumback shots. The avid hunter found his prey this day, his familiar waggles and repeated adjustments lining up true shots on the way to an 8-2 win that ended the first set 3-2.
The wheels seemed to come off for Miller a second time, as he held a 7-6 lead in the first game of the second set with Brumback. He scratched on a cross-side, and Brumback mustered an 8-6 win from there. While Brumback’s break was often dry, Miller always made a ball but missed in game two, and Brumback ran four banks to open. Miller never looked the same, and Brumback stayed steady, winning 8-1 for a 2-0 lead. With the score tied at three in the next rack, Miller showed Brumback a cross-side that he never looked back from, running five and out for the 3-0 win and the U.S. Open Banks victory.
While the professional open tournaments resume Monday, TheActionReport.com’s Action Challenge 2 is underway. Class acts John “Mr. 403” Schmidt and Danny “The Springfield Flash” Harriman played a race to 400 balls in straight pool last night, the first in a three-leg all-around contest, ten grand a man. Harriman led Schmidt early on, but with a high run of 114 balls, Schmidt jumped back into contention. Trailing Harriman 310-305, Schmidt ran 67, the last a pocketed break ball that he was unhappy with and missed the touchy subsequent slow-roller. Harriman only managed to claim the thirteen balls remaining on the table to trail 372-323, making tough shots late with no classic break ball available.
When Harriman missed the ensuing break shot, Schmidt ran through the next two racks to claim a 400-323 win. Currently, the two are playing a race to ten in one-pocket, with 10-ball coming tomorrow night. Stay tuned to InsidePOOLmag.com for all the latest from the Qlympics in Louisville, as this weekend the BCAPL 8-Ball Team Championships bring league play back to the fore.

The first two BCA U.S. Open tournaments are underway. Full-rack banks and one-pocket fields are down to their final eights as of Thursday morning, November 8.

The full-rack banks is a race to 3, true double elimination and is requiring a hard break. There were 35 entrants. Form is holding as the winners’ side finals has John Brumback facing Jason Miller. The left side of the board has Brian Gregg banking it out with Shawn Putnam, as well as Shannon Daulton matching up with Tony Chohan. First prize is $2100, with as much as $1600 added according to eligibility requirements related to residency and lodging.

The one-pocket matches are races to 4, with true double elimination. There were 36 entries. The winners’ final here pits Shannon Daulton and Tony Chohan. On the left side, Brumback and Jason Miller match up again in this event. Chris Bartram tangles with the exciting Rafael Martinez of Mexico. Sergio Perez and Gabe Owen complete the field. Prize money is the same as the banks. The top eight in each field will cash.

Despite the wealth of talent in action, Tony Chohan has really impressed with his powerful game. The only “people” to beat Tony was the airlines. His connections were bad and he had to forfeit his first round of banks. Since then he has not lost in either event, and he was super in some extracurricular bank pool action in a nearby room Tuesday night.

Tonight John Schmidt and Danny Harriman will play the straight pool portion of their 3-day, $20,000 winner-take-all challenge. 400 points of straight to be exact, followed by 10-ball and one-pocket marathons on Friday and Saturday to settle the cash. Admission for spectators is free for the open events and $10 for the challenges.

Make no mistake: this is a quality event. The turnouts have been light but there is and will be a ton of big-time pool played at the Clarion Convention Center in Louisville, KY, for 9 more days. The BCA is committed to making this event a major annual event, so if you can, get out and support it.