by InsidePOOL Staff

The Derby City Classic staff decided to go ahead with the banks event Monday evening and finish it out, so the final seven players returned to battle it out for the $10,000-added prize fund and 9-ball banks title. Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan came through it all to win top honors over fellow countryman Ronato Alcano.

Alcano and Pagulayan were the only two of the seven without a loss, and they played each other, with Pagulayan winning 3-2. Defending champion John Brumback eliminated Francisco Bustamante 3-2, Justin Hall ousted Shannon Daulton, and Jeremy Jones had the bye.

The Derby City Classic staff decided to go ahead with the banks event Monday evening and finish it out, so the final seven players returned to battle it out for the $10,000-added prize fund and 9-ball banks title. Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan came through it all to win top honors over fellow countryman Ronato Alcano.

In the next round Alcano eliminated Jones, Pagulayan dispatched Hall, and Brumback had the bye. The redraw saw Brumback and Pagulayan on the Accu-Stats table. Brumback had a loss earlier from Sylver Ochoa, but Pagulayan had none. Brumback won the lag, banked three balls and missed a jacked-up long bank, but it wasn’t long before he was back at the table and had won 5-2. The second game was a long safety battle, with Brumback winning by a close 5-4. The third game went speedily, as Brumback broke and banked five and out, winning the match 3-0 as Pagulayan bowed low in homage.

The next redraw set Alcano and Brumback against each other in the semifinals while Pagulayan waited in the wings. Brumback dropped five balls on the break and made one ball before spotting the balls and turning the table over to Alcano, who was faced with a layout more like a position exercise than a banks game. Neither player could get a run going, and the lengthy rack ended in Alcano’s favor 5-3. The second game took even longer, with fatigue etched into the players’ miens, and it also went to Alcano 5-2. Brumback came to life a bit in the next, running three and then two banks to win 5-2, making it 2-1. Alcano notched three balls before a series of misses by both players ensued. Finally Alcano pocketed his last two to win the match 3-1.

View Derby City Classic match results (continuous)

View Derby City Classic upcoming match schedules (continuous)

In the all-Filipino final match, Pagulayan opened up by banking five and out in the first game, exciting the onlookers who had stayed up to watch. It was a defensive game all the way in the following, though, more similar to a one-pocket game than banks. The abnormally quiet Pagulayan eked out a 5-3 win. He missed after his next break shot, and Alcano banked five and out, making it 2-1 Pagulayan. Alcano pocketed the first ball in the next rack, but Pagulayan chipped away at the balls, finally getting the ball count to 4-1 in his favor. Alcano kept playing safe, and Pagulayan was crestfallen when he would miss. “I thought my picture was going to be up there already!” he exclaimed, indicating the enormous pictures of past winners hanging from the ceiling. Alcano was fading quickly—it was 3:30 a.m.—and left a simple cross-side bank for Pagulayan, who studied it briefly and then whipped it in. “Finally!” he cried.

Pagulayan and many other players will report at 10 a.m. for their next one-pocket match. Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

Wins for Gomez, Williams and Kuribayashi

THERE WERE THREE further Round 3 matches at the Riviera Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas as the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters reached its penultimate day. With all-round play rising to a high standard, there were wins for Charlie Williams, Roberto Gomez and Toru Kuribayashi.

In the opening game, Scottish qualifier Jayson Shaw made a few too many mistakes for a player of Roberto Gomez’s standard and the Filipino joins compatriot Dennis Orcollo in the quarter-finals.

Shaw lost the initiative in the third game as he made an elementary error going from 6 to the 8, as he left the cue ball behind the 9 ball. That handed the rack to Gomez for 2-1 and another shocker, scratching when the run out was elementary. It was a choker for the young Scot as Gomez increased his lead to 3-1.

A run out in the next increased his lead, but Gomez tried a Bustamante-style ‘behind the back’ shot instead of using the bridge and completely miscued. He made contact with the 6 ball but failed to reach a rail.

With ball in hand, Shaw took full advantage and he ran the next following a decent break to get to within one rack of Gomez at 4-3. A missed pink 4 down the rail, though down the rail, let the Filipino back in and he increased his lead to 5-3.

From there it was all Gomez as he took the last three racks to seal the win and move into the quarter-finals where he faces a tough one in Ralf Souquet.

“I played good – maybe I would give myself seven or eight out of ten. My shot (behind the back that caused a ) it happened at exactly the same time as the shot clock warning bell ringing and I just hit it badly,” said Gomez.

THERE WERE THREE further Round 3 matches at the Riviera Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas as the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters reached its penultimate day.

“He had a lot of chance but missed them and that gave me courage to grab the chances. Playing Ralf Souquet will be a great match and I have to prepare well. I’ve played him once in Taiwan and I won.

“But everyone is confident of winning this tournament and everyone here is a master.”

In the second match of the afternoon, Charlie Williams looked the business as disposed of entertaining Japanese player Naoyuki Oi, coming from 4-1 down to win 8-5.

Having been used to race to 9 matches in the first two rounds, Williams assumed that this match was race to 9 also and returned to his chair after potting what was the case 9 ball.

Referee Nigel Rees had to tell the American that he had indeed won the match, much to his pleasure.

“That was a big win for me and I’m pleased to get in the last eight. Now I’m in the championship ring and it looks a bit easier,” said Williams.

“Oi is a very aggressive player so I knew he would come at me. I thought I had got here early enough to practise but I didn’t so I hadn’t hit one ball in practise today.

“The first shot I hit was actually in the game and it showed as I made some early mistakes but it’s my fault as I should’ve been here at 2pm.

“At 4-1 Oi was playing good but I didn’t give up and just tried to work it back one frame at a time.

“Being 4-1 down it wasn’t looking good at all but I figured out the break quicker that he did and that gave me some momentum.

“At the end I didn’t know it was a race to eight. Nigel looked at me and someone jumped up and I thought I’d committed a foul!”

In the final match of the afternoon, Japanese qualifier Toru Kuribayashi looked a million dollars as he mastered the break superbly to record an 8-0 whitewash over England’s Daryl Peach.

Making two and three balls at a time and leaving easy run outs, Kuribayashi left Peach seated for most of the match and the young Japanese looks a massive dark horse for the title. He now plays Charlie Williams in the next round.

“I played really well and I am really happy with my performance. If I keep playing like that then I know I can win the tournament,” said the Japanese.

Play continues this evening.

Saturday Afternoon – Results

Roberto Gomez (PHI) 8-3 Jayson Shaw (SCO)

Naoyuki Oi (JAP) 5-8 Charlie Williams (USA)

Daryl Peach (ENG) 0-8 Toru Kuribayashi (JAP)

Saturday Evening Matches

Round Three

Rodney Morris (USA) v Thomas Engert (GER)

Oliver Ortmann (GER) v Thorsten Hohmann (GER)

Quarter-Final

Dennis Orcollo (PHI) v John Morra (CAN)

After 17 years as a 16-player invitational competition, the Masters, one of the longest established tournaments in pool, is now a 64 player event and takes place over five days instead of three.

Working in conjunction with Cuesports International, the Masters takes place during the annual BCA National 8-Ball Championships, which sees thousands of players and fans flock to the Riviera for a lengthy festival of pool.

Television is produced by Matchroom Sport and will be seen as 15 x one hour programmes in 14 countries around the world with more to be added to the list.

The prize fund is set at a guaranteed $100,000 with $20,000 going to the eventual champion.

Luke Riches, Matchroom Sport: luke.riches@matchroom.com, +44 7785 395688

http://www.matchroompool.com/page/WorldPoolMasters/Home

Notes: Matchroom Sport are one of the world’s leading producers of televised sport and are responsible for over 1,100 hours of original programming across a range of nine sports. Based in the UK and chaired by charismatic founder Barry Hearn, the World Pool Masters is one of a stable of pool events that include the World Cup of Pool and the Mosconi Cup.

The 2010 World Pool Masters is sponsored by PartyPoker.net. Tables are supplied by Brunswick Billiards, cloth by Iwan Simonis, Super Aramith balls by Saluc and the Official Cue is Predator.

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.

After getting second place last year, Frost was determined to win the Derby City Classic One Pcoket event this year.

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

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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.

Brumback handed Reyes a 3-0 beatdown in his successful title defense in the Derby City Classic Bank Division finals.

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.

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HOLLAND’S NICK van den Berg became the first player through to the semi-finals of the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters as he held off the challenge of Johnny Archer to claim an 8-5 victory at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas.

It was nip and tuck for the first ten racks before van den Berg pulled away in the closing stages. The Dutchman opened up an early 2-0 lead but returned the table to Archer when he scratched in the third game.

They shared the next two racks as van den Berg lead 3-2, before Archer, who had not been in front yet in the match, scratched in the sixth and van den Berg moved two racks ahead for the third time in the match.

Archer though is nothing if not a fighter and he claimed the seventh for 3-4 after the Dutchman left the 3 ball on. Archer had not won two successive racks but that run ended in the eighth as van den Berg once again scratched to give the Scorpion ball-in-hand and that made the score 4-4.

Van den Berg, though, restored his lead in the ninth rack thanks to a 3-9 combination but Archer refused to buckle as he levelled the match at 5-5.

An illegal break from Archer handed the initiative back to van den Berg and he took full advantage to take the lead for the fifth time.

Archer got to the table in the next but misjudged a safety attempt and left the 5-ball out in the open. He was furious with himself and his mood didn’t lighten as Van den Berg moved to the hill at 7-5.

Archer survived the first round only to fall to Van den Berg in the second round at the World Pool Masters.

A good break and van den Berg was eyeing up a potential match-winning 2-9 combination. He got it fractionally wrong but the 9-ball clipped the 3-ball and fell into the side pocket. He punched the air as he secured an impressive 8-5 victory and became the first man into the semi-finals.

“I last played in the World Pool Masters two years ago and finished third when I got beaten by Thomas Engert. I was happy to get third but this time I want to win it,” said van den Berg.

“Lately I’m playing like I have nothing to lose and before I was very happy with every win but didn’t care about winning a tournament.

“I’m delighted I won this match but it wasn’t that good a match. I was up 3-1 and had a couple of chances to do more but I didn’t. He kept scratching on the break so I got my chances. The crucial point was when he scratched at 4-4.

“At 7-5 I got lucky with that 9-ball but sometimes you need some luck to win. I now play Tony Drago, who I know very well, or Shane van Boening and I’ve never played him before.”

THE LAST first round game of the 2009 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters proved to be the best of the lot as Finland’s Mika Immonen beat Fu Jianbo of China in a thrilling contest that went all the way.

Both players performed superbly it was rare mistakes that changed the flow of the match.

Immonen started the stronger as he raced into a 3-0 lead. He made a 2-9 combination in the first, a break and run in the second, and a 3-9 combo to seal the third.

Fu won the next two before Immonen restored his two rack lead. The Chinese won the next two including a golden break – the third of the competition – to leave them tied at 4-4 at the halfway stage.

These two had met in the final of the 2007 World Cup of Pool and it was Fu who had prevailed for Team China in a hill-hill thriller.

They traded racks right up until they reached the hill at 7-7. Fu had a real chance to win the match but failed to get the cue ball far enough across the table and was forced to attempt a difficult 5-6 combo to stay at the table.

He missed and Immonen coolly mopped up the table to make his way to the quarter finals.

“It was very tough and very nerve wracking. I thought I had a pretty good start as I was 3-0 up but then I deserted my own game plan and he sneaked back into the game,” said Immonen as he enjoyed a post match glass of wine.

“I had to dig deep and he got a golden nine so the rolls were going his way. I had to fight my way back into the game but I stuck in there and made some pretty intense run outs – my heart was really pounding.

“It was fantastic to beat him and I owed him a beating since he beat me in the World Cup of Pool final. I thought about that before and I had a score to settle with him.

“He is technically a very sound player but my pool experience helped me through some really tricky racks. I’m really surprised he missed that 5-6 combination and we both made a mistake in the final rack.

“I thought I was going out, especially when he bumped into the five off the three to make the combination easier but he played a bad shape on the combination and the fortune went my way.”

IN THE penultimate first round match, Dennis Orcollo recorded another one sided victory as he overcame Canada’s Tyler Edey, a last-minute replacement for compatriot Alain Martel, who was denied a visa.

The soft-spoken Orcollo is one of the most feared money players in the Philippines and is tournament record is outstanding and he took the first rack against the break after both players missed goes on a 2-9 combination.

They shared the next two racks before Orcollo showed his class by comfortably moving through the next two to gain a 4-1 lead.

The match starts to become one-way traffic as Edey began to spend a lot of time in his chair. Even an illegal break from Orcollo didn’t change the state of the match as Orcollo moved 5-1 ahead.

In the seventh game Orcollo fouled and Edey left a tight safety. But the Filipino made a superb escape shot and left a tight safety of his own. That drew a mistake from Edey as he missed his intended blue 2 target. With ball-in-hand Orcollo did the rest to go 6-1.

Edey took the next as Orcollo had no luck on his break shot, but Edey quickly lost control of the table in the ninth and Orcollo moved to the hill.

Edey missed the blue 2 in the tenth but got fortunate as the cue ball ended up safe. Orcollo failed to connect with the same ball and with ball-in-hand Edey made it 7-3. An illegal break from Edey proved costly and Dennis Orcollo, as many people had expected, comfortably reached the next round.

by InsidePOOL Staff

Out of the 333 players who entered the one-pocket division at the Derby City Classic, one emerged triumphant after his final match against Scott “The Freezer” Frost. John “Mr. 403″ Schmidt surprised almost everybody by taking first place over the more seasoned Frost, with it the first-place prize.

In the semifinals, Schmidt matched up with Jose “Amang” Parica, while Frost met Jeremy Jones. At 1-all, Parica sold out, and Schmidt was able to clear the table for the hill. A poor safety by Parica in the final game left Schmidt the run-out, and he took the match 3-1.

Schmidt made short work of the One Pocket division finals of the 11th Annual Derby City Classic.

With Frost up 1-0 against Jones, “Double J” only needed one ball to get out, and while Frost had left him frozen on the rail for the spot shot, he played three-rail short-size position to get out. Now tied at 1-all, Jones scratched on a safety and, in frustration, cracked his cue stick on the table, breaking the butt. Frost took ball in hand and ran out for the lead. A sell-out by Frost, though, allowed Jones back in the match, making it 2-2. In the final rack, Frost ran 7 balls when he got an opening and then played a weak safety. Jones was able to run 6 balls but got funny on his next ball, and after a series of safeties, Frost made a sweet bank to win.

View the 11th Annual Derby City Classic Image Gallery

In the photo-finish lag for the break in the finals, Frost won. Schmidt whiffed a ball, bringing his score into the negative region, and a few more mistakes on Schmidt’s behalf led to Frost winning the first game 8 to -1. Schmidt broke in the second game, and Frost miscued, at which point Schmidt ran 8 and out. Astonishingly, Frost broke and scratched in the third game, and again Schmidt capitalized, running 8 and out for the hill. A poor break by Schmidt gave Frost 2 balls in the next rack, and then they traded safeties until Frost’s cue ball got away from him and he scratched. Schmidt ran 8 and out again for the win.

The current points leaders in the race for the all-around title are John Brumback with 145, Johnathan Pinegar with 130, and Rodolfo Luat with 100.

In the 9-ball division, Schmidt remains undefeated, as does Brumback, who defeated Efren Reyes earlier. Defending champion Ralf Souquet is still alive, as are Johnny Archer, Darren Appleton, Larry Nevel, and Tyler Edey.

In the Straight Pool Challenge: There were eight players who began play Thursday. Danny Harriman defeated Huidji See, while Thorsten Hohmann defeated Corey Deuel. In today’s matches, Darren Appleton matched up with Beau Runningen, while Schmidt played Charlie Williams.

Out of the 11 innings involved in the Appleton-Runningen match, 9 were safety play. The final score was 100-27, with Appleton notching a high run of 85. Schmidt destroyed Williams 100-17 in their match and then went on to play more one-pocket. Schmidt’s high run was 53, and the match was over in five innings. In the semifinals, Schmidt will play Harriman, and Appleton will play Hohmann.

Watch the Derby City Classic LIVE!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpIraRrW0S8

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Souquet helped the European billiard team get one step closer to successfully defending the Mosconi Cup on Saturday.

Team Europe look set to retain the PartyPoker.com Mosconi Cup for the first time in the event’s storied history as they took the Saturday evening session 2-1 to take a 9-5 lead into the final day at the Hilton Hotel in Portomaso, Malta.

Rodney Morris gave Team USA a massive shot in the arm in the opening match of the Saturday evening session as he won his first match of the tournament, defeating Niels Feijen 5-3 to reduce the European lead to two points.

Wins though for captain Alex Lely’s two lynchpins, Ralf Souquet and Mika Immonen, left Team USA reeling and needing to win six of Sunday’s seven games. There are two doubles and one singles match on Sunday afternoon and that may be enough.

A defeat in the opening game of the season would have left the Americans with an absolute mountain to climb, but Morris, making his sixth Mosconi Cup appearance looked all business as he went about his task.

Feijen won the lag but came up dry on his break and a fired up Morris ran out to take the opener. Despite Feijen getting to the table in the second, it was the American’s rack as they both had attempts on the 8 ball before Morris fired it home.

A 1/9 combo in the third game gave Morris a 3-0 lead, but the Hawaiian though, scratched in the next and with ball in hand, Feijen ran through the table to reduce the deficit to two racks.

That became just one rack in the next as following a safety exchange, Morris left the 3 ball on for Feijen and the Dutchman ran out.

A dry break in the next gave Feijen the opportunity and he tied Morris up in a snooker. Morris returned the favour and always had Feijen on the run. Eventually he ended the rack with a tidy 7/9 carom to reach the hill at 4-2.

A bad attempt by Morris to tie up the cue ball behind the black 8 to snooker Feijen on the 4 ball failed miserably and Feijen cleared to go 3-4.

Morris got nothing on his next break and Feijen pushed out. The Dutchman eventually missed the 1 ball and Morris, back at the table, secured the point with a 2/9 combo.

“I’m happy. I just wanted to enjoy myself and I kept thinking even if I lose every match if they call my name I will always be prepared,’ said Morris.

“They put me out there first and they call me the not-so-silent assassin. I can play as fast as anyone but you make mistakes playing fast. Even though I hate Ralf in the Mosconi Cup, he’s one of the guys that I want to watch because he takes his time. You have to slow down if you want to win.

“In singles you see the guys settle down and get into a rhythm so you will see some good stuff from us all.”

Ralf Souquet made it four wins out of four as he beat Shane Van Boening 5-2 to put Europe within three points of retaining the Mosconi Cup.

“I’m very pleased with the result but I wasn’t so pleased with the game as I made several mistakes at the beginning and couldn’t handle the shot clock,’ said Souquet after the match.

“I couldn’t pace myself into the shot clock but luckily at the end I calmed down a bit.

“You can only win as a team and lose as a team. It doesn’t matter who gets the Most Valuable Player award as long as one of our team gets it.

“It was very important I won after Niels unfortunately lost his match against Rodney. There’s still a long way to go – three points for us, but right now we’re just fighting for the next one.”

The turning point came at 3-2 when Van Boening, who has little or no hearing, incurred a time foul when he lost track of the time and could not hear the warning sound.

Souquet ran out with ball in hand and when Van Boening produced a dry break in the next, the writing was on the wall for Team USA.

In the final match of the session it was a rematch for Jeremy Jones and Mika Immonen and there was bad blood in the air following an altercation after their doubles match earlier today.

The Finn got the better of the opening encounters and at 3-2 ahead, Immonen had ball in hand as Jones failed to get out of a snooker.

However, the first beep of the shot clock count-down sounded just as he released his cue and he subsequently missed the pot. Jones made no mistakes as he ran out to level at 3-all.

The American made an illegal break in the next and with the 1 ball hovering over the edge of the pocket, it’s an easy start for Immonen and the 2-ball just falls over with his next shot. The rest is plain sailing for the European, who moves to the hill.

Immonen is smiling after the break as he closed in on another victory. It comes early with a 4/9 carom as the 9-ball disappeared into the side pocket. Another session goes Europe’s way and they finish just two points from glory.

‘The beginning was bad and I had a bad break then he played well and was 2-0 up. I had to fight back, I thought I was going to go up 4-2 but made a bad positional error so it got back to 3-3.

‘But I was breaking better than him and that was the edge. I think we’re going to sleep better than them. We just have to keep fighting, stay humble and do what we have done all year – winning matches.

‘One year I won four out of five matches and was Most Valuable Player and I think me and Ralf are fighting for the MVP. Hopefully we can win the Cup then we will see who is the MVP.’

by InsidePOOL Staff

Filipino billiards sensation Francisco "Django" Bustamante defeated newly crowned world 10-ball champion Darren "Dynamite" Appleton at the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship.

The winners’-bracket matches kicked off the evening session of the 33rd Annual U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships, leaving 16 players undefeated to return Thursday evening.

Recently crowned 10-ball champion Darren “Dynamite” Appleton was sent west by crowd favorite Francisco Bustamante after their winners’-bracket match. Appleton took the first two racks but lost a safety battle in the third game, giving Bustamante the momentum to forge ahead 5-2. Put to the test, Appleton tied up the score at 5 apiece. They traded the next few racks to make it 7-6 in Bustamante’s favor, and then “Django” pocketed the 2-9 combo. A miss by Appleton on an easy 1 ball in the next rack made it 9-6 Bustamante. Rattled, Appleton did not win another game, and Bustamante won 11-6.

A slow start did not bode well for Shannon Daulton in his match against Filipino phenom Lee Van Corteza. In the first rack Daulton missed hitting a very tough 9 ball by a hair, and from there it was a slow grind, with no player having more than a two-rack lead. Finally the score reached 10-9 in Corteza’s favor after he played a 2-9 combo to reach the hill, and Corteza swept the last rack as well to win the match.

A strong opening bid of 5-0 for Josh Lewis led to surprising results in his match against the 22-year-old Oscar Dominguez. Dominguez took advantage of Lewis’ empty breaks to bring the score to 6-3 and then knot the score at 8-all. Finally it seesawed to double-hill, at which point Lewis missed the 1 ball, which was hanging in the corner. Dominguez had an easy run through the 7 ball but was left with a tricky shot on the 8, but he hit it perfectly and won the match 11-10.

View the 2008 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship tournament brackets (updated after each round)

View the 2008 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship image gallery

  

See the 2008 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship Live

See the 2008 U.S. Open live

Former U.S. Open champion Jeremy “Double J” Jones was sent to the left side after his match against Sam Monday. Down throughout the match, at 9-7, Jones snookered himself on the 3 ball to hand that game to Monday, who then broke and ran out the final rack, winning 11-7.

Virginia State champion Eric Moore played in the one-loss side Wednesday against Florida’s Hunter Lombardo and came out ahead. Moore suffered a second-round loss to Larry Nevel 11-3 and has been making a comeback from the west side, defeating Rick Hamlin 11-2. His match against Lombardo was one-sided—Moore had a 10-1 lead before Lombardo put three more racks under his belt. At 10-4, Lombardo missed a thin cut on the 2 ball, and Moore cleared for the win.

K F Cues Open and Amateur 9-Ball Tours will be having two events this weekend at Stroker’s Billiards in Palm Harbor, FL. For more information, please contact 727-786-6683.

The Tiger Tour is also having an event this weekend. Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA, is hosting their $2,500-added tour stop. For information, please call 804-794-8787.

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

by InsidePOOL Staff

Jeanette "The Black Widow" Lee is going into her first WPBA final this year.

Jasmin Ouschan and Jeanette Lee will face off in the final match of the WPBA Carolina Classic Sunday afternoon. This event is being hosted by the American Tobacco Historic District Campus in Durham, NC, and boasted a 64-player field.

Newcomer Ouschan and tour veteran Vivian Villareal met in the first semifinal of the afternoon. In the race to 7, shortened because of ESPN taping, Ouschan quickly took a 2-0 lead, almost pocketing the 9 ball on her break in the second rack. Villareal was forced to jump to make contact with the 1 ball in the third game, and she left the table wide open for Ouschan, who cleared it to go up another game. Though the Austria won the safety battle in the fourth rack, she lost the one in the following as Villareal ran out from the 4 ball to make it 4-1 Ouschan. The young Austria gained more ground with a break and run, and then, when Villareal played a weak safety in the next rack, she dished up to reach the hill 6-1. Only one more game and Ouschan was on her way to the finals for the second time at a WPBA event.

View the WPBA Carolina Classic single elimination brackets

View the WPBA Carolina Classic double elimination brackets

In the second semifinal match, Jeanette “The Black Widow” Lee and Line Kjorsvik of Norway had less of a lopsided bout. Lee took the first game after Kjorsvik missed the 6 and then broke and ran the next to take an early 2-0 lead. However, Kjorsvik countered, capitalizing on errors by Lee in two consecutive racks to draw even. They traded the next four games, which were peppered with safety battles, to make it 4-all. A nicely played 4-9 carom put Kjorsvik ahead briefly, but Lee quickly returned to form when Kjorsvik missed the 3 ball in the following game, allowing Lee to make it 5 apiece. Attempting to reach the hill, Kjorsvik ran out to the 9 ball but got out of line and missed, handing the hill to Lee instead. In the final rack, Kjorsvik was forced to jump to hit the 8 ball and left a tough long shot for Lee. Undaunted, Lee stepped up and coolly pocketed the 8 and 9 to reach the finals.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=G02gUjufloI

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