by InsidePOOL Staff

Earl Strickland is on a tear at the Turning Stone Classic XVIII—he earlier whitewashed Johnny Archer 9-0, followed that up with a 9-4 win over “Iron Mike” Davis, and most recently trounced Shane Winters 9-3 to reach the final 8 on the winners’ side. In the next round he faces fellow Hall of Famer Ralf Souquet of Germany, who just sent Stevie Moore to the one-loss side 9-4.

India’s Raj Hundal is also unscathed as yet, having won both of his last two matches 9-3 over Brian Brekke and Chris Lynch. Hundal’s next challenge will come from Dustin Morris, recently the victor over Danny Thompson 9-3.

“The Fireball” burned down Dennis Hatch, who can still take the title but from the west side. Their match saw Mike Dechaine advance 9-6 to next play Brandon Shuff, who recently bested Johnathan “Hennessee” Pinegar 9-7.

Two Mosconi Cup teammates matched up when Shane Van Boening and Shawn Putnam went head to head, but only one went on to remain undefeated. It was the closest of matches, but Putnam was the one to win it 9-8, while Van Boening must trudge through the left side if he is to make a try for the title.

View the Turning Stone tournament brackets (updated continuously)

Another Mosconi Cup member, Rodney Morris, also had a hill-hill match but eked out a 9-8 victory over Bucky Souvanthong. Morris and Putnam will play each other in the following round.

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

by InsidePOOL Staff

In the featured match of the winners’ bracket in the evening rounds of the Turning Stone Classic XVIII, Dennis Hatch defeated Darren Appleton in a double-hill match to send the Brit to the one-loss side of the chart.

Hatch, who despite dominating the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour is still chasing the elusive Turning Stone title, was tied with the reigning U.S. Open champion at 4-all and then at 8-all when things went Hatch’s way, and he took the match 9-8. Appleton now must play at noon in the brutal bracket, while Hatch’s next opponent will be Mike “The Fireball” Dechaine, who earlier bested Jennifer Barretta 9-4.

In the featured match of the winners’ bracket in the evening rounds of the Turning Stone Classic XVIII, Hatch defeated Appleton in a double-hill match to send the Brit to the one-loss side of the chart.

Earl Strickland dealt a shocking 9-0 loss to Johnny Archer in the second round of the winners’ side matches and then also sent Mike Davis to the west side 9-4. Archer recovered to hand Jerry Crowe a donut in the following round. Shane Winters, who earlier defeated Dan Heidrich 9-3, will face off with Strickland in the next round.

View the Turning Stone tournament brackets (updated continuously)

The other remaining lady, former world junior champion Brittany Bryant, suffered her first loss against Stevie Moore 9-4. Bryant went west to face off against the winner between Oscar Dominguez and Jim Sinclair, while Moore has to play former Turning Stone champion Ralf Souquet, who just bested Ruben Bautista 9-5.

Elimination rounds begin in earnest Saturday. Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

Cue King Promotions are delighted to announce the signing of elite professional player Oscar Dominguez and becomes CKP’s first American player to join the ranks of Daryl Peach and Tamara Rademakers among others.

Oscar, from Los Angeles California fits perfectly into our specified criteria of youth development.

Oscar, from Los Angeles California fits perfectly into our specified criteria of youth development. Being only 26, we hope Oscar has many years ahead as a top flight international professional American Pool player. Decorated with many coveted titles, Mr. Dominguez already boasts a CV that is the envy of most professionals which includes Mosconi Cup and Turning Stone Classic wins in 2009.

Recently appointed Chief Executive, Trevor Haythorne also shared his enthusiasm as it points to a new direction of developing grass roots talent throughout the world of Billiards. “Our Youth Program must strive to invest in the best talents around to fulfil the criteria of supporting Cue Sport experts from all corners of the world.” He added “We’ve also recently tied up links with Ireland’s junior player Coilean Massey and female player Tanja Argillander from Finland, who are promising pool players of the future.”

“We are all looking forward to work alongside Mr. Oscar Dominguez and to continue to further educate and develop all of our players for future success. We are completely happy with all the signings we have made to date and we’re possibly in the position to find one or two more players before closing the doors of recruitment.” explained Marketing Director, Rachel Adams.

Matchroom Sport can announce that after considering the continuing deterioration in the economy, the rapid rise in airfares along with the price of oil and other factors, they have decided to eliminate the requirement for US players to compete in overseas tournaments in order to obtain Mosconi Cup ranking points.

That means that the following four events will be dropped from the ranking list; Beijing Open (May), World Pool Masters (June), China Open (June), World 9 Ball Championship (June/July) and the

Matchroom Sport can announce that after considering the continuing deterioration in the economy, the rapid rise in airfares along with the price of oil and other factors, they have decided to eliminate the requirement for US players to compete in overseas tournaments in order to obtain Mosconi Cup ranking points.

Added to the calendar are the two double elimination events from the highly successful Seminole Tour. The first is the $25,000 added event at Snookers Billiards in Rhode Island from 5th to 7th August and the second is the $50,000 added Steve Mizerak Championship taking place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Hollywood, Florida in mid-September.

The US Mosconi Cup Ranking consists of 10 events – all based in the USA – and points will be allocated as per the BCA Points List with each event weighted depending on total purse, size of field and number of top-ranked players competing.

Only players finishing in the last 32 of each event will be allocated points and at the conclusion, after the 2011 US Open, the top three players will automatically gain entry to the Mosconi Cup side.

The remaining two players will be Matchroom Sport wildcard picks although the ranking will play a part in this as well as any significant performances in ‘World’ events.

In addition, due to a clash of dates, with Turning Stone Summer now coinciding with the 2011 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool in September, all players will now be allowed to drop their worst event of the ten from the ranking list.

This will enable the two players selected to represent the United States in the World Cup in the Philippines, to compete without being disadvantaged in the Mosconi Cup rankings.

The next qualifying event is the Ultimate 10 Ball Championship taking place at Frisco, Texas from 21-24 April.

The Events

Steve Mizerak Championship 4-7 November.

Turning Stone Winter 16-19 December

The Masters 1-5 March

Players Championship, Valley Forge 13-16 March

Ultimate 10 Ball Championship 21-24 April

US Open 10 Ball Championship 16-21 May

Seminole Tour Event 3 5-7 August

Turning Stone Summer 8-11 September

Seminole Tour Event 5, Steve Mizerak Championship 16-18 September

The US Open 9-Ball Championship 16-22 October

by Lea Andrews

Many tried, but no man managed to take down Manny Chau on his way to an undefeated victory at the first Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour stop of 2011. The $1,500-added event was held January 8-9 at Cue Nine in Levittown, NY.

Many tried, but no man managed to take down Manny Chau on his way to an undefeated victory at the first Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour stop of 2011.

Chau rode a strong 9-3 win over Lenny Savata into the hot seat match against Jeremy Sossei, who’d managed to edge out tour director Mike Zuglan 9-8. Sossei came up three games shy against Chau, though, moving over to semifinals 9-6.

On the one-loss side, Angelo Inness got past Holden Chin 9-3 to meet up with Zuglan, while Mike “Fingers” Badsteubner notched his own 9-3 win over Scott Murphy to face Savata. But both Inness and Badsteubner landed in fifth place as Zuglan and Savata advanced to the quarterfinals 9-6 and 9-4, respectively. Looking for the rematch against Sossei in the semifinals, Zuglan notched the final game in his hill-hill match against Savata, but he fell short against Sossei, who advanced to his own rematch in the finals 9-3.

The true double-elimination final match began evenly enough, but when Sossei missed a chance to tie it up at six games apiece, Chau took control, finishing up his undefeated weekend with a strong 9-6 win.

The next $1,500-added event, which will also feature a $500-added non-pro second chance event on Sunday, will be held at Diamond Eight Billiards in Latham, NY, the weekend of January 29-30. The date for the season finale, Turning Stone Classic XVIII, is already cemented, and the field has begun to fill. Those interested in competing at the August 11-14 event should contact Mike Zuglan at 518-356-7163 as soon as possible to secure a spot.

Results:
1st Manny Chau $900
2nd Jeremy Sossei $650
3rd Mike Zuglan $450
4th Lenny Savata $300
5th Angelo Inness $125
Mike Badsteubner

by InsidePOOL Staff

Karen Corr, one of two women players who participated at the Turning Stone Classic XVI, is still alive and working her way through the one-loss side of the chart. Though she lost her first-round match to Dave Grau 9-4, she has since eliminated John Giles 9-5, Richard Wong 9-5, Dave Deferio 9-0, and most recently Shane Morrow 9-7 from play.

Corr, one of two women players who participated at the Turning Stone Classic XVI, is still alive and working her way through the one-loss side of the chart.

On the winners’ side action is heating up as it has gotten down to the final eight undefeated. In one of the more interesting matches, Earl Strickland will play Dennis “The Hatchetman” Hatch in the next round. Strickland previously bested Gary Lutman 9-4, while Hatch just routed Beau Runningen 9-1.

India’s Raj Hundal bested buddy Rodney Morris in a match that went double-hill and advances to face Corey Deuel, fresh off a tight 9-7 victory over fellow Mosconi Cup teammate Johnny “The Scorpion” Archer. The defending champion, Archer will now have to come from the west side of the chart if he is going to retain his title. His next match will be against the winner of the Earl Herring/Karen Corr match.

View the Turning Stone tournament brackets

On the bottom half of the winners’ bracket, Shane Van Boening handled Shawn Putnam 9-4 to move on to play Mike “Fireball” Dechaine, who just defeated Jarrod Clowery 9-5. The winner of that match will go on to face the winner of the Gabe Owen/Stevie Moore match. Owen defeated tournament promoter Mike Zuglan 9-5 in the previous round, while Moore bested Justin Bergman 9-4.

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

by InsidePOOL Staff

The Turning Stone Classic XVI’s field has been whittled down from the original field of 128 to a mere 32, with 16 players who are undefeated and 16 who have only one bullet remaining. The winners’ bracket reads like a who’s who in the upper echelon of the pool world, with top players such as Earl Strickland, Johnny Archer, Dennis Hatch, and Rodney Morris in contention.

The Turning Stone Classic XVI’s field has been whittled down from the original field of 128 to a mere 32, with 16 players who are undefeated and 16 who have only one bullet remaining.

The feature match of the second round between Corey Deuel and Charlie Williams saw Deuel emerge the winner 9-6, but Deuel does not go on to easier pastures—in the fourth round he faces Mosconi Cup teammate Johnny Archer, who earlier felled former world champ Thorsten Hohmann 9-7. Above that match in the brackets is another great match-up between “Rocket” Rodney Morris and Raj Hundal. The winner of that match faces the winner of the Deuel/Archer showdown.

Earl Strickland is still alive and just bested Esbon Warden 9-1. His next match will be against Gary Lutman, who just faced off against Mark Ritter and won 9-3.

Another Mosconi player, Dennis Hatch, is also still undefeated, having just won his third-round match against Tom McGonagle 9-3. Hatch’s next opposition will be in the form of Beau Runningen, who defeated Mike Panzarella in a tight 9-7 match.

View the Turning Stone Brackets

Shawn Putnam and Shane Van Boening are destined to meet in the fourth round—Putnam having gotten past Shane Morrow 9-6 and Van Boening past Marc “Spain” Vidal 9-2. The winner of that match goes on to face the winner of the Mike Dechaine/Jarrod Clowery bout.

Stevie Moore seems to lead the bottom half of the bracket, going through Earl Herring, Yesid Garibello, and Dustin Morris with little trouble. In the fourth round he faces Justin Bergman, who just defeated Dave Grau 9-3. The winner of their match will play the winner of the Gabe Owen/Mike Zuglan match.

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

The Billiard Congress of America (BCA) has announced the events which will be deemed as points events for the 2011 season. These events are used to rank players for international invitational purpose. The following events to be points events for 2011:

The BCA has announced the events that qualify as ranking points events for 2011.

1) The Masters – $35,000 added. Chesapeake, VA, March 1-5
2) The Ultimate Ten Ball Championship – $35,000 added. Dallas, Texas. April 21-24
3) The US Open 10-Ball Championship – $25,000 added. Las Vegas. May 16-21
4) Turning Stone Summer – $25,000 added. Verona, NY. August 11-14
5) The US Open 9-Ball Championships – $50-75,000 added. Chesapeake, VA. Oct. 16-22
6) The Steve Mizerak Championship – $50-75,000 added. Dates TBA. Hollywood, FL.
7) Turning Stone Winter. $25,000 added. Dates TBA. Verona, NY

Events may be added if the Billiard Congress of America receives requests for new qualifying events at least 120 days prior to their start date, the events are approved by the Billiard Congress of America and they do not conflict with major international events. In addition, existing events may be removed from the list if their specifications or dates are changed and no longer fit the requirements of the calendar. Any changes will be done with all due haste, players will be notified, and the calendar will be changed to reflect the removal.

BCA rankings

Rocket aiming to take no prisoners

RODNEY Morris believes America’s greater desire to win will see them beat Europe and lift the 2010 PartyCasino.com Mosconi Cup. Morris, currently top of the BCA rankings, thinks he is in the form of his life and will play a vital part as his side look to defend their trophy.

USA won the 2009 Mosconi Cup, although Morris was not involved after coming second to Dennis Hatch in a public vote to find the final player in the side.

Morris believes America’s greater desire to win will see them beat Europe and lift the 2010 PartyCasino.com Mosconi Cup.

“Sitting there in Las Vegas and watching just tore me up inside because I know I’m the best player in the world,” said 40-year-old Morris.

“Last year, I didn’t want to go to Turning Stone, which is a ranking event, because they don’t seed the players, and I didn’t get into the Mosconi Cup because my ranking was too low.

“It was really frustrating not getting in by the vote, but everything happens for a reason. It showed me we should all get invited based on merit and it also wasn’t fair to Shawn Putnam, who was fifth in the rankings.

“But it made me more determined than I’ve ever been. I changed cues, changed technique and practiced every day on all aspects of my game. It was more of a commitment to myself – to prove I can get there with hard work.

Morris has an outstanding track record in the event, having appeared in six Mosconi Cups and won 19 matches from 30 – a percentage record only bettered by Earl Strickland.

“Playing for my country means a lot to me. The fact there’s 300 million people wanting to see me win rather than the other guy is truly amazing.

“I’m very happy to make the team this year as I’ve been playing in all the ranking events and consistently doing well. I’m No.1 right now and very proud to be. It’s a culmination of hard work and determination combined with an undying belief in one’s self.

Morris comes in to replace Oscar Dominguez from last year’s side, with the rest of the American line-up consisting of Johnny Archer, Corey Deuel, Shane Van Boening and Dennis Hatch.

This year’s event, which will be staged from Thursday 9th to Sunday 12th December 12, will be the seventh time Morris has donned USA colours. However, this will be Morris’s first appearance at the spiritual home of the event – London’s York Hall.

“I’ve heard York Hall is a different animal to what I’ve been used to,” added Morris. “I’m excited and anxious to see how I’ll feel when I’m out there and how I will perform.

“I’m playing super right now, so I have the confidence I’ll win no matter what. Losing is not an option for me from now until I die.

“The Mosconi is going to be very difficult to retain. One reason is the obvious home-court advantage; the second is the fact the European guys are all champions.

“Any time you get a group of players like this competing it’s going to be tooth and nail to the end. I had mixed emotions about watching last year. I kept thinking it was going to be close, so I was surprised when Europe lost some key matches.

“But one thing to remember is this. For many years, people from different countries have come to the US to learn how to win. Americans don’t live in other countries to learn how to win. It’s just an edge we have – an extra killer instinct if you will.

“We Americans have the heart advantage, period. Europeans have the titles. It’s the same as it is every year. The Europeans are the favourites until we get in there and show our heart. It’s simple, there’s no secret there, it’s all about heart, heart, heart!

“There really isn’t a specific European weakness that we will try to capitalize on. It’s just a matter of imposing our will every match. The balls might not roll our way, but when they do, we need to pounce and take advantage.

“It’s really about show-casing our strengths, which will become obvious over the course of the event.”

All tickets for the 2010 PartyCasino.com Mosconi Cup are available exclusively from www.seetickets.com/mosconicup

Luke Riches, Matchroom Sport: luke.riches@matchroom.com

www.matchroompool.com

Notes: Matchroom Sport are one of the world’s leading producers of televised sport and are responsible for over 1,000 hours of original programming across a range of nine sports. Based in the UK and chaired by charismatic founder Barry Hearn, the Mosconi Cup is one of a stable of pool events that include the World Cup of Pool and the World Pool Masters.

The 2010 Mosconi Cup is sponsored by PartyCasino.com, the world’s leading online casino. Tables are supplied by Brunswick Billiards, cloth by Iwan Simonis, Super Aramith balls by Saluc and the Official Cue is Predator.

Featuring Up and Coming Player Neslihan Gurel

The October 2010 online issue of Inside POOL Magazine, featuring up and coming Player Neslihan Gurel on the front cover, has been released at InsidePOOLmag.com. This month the download features more banking secrets from new instruction writer Freddy “The Beard” Bentivenga, Matt Sherman, Jason Lynch, Tom Simpson along with tons of great new technology in online billiards magazine viewing such as enhanced clarity, Bonus Content, loads of full-screen videos, links to favorite web sites, flipping pages, zooming, emailing, sharing, and printing.

The October 2010 online issue, featuring up and coming Player Neslihan Gurel on the front cover, has been released.

October 2010 Inside POOL Magazine features Neslihan Gurel with an extended feature with images from her photo shoot. Mike Dechaine and Corey Deuel win Seminole Tour stops. Get a lessons on Z-Banging with Freddy the Beard. Johnny Archer defends his Turning Stone title. 100 years after his passing, see Mark Twain’s Pen and Cue. Get the latest professional billiards instruction from the top instructors in the world. Catch the latest billiards news from around the world.

Two versions of the download are available, Premium and Freemium. The Freemium version includes all of the same features of the Premium version, but the Premium version includes 100% of the print version, plus a few extra features.

Access to the Freemium version is available at Inside POOL Magazine Free Library

Access to the Premium version is available by subscribing to the eSubscription to the Member Area at InsidePOOLmag.com.

Inside POOL Magazine publishes both print and online versions of each issue. The online version is made available for FREE (without a membership, but abbreviated) and Premium viewing and downloading around the first day of each month.

Want the real thing? If you would like to receive the print version of Inside POOL Magazine, please visit InsidePOOLmag.com to subscribe.

About Inside POOL Magazine
Inside POOL Magazine launched in 2001 and, with pool player-based content and high impact photography, quickly became the largest magazine in the world for the sport of billiards. The official web site, InsidePOOLmag.com, followed shortly after and became one of the largest web sites in billiards. The web site features videos, image galleries, pool lessons, custom Pool Cue makers, online games, player profiles, tournament brackets, live streaming video, rules, product reviews, and the latest billiard news from around the world.