Mika Immonen had a heartbreaking day today. Trailing 7-0 to Tomoo Takano he put on a fantastic display of cueing power to win 7 of the next 8 racks and trail 8-7. He was on his way to tying the match when he missed a straight-in five ball to surrender the table for the last time and lose 9-7 to end his campaign in the event. At this point there are no easy matches. But Yu Lun Chang dominated his match over Imran Ibrahim 9-1 nonetheless. Most of the rest of the matches were closer. Johnny Archer got past Haitao Liu 9-6 and Chris Melling defeated Marcus Chamat by the same score. Manuel Pereira had a nail-biter against Antonio Gabica that found him winning 9-8 while Yukio Akakariyama destroyed Ibrahim Bin Amir 9-2.

See is quickly becoming one of the guys to watch in this tournament as he played near-perfect pool to beat Youseff Jalal 9-3 and Pin-Yi Ko eased past James Delahunty 9-4.

Ever-strong Sascha-Andrej Tege beat Artem Koshovoj 9-5 and Darren Appleton slid by Ping Chun Ko 9-8 while Jason Klatt required two and a half hours to overcome Che Wei Fu 9-5. Thomas Engert was another player who had to wonder what happened today. He led Alok Kumar 6-3 only to lose 9-7. His countryman, Oliver Ortmann, looked very comfortable as he knocked out Naoyuki Oi 9-6. Tony Drago wasted no time defeating David Alcaide 9-6 and Ricky Yang suffocated Jeff De Luna 9-3. Huidji See is quickly becoming one of the guys to watch in this tournament as he played near-perfect pool to beat Youseff Jalal 9-3 and Pin-Yi Ko eased past James Delahunty 9-4. To finish the second round of the day Jin-Hu Dang beat Carlo Dalmatin 9-6.

The third round found Dennis Orcullo defeating Mario Morra 9-4 and Karl Boyes besting Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz 9-3. But many of the matches were much closer. Jiaqing Wu outlasted Ming WIng 9-7 and Shane Van Boening got past Vicenancio Tanio by the same score. Daryl Peach narrowly got by Omaral Shaheeme 9-8. Carlo Biado was neck and neck with Roberto Gomez until he caught a gear late in the match to win 9-6. Ronni Alcano had little trouble with Demosthenes Pulpul as he won that one 9-2 and Lo Lii Wen won over Jonas Magpantay 9-6.

The first match to reach the finish line in the final round of the day was Lee Van Corteza winning 9-5 over Lu Hui Chan. Li He Wen finished the day well with a 9-3 win over Luong Chi Dung and Jundel Mazon won over Jericho Banares 9-5. Jianbo Fu continues to look strong as he beat Po-Cheng Kuo 9-7 and Shun Yong Park won over Ivica Putnik 9-3. Nick Van Den Berg kept things well under control with his 9-4 thrashing of Muhammad Zulfikri while Marvin Tapia and Chieh Liu Chen kept it close throughout in a match that rarely saw more than a game between them. This one went to double-hill with Chen prevailing to take the nerve-wracking win 9-8. Finally, Hao Xiang Han ended our day with his 9-4 victory over Stephan Cohen

Live scoring will resume on Saturday at noon at www.wpa-pool.com and the live streaming may be watched at www.rayasports.com

Mika Immonen had a heartbreaking day today. Trailing 7-0 to Tomoo Takano he put on a fantastic display of cueing power to win 7 of the next 8 racks and trail 8-7. He was on his way to tying the match when he missed a straight-in five ball to surrender the table for the last time and lose 9-7 to end his campaign in the event. At this point there are no easy matches. But Yu Lun Chang dominated his match over Imran Ibrahim 9-1 nonetheless. Most of the rest of the matches were closer. Johnny Archer got past Haitao Liu 9-6 and Chris Melling defeated Marcus Chamat by the same score. Manuel Pereira had a nail-biter against Antonio Gabica that found him winning 9-8 while Yukio Akakariyama destroyed Ibrahim Bin Amir 9-2.

See is quickly becoming one of the guys to watch in this tournament as he played near-perfect pool to beat Youseff Jalal 9-3 and Pin-Yi Ko eased past James Delahunty 9-4.

Ever-strong Sascha-Andrej Tege beat Artem Koshovoj 9-5 and Darren Appleton slid by Ping Chun Ko 9-8 while Jason Klatt required two and a half hours to overcome Che Wei Fu 9-5. Thomas Engert was another player who had to wonder what happened today. He led Alok Kumar 6-3 only to lose 9-7. His countryman, Oliver Ortmann, looked very comfortable as he knocked out Naoyuki Oi 9-6. Tony Drago wasted no time defeating David Alcaide 9-6 and Ricky Yang suffocated Jeff De Luna 9-3. Huidji See is quickly becoming one of the guys to watch in this tournament as he played near-perfect pool to beat Youseff Jalal 9-3 and Pin-Yi Ko eased past James Delahunty 9-4. To finish the second round of the day Jin-Hu Dang beat Carlo Dalmatin 9-6.

The third round found Dennis Orcullo defeating Mario Morra 9-4 and Karl Boyes besting Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz 9-3. But many of the matches were much closer. Jiaqing Wu outlasted Ming WIng 9-7 and Shane Van Boening got past Vicenancio Tanio by the same score. Daryl Peach narrowly got by Omaral Shaheeme 9-8. Carlo Biado was neck and neck with Roberto Gomez until he caught a gear late in the match to win 9-6. Ronni Alcano had little trouble with Demosthenes Pulpul as he won that one 9-2 and Lo Lii Wen won over Jonas Magpantay 9-6.

The first match to reach the finish line in the final round of the day was Lee Van Corteza winning 9-5 over Lu Hui Chan. Li He Wen finished the day well with a 9-3 win over Luong Chi Dung and Jundel Mazon won over Jericho Banares 9-5. Jianbo Fu continues to look strong as he beat Po-Cheng Kuo 9-7 and Shun Yong Park won over Ivica Putnik 9-3. Nick Van Den Berg kept things well under control with his 9-4 thrashing of Muhammad Zulfikri while Marvin Tapia and Chieh Liu Chen kept it close throughout in a match that rarely saw more than a game between them. This one went to double-hill with Chen prevailing to take the nerve-wracking win 9-8. Finally, Hao Xiang Han ended our day with his 9-4 victory over Stephan Cohen

Live scoring will resume on Saturday at noon at www.wpa-pool.com and the live streaming may be watched at www.rayasports.com

Mika Immonen had a heartbreaking day today. Trailing 7-0 to Tomoo Takano he put on a fantastic display of cueing power to win 7 of the next 8 racks and trail 8-7. He was on his way to tying the match when he missed a straight-in five ball to surrender the table for the last time and lose 9-7 to end his campaign in the event. At this point there are no easy matches. But Yu Lun Chang dominated his match over Imran Ibrahim 9-1 nonetheless. Most of the rest of the matches were closer. Johnny Archer got past Haitao Liu 9-6 and Chris Melling defeated Marcus Chamat by the same score. Manuel Pereira had a nail-biter against Antonio Gabica that found him winning 9-8 while Yukio Akakariyama destroyed Ibrahim Bin Amir 9-2.

See is quickly becoming one of the guys to watch in this tournament as he played near-perfect pool to beat Youseff Jalal 9-3 and Pin-Yi Ko eased past James Delahunty 9-4.

Ever-strong Sascha-Andrej Tege beat Artem Koshovoj 9-5 and Darren Appleton slid by Ping Chun Ko 9-8 while Jason Klatt required two and a half hours to overcome Che Wei Fu 9-5. Thomas Engert was another player who had to wonder what happened today. He led Alok Kumar 6-3 only to lose 9-7. His countryman, Oliver Ortmann, looked very comfortable as he knocked out Naoyuki Oi 9-6. Tony Drago wasted no time defeating David Alcaide 9-6 and Ricky Yang suffocated Jeff De Luna 9-3. Huidji See is quickly becoming one of the guys to watch in this tournament as he played near-perfect pool to beat Youseff Jalal 9-3 and Pin-Yi Ko eased past James Delahunty 9-4. To finish the second round of the day Jin-Hu Dang beat Carlo Dalmatin 9-6.

The third round found Dennis Orcullo defeating Mario Morra 9-4 and Karl Boyes besting Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz 9-3. But many of the matches were much closer. Jiaqing Wu outlasted Ming WIng 9-7 and Shane Van Boening got past Vicenancio Tanio by the same score. Daryl Peach narrowly got by Omaral Shaheeme 9-8. Carlo Biado was neck and neck with Roberto Gomez until he caught a gear late in the match to win 9-6. Ronni Alcano had little trouble with Demosthenes Pulpul as he won that one 9-2 and Lo Lii Wen won over Jonas Magpantay 9-6.

The first match to reach the finish line in the final round of the day was Lee Van Corteza winning 9-5 over Lu Hui Chan. Li He Wen finished the day well with a 9-3 win over Luong Chi Dung and Jundel Mazon won over Jericho Banares 9-5. Jianbo Fu continues to look strong as he beat Po-Cheng Kuo 9-7 and Shun Yong Park won over Ivica Putnik 9-3. Nick Van Den Berg kept things well under control with his 9-4 thrashing of Muhammad Zulfikri while Marvin Tapia and Chieh Liu Chen kept it close throughout in a match that rarely saw more than a game between them. This one went to double-hill with Chen prevailing to take the nerve-wracking win 9-8. Finally, Hao Xiang Han ended our day with his 9-4 victory over Stephan Cohen

Live scoring will resume on Saturday at noon at www.wpa-pool.com and the live streaming may be watched at www.rayasports.com

by InsidePOOL Staff

Nicole Keeney bested a 44-player field at the April 16-17 stop of the OB Cues Ladies’ Tour to be crowned the WPBA Texas State champion. The event was hosted by Casper’s Billiards, San Leon, TX, and drew some of the top women players in pool vying for the WPPA U.S. Open qualifier spot.

Jennifer Kraber grabbed the qualifier over Orietta Strickland in the one-loss side, while on the winners’ side, it came down to Keeney versus Amanda Lampert and Ming Ng against Ricki Casper. Keeney won her match hill-hill, while Ng bested Casper 7-4. In the hot seat match, Keeney kept the streak going with a 7-4 win over Ng.

Nicole Keeney bested a 44-player field at the April 16-17 stop of the OB Cues Ladies’ Tour to be crowned the WPBA Texas State champion.

On the one-loss side, Terry Petrosino, winner of the November 2010 tour stop at Casper’s, was hanging tough as she won a hill-hill match against Lampert. Lisa Marr was able to get another chance against Casper, who, on Saturday, bested Marr 7-0. Marr avenged this loss Sunday 7-4.

Petrosino continued her strong play by scoring another hill-hill win against Marr, leaving Marr with a fourth-place finish. However, it was over for Petrosino when Ng bested her 7-4 in the semifinals.

In the double-elimination final match, Ng looked like she would force a second set, as she reached the hill in the first set 6-1. Keeney had to refresh and dig deep to make the score hill-hill. A safety battle ensued in the final game, and ultimately Keeney finished the match with a 6-7-8-9 run to win 7-6.

Results:
1st Nicole Keeney $750
2nd Ming Ng $550
3rd Terry Petrosino $400
4th Lisa Marr $260
5th Amanda Lampert $160
Ricki Casper
7th Orietta Strickland $100
Jennifer Kraber
9th Chris Fields $75
Cristina De La Garza
Belinda Lee
Amber Stone

by InsidePOOL Staff

Raul Reyes and Harry Lau opted to split first place at the April 10 installment of the Tri-State Tour. The $1,250-added event attracted a field of 46 players to Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn, NY.

Raul Reyes and Harry Lau opted to split first place at the April 10 installment of the Tri-State Tour.

Reyes and Lau met in the hot seat match after recording wins over Trevor Heal and Carl Yusaf Khan, respectively, both hill-hill. When they ran into each other in the following round, it was Lau who came away with the win 7-5.

Heal, once on the one-loss side, fell quickly to Dave Shlemperis, who whitewashed him 7-0. It was also the same for Khan, who put up more of a struggle but still succumbed to Christian Smith 7-5. In the quarterfinal match, Smith came out ahead of Shlemperis, winning by the lopsided score of 7-2.

Awaiting Smith in the semifinals was Reyes, and though it was a close match, Reyes pulled ahead to win it 7-5. In the final match, Lau and Reyes decided to split first place.

Results:
1st Raul Reyes $655
Harry Lau
3rd Christian Smith $320
4th Dave Shlemperis $210
5th Carl Yusaf Khan $130
Trevor Heal
7th Basdeo Sookhai $100
John Stiles
9th Keith Diaz $75
Ed Culhane
Tony Eglesias
Raphael DaBreo

by InsidePOOL Staff

Stevie Moore took top honors at the March 6 stop on the Mezz Pro-Am Tour, which was hosted at Q-Ball Billiards in Vineland NJ. A strong field of 42 players came to play, with Moore defeating Joey Testa in the finals.

Moore took top honors at the March 6 stop on the Mezz Pro-Am Tour, which was hosted at Q-Ball Billiards in Vineland NJ.

Moore blazed a trail through the top half of the bracket, scoring wins over John Greshock 7-5, Tim Dlugosz 7-3, and Paul Cooney 7-0. Then Moore ran in to Shane Van Boening in a match that saw the latter holding a 6-1 lead at the start only for Moore to grind it out to make it hill-hill. Van Boening had an easy 9 ball for the win but the cue ball skidded and he missed, giving Moore the win 7-6.

Testa, who plays out of Atlantic City, led the bottom half of the bracket with wins over Mike Winover 7-1, Bob Miane 7-1, Jim Walder 7-2, and Josh Brothers 7-3. Testa caught up to Moore in the hot seat match, where the players were neck and neck until Moore pulled away late to win 7-5, sending Testa to the one-loss side.

After eliminating Van Boening at fourth place, Eddie Abraham moved on to face Testa. He gave Testa a run for his money but Testa prevailed to take the match 7-5 and earn a rematch with Moore. But in the finals the day belonged to Moore, who easily handled Testa 7-3 to win the title.

Results:
1st Stevie Moore $1,000
2nd Joey Testa $625
3rd Eddie Abraham $400
4th Josh Brothers $200
5th Matt Krah $150
Shane Van Boening
7th Derek Schwager $100
Mike Lizzio
9th Abdellatif Chamseddine $50
Jim Walder
Paul Cooney
Mark Nanshee

by Jose Burgos

It came down to Joey Testa and Josh Brothers in the finals of the February 20 stop of the Mezz Pro-Am Tour, and in the end, the two decided to split top honors. They were part of the strong field that came out to Atlantic City Billiards Club in Egg Harbor, NJ, for the $1,000-added event.

It came down to Joey Testa and Josh Brothers in the finals of the February 20 stop of the Mezz Pro-Am Tour, and in the end, the two decided to split top honors.

Brothers led the top half of the bracket, with wins over Wali Muhammad 7-1, Sandi Patarino 7-2, Matt Krah 7-1, and John Grassia 7-2. Leading the bottom half of the bracket, Testa scored victories over Teddy Pavlou 7-0, Bob Milane 7-0, and Bill Smith Jr. 7-3.

The only time Brothers and Testa did play was in the hot seat match, which went hill-hill before Testa eked out a 7-6 win Grassia was waiting for Brothers in the semifinal match, having just defeated Brady Jones. It was a one-sided match, with Brothers taking control from the start easily to win 7-2. When Brothers and Testa met again in the finals, they decided to be co-champions.

Results:
1st Joey Testa $550
1st Josh Brothers $550
3rd John Grassia $200
4th Brady Jones $120

by InsidePOOL Staff

The Mezz Pro-Am Tour made its way to Hot Shot Billiards in Deptford, NJ, December 19. A strong field came out to play, including Mike Miller, Michael Wong, Bob Madara, Marty Ciccia, and Matt Krah, but it was Joey Testa and Josh Brothers who became co-champions of the event.

The Mezz Pro-Am Tour made its way to Hot Shot Billiards in Deptford, NJ, December 19. A strong field came out to play, including Mike Miller, Michael Wong, Bob Madara, Marty Ciccia, and Matt Krah, but it was Joey Testa and Josh Brothers who became co-champions of the event.

Testa led the top half of the bracket, scoring wins over John Greshock 7-1, Carl Khan 7-3, and Evan Bostron 7-6. Leading the bottom half of the bracket was Brothers, with wins over Jay Brotherton 7-2, Phil Wines 7-6, and Michael Wong 7-3.

Testa and Brothers collided in the hot seat match, which went back and forth, but when all said and done it was Testa coming away with the win 7-5, sending Brothers to the one-loss side. Waiting for Brothers was Miller—in this one-way match Brothers took control from the start, winning easily 7-0 to get to the finals. In the finals Testa and Brothers decided to become co-champions.

Results:
1st Joey Testa $470
1st Josh Brothers $470
3rd Mike Miller $225
4th Michael Wong $100
5th Evan Brostron $50
5th Bob Madara $50

by InsidePOOL Staff

The $3,000-added Lone Star Billiards Tour Championships were a huge success and wrapped up the 2010 season by crowning multiple winners. The event was hosted by Bogies Billiards and Sports Bar in Houston, TX, December 11-12, and players from all over the south competed for over $13,000 in prize money with a record number of entries totaling 111.

Sylver Ochoa, Andy Jethwa, Raul Escobedo

Jason Brown took the 18-player one-pocket event by storm. He defeated Derek Fontenot, Sonny Bosshamer, Denis Strickland, and won his bid for the hot seat against James Davis Sr., who was on a roll of his own. On the one loss side, Strickland eliminated David Henson but fell to Davis Sr., who in turn lost to Brown in the finals 3-1.

The ladies’ event had a field of 16 and was full of heated competition and a few surprises. Courtney Peters defeated Amanda Hill 7-2, Kim Pierce 7-4, Terry Petrosino 7-3, and Ming Ng 7-6 to secure the winners’ side. Angela Martinez upset Terry Petrosino 5-4 but was eliminated by Ng 5-3. The final match was a nail-biter that saw Ng miss a crucial 8 ball at 6-5 to tie the match. Peters then pocketed the 8 ball but ran into the 9 ball, which forced her into a bank shot. She fired the ball cross-side in to win 7-5.

Ng, Peters

Open Results:
1st Andy Jethwa $1,000
2nd Raul Escobedo $700
3rd T.J. Davis $450
4th Jason Brown $320
5th David Henson $210
Denis Strickland
7th Sylver Ochoa $175
Ernesto Bayaua
9th Sonny Bosshamer $140
Barry Strickland
Victor Rojas
Brian Sanders
13th Brent Thomas $90
Bobby Perez
Roy Payton
Brian Hickman

Jason Brown

One-Pocket Results:
1st Jason Brown $560
2nd James Davis Sr. $420
3rd Denis Strickland $288
4th David Henson $144

Juniors’ Results:
1st Joey Torres $60
2nd James Parvala $40
3rd J.C. Torres $25
4th Johnny Lopez $15
5th Michael Fain $10

by Jose Burgos

Brothers easily cut through the field at the December 5 installment of the Mezz Pro-Am Tour, besting Eddie Abraham in the finals for the title.

Josh Brothers easily cut through the field at the December 5 installment of the Mezz Pro-Am Tour, besting Eddie Abraham in the finals for the title. The $1,000-added event was hosted by Drexeline Billiards in Drexel Hill, PA.

Abraham led the top half of the bracket with wins over Dan McGinnis 7-3, Chris Riley 7-3, Tony Long 7-2, and Clint Clayton 7-3. Brothers mowed through the bottom half, notching wins over John Marabito 7-5, Lou Patrikios 7-2, John Greshock 7-3, and Danny Basavich 7-2.

Brothers and Abraham met up in the match for the hot seat, and Brothers took control with ease, taking an early lead and never relinquishing it to win 7-2. Waiting for Abraham on the one-loss side was Long, who he had sent west earlier. This grudge match went double-hill, but Abraham edged out Long 7-6 to earn his own revenge match against Brothers. But again, it was Brothers winning, this time by the score of 7-2 to take the title.

Results:
1st Josh Brothers $835
2nd Eddie Abraham $620
3rd Tony Long $255
4th Clint Clayton $150
5th Bruce Nagle $120
Danny Basavich
7th Ryan McCreesh $80
Lou Patrikios