Souquet Promises to Win Billiard Triple Crown

Souquet Promises to Win Billiard Triple Crown
World 10-Ball Championship / Manila, Philippines

by InsidePOOL Staff

Ralf “The Surgeon” Souquet, past winner of both the world 9-ball and world 8-ball championship titles, vowed to add the world 10-ball crown to his resume to become the first triple crown billiard champion. He had an easy 9-1 victory over Patrick Menillo of Italy in the first-round matches. “I like my chances and I’m ready to play against anybody here,” Souquet stated firmly.

Reigning world 9-ball champ Daryl Peach is also adjusting well to the conditions, defeating Japan’s Kazuo Furuta 9-3. “I feel much better now than in my first match,” Peach explained, in which he bested Sit Shun Ching 9-4.

Jasmin Ouschan lost her second match against Germany’s Roman Hybler 9-5, while her brother, Albin, won his second match against Radoslaw Babica of Poland in a 9-8 nail-biter.

Team America is struggling, though Shane Van Boening remains undefeated, notching a 9-1 win over Alphonse Hoge Monday and a 9-0 victory over Po-Cheng Kuo. Charlie Williams is also unscathed, with wins over Raj Hundal and Elmer Kalaquain, both 9-3.

Shaun Wilkie came through in fine fashion against Bashar Hussein of Qatar 9-5, rebounding from a first-round 9-4 loss to Ricky Yang. Corey Deuel whitewashed his opponent Lin Yuan-Chan Tuesday, while Oscar Dominguez lost a hill-hill match to Thomas Engert of Germany. Gabe Owen lost 9-3 to Dimitri Jungo, and Steve Moore was bested by Naoyuki Oi in a tight 9-7 match.

Richeson and Walsma Score Top Honors in Michigan

Richeson and Walsma Score Top Honors in Michigan
Michigan Players Tour / Holland, MI

by InsidePOOL Staff

The Michigan Players Tour swept through Holland, MI, the weekend of September 27-28, holding both a mini tournament and a main event. Chalky’s Q Stick Café played host to both events, with Richie Richeson winning the mini and Arlo Walsma taking the main.

In the mini tournament, Richeson came through the one-loss side after being defeated by Tony Chochan 7-5. He came back, though, to win the next four matches to earn a rematch with Chochan, whom he bested 7-4. Having made it to the finals, he now had to defeat Mark Ozman twice for the title. Even with a field of 40, this was no easy task, but he won convincingly, taking the first set 7-3 and the second 7-1.

The main event had a field of 26 players. Walsma went through the first few rounds unscathed, defeating Dave Schaefer 9-4, Mark Javis 9-6, and Richeson 9-4 before he ran into Chohan, who sent him to the one-loss side 9-7. There he matched up with Ronnie Wiseman, who held an 8-3 lead going to 9 but missed a slow-rolled 6 ball and ended up sitting in his chair for the next five racks as Walsma came back to defeat him 9-8. Now unstoppable, Walsma ousted Smith double-hill and Doug Young 9-5 before wreaking revenge on Chohan 9-4, 9-4 in the finals.

Mini Tournament Results:
1st Richie Richeson
2nd Mark Ozman
3rd Tony Chohan
4th Neil Dryflout
5th Jason Kirkwood
Adam Smith
7th Russ Andrews
Arlo Walsma

Main Event Results:
1st Arlo Walsma
2nd Tony Chohan
3rd Doug Young
4th Adam Smith
5th Ronnie Wiseman
Jason Kirkwood

Tascarella Wins First Predator Amateur Billiard Event

Tascarella Wins First Predator Amateur Billiard Event
Predator 9-Ball Tour / West Hempstead, NY

by InsidePOOL Staff

The Predator 9-Ball Tour held its first A-B-C-D tournament the weekend of September 27-28 at Raxx Pool Room Bar and Grill in West Hempstead, NY.  Forty-seven of the region’s top amateur players came out to vie for their piece of the $1,000-added event, with Pete Tascarella Jr. coming out on top. 

The event’s structure required A and B players to compete against one another on the top half of the chart, while the C and D players battled it out at the bottom, only to meet one another in the quarterfinals.  

Leading the A/B players was tournament veteran Tascarella Jr.—son of famous cue maker Pete Tascarella Sr.—who had the unfortunate luck of drawing his father in the first round.  After a nail-biting hill-hill match, Junior defeated his father and went on to defeat Ariel Rivera 7-4, Chris Laz 7-3, Thomas Wan 7-4, and Eric Toledo 7-6.

The bottom of the chart had its share of close calls amongst the C/D players.  After narrowly defeating John MacArthur 7-6, William Finnegan went on to defeat Emily Harrison 7-2, Mike Schloven 7-1, and Marco Dy 7-2.  This set up the hot seat match between Finnegan and Tascarella Jr.

Day two action on the left side saw Wan defeat Mark Pantovic 7-3 before being defeated by Toledo 7-4. Toledo met up with Marco Dy next and fought hard to best the dangerous C player 7-5 to face Finnegan in the semifinals, who lost a tough match to Tascarella for the hot seat 7-4. The underdog, Finnegan pulled out all the stops to close the door on Toledo’s tournament, defeating him 7-5 and leaving him to settle for third place. In the finals, Finnegan showed a lot of heart but simply couldn’t keep up with the more experienced Tascarella and fell short 7-3. 

Results:
1st Pete Tascarella Jr.                            
2nd William Finnegan                           
3rd Eric Toledo                                     
4th Marco Dy                                        
5/6th Thomas Wan                                   
5/6th Jose Soto                                         
7/8th Mike Schloven                                
7/8th Mark Pantovic                                
9/12th Anthony Pizaro                          
9/12th Stew Warnock                         
9/12th Borana Andoni                        
9/12th Aron Rovner

Saez Goes Undefeated at Joss Billiards Stop

Saez Goes Undefeated at Joss Billiards Stop
Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour / Waterville, ME

by Skip Maloney, Inside POOL Magazine

Robb Saez withstood a double challenge from Marc Vidal and took home the first-place prize on the Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour stop September 27-28. The $2,000-added event drew 28 entrants to TJ’s Classic Billiards in Waterville, ME.

Among the winners’ side final four, Saez and Billy “the Kid” Lanna sent Vidal and Ivaylo Petrov, respectively, to the one-loss side of the bracket with identical 9-6 victories. Saez then grabbed the hot seat, sending Lanna over with a 9-7 win.

On the one-loss side, Ray McNamara and Tom McGonagle dropped Chris Leal and David Hall into a tie for seventh before meeting up with Vidal and Petrov. The latter two dropped McNamara and McGonagle into a tie for fifth place and squared off to face each other in the quarterfinals. Vidal and Petrov battled to a 9-7 win for Vidal, who went on to defeat Lanna in the semifinals 9-6.

In what turned out to be only the third match among the tournament’s final ten to conclude with a score differential higher than four racks, Saez concluded his first journey of the year to first place with a commanding 9-3 victory over Vidal.

Results:
1st Robb Saez
2nd Marc Vidal
3rd Billy Lanna
4th Ivaylo Petrov
5/6th Ray McNamara
5/6th Tom McGonagle
7/8th Chris Leal
7/8th David Hall

World 10-Ball Championship Commences

World 10-Ball Championship Commences
World 10-Ball Championship / Manila, Philippines

by InsidePOOL Staff

The World 10-Ball Championship kicked off in Manila, Philippines, September 29, with a total of 128 of the finest players from all over the world vying for the first-ever world title in the 10-ball format as sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association.

The international event is also offering up a massive prize purse of $400,000. Leading the pack in pursuit of the lion’s share are the three reigning world champions: Niels Feijen, recently crowned the world straight pool champion; Ralf Souquet, world 8-ball champion; and Daryl Peach, world 9-ball champion.

On the American team, number-one-ranked Shane Van Boening is joined by Johnny Archer, Corey Deuel, Steve Moore, Jeremy Jones, Gabe Owen, Max Eberle, Oscar Dominguez, Glen Atwell, Louis Ulrich, Shaun Wilkie, and Charlie Williams.

The 128 players entered in the main draw will be divided into 16 groups of 8 and will contend in a double-elimination format. From there, four players from each group will advance to the final sixty-four. At that point, the format changes to single elimination with one small exception: Instead of a tie for third place, there will be a match to determine the third- and fourth-place finishers.

In a battle of top women, Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan bested Lin Yuan Chun of Chinese Taipei 9-6. Germany’s Martin Kempter delivered a 9-7 defeat to Archer while fellow countryman Roman Hybler came out ahead of his hill-hill match with Deuel. Hungary’s Vilmos Foldes handed Dominguez his first defeat 9-6, and Ricky Yang bested Wilkie 9-4. All are now one loss away from being sent home. Ernesto Dominguez also suffered a first-round loss to Russia’s Rusian Chinahov. However, Williams bested Raj “The Hitman” Hundal 9-3, while compatriot Owen defeated French shooter Vincent Facquet 9-7 to move within one win of advancing to the knockout stages.  

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