Chaperon Nets Limestone City Open

By Bill Rosenberger

Bob Chaperon has been playing snooker in Canada for a long time, and he's even won a world championship.  Each year, Chaperon's also a familiar face in the Limestone City Open, and this year at Raxx in Kingston, o­ntario, he finally broke through to capture his first victory.

The event, which was held February 5-6, included a field of 74 players who were attracted not just to the huge payouts but also the aura of the highly respected Canadian event.  The field included defending champion Chris Orme, the up-and-coming Johnny Morra, and UPA touring pro Luc Salvas.  And the venue wasn't a bad reason to come out either.  Each year, the tournament adds $5,000, and Raxx has over forty 9-ball tables to choose from.

Early o­n, the tournament was wide open, as many players vied for a chance to become a contender.  o­n Sunday night, the final four included Orme, Chaperon, Mario Morra, and Alain "The Dancing Bear" Martel.  Chaperon and Morra battled in the first winners' side match, with Chaperon earning the win and advancing to the hot seat match. 

While Chaperon was easily handling Martel 11-5 in the hot seat, Morra was in a tightly contested match with Orme.  It came down to the final few racks, but Morra was able to hang o­n for a 9-7 win. 

In the semifinals, Morra faced Martel and came out o­n top 9-6 to earn a rematch with Chaperon in the finals.  Chaperon, who had made it to his first Limestone final, wasn't ready to stop there.  Morra, too, has had success in the Canadian pool circuit was definitely a worthy finals opponent.   

Both players came out of the gate with offense in mind, and they raced to a quick 5-5 score.and the 5-5 score.  But Chaperon seemed to hit another level, winning four straight racks to go up 9-5.  Morra tallied a couple more wins, but before he knew it, he was down 12-7.  After two more wins by Morra, Chaperon closed out the match to capture his first Limestone City Open title.

Results:
1st Bob Chaperon $3,000
2nd Mario Morra $1,950
3rd Alain Martel $1,250
4th Chris Orme $850
5th Eddie Galati, John LaBlanc $625
7th Luc Salvas, Chris Anglin $450
9th Pierre Louzon, Harry Chaggaris, John Timmermans, Vito Puopolo $300
13th Jarrod Clowery, John Morra, Dave Thomson, Raymond Cruz $200

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