Montal Sweeps Through 9-Ball Event at Bar Table Championships

By InsidePOOL Staff

Canadian ace Edwin Montal swept through the Twelfth Annual U.S. Bar Table Championship with an undefeated record in the 9-ball division at the Sands Regency Casino Hotel in Reno, NV.  The 124-player field started play o­n Wednesday, March 2 and finished Friday with 32 players battling it our to reach the final match, which concluded after 11 p.m. o­n the West Coast.

Montal’s $6,000 victory wasn’t much of surprise, considering he usually dominates the smaller bar tables, and the 7-foot Valley tables being used at the casino were right up his alley.  His impressive performance came to an end against Bernardo "King Kong" Chavez in a thrilling two-set final match.  In the first set, Chavez earned a 9-7 win, which turned out to be Montal’s o­nly match defeat, as he wrapped up the 9-ball tournament with a 9-6 win. 

Chavez, who was sent to the o­ne-loss side late o­n Friday by Montal, battled 21-year-old Shane VanBoening in the semifinals, coming out with the victory and ending the young South Dakotan’s tournament.  VanBoening’s third-place finish was even more impressive because of big-time players he earned wins against.  His wins over Mark Haddad and Steve Smith started to turn some heads, but it was his 9-7 victory over former U.S. Open champ Corey Deuel that really got people excited. 

Deuel, who finished in fourth, was eliminated by Chavez in what tournament director Jay Helfert called a “lucked-in nine ball” to win 9-8.  Other notable finishes were David Matlock in fifth; current U.S. Open champ Gabe Owen and Cliff Joyner in seventh; Danny Basavich in ninth; and Joes Parica in thirteenth. 

After the exciting conclusion of the 9-ball event, the 8-ball division got underway with a field of 169 players.  Helfert says they will play out until the final 64 are left today, and early Sunday morning, matches will resume.  Helfert expects a late finish but o­ne that will be well worth the wait. 

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