Geoffrey Bauer (1st) & Scott Simonetti (2nd)

By NYC Grind Contributor, Alison M. Fischer

On the weekend of September 4th-5th, The Tri-State Tour headed to Amsterdam Billiard Club, which hosted their A/B/C/D 9-ball event.  This $1,000-added, two-day event drew 28 top amateur players from around the area, including a number of Amsterdam’s top league talent.

Highlighting the field were players including 2009 Player of the Year Dan Cintron, Christian Smith, Carl Yusuf Khan, Geoffrey Bauer, and Scott Simonetti.  And in this event, it would be Simonetti who would dominate throughout the winner’s bracket.

Making it through to the winner’s side final four, Scott edged ahead of Christian Smith at hill-hill, winning 7-6.  Meanwhile in the final four match-up, Ryan McCarthy defeated Ramilo Tanglao 6-4.  In Scott and Ryan’s face-off for the hot seat the two had another close battle, but Scott Simonetti came out on top at 8-6.

Back in the third round of the tournament, Scott Simonetti handed a 7-4 loss to Geoffrey Bauer… however, tour rising star Bauer was not ready to bow out yet.  Having won two tour stops on the ‘09-’10 season and finishing runner-up in the Tri-State Tour ‘B’ Class Invitational, Geoffrey Bauer has been proving himself to be more of a threat in each event.

His showing at Amsterdam Billiards was no exception, as Bauer went on after his loss against Simonetti to win five matches on the one-loss side, defeating Dan Cintron 7-4, Carl Yusuf Khan 7-2, Christian Smith 7-2, Ramilo Tanglao 8-7, and Ryan McCarthy 7-5 along his path.

After the long grind through the one-loss side, Geoffrey Bauer earned a rematch against Scott Simonetti in the finals.  In the first set of the finals, Geoffrey took the reigns to win 7-0, taking full advantage of every chance at the table he got.

In the second set, Geoffrey got out to another commanding 5-0 lead… however Scotty was not ready to throw in the towel.  Scott Simonetti battled back to go double-hill against Geoffrey, with one final game determining the winner of this event.

Scott ran out the first half of the rack, but got out of shape midway through and was forced to play safe.  Geoffrey and Scott exchanged safeties, but after Geoffrey came through to pocket a long shot, he ran out the rack to claim the win.

Geoffrey Bauer (1st) & Scott Simonetti (2nd)

Congratulations to both Geoffrey Bauer and Scott Simonetti for showing a lot of heart in this event and putting on a great final match for pool fans at Amsterdam Billiards.

The next stop on the Tri-State Tour will be held this Sunday, September 12 at Sandcastle Billiards and will be a C/D Class, $750-added 9-ball event.  To learn more, visit www.TheTriStateTour.com.

Payout:

1st: Geoffrey Bauer - $770
2nd: Scott Simonetti - $490
3rd: Ryan McCarthy - $290
4th: Ramilo Tanglao - $150
5th/6th: Christian Smith, Nicholas Chan - $100
7th/8th: Yomaylin Feliz, Carl Yusuf Khan - $80

…

Every week this season, Amsterdam Billiards is spotlighting the “Pic of the Week” where each person pictured in the photos selected wins one free drink every day for a week.  Below is this week’s pick, which features this Tri-State event’s 7th place finisher Carl Yusuf Khan, along with his team, “Team Dementors”.

Pic of the Week "Team Dementors"

Also, in celebrating their 20th Anniversary, Amsterdam Billiards is offering a number of great specials for their players, check out the flyer below for details…

$15 Table Time Special

Empire State Champion, Mike Dechaine (Photo by Jerry T)

Story by NYC Grind Contributor, Geoff Conway

Sunday morning saw a slew of the best players on tour fighting it out to take down this coveted title. Click here to check out the photos from Day 1 of the tournament, by Jerry T & Charles Eames.

First match up on the winner’s side final eight was Corey Deuel vs  Earl Herring, where Herring handed a walk over to Deuel, with a 8-0 forfeit… as Earl Herring is a minister and had to return to church on Sunday morning.

Also in that round, we saw a much-awaited match up between Dennis Hatch and Jeremy Sossei. This match did not go the way of the betting line, with Jeremy coming out the winner 8-6. I should point out that neither player showed us their best game, and the latter racks were consumed with safety play. This win propelled Jeremy into a match against Corey Deuel, and an upset Mr. Hatch had to wait for the outcome of the loser’s side match between Matt Krah and Mike Davis, which went to Mike 8-7.

Jeremy Sossei (Photo by Charles Eames)

Next up was Mike Dechaine vs Josh Brothers, which went to Mike, 8-6.  Josh was not able to capitalize on his strong break, and would then have to start his comeback in the loser’s side of the draw.

In the next match we had Mike Sigel, who had batted a 1,000 through his first three matches on Saturday.  In Sunday’s 11:00 round, Mike continued his winning streak, when he devastated Dustin Morris 8-0, making for 28 games won and no losses.

Winner’s Side Final Four:

This put Corey Deuel against Jeremy Sossei, and Mike Sigel against Mike Dechaine in the fight out for the hot seat match. In the Deuel vs Sossei match, we saw an off-form Jeremy who just could not seem to establish his authority in the match, and soon found himself on the wrong side of 8-6.

In the Mike Sigel v Mike Dechaine match Mr. Sigel was in for his first match against one of the top players on tour, and although Mike Sigel managed to get the first game (Putting his now record winning streak to 30 games without a lose), Dechaine kept control throughout the match ejecting Mr. Sigel to the one-loss side. Mike Dechaine and Corey Deuel were then set for the hot seat battle. But first let us look at the one-loss side matches played on Sunday morning.

One-Loss Side:

Joey Korsiak, who made a rare appearance in the pro arena, having taken a sabbatical from the game for some while, took a tough hill-hill loss to Mike Davis in the first round.  However, Joey K. made a strong push on the one-loss side, with four wins over Meshak Daniel, Alex Gilvarg, Rob Omen, and Jesse Engel, but then fell 8-5 to Scott Freeman.

Joey Korsiak shoots as Tony Robles prepares to break. A great crowd turned out to watch the action at Raxx. (Photo by Jerry T)

Mustafa Dikilitas matched up against George “Ginky” Sansouci which Ginky dominated from the outset, with Mustafa only managing to get 3 games in this one sided 8-3 match. In the next match up, Tony Robles ended Stevie Moore’s two-week visit to New York, knocking last week’s NYC Champion out of the event at 8-3. Next up was Matt Krah against Mike Davis, which went the way of Mr. Davis 8-7, putting Mike up against a still-fuming Dennis Hatch.

In the next round on the loser’s side, Scott Freeman had the unenviable task of being matched up against Josh Brothers, who does not stop trying after switching to the one loss side. Josh quickly stamped his authority on the match and came out the easy winner 8-4. Next up was one of New York’s top players, George “Ginky” Sansouci vs Dustin Morris who was still in shock from his lop-sided loss against Mike Sigel in his previous match. Mr. Morris just never established his presence in this match and got trounced by Ginky 8-3.

George "Ginky" Sansouci

Tony Robles moved straight to the next round, following a walk over when Earl Herring had to forfeit. The next round saw another monster match-up between Mike Davis and Dennis Hatch. Everybody was waiting to see Dennis climb his way back into the event, having just lost to Jeremy Sossei. Well, Mike Davis did not get the memo, and was always ahead in this match.  Just as Dennis was breaking to hopefully get on the hill when he was down 7-6, the cue ball was knocked into the side pocket, and gave Mike ball in hand, allowing him to run out and win the match 8-6. To say that Dennis was devastated would be somewhat of an understatement.

Then we had Josh Brothers against George Sansouci, in a match that was always in Mr. Brothers wheel house, as reflected in the score of 8-5. Tony Robles was now matched up against Mike Davis, which went to Mike 8-6. We now had Josh Brothers against Mike Davis in the quarter final match, the winner would then play Corey Deuel who had lost to Mike Dechaine in the winner’s side hot seat match earlier in the day. Well, Josh was a man on a mission, and soon got the better of Mike 8-4.

Corey Deuel stamped his authority in the semifinal match (Photo by Jerry T)

Next up was a feature match streamed live by PoolActionTV.com, The stream attracted a huge audience, especially for Mike Sigel’s matches, which the fans could not get enough of.  So now we were down to the last match before the final. We had Corey Deuel up against Josh Brothers in a match which Corey just never let up on the pressure on Josh, and took no time to get the win with a score line of 8-4.

To follow it up, we had the much-awaited final between Mike Dechaine, who like good wine, is improving with age, and becoming one of the most dominant players on the pro tour. Likewise, Corey Deuel is always a threat in any event he enters. Well, Mike shows his determination to take down this title, and was always in charge and soon wins the match at 9-4. Well done Mike, congrats from all at NYCgrind.com!

Mike Dechain shooting in front of a crowded rail at Raxx, becoming the 2010 Empire State Champion (Photo by Jerry T)

NYCgrind.com congratulates both the Seminole Pro Tour and the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour for putting on what was a very well-run event which was seen by thousands of viewers who were lucky enough to log on to PoolActionTV.com to see some classic pool action throughout the weekend on Table 27.

Geoff Conway - Pool Junkie

Payout:

1st: Mike Dechaine - $4,000
2nd: Corey Deuel - $3,000
3rd: Josh Brothers - $2,000
4th: Mike Davis - $1,500
5th/6th: Jeremy Sossei, Mike Sigel - $1,000
7th/8th: Tony Robles, George Sansouci - $600
9th-12th: Earl Herring, Dennis Hatch, Scott Freeman, Dustin Morris - $410
13th-16th: Matt Krah, Stevie Moore, Joey Korsiak, Mustafa Dilkilitas - $305

Living legend Mike Sigel astoundingly went 21-0 through his first three matches. (Photo by Charles Eames)

EMPIRE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP DAY ONE AT RAXX BILLIARDS LOUNGE WEST HEMPSTEAD

By NYC Grind Contributor, Geoff Conway

Well, the big guns came out this weekend for the Empire State Championships, which is being put on jointly by the Seminole Florida Pro Tour and Ozone Billiards Predator Tours. This prestigious event is being played at Raxx Billiard Lounge in West Hempstead, NY, is filled with the who’s who of pool, with such notables as Stevie Moore last weeks winner of the Mezz Tournament held at Skyline Billiards in Brooklyn and Tony Robles who took second place at Skyline.

Dennis Hatch made the long trip from Buffalo, NY, Corey Deuel came up from Florida, Jeremy Sossei from CT, Mike Dechaine from MD, Josh Brothers from PA, and the legendary Mike Sigel decided to showcase his game to his many fans, Mike Davis who is back in form, Shaun Wilkie, Zion Zvi, George “Ginky” Sansouci, and Joey “K” Korsiak who came out of moth balls for this event.

This event has also has the added attraction of having the event covered by PoolActionTV.com with live streaming of feature matches, the brainchild of Ray Hanson from Texas. Last year’s event had a 9-Ball format and was won by Dennis Hatch, while this year the format has been switched to 10-Ball, with a call-shot format which basically eliminates most of the luck from the game.

Click here to view photos by Charles Eames from Day 1 of the event.

Kicking off the 11:00 feature table match is “The Mouth” Mike Sigel facing a young gun from Minnesota, 27-year-old Dustin Morris.

Dustin Morris is facing off with Mike Sigel on the live stream in the 11 am round (Photo by Charles Eames)

WINNER’S SIDE

Dennis Hatch literally trounced the opposition, and cruised through to his 11 am Sunday morning winner’s side match against Jeremy Sossei, who also cruised through to Sunday with some stellar play. Earl Herring played well to secure his winner’s side match on Sunday against Corey Deuel who as always can be relied upon to reach the last eight on the winner’s side with his impeccable style of play.

It was no surprise to see both Mike Dechaine and Josh Brothers get through to Sunday morning to play each other in the last eight on Sunday morning. Mike Sigel will meet Dustin Morris of Minnesota in the last eight on Sunday. Special mention should be made about the way Mike found his way to Sunday morning’s match… Mike actually batted a thousand on his way through his three Saturday matches. Yes, he played three sets of seven games and did not allow any of his opponents to win one game. In his last match on Saturday afternoon, he played Shaun Wilkie, who is no slouch, and again won 7-0, showing how well Mike was playing.

Mike, who in his day was the man who won literally every event he entered, including every World Championship that was available and three US Opens. Mike has only recently come back from a fifteen-year retirement, is now getting back to somewhere near his old game. He told me he is not yet 100% happy with his game, which can be near perfect for a couple of days, and then for no reason go off the rails. Well, judging by today’s performance he has peaked for this event.

ONE-LOSS SIDE

In the loser’s side matches to be played at 11 am on Sunday morning, we have Joey Korsiak matched up against Scott Freeman. Next we have Mustafa Dilkilitas against George Sansouci, who is playing well of late, finishing high in last week’s NYC 9-ball Championships at Skyline. We will also see a major re-match of the finalists in last week’s Skyline event with Stevie Moore vs Tony Robles. Finally, we have Matt Krah vs Mike Davis, who was also in contention at Skyline last week.

One of the big upsets so far in this event was seen in the first round of the one-loss side.  After having lost his first-round match against Dennis Hatch 7-0, Manny Chau was eliminated in the next round by Long Island up-and-coming player Mike Panzarella at hill-hill, 7-6.   Having finished 2nd in this event last year, no one was expecting Manny Chau to go two and out.

Shaun Wilkie and Zion Zvi were two of the other notables that fell by the wayside on Saturday, as well as 2008 Empire State Champion Marc Vidal, who was eliminated by Tony Robles… but the rest of the notable players found their way to Sunday’s play, albeit not all on the right side of the bracket, but none the less still in contention to win the event.  Check out the complete brackets for this event on AZbilliards: http://www.azbilliards.com/brackets/show64ws.cfm?tourneynum=4076

Please stay tuned to NYCgrind.com for coverage of Day 2…

Geoff Conway - Pool Junkie

Manny Chau is looking to avenge his 2009 loss to Hatch in the final

The 2010 Seminole Tribe of Florida Empire State Championships is off to the running at Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY, with 64 of the best players in the country vying for this title. As fate would have it, the first round would turn up a rematch of last year’s finals, between 2009 Champion Dennis Hatch and runner up Manny Chau.

Currently, the match on the live stream is Mike Sigel vs Shaun Wilkie:

2010 Empire State Championships

This weekend, September 4-5th the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour along with Florida’s Seminole Pro Tour will be presenting the 3rd Annual Empire State Championships at Raxx Pool Room in West Hempstead, NY.  This $8,000-added 10-ball banner tour event will feature top players from across the East Coast, as this event will award ranking points on both the Predator and Seminole Tours.  Some of the top names appearing on the tour include Tony Robles, George Sansouci, Shaun Wilkie, Jeremy Sossei, Zion Zvi, and 2008 Empire State Champion Marc Vidal… and this event will feature a number of guest players from the Seminole Tour as well.

Ray Hansen of the Big Truck Show on www.PoolActionTV.com will be providing live streaming coverage of feature matches at this event, free of charge.  Jerry Tarantola of NYCgrind.com will also be on site covering the tournament.  The Empire State Championships is free to the public… and this event will feature some of the best play in the country this weekend.

Click here to check out the highlight video from the 2009 Empire State Championships, where Dennis Hatch came back from the loser’s bracket to claim the title in a thrilling final against Manny Chau. Read on for more information about the rules and registration for this event in a message from tour owner Tony Robles.

You can also check out the photos from the first two years of this banner event, all photos by Alison M. Fischer:

Click here for the 2009 Empire State Photo Gallery

Click here for the 2008 Empire State Photo Gallery

2009 Empire State Finalist Manny Chau & Champion Dennis Hatch with Tony Robles, John DiToro, and Kevin Pickard of The Seminole Tour

Hello Players,

I am proud to announce Stop # 13 of the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour, as the 3rd Annual Seminole Tribe of Florida Empire State Championship. This will be an $8,000 Added Event! The tour would like to thank the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Seminole Pro Tour for sponsoring this special event.

Stop # 13 of the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour will be taking place this Saturday and Sunday September 4-5 at Raxx Pool Room, Sports Bar & Grill in West Hempstead, NY and as always, we will be using the amazing Delta-13 racks provided by Delta-13.  This event is also sponsored in part by Predator Cues & Ozone Billiards.

Many thanks to Raxx owner Holden Chin and his wonderful staff for hosting this great event.

This is considered an Open/Pro event though any skill level may sign up and play. The entry fee for this event is $150 for all players, regardless of their skill level.

This will be an official stop for both the Seminole Pro Tour and the Predator Pro/Am Tour, with any participating player earning points for both tours.

This stop will be limited to 128 players. Doors will open at 10 am and registration will close at 12:00 pm. Play starts at 1 pm. We recommend arriving early to guarantee yourself a spot in the event.

There is no cover charge to watch the event at Raxx Pool Room.

This event will be streamed live by the Big Truck Show courtesy of Ray Hansen & the Seminole Pro Tour and is free to watch.  The Big Truck Show provides the highest quality streaming around and we are thrilled to have them broadcast our event for pool fans around the world.  You can find the live stream on the Big Truck Show website, www.poolactiontv.com or on The Seminole Pro Tour’s website, www.semprotour.com.

Jerry Tarantola of NYCGrind.com will also be there to cover the event.

Very Important: Collared shirts are required for this stop!  Slacks and dress shoes are highly recommended especially for TV table matches.

No phone entries will be taken and all players must wait in line to pay their entry. I will not accept an entry for 2 players. Every player must be present and wait in line to pay their own entry.

I would like to thank Predator Cues, Poison Cues, Ozone Billiards, The Seminole Tribe of Florida, The Seminole Pro Tour, Delta-13, Pool On The Net, Billiards Press, Jim Murnak Cue Cases, Go4Pool.net, Pool.bz, RJH Custom Cues, Master Chalk, NYC Grind, Billiards Digest, AZ Billiards, Inside Pool Magazine, Pool & Billiard Magazine & Maxim Billiards for helping to make this tour a huge success!

Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Tony Robles
www.predator9balltour.com
www.predator9balltour.com/schedule.htm

Stop # 13

Empire State 10-Ball Championship

$8,000 Added
September 4-5, 2010
Raxx Pool Room, Sports Bar & Grill
510 Hempstead Turnpike
West Hempstead, NY 11552
516-538-9896
Entry Fee: $150

Registration: There is an annual registration fee of $30 for all new players

Format: Open/Pros
10-Ball
Double Elimination
128 Player Limit
Race to 7 (Race to 8 for the money rounds)
Finals one race to 9
Rack Your Own
Winner Breaks
Call Shot/Safety
No Soft Breaks Allowed
10-Ball Does Not Count on the Break
Doors Open at 10:00 AM
Registration Closes at 12:00 PM
Play Scheduled for 12:30 pm

By NYC Grind Contributor, Mark Finkelstein

I just came back from a lesson in Albany.  Combining this with the lessons I learned from watching the NYC 9-Ball Championships, and I think I have an interesting article for you this week.

After watching pool all weekend, playing on Monday, and watching a student run out racks, it seems our run outs end in four ways.  Best of all is that we make the 9 ball and win the game.  Not much else to say here but rack them up and break.

Next is that we miss a shot.  We’ve talked here about good fundamentals, level cue, eyes on the target ball and a host of other things that will improve your pocketing.  Not much for me to add in this article about this area.

We could also miss our position due to a speed control error.  Again, we have talked about drills to improve your speed control, visualization, feeling the shot and doing as little as possible with the cue and not run the cue ball around the table.  I won’t go into much of that here as well.

What I do want to write about though, is the way a lot of run outs end, and this is right up to the highest levels.  It is a mental error of sorts, and it sneaks into our game at the most inopportune time.

I’m talking about bumping balls that don’t need to be bumped.  If a ball has a pocket, and doesn’t need to be moved, make sure you don’t hit it!!

At the highest level, some pretty strong players failed to get out because they bumped a ball and the cue ball scratched, they tied it up, or they were left with no shot.

Let’s look at this diagram…

This is an easy rack and we should run this out most of the time. Getting from the 3 to the 4 looks easy enough, so we roll the cue ball with a little high and maybe some right, to bring the cue ball up the table so we don’t need much angle on the 4. Well, guess what happens? That high cue ball near the rail bends the cue ball forward just a little, and the cue ball clips the edge of the 4. Now our easy run out is done. We might be able to bank the 4, but we have to run the cue ball all around to get to the 5.

I saw this at least twice during the NYC Championships, and both times the shooter lost a game due to this error.

Here is another example of this type of mistake:

CueTable Diagram #2

We want to make the 1 ball and be on the low side of the 2 to get to the 3.  By bumping the 4, the cue ball comes straight up the table and puts us on the wrong side of the two.  Now we have to spin the two in with the 7 getting warmed up to snooker us.

This is a very important lesson.  Bumping balls needlessly causes all kinds of problems.

It is important to visualize the cue ball track, and make sure you will not bump into makeable balls.  This concept applies to 8 ball and straight pool as well.  Watch how many times you bump into a ball and get into trouble.   Stop doing this, and you will run out more, win more games, and place higher in the tournaments.

See you on the road.

Mark Finkelstein is the House Pro at Slate Billiards on 21st Street in Manhattan.

If you have questions, or would like to see a particular topic addressed, you can email Mark at
mark@nycgrind.com.

Champion Stevie Moore with Room Proprietor Sammy Wu and Runner Up Tony Robles

The Mezz Pro-Am 9-Ball Tour took the F train to Skyline Billiards, NY, which hosted the 5th Annual NYC 9-Ball Championships. The $3,000-added two-day event took place on August 28-29 at the popular Brooklyn pool room, owned by players Rob Pole & Sammy Wu.  A field of 43 players including many of the top names came out to capture the coveted NY title.  Click here to check out the photos from this event.

Top players included Tony Robles, Mike Davis, Mike Dechaine, “Ginky” George Sansouci, Eddie Abraham, Ronnie Wiseman, Brett Stottlemyer, Zion Zvi, Jeremy Sossei, Mike Fingers, Mike Miller, Manny Chau, and defending 2009 champion Stevie Moore.

Reigning champion Stevie Moore went through the field undefeated with wins over Eddie Vasquez 9-1, Michael Wong 9-6, Manny Chau 9-6, and Brett Stottlemeyer 9-1, setting up the feature match. Meeting Moore in the match for the hot seat, Tony Robles had impressive wins over Rob Merklein 9-0, Ginky Sansouci 9-3 and Mike Davis 9-4.

In the match for the hot seat, Stevie Moore played determined to repeat as champion, with an dominant 9-4 win over Tony Robles, earning an undefeated spot in the finals.

Rising star pro Mike Dechaine was also strong in the winner’s bracket, with wins over Jerry Tarantola 9-5, Marc Vidal 9-7, and Jorge Rodriguez 9-5, before losing to Stevie Moore 9-3 and Mike Davis 9-7. Although Mike wasn’t on the top of his game, he played well enough to be a contender in this event.

On the one-loss side there were several strong players still fighting to grind back to the finals including Mike Davis, Mike Dechaine, Brett Stottlemeyer, Barry Banks, and Ginky. Meanwhile, Tony was waiting in the wings for a chance for a rematch with Stevie.

Top Detroit player Ronnie Wiseman was also impressive fighting through the one-loss side with wins over Sammy Wu 9-3, Gregg McAndrews 9-3, Sean Morgan 9-4, and Mike Fingers 9-7 before getting knocked out by Brett Stottlemyer 9-2.

Ginky was playing strong enough to win the event, but was edged out at hill-hill by Brett Stottlemyer, who put on a gritty performance. However, Brett was eventually ousted from the tournament hill-hill by Josh Brothers, leaving him with a strong 5th place finish.

However, the standout player on the one-loss side was emerging phenom Josh Brothers, who took wins over Ed Culhane 9-7, Eddie Abraham 9-7, Sean Morgan 9-8, Jeremy Sossei 9-6, and Mike Davis 9-8, which lined up a semi-final match with Tony Robles. Tony knocked Josh over to the one-oss side earlier in the event, and Josh was looking forward to the rematch.

Josh Brothers was poised to win after keeping Tony in his seat for the first three games, leading 3-0 and continuing to lead the whole set. However, Tony showed a lot of grit was able to come from behind to win the set in hill-hill nail-biter. Tony’s win over Josh set up a rematch in the finals between Tony Robles and Stevie Moore.  In this true double-elimination final, Tony would have to win two sets against Stevie to claim the win.

Ray Hansen "Big Truck" and Mike Fingers

PoolActionTV.com was at the event to stream the feature matches throughout the tournament. Ray Hansen, along with other contributors, helped out to provide live streaming and commentary to the fans following the event.

In the first set, Stevie Moore held the lead throughout, but at 7-6 Tony was able to grind back to and win the next three games to take the set 9-6.  They then moved into the second set, but Stevie remained dominant and closed out a 9-4 win to defend his title as NYC 9-ball Champion.  Congratulations to Stevie Moore on achieving this notable feat… NYC pool fans will surely be watching in 2011 to see if anyone can steal away this title.

Tony watching on as Stevie Moore takes the lead

Final Results:

1st: Stevie Moore - $2,300
2nd: Tony Robles - $1,400
3rd: Josh Brothers - $800
4th: Mike Davis - $600
5th/6th: Mike Dechaine, Brett Stottlemyer $400
7th/8th: Barry Banks, George Sansouci - $300
9th-12th: Marc Vidal, Jeremy Sossei, Ronnie Wiseman, Jorge Rodriguez - $200

Nicholas Chan (3rd), Ken DeCuire (2nd), Jason Egeln (1st)

Gotham City Billiards was host to the Tri-State Tour last Saturday, August 28.  A field of 25 players came out to compete in this $750-added C/D event… where one player would go through the field undefeated to cash in on a $500 first prize.

Going through to the final four on the winner’s side of the bracket, Ken DeCuire defeated Andrew Cleary by a score of 7-3, while Jason Egeln knocked Ryan McCarthy to the one loss side, 7-4.  In the following round, Jason would take another win against Ken DeCuire by the same score, 7-4, to guarantee him a spot in the finals.

Meanwhile, there was one player who stood out on the one-loss side, who would be Nicholas Chan.  After an early winner’s side loss, Nicholas would go on to finish the event with a 7-2 record. Nicholas defeated John Egeln in the quarterfinal 6-2, before being eliminated in the semifinal by Ken DeCuire with the same score.

This set Ken up for a rematch in the final against Jason Egeln.  In this final, Jason took a 4-0 lead… but Ken battled back and got to 3 games while Jason was on the hill at 5.  However, Ken’s hopes of a comeback were shot down after Jason lucked the 9 ball in to close out the win.  Congratulations to Jason Egeln on his undefeated win… with match wins over King Victoree 7-5, Tran Tran 6-5, Pat Mareno 8-3, Ryan McCarthy 6-4, and two wins over Ken DeCuire.

The Tri-State Tour would like to thank Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Viking Cues, Ron Tarr Cues, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, and Dr. Dave Billiards Instructional Products for their sponsorship leading to this event.

The next upcoming event on the Tri-State Tour will be held this weekend, September 4-5 at Amsterdam Billiards.  This will be a split-format A-B-C-D 9-ball event, with A/B players in one half of the bracket & C/D players on the other.  For more information on the tour, visit www.TheTristateTour.com.

Nicholas Chan (3rd), Ken DeCuire (2nd), Jason Egeln (1st)

Payout:

1st: Jason Egeln - $500
2nd: Ken DeCuire - 270
3rd: Nicholas Chan - $180
4th: John Egeln - $110
5th/6th: Andrew Cleary, Ryan McCarthy - $60

TAR 19: Mika Immonen vs Shane Van Boening

By NYC Grind Editor, Alison M. Fischer

In the past decade, two young stars in pool have risen to domination on both national and international levels.  They currently hold the #3 and #4 positions on the 2010 BCA rankings list, and both hold US Open titles and multiple world titles… making them two of the most well-known and widely-followed players in the world.

Now, The Action Report is pitting “The Iceman” Mika Immonen against “The South Dakota Kid” Shane Van Boening in a three-day battle royale at Amsterdam Billiards–the first-ever TAR match to be held in NYC.  This epic race to 100 games in 10-ball is set to be held on October 12-14,  the weekend before the US Open 9-ball Championships, where Immonen will defend his title.  The stakes are high, with a $10,000 entry and the winner takes all.

Although these two top players have had many close battles over the past few years, Immonen has taken an edge over Van Boening at their most recent match-ups, including the Turning Stone Classic and the Poison DP Pro Classic.  However, Van Boening has taken on numerous TAR Challenge Matches and toppled opponents including his legendary matches against Alex Pagulayan as well as Corey Deuel and Earl Strickland, to name a few… and Immonen vs Van Boening is one that pool fans won’t want to miss.

Read more about this clash of the titans at www.TheActionReport.com and read on to check out the full-sized flyer…

TAR 19: Mika Immonen vs Shane Van Boening

Gold Medalist and Silver Medalist Fu and Fisher

All photo courtesy by www.top147.com & Tai Chengzhe

In the most prestigious major event in international women’s pool, star players came from all corners to compete for the title of 2010 World 9-ball Champion.  And this event would see a new face rise to the top–China’s Xiao-Fang Fu.  Read the full story by By Sally Lee…

Shanghai, China - A new name in the billiards world will stand out as China’s Xiao-Fang Fu has been crowned the 2010 Women’s World 10-Ball Championship. Fu toppled a star-studded field and overcame legendary Allison Fisher in the finals to become the second consecutive Chinese woman to win the World 9-Ball.

Fu made it through the beginning stage of the event making the top half cut to reach the round of 32 players. She made relatively short work of Hui Shan Lai 9-3, Ho Yun Tan 9-2, and a tough quarter finals match with former Amway Cup winner Chieh-Yu Chouh of Taiwan 9-7. In the semi-finals, she faced her friend and defending World 9-Ball Champ Sha Sha Liu of China, whom she defeated 9-6 to reach the finals.

Xiao-Fang Fu

Fu has been a rising star in China, but has not been able to translate that success in international competition. This event marks a turning point in the road for her life. On the other side of the bracket another player facing her fork in the road was Allison Fisher. Fisher almost didn’t make it to the World Championship when news of her brother’s death reached her hours before her flight.  Her father had passed a few years earlier, and both had been major influences on her life and career.

Allison did decide to go but decided to keep the news of the tragedy private. A player could easily crumble under those circumstances but Fisher lived up to her name of “Duchess of Doom” as she steam rolled her first four opponents with a combined score of 32 games to 8 before reaching the quarter-finals. Fisher looked liked a woman on a mission and became the event favorite early on as she crushed WPBA star Gerda Hofstatter 7-3, and then defeated Germany’s Ina Jentschura 7-2. In the round of 32, “Doom” demolished China’s Xiao-Chun Zheng 9-2, and then played a near flawless match against USA’s Angel Paglia 9-1 with a total of 8 break and run-outs during the match.

Asia’s dominance in the sport has been well cemented in recent years, and in the Sweet 16, only 6 westerners made it to that round including Paglia USA, Kelly Fisher ENG, Brittany Bryant CAN, Monica Webb USA, Ine Helvik GER, and Allison Fisher ENG. Surprise early exits by pre-tournament favorites were made by Jasmin Ouschan, Karen Corr, Yu Ram Cha, Xiaoting Pan and Rubilen Amit who did not make the top 32 cut.

Kim was stopped by "Doom" for a 3rd World title

European Champion Jasmin Ouschan unexpectedly fell in the preliminary stages

Sha Sha Liu came close to defending her title

In the Elite Final Eight, Allison Fisher was the only westerner left amongst the other 7 Asian queens of pool. But the Duchess proved once more why she is considered to be the greatest woman’s player to ever hold a cue as she toppled 2x World Champion and 2x US Open Champion Ga Young Kim of Korea 9-7. Then in the semi-finals, Fisher trailed the entire match to Taiwan’s Shu Han Chang, but made a thrilling comeback from behind to win 9-8 to reach the finals.  When she pocketed the final 9-Ball, with the cue ball drifting near towards the corner pocket before stopping just a few inches away, Allison laid her cue on the table and placed both hands together and looked up at the sky in acknowledgment.

“The past couple days as I’ve progressed further in the event, it has been very emotional for me,” explained Fisher.

Fisher & Fu lag for the break

After 64 world class players had been reduced down to only two 5 days later. In the finals, Fu jumped out to a gigantic 5-0 lead in the race to 9. Finally Fisher got an opening to run out and finally got a point on the board. But the deficit looked near insurmountable, and it seemed that the personal emotions, fatigue, and overwhelming support for the home country favorite in young Fu would be too much for Fisher, let alone any other player, to withstand. But the Duchess of Doom showed a mettle that could only come from a champion’s champion, and Fisher shot back a dagger into Fu’s confidence with 5 straight wins of her own. Fu regrouped back with taking the lead 6-5 , but it was only temporary as Fisher tied it at 6-6. Fisher has a chance to run out, but made an error that gave Fu the game at 7-6. But Fisher countered in the next game to make it 7-7.

Fisher smashed the rack and was left with an open table which she masterfully maneuvered through but left herself a slight reach on the 9-Ball. She opted for her bridge, which she is known to be a master with, and fired the 9-Ball in. But it failed to go !. Fortunately she left Fu a very tough cut shot down the rail with the cueball near frozen. Fu made an excellent attempt at the 9-Ball and got rewarded to take the leadt8-7. The next game Fu failed to pocket a ball and left Fisher a mediocre safe. Fisher made the 1ball but hooked herself on the 2ball, kicked it but left Fu a wide open table and the match looked over. Fu ran out routinely, but the pressure of close finals match gripped her arm as she shot the 8ball into the point of the rail and missed. Fisher was hooked by the 9ball and had to masse to hit the 8ball and possibly make it. She made it! But the cueball rolled uptable and left herself a very low percentage 9-Ball. She made a fair attempt but it wasn’t enough and left Fu a long bank shot on the 9-Ball. Fu fired at it and missed it terribly by two diamonds and almost fluked it in the side pocket. She again left Fisher a tough but makeable cut shot or bank on the 9-ball. Allison tried to slice the ball down the rail but missed it and ended up further penalized with a scratch. So with ball in hand, a very relieved Fu pocketed the 9-Ball for the win!

Fu and Fisher embrace after the hard fought finals

“Of course I would have liked to have won the event, but I am very pleased with my performance and result. To be honest over the past few years, I’ve struggled with my game, but I have re-dedicated myself to the sport and love playing again. I trained very hard for this event, and feel that my confidence is back, so this great finish was confirmation that I’m on track. I’m really looking forward to the upcoming events because I feel that I’m hungry again and my best games are still yet to come”, said Fisher.

For Xiao-Fang Fu, it is a coming of age for the young Chinese woman’s player pursuing a career in pool. For Allison Fisher, the event represented a resurgence of greatness and strength in overcoming personal tragedy and demons.

Allison has found a renewed passion for the sport