Stacked Field Serves up Surprises at UPA Pro Tour Championships

UPA Pro Tour Championship / Normandie Casino, Los Angeles, CA
by Rick Davis
Day Four of the UPA Pro Tour Championships was completely stacked with the top touring pros along with a sprinkling of those hoping to achieve that title. Saturday is the big elimination day, as those that survive through about half the day will find themselves in the money, although only four billiard players are scheduled to return for the final day.

Diamondback to Sponsor Kelly Fisher

Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Diamondback™ Products, producers of the Atrox Tool™, proudly announces it has reached a two year deal with number 3 world ranked Women’s Professional billiards Association (WPBA) Pro, Kelly Kwikfire Fisher. The deal guarantees Fisher $40,000 over the next two years.

Morra Impresses at Stan James Montreal

The young guns and the old guard of billiards are going head to head in Montreal. One of those young guns is seventeen-year-old John Morra who joins Edwin Montal way out on the end of the winners bracket. Morra had an impressive day. He began his trek with a hill-hill win over Tino Barbiere, and then followed that with a 9-7 win over tour-ranked number two player Jeff Kennedy. Then Steve Chapman fell before him 9-4 before he beat legendary player Alain Martel 9-6 to claim his leg of the bracket.

Ray Wins on Home Turf

Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour / Raleigh, NC
by Rock City Promotions
The Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour rolled through Raleigh, NC, March 24 as the ninth stop on the tour was held at Play 2 Win billiards. As the poolroom owner, Robert Ray rolled out the red carpet, but as a player he pocketed the green, defeating Sam Monday in the final match.

UPA Pro Tour Championships Continues
by Rick Davis
The UPA Pro Tour Championships got underway March 29 and will run through Sunday, April 1, when a champion will be crowned and walk away with the top prize of $10,000. The 51-player field has been bravely fighting through the double-elimination event with a race to 11 on both sides of the chart. Saturday’s action will begin with a 16-player field followed by the Sunday field dropping to the top four.

Minnesota State University Mankato to host BEF Junior Nationals and ACUI Collegiate Championships

The Billiard Education Foundation (BEF) has finalized arrangements to combine the 19th Annual Junior Nationals to be played in conjunction with the19th Annual Association of College Unions International (ACUI) Collegiate 9-ball Championships for the 3rd consecutive year. Minnesota State University, Mankato (MSU) will host this event on July 10th – 15th, 2007. ACUI competition will be held on July 10th-12th, while the Junior excitement begins Thursday thru Sunday, July 12th -15th .

Smith Double-Dips for billiards Win

McDermott All-American Tour / Lakewood, CO
by InsidePOOL Staff
The twenty-seventh stop of the 2006/2007 McDermott All American Tour was hosted by Greenfield’s pool Sports Bar in Lakewood, CO, March 24. The billiard event featured a $1,000-added purse with 44 players and saw Nate Smith double-dip Sam Cordova in the finals.

Arbuckle and Duckmore Rule Viking billiards Tour
Viking Amateur 9-ball Tour / Canton, OH, and Huntington, WV

by InsidePOOL Staff
The Viking Amateur 9-ball Tour hosted two billiard events the weekend of March 24-25, laying siege to both Canton, OH, and Huntington, WV. Joey Arbuckle took top honors in Fiddlestix Café, while Donald Duckmore scored first place at TJ’s House of billiards.

Billiard Victory for Chavez
Blaze 9-ball Tour / Mount Holly, NJ

by Jose Burgos
Ignacio Chavez triumphed over a 45-player field to take top honors at the March 24-25 Blaze 9-ball Tour stop. Hosted by Empire billiards in Mount Holly, NJ, this billiards event drew fine players like Danny Green, Matt Krah, and Mike Davis, to name a few.

Savvy Song Surprises Archer
J. Pechauer Southeast Open 9-ball Tour / Atlanta, GA

by InsidePOOL Staff
The J. Pechauer Southeast Open 9-ball Tour’s finale event for the year took place March 24-25 at Mr. Cues billiards in Atlanta, GA. Boasting a $3,000-added purse, this stop brought a top field of 46 out, with Paul Song winning in the finals over Johnny “The Scorpion” Archer.

Another Win for White
Canadian 30K Tour / Oshawa, ONT

by Willy Hermoza and Tony Butera
A good group of 31 billiard players ventured out in the rain to partake in the March 24-25 stop of the Canadian 30K Tour, held at Tee’s and Cue’s in Oshawa, ONT. In the end, long time champion and all-around-good-guy, Jeff White, set the pace and decimated his opponents on his way to taking top honors.

ACS Nationals to Host ESPN Televised World Summit of pool

The American CueSports Alliance (ACS) is excited to announce its hosting of the $25,000-added “World Summit of pool” during the ACS Nationals at the Riviera Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Many of the top professional players, such as Johnny “The Scorpion” Archer (pictured right), Thorsten “Hit Man” Hohmann, Mika “The Iceman” Immonen and Rodney “The Rocket” Morris will be featured in the June 13-16 event, which is being produced by Dragon Promotions, sanctioned by the UPA and televised for broadcast on ESPN.

Olhausen Turns the Page on Another Chapter

March 23, 2007 – Portland, TN: Olhausen billiards has turned the page on another chapter of Olhausen history as Gregg Hovey has stepped down as President of Olhausen Billiard Manufacturing, Inc. to pursue other business interests.

Clock and Snow Undefeated
Viking Cues 9-ball Tour / Logansport, IN

By Rick Davis
The Viking Cue 9-ball Tour offered a big weekend in Logansport, IN, where Coonie’s Rack and Cue drew in a total of 58 billiard players between the open and amateur events. After the March 24-25 open action completed, Charles Clock remained undefeated, while his counterpart in the amateur division had the same record after their single day of play on March 25.
In the open division, action on the winners’ side was narrowed down to Clock and Jim Coonie, who faced off in the hot seat match. Connie took a quick start, going up 6-2, but then a scratch on the break along with a five-pack from Clock soon ended the set with Clock winning double-hill.

Xiaoting Pan Wins Great Lakes Classic

by InsidePOOL Staff
Runner-up at the Carolina Classic, Xiaoting Pan has made her mark on women’s professional billiards with her first win on the WPBA Tour, scoring a victory over tour veteran Helena Thornfeldt to reach the winner’s seat.