Orcollo and Corr Cap Flawless Runs in Vegas

EnjoyPool.com 9-ball champions crowned, both undefeated in a major
By Paul Berg, Inside pool Magazine Staff
With an oppressive 7-0 finals victory over Shane Van Boening, perhaps the most feared Filipino in the islands’ new wave of dominant players has a major championship to his credit on American soil. Dennis Orcollo, long kept from appearing in the United States due to visa difficulties, emerged here during the short-lived International pool Tour. In an undefeated run through the invited field of 64 elite players, Orcollo swept through the EnjoyPool.com 9-ball Championships like a typhoon.
Not to be outdone, Karen Corr won the WPBA-sanctioned women’s event without taking a loss. In a reprisal of their great rivalry, Corr bested Allison Fisher 7-4, taking advantage of a pair of side pocket misses by “The Duchess of Doom” in the middle of the match to reclaim a lead “The Irish Invader” never lost again. Counting its hallowed previous BCA Open incarnation, the name of which the Congress changed both to indicate its invitational nature and promote their web site, Corr has now won this event four times.
The women’s final played first today in the Grand Ballroom at the Riviera, and as ESPN cameras rolled for the first time this year on the old snooker rivals, WPBA-ranked #1 Fisher and #2 Corr hit near perfect lags to an exhilarated reaction from the crowd. Corr’s was barely better, and she broke and ran the first rack with a break that would carry her through the match. With the alternate-break, one race-to-7 format in effect, Fisher broke the next rack and looked to keep Corr in her seat but missed a 5-9 combination to allow Corr a run-out and a 2-0 lead. When Corr scratched on her next break, Fisher quickly leveled the match, running out there and after her own break.
It was Fisher taking her only lead after some tentative play by both champions in the next game, but a miss on the 3 ball in the side that she had deliberated the position for extensively put Corr back in control. She cleared there and then broke and ran to go back up 4-3, and after Fisher missed the 1 ball in the side pocket, Corr worked defensive magic on the 5 ball to get one game closer. Fisher rallied to great excitement from the crowd in the next rack, splitting the pocket with a long jump at the 1 ball and running out. With a chance to tie the match at 5 in the next, Fisher followed Corr’s miss of the 3 ball with one of her own on the 4. Corr worked out the pattern from there, clearing for a 6-4 edge, and broke and ran out the next to bring the title home.
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While a major 9-ball title in Las Vegas this time of year is old hat for “The Irish Invader,” Orcollo has never had the chance to bring one home to his beloved Philippines. His run through this event was spectacular, with back-to-back victories over European standouts Marcus Chamat and Niels Feijen followed by ousting venerable greats from his homeland Francisco Bustamante and Jose Parica. For his part, Van Boening was eager for a rematch in front of a partisan crowd. The long support of the BCA by his pool-playing family, from his grandfather Gary Bloomberg to his champion mother Timi, was a big reason he was the BCA players’ selection for the field, and he did not disappoint, bringing a champion’s heart and his growing game to any doubter’s attention.
Unfortunately for Van Boening, Orcollo was not to be denied. Failing to pocket a ball on two of his three breaks cost the 23-year-old Sioux Falls, SD, sharpshooter dearly, as Orcollo allowed scant opportunities after his own smashes. As the lead mounted, Van Boening made a few unforced errors, seemingly caught up in the chances that had already passed. While the 7-0 result was indeed a case of a different level of play on this day by Orcollo, the past two finals at this event have been similarly lopsided, as momentum in a short race with alternate breaks is an avalanche of pressure to overcome.
The EnjoyPool.com 9-ball Championships were made possible by the BCA and a host of sponsors. Diamond Tables, Simonis Cloth, Aramith Pro Billiard Balls, and Tweeten Fiber Co.’s Master chalk are mainstays of the professional game and were joined in their support by Ozonebilliards.com, PoolDawg.com, the American Poolplayers Association, and Cuetec Cues and their distributor Imperial International. Play in the BCA Open teams division will wrap up tonight, so for all the latest in billiards news from Las Vegas, stay tuned to www.insidepoolmag.com.

Van Boening and Fisher go the distance

Davis and Ouschan ousted in EnjoyPool.com semi-finals
By Paul Berg, Inside pool Magazine Staff
After some early errors under the heat of the ESPN lights, South Dakota’s Shane Van Boening recovered from a 3-0 deficit facing Maryland’s Mike Davis. The selection of the BCA players for entry into the EnjoyPool.com 9-ball Championships, Van Boening rallied to a 7-6 win, earning another shot at deadly Dennis Orcollo in tomorrow afternoon’s single race to seven final. While the spotlight of the finals in a major is new for the third generation pool player, Alison Fisher and Karen Corr are very familiar with the grand stage. With a 7-5 victory over last year’s champion, 21 year-old Austrian sensation Jasmin Ouschan, WPBA #1 Fisher earned a rematch with her chief rival, having gone down 9-3 to #2 Corr in their winners’ bracket finale last night.
In the men’s semi-final, Van Boening missed an unnecessarily long 7ball in the first rack, and miscued shooting the 2ball in the third. Davis aced those opportunities to run out and sandwiched a smash and clear job between them in the alternate break format to take a commanding advantage in a set shortened for television. With a scratch in the next game, Davis allowed Van Boening back into the match, and the trend of pocketing the cue ball would cost Davis dearly as Van Boening capitalized on four more fouls.
Van Boening’s level of play jumped dramatically after Davis opened the door. After Davis botched a break and run with a chance to take back control (hooking himself for the 7-ball and amazingly pocketing it with a two-rail kick only to catch the most brutal of his scratches), Van Boening ran out from the break and suddenly had his first advantage up 5-4. Davis scratched on his subsequent break, and could only watch as Van Boening expertly cleared the tight layout, keying his work through congestion with a cross-side 4ball bank and taking the hill.
Davis capitalized on Van Boening’s positional error on the 8ball and resultant miss in the next rack to draw within a game, and then a 5ball miss to knot the affair at six. Van Boening would not be denied however, and broke and ran out with very little need to move the cue ball much from ball to ball in a road map pattern, dashing Davis’ hopes and relegating him to an impressive third place finish.
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Also left in third, Ouschan was similarly close to victory despite shaky play, but made too many mistakes against the unflappable Fisher. At the outset, neither participant in this rematch of last year’s final could muster a ball on the snap, with the first five games going in the loss column for the breaking player and giving Fisher a 3-2 advantage. “The Duchess of Doom” finally shook that curse in the next game, eventually finding the heart of the pocket with a cross-corner 7ball bank to seal a winning run-out. Ouschan was able to keep close with a long 6ball bank of her own in the next rack that helped her bring the score to 4-3 Fisher’s favor, but her newfound confidence with a soft break showed in a break and run-out that padded that lead.
Ouschan showed the fire that was on display in her array of strong victories this week, blasting the balls hard and turning her cue ball loose in a very different style of break. The white landed with adequate position, and Ouschan quickly worked her way to an early nine courtesy of the nearby 5ball and slammed it home. “The Ice Princess” earned an equalizer in the tenth game, running out with ball in hand after a marvelous kick-safety on the 5ball which Fisher was able to kick at for contact only to scratch.
It would unravel from there for Ouschan, as her powerful break sent two balls into pockets and one cue ball over the rail and off the table. Fisher cleaned up to take a 6-5 lead, and despite running to a 3-9 combination from the break and missing, Ouschan got in line for a clearance only to miss the 7ball and allow Fisher a three ball out for the victory.
Orcollo and Corr will get a chance to finish undefeated performances against their most recently deposed opponents, as Van Boening and Fisher try to reverse the results of the winners’ bracket finals. Stay tuned to insidepoolmag.com for the last day of play in the EnjoyPool.com 9-ball Championships and the BCA Open team events from the Riviera in Las Vegas.

Corr and Orcollo claim the hot seats in Vegas

EnjoyPool.com 9-ball Championships down to six shooters
By Paul Berg, Inside pool Magazine Staff
With a battle plan clearly at her side, Karen Corr has reminded any doubters why she is the top money winner in the history of this event. With a convincing pair of victories, “The Irish Invader” will have the day off tomorrow as ESPN films the semi-finals in both the men’s and women’s divisions of the EnjoyPool.com 9-ball Championships, running concurrently with a host of BCA Open events. Filipino champion Dennis Orcollo will share that privilege with a similarly impressive pair of wins.
While Orcollo and Corr certainly earned their places, most of Thursday’s play was consumed by those with one loss attempting to come through as many as five consecutive matches to earn more than just the prestige, cash, and shot at the title. Time in front of the television cameras is worth at least as much for professionals, and amazing runs through the B-side were made by some of the game’s greats. Current U.S. Open champion John Schmidt came through four races to 11, having lost his second round on the winners’ side to Warren Kiamco. In succession, Schmidt tackled Earl Strickland, Satoshi Kawabata, Ronnie Wiseman, and finally Jose “Amang” Parica. Parica took both of his losses today, and is joined in a tie for fifth place with Mika “The Iceman” Immmonen. To further explain the strength of Thursday at this event, Immonen had just ousted feared Francisco Bustamante, who in turn had just come back against a long one-loss grinder in Johnny “The Scorpion” Archer. Archer lost in the first round, and had beaten back a host of amazing players just to tie for ninth.
Schmidt took home fourth place in the elite field of 64, falling short in his fifth set of the day 11-8 to Mike Davis, who will play tomorrow evening in a rematch with his ouster, Shane Van Boening. Ayoung standout in backrooms across the country, Van Boening is hearing impaired, but is subject to play jokes with his hearing aid, and certainly heard his heart pounding as he bested Davis. The Fayetteville, NC born traveler who has come to rest in Maryland, and has had his share of success, most recently as part of the Mosconi Cup team. Davis went down 11-6 in an error-plagued match, but earned his way back for the final three in the mens’ draw with close victories over Immonen and Schmidt.
For his part, Orcollo has remained undefeated through strong opposition, toppling pal Parica 11-8 and holding Van Boening, the BCA league players’ selection for entry into the tournament, to a mere six games. The pride of Sioux Falls, SD, Van Boening has shown the heart of a champion on many occasions throughout the week, but suffered from an inability to get shots at the 1ball after the break, and a problem named Orcollo. With the poise of a stalking wolf, Orcollo eyed any possible interruption to his graceful run-out play with care. He measured his decisions well at all times, and seems to have a knack for getting to the shot before the other man. All of the Filipino hallmarks of play, between kicking for safety, spinning the ball with ease, and precision breaking, exist in Orcollo as well, making him a rising fear for his strongest Pinoy friends.
Karen Corr was equally brilliant, holding down offensively explosive defending champion Jasmin Ouschan 9-4. Corr’s ability to control the pace of the match, occasionally using safeties where many top players would attempt to run out, undid Ouschan’s early lead, and seemed to cause her to lose rhythm and miss some routine shots. The veteran move comes from someone who has won as many titles as the Austrian has had birthdays. That’s twenty-one, sports fans.
Ouschan will return tomorrow night, having dispatched Gerda Hofstatter and Ga Young Kim, the latter in a near comeback win for the impressive player from Chinese Taipei. Kim was narrowly denied a hill-hill chance after trailing 7-2, and the eventual 9-7 loss came around the same time as Schmidt’s, after nearly as long a trek. She finished in fourth place, having deposited Atlanta’s Monica Webb in a tie for fifth with Hofstatter in a thrilling 9-8 nail-biter.
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Alison Fisher will be there to face Ouschan, having held off Webb 9-6 before falling to Corr in the hot seat match. The 9-3 result speaks for itself, but there are many chapters in the battle between the number one and two players on the WPBA Tour, and another could be written Saturday if Ouschan cannot take advantage of the race to seven format for the ESPN semi-finals and finals. The alternate break is another hurdle for the most offensively impressive parts of 9-ball, but each of these six players deserves some time under the television lights, and they will have every chance of taking home a major championship in the next two days. Fisher and Corr have yet to bask in that pressure yet this tour year, and with “The Duchess of Doom” holding the top spot (which #2-ranked Corr shook her of for the only stretch this century), you can bet Corr will be looking to put it on either her old snooker rival or the impertinent kid who snatched her favorite crown last year.
Stay tuned to insidepoolmag.com for continuing coverage of all the pool and billiard related events through Saturday at the Riviera in Las Vegas.

Orcollo and Ouschan stand out in EnjoyPool.com play

Six other champions remain undefeated in world class fields
By Paul Berg, Inside pool Magazine Staff
The heat is on at the EnjoyPool.com 9-ball Championships in Las Vegas, and even the world’s greatest players feel it. Both professional brackets are down to four undefeated players, with tomorrow’s schedule devoted to grueling one-loss play. In the stacked men’s event, a Filipino pairing and a couple of hungry Americans remain unblemished.
Deadly Dennis Orcollo stopped Francisco Bustamante’s run through his countrymen at two, “Django” having most recently defeated Marlon Manalo and Santos Sambajon Jr. on his way to a tough 11-7 loss. Orcollo was relentless, jumping out of the gate with a 5-1 lead as Bustamante struggled to get shape after his breaks. While he rallied, breaking in three and four balls on his way to drawing within a game of Orcollo, a pair of brutal scratches by Bustamante put victory out of reach. Orcollo ran out after both of his last two snaps in the alternate break format with measured strokes to close the door.
Jose Parica escaped another double hill scrape with a top European to meet Orcollo in the next round. After falling behind 6-2 against “The Giant Killer” and rallying to a tie at eight, Mika Immonen reached the hill before Parica after a shocking 8ball miss from the leader of the Filipino invasion. Despite an amazing run-out display to get back in the match, Immonen was unable to finish the job, missing on multiple opportunities to allow Parica to join him on the hill, where he broke and ran out for an 11-10 win.
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Shane Van Boening, specially selected by the BCA as their entry into the field, also nearly squandered a sizeable early lead facing Satoshi Kawabata. The Japanese stalwart’s monster break helped him get back in the match, and like Immonen, he got to the hill first, but the South Dakotan broke and ran out to join him. Kawabata nearly broke in the 9ball, and risked the match on a difficult carom at it off the 2ball. The results were calmly cleaned up by Van Boening. Mike Davis will be his next opponent, coveting another big title in Nevada to match his 2003 win in Reno and coming off an 11-6 victory over Ronnie Wiseman.
In the WPBA-sanctioned womens’ event, Jasmin Ouschan doesn’t appear to be trying to walk the same long path through the one-loss side that earned her a breakout title here last year. Following a 9-6 win over former world champion Shin-Mei Liu on Tuesday night, “The Ice Princess” handed recent Great Lakes Classic winner Xiaoting Pan a 9-3 drubbing, running out frequently from the break and displaying tactical genius when the balls didn’t lay well for offense. Karen Corr is the biggest money winner in the history of this event (dating back to its long-running title, the BCA Open), and stands tall in Ouschan’s path to a title defense following a 9-4 win over Miyuki Sakai.
Alison Fisher and Monica Webb also go into Thursday without a loss, and the number one ranked “Duchess of Doom” and fifth ranked Atlanta assassin will face off. Fisher was never in jeopardy in a 9-4 win over Gerda Hofstatter, while Webb held off her close friend and practice partner, as Helena Thornfeldt came back from a 6-2 deficit valiantly in an eventual 9-6 loss.
The one-loss side of each bracket is populated by twenty top players, and Thursday’s schedule will be a long day for anyone hoping to see Friday. Stay tuned to insidepoolmag.com for all the latest news from the Riviera in Las Vegas, as the EnjoyPool.com 9-ball Championships and the BCA National Team events roll on.

BCA Singles Conclude

by Rick Davis
The 31st annual BCA singles divisions concluded play Tuesday, May 15, after five days of play across 11 divisions.
The crowning jewel of the action was the mens grandmasters division where Jason “Dark Horse” Kirkwood went undefeated to earn top honors. In the mens masters division Donald Todd took the gold undefeated while Gregory Kuhl came back from a late loss to claim the open division. Finishing up the mens divisions were the senior and super senior events that were taken down by Carl Coffee and Rodney Thompson, respectively, both players going undefeated.
Action in the womens divisions kept on par as Kristi Carter swept the grandmasters division undefeated. At the same time Stacie Bourbeau took the masters field while Marissa Hallett cleared the open division, both players winning undefeated. Finally, Tommie Keyser pulled out the win in the senior division, finishing well after midnight for another undefeated sweep.
Two divisions of second chance play also concluded as Mark Church took down the mens event while Melinda Hagues earned the womens title in the single-elimination format.

Mens Grand Master:
1st Jason Kirkwood
2nd Edwin Montal
3rd Ike Runnels
Mens Master:
1st Donald Todd
2nd Francisco Jose Diaz Pizarro
3rd Jeremy Smith
Mens Open:
1st Gregory Kuhl
2nd Duane Demas
3rd Todd Speakman
Mens Senior:
1st Carl Coffee
2nd Robert Schumacher
3rd Robert Swindler
Mens Super Senior:
1st Rodney Thompson
2nd Ellahue O’Rear
3rd Robert Gawthrop
Womens Grand Master:
1st Kristi Carter
2nd Romana Dokovic
3rd Rebecca Wagner
Womens Master:
1st Stacie Bourbeau
2nd Jackie Flitcher
3rd Katrina Lyman
Womens Open:
1st Marissa Hallett
2nd Betty Sessions
3rd Mary Hopkin
Womens Senior:
1st Tommie Keyser
2nd Nancy Kuhn
3rd Sherry Griffin
Mens Second Chance:
1st Mark Church
2nd Tommy Huynh
Womens Second Chance:
1st Melinda Hagues
2nd Marcia Hanifee

Close Friends and Countrymen Collide

Eight unbeaten remain in each EnjoyPool.com 9-ball Championship events

By Paul Berg, Inside pool Magazine Staff
It’s getting crowded on the one-loss side of both professional brackets at the EnjoyPool.com 9-ball Championships. With some strong victories, eight men and women remain unbeaten in each invited 64-player field, and for the ladies, close friendships will have to be set aside for the fourth round of undefeated action tomorrow.
Helena Thornfeldt and Monica Webb are not only two of the most feared players on the WPBA tour, they are practice partners and close friends where they reside in Atlanta. They will face off tomorrow evening, Thornfeldt on the strength of a 9-6 win over the sensational Ga Young Kim. Kim was nearly beaten last night, as Sarah Rousey had her chance to win their hill-hill contest. The Swedish “Sledgehammer” led the match wire to wire, and Kim was thwarted in her comeback efforts, first by a slow-rolled 8ball in the side that softly rattled and hung impossibly with a chance to tie the match at 6-all, and then by a tough call from tournament director Steve Tipton. Down 7-6, Kim was again shooting the 8ball, which was tied-up with the 9ball, and Tipton called the pocketed shot a foul, to the disbelief of Kim and many spectators. Thornfeldt didn’t hesitate to capitalize and close the door.
Webb had much less tension in her match, a 9-1 sprint past Amanda Lampert. In their half of the draw, Alison Fisher and Gerda Hofstatter are the other remaining pair, both coming off of impressive victories. “The Duchess of Doom” bested Melissa Herndon 9-3, while her friend “The G-Force” upended Jeannette Lee 9-5. The other match-ups for the fourth round are scintillating, as Xiaoting Pan will play Jasmine Ouschan, while Karen Corr tangles with Miyuki Sakai.
In the fourth round of the men’s event, all eyes will be on Francisco Bustamante facing countryman Dennis Orcollo. Bustamante was able to hold off Santos Sambajon Jr. 11-9, keyed by a streak of four winning racks to grab a 9-7 lead. Orcollo survived Niels Feijen by sheer will, as “The Terminator” made the most of his every break with relentless run-out play. In the end, Orcollo won a lengthy defensive struggle for the 1ball in the case game, Feijen scratching and sealing his fate 11-10.
Mika Immonen is one player entering the fourth round with a head of steam, having blown past Earl Strickland 11-4. He’ll face Jose Parica, who kept up his flawless track record against Fabio Petroni. Barely. In an 11-10 defeat, Petroni came as close as he could come to his first win over the legendary “Amang,” faltering on a 2ball safety and leaving Parica just enough room to pocket it rail-first and clear for the escape. For Parica, hill-hill is becoming a norm, having toppled Corey Deuel in that fashion last night.
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Mike Davis and Ronnie Wiseman also have some double-hill thriller experience in their immediate rear view, Davis edging Raj Hundal and Wiseman slipping by Thomas Engert. Those narrow third round victories should make for some steely nerves when the young gun tries the vet tomorrow night. Next to them on the chart are Shane Van Boening, an 11-9 winner over 17 year-old phenom John Morra, and Satoshi Kawabata, who turned a large early lead and his powerful break into an 11-8 win against cagey Warren Kiamco.
If the names of the sixteen unbeaten players aren’t enough to prove that the EnjoyPool.com 9-ball Championship is the same major event in our sport its antecedent the BCA Open was, nearly everyone else at the top of the game can be found on the one-loss side. Stay tuned to insidepoolmag.com for continued coverage from the swirling pool paradise occupying the Riviera in Las Vegas, as they duke it out in the desert through Saturday.

Contenders Emerge in Second Day of EnjoyPool.com Play

Top male and female pros steer through second round
By Paul Berg, Inside pool Magazine Staff
As stifling and certain as the desert heat of Las Vegas, the power of the Philippines in men’s 9-ball is on display at the EnjoyPool.com 9-ball Championships. With a tactical 11-6 victory over countryman Marlon Manalo, Francisco Bustamante advanced to the third round of undefeated play tomorrow, where he will meet Santos Sambajon Jr., who is fresh off an 11-5 thumping of defending champion Ralf Souquet. While his Mosconi Cup teammate Marcus Chamat showed tenacity, the Swede was felled 11-7 by Dennis Orcollo, leaving the only non-Pinoy victory during their scheduled match time to Niels Feijen. His 11-3 demolition of Tony Crosby certainly showed Feijen to be ready for the Filipino-loaded quarter of the draw that remains in his path.
The last of the second round is in progress currently, with marquee match-ups including Corey Deuel against Jose Parica, Fabio Petroni facing Charlie Bryant, Mika Immonen taking on Paul Potier, and Florida competitors Earl Strickland and Robb Saez. In earlier second-round play, Ronnie Wiseman edged past Rodney Morris 11-10 and will move on to play Thomas Engert.
Also in the daytime session of the second round, Raj Hundal undid Larry Nevel’s fine first-round work of besting Johnny Archer, the English potter topping “The Truth” by an 11-8 score and moving on to face Mike Davis. While Warren Kiamco is the only Filipino lurking in the lower half of the winners’ bracket, more attention will likely be paid to a slated contest between young John Morra and Shane Van Boening. Morra has topped 2004 BCA Open champion Tony Robles 11-8 and 2004 U.S. Open champion Gabe Owen 11-10, while Van Boening toppled Charlie Williams double-hill in his second-round outing.
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While the women’s event also features 64 of the finest players in the world, there seems to be less early collisions amongst the favorites. In this evening’s latest action, Jeanette Lee and Gerda Hofstatter cruised through their matches to set up a highly anticipated match between the two great champions. Vivian Villarreal has suffered the only significant upset thus far in the women’s draw at the hands of capable Miyuki Sakai. Both of Sakai’s matches have been 9-8 thrillers, her first over back room phenomenon Rachael Abbink.
In the remaining second-round action of the night for the women, Melissa Little and Monica Webb will square off, and in another great match, Sarah Rousey will try to topple Ga-Young Kim. Some interesting pairings have already been made for the third round beyond the Lee/Hofstatter tilt, including recent WPBA Great Lakes Classic winner Xiaoting Pan against petite and lethal Jennifer Chen, and Karen Corr facing Tiffany Nelson. Stay tuned to www.insidepoolmag.com for updates from the EnjoyPool.com Championships in Las Vegas all week long.

Upsets and Hill-Hill Matches Begin EnjoyPool.com Championships

by Inside pool Staff
The Billiard Congress of America’s EnjoyPool.com 9-ball Championship event began May 13 with a full field of 64 in both the men’s and women’s divisions. The Riviera Hotel and Casino is hosting the event again, while the BCA pool League’s Nationals are held concurrently.
So far, in the first day of play there have been several surprises, blow-outs, and hill-hill matches. Runner-up in both 2006 and 2005, Johnny Archer suffered a first-round loss to Wisconsin’s Larry “The Truth” Nevel 11-6. Thirteen-year-old Austin Murphy took Sweden’s Marcus Chamat almost hill-hill but succumbed 11-9.
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The other European players are thriving so far: Niels Feijen defeated Florida’s Richard Broumpton 11-3, while Mika Immonen won over Ernesto Dominguez 11-6. The UK’s Raj Hundal defeated Dave Hemmah in a double-hill match, and Luc Salvas dealt Shawn Putnam his first loss 11-10.
In a lengthy double-hill match, Darren Appleton of the UK sent Steve Moore to the west side. Moore came back from an 8-4 deficit to knot the score and then won the next game. When the score reached 10-all, Moore scratched on the break, and Appleton ran out cleanly for the win.
There were few upsets in the women’s division so far. Defending champion Jasmine Ouschan won her match over Vicki Paski 9-0 in record time. Ga-Young Kim whizzed through Morgan Steinman 9-1, and Gerda Hofstatter dealt My-Hahn Lac a 9-1 loss. Jeanette Lee looked good in her match with Angelina Paglia, winning 9-3, and Jennifer Barretta defeated Julie Melman 9-4.
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Diamond Billiard Products Obtains Table Rights for Enjoypool.com 9-ball Championships

Diamond Billiard Products is pleased to announce that they have acquired the rights as the official table of the BCA’s 2007 Enjoypool.com 9-ball Championships at the Riviera Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, May 13-19. The event, to be taped for broadcast on ESPN, allows Diamond world-wide exposure for, arguably, the greatest pool table ever made.
Diamond’s mission is to standardize equipment to professional specifications as determined by professional players. VP, Chad Scharlow, looks forward to the feedback as, For the first time, both men and women’s professional organizations will compete simultaneously on the the crown jewel of tournament play, The Diamond Pro-Am.
Diamond sees this year’s Enjoypool.com 9-ball Championships, held in conjunction with BCA National 8-ball championships, as a monumental occasion. For the first time in billiard history, the professional player and the league player will play under the same conditions. Same pocket openings, slate thickness, cloth speed and color, balls– including the same weight, non-magnetic cue ball. The only difference is the 9 foot versus 7 foot playing surface. All BCA pool League members competing in the Grand Ballroom, on each of the 102 seven foot Diamond Smart Tables with 4-1/2 Pro Cut pockets, are competing under professional conditions. When they watch the Pro’s competing in the Enjoypool.com 9-ball Championships on ESPN, they can take pride knowing that Diamond, and the BCA pool League, care about their sport, and treat their amateur players with the same respect as they do the Pro’s.
Diamond is no stranger to professional events. Since 1999 they have they have developed their tables through input from the greatest pool tournament on earth; The Diamond Derby City Classic. Ten days of 500 players jousting with Bank pool, One Pocket, Straight pool, and 9-ball will certainly put any table to the test.
The U.S. Open 9-ball Championship has Diamond as it’s official table.
The BCA pool League hosts its National 8-ball Championships on the 7 foot Diamond Smart Table. The Smart Table is coin operated and, through laser technology sensors, allows Red Circle cue ball return after a scratch. Now league players don’t have to use the oversized cue ball.

The U.S. Open Bar Table Championships puts the Diamond 7 footers to the test.
Qlympics: Three Weeks of pool Bliss upcoming in November, will host both professional and BCA pool League events on Diamond 7 and 9 foot Smart Tables.
Both Diamond’s 7 and 9 foot tables have the 4-1/2 Pro Cut pockets, again, to standardize equipment, and bridge the gap between amateur and professional players.
The Enjoypool.com 9-ball Championships and The BCA pool League National 8-ball Championships have 281 Diamond tables under one roof at the same time: All draped in Simonis 860 Tour Blue cloth and adorned with Super Aramith Pro Balls. Now that’s a sight to behold. Come to the Riviera and see for yourself.