Sakai Undefeated at Hammer Heads

Ladies Spirit Tour / Holiday, FL
by Rick Davis
Japan’s Miyuki Sakai blew away the 46-player field at Hammer Heads in Holiday, FL, to go undefeated during her reign at the Ladies Spirit Tour’s third tour stop of the 2007 season April 28-29.
On the winners’ side the top four faced off as tour regular Stephanie Mitchell defeated the winner of the last stop, Debbie Schjodt, double-hill. Also, Sakai sliced through the winner of the first event, Jeannie Seaver, 7-4. In the hot seat match Mitchell kept things close, although Sakai was too strong and ultimately defeated Mitchell 7-5.
Over on the one-loss side Dawn Fox was putting together a nice comeback, taking four one-loss match wins, including a 7-1 thrashing against Jessica Barnes, until she was stopped dead by Schjodt 7-2. In that same round Seaver kept herself in the action, eliminating Tamara Redemakers 7-3 to meet Schjodt in the quarterfinals.
With only three matches remaining Seaver ousted Schjodt 7-5 in the quarterfinals but was then knocked out herself 7-3 by Mitchell in the semifinals. With the finals a rematch of the hot seat match the score kept close for the final time. This time around a thrilling double-hill score was reached before Sakai closed out the match with the final rack.
Results:
1st Miyuki Sakai
2nd Stephanie Mitchell
3rd Jeannie Seaver
4th Debbie Schjodt
5th Dawn Fox
Tamara Redemakers
7th Jessica Barnes
Ellen Van Buren

Corr Makes a Convincing Comeback

Joss 9-ball Tour / Parsippany, NJ
by Rick Davis
The final regular season stop of the Joss 9-ball Tour took place April 28-29 at Comet billiards in Parsippany, NJ, where a 49-player field emerged to do battle. Once the billiard skirmishes were complete, WPBA pro Karen Corr was declared the champion after a huge comeback.
Late action on the winners’ side wound down to Al Lapena and Bucky Souvanthong in the hot seat match, where Lapena just slipped through after a double-hill showdown. On the one-loss side things were in full swing, as the remaining handful of players attempted to advance further.
Tournament regular and Northeast terror Joey Korsiak blazed through Chris Lynch 9-0 and Johnathan Smith 9-4 to reach the quarterfinals. Nearby, Santos Sambajon Jr. eliminated Ray McNamarra 9-7 but was then upset double-hill by the incoming Corr after she had taken a defeat from Lapena. With Corr facing Korsiak in the quarterfinals, little time was wasted as Corr pressed through, knocking out Korsiak 9-5. Then in the semifinals, Corr ousted Souvanthong as well, this match going 9-4.
With a true double-elimination format the finals offered a long road for Corr, who needed to defeat Lapena twice, but after she took the first set 9-4 it was anyone’s game. In the following set Corr did not let up and, before long, took the set 9-5 to claim the match and the top finish after an impressive five-match comeback.
The Joss 9-ball Tour will hold their final event of the season in August at the Turning Stone Casino, and those wishing to enter must contact tournament director Mike Zuglan to reserve their spot in the $25,000-added event.
Results:
1st Karen Corr
2nd Al Lapena
3rd Bucky Souvanthong
4th Joey Korsiak
5th Johnathan Smith
Santos Sambajon Jr.
7th Chris Lynch
Ray McNamarra

John Morra Takes Down Stan James in Toronto

The final match in Toronto came down to a face-off between Danny Hewitt and John Morra. Morra came into the final undefeated, having sent his father Mario left in the ‘A’ side final 9-8 after besting Tyler Edey 9-6.
Hewitt had a rougher road. He lost his first match of the day to Mario Morra 9-4 and then had to wade through the one-loss side to get to the championship round. He first cruised past Marcel Gauvreau 9-3 and then escaped Tyler Edey 9-7 only to finding himself facing Mario Morra once again. At first it appeared that history would repeast itself as Morra got to the hill first with a handsom 8-5 lead, but then Hewitt put together a four-pack to slide by Morra 9-8 and earn the right to do battle with John Morra.
The final match was a showpiece for young John Morra. The seventeen year old wonder owned the table and Hewitt never knew a lead as he fell to the youngster 11-5 in the final match.
The Stan James tournament staff wishes to give their heartfelt thanks to the sponsors who have supported this tour throughout the season. A big tip of the hat goes out to Stan James Bookmakers (www.stanjames.com), Canada billiard and Bowling, Simonis cloth, Aramith billiard Balls, and Layani Cues. We look forward to the next season, beginning in the fall, and appreciate the continued support of these fine companies. It is only their participation that makes this tour possible and we appreciate their recognition of the fact that Canada’s finest cueists deserve a multi-stop tour to allow the cream to rise to the top and to carry the Maple Leaf into competitions around the globe including the World 9-ball Championship, the World 8-ball Championship, next years inaugural World 10-ball Championship, the World Cup of pool, and the Canadian National Championships.

Results
1) Danny Hewitt $3,000
2) John Morra $2,000
3) Mario Morra $1,500
4) Tyler Edey $1,000
5-6) Marcel Gauvreau, Erik Hjorleifson $750
7-8) Jeff Kennedy, Luc Salvas $500
9-12) Andrew Attard, Jason Klatt, John Jorgenson, Alain Martel $250

Broumpton Bags a billiards Victory

McDermott All-American Tour / Port Charlotte, FL

by InsidePOOL Staff
Q’s Bar and Girl in Port Charlotte, FL, hosted the April 21 stop of the McDermott All-American Tour. The stop featured a $500-added purse with 24 billiard players, of whom Richard Broumpton took top honors.
The Riviera Beach, FL, resident ran undefeated to the finals, outplaying Lee Chenman 7-4 to reach the hot seat match, where he comfortably dispatched David Broxson. Broxson had earlier knocked Steve Knoll into the one-loss side 7-4.
In the west side of the chart, Stuart Altez eliminated Knoll 7-2, while Will Bilbrey ousted Chenman 7-5. Bilbrey went on to take out Altez 7-4 but ws stopped by Broxson at that point, who eliminated him 7-3. In the double-elimination final match, Broxson had to defeat Broumpton twice for the title, but Broumpton prevailed in the first set, winning by a decisive 7-1.

By virtue of Steve Knoll being the highest-finishing ACS/CCS member, he qualified for a free singles entry into the 2007 ACS Nationals in Las Vegas, courtesy of the ACS. The ACS wishes to thank sponsors McDermott Handcrafted Cues, Silver Cup Chalk, billiard Wholesalers and Pro Series Cases for their support in donating “Value-In-Kind” product for this and all stops on the McDermott All American Tour. Sponsorship opportunities are still available by contacting the ACS.

Saturday-Sunday, April 28-29 will feature three Tour stops - a $500 added 9-ball event at the Chattanooga billiard Club in Chattanooga, TN (for onsite entry details contact Don Hatcher at 423-499-3883), and the McDermott Green Country Tour 9-ball Open ($500 added – men’s division/ $350 added – women’s division) at Sandite billiards in Sand Springs, OK (for onsite entry details contact Cindy Smith at 918-245-2859). Information, entry details and schedules for the 2006/2007 McDermott All American Tour are available at www.americancuesports.org.
Results:
1st Richard Broumpton
2nd David Broxson
3rd Will Bilbrey
4th L. Stuart Altez
5th Steve Knoll
Lee Chenman
7th Trey Jankowski
Bill Wilson

Stan James Toronto Saturday Completes

The first day of play at Shooters Snooker and Sports Club in Toronto found 64 billiard players kick off play at 11 AM. By the end of the day only twelve remained in play to return on Sunday. The biggest surprise of the day was that Edwin Montal, who had appeared to be a lock for the first place position on the year-ending points list, fell victim to a touch of ill health and could not get his game together. Eliminated from play after the third round, Montal can now be caught and passed for the all-important points lead by Alain Martel.
Of the twelve remaining players four have yet to suffer a loss while eight are on the nervous side of the chart and only have a single barrel left. The four undefeated players returning for Sunday are Mario Morra and his son John, Tyler Edey and Danny Hewitt. The eight sticks on the one-loss side belong to Jason Klatt, Jeff Kennedy, John Jorgenson, Alain Martel, Andrew Attard, Erik Hjorleifson, Luc Salvas and Marcel Gauvreau.
For those who would like to follow the final day most closely live match by match scoring will be available at the official tour website www.canadian9balltour.com. Our thanks go out to our hosts at Shoooters as well as tour sponsors Stan James Bookmakers (www.stanjames.com), Aramith billiard balls, Layani Custom Cues, AZBilliards, Canada billiards and Bowling and Simonis cloth