Hecht and Egeln Undefeated at Edison BilliardsTri-State Tour

by Rick Davis
The Tri-State Tour held a double event Saturday, November 25, hosted by Edison billiards in Edison, NJ, where Greg Hecht cruised through the A/B handicapped division and Jason Egeln owned the C/D event, both players going undefeated through the double-elimination 9-ball action.
In the A/B event a 16-player field mixed things up and late action saw Hecht defeat Tim Edmonds 7-5 in the hot seat match. Then, on the one-loss side, Rich Emiliano drilled Stewart Warnock 7-2 in the quarterfinals but was then rebuked by Edmonds who eliminated him 7-4 in the semifinals. Cleaning up the event for their division, Hecht and Edmonds met in the finals and raced to the hill where Hecht slipped past, taking the event from the double-hill showdown.
In the C/D division a 32-player field threw their hat in the ring that culminated on the winners’ side with Jason Egeln and Jan Aleria dueling in the hot seat match. Climaxing at double-hill, Hecht came through to be king of the hill. On the one-loss side Ron Denig ousted Duane Toney 6-4 in the quarterfinals; however, Aleria was looking for a rematch, and after knocking out Denig 6-2 in the semifinals he earned that right. With the final match of the event running Egeln and Aleria raced once again to the double-hill face-off with the same result, Egeln taking the match 6-5, this time to claim the event.
Results A/B:
1st Greg Hecht
2nd Tim Edmonds
3rd Rich Emiliano
4th Stewart Warnock
Results C/D:
1st Jason Egeln
2nd Jan Aleria
3rd Ron Denig
4th Duane Toney

Jeanette Lee Leads Korea Against International Team in Carom

Jeanette Lee captained perhaps the most talented women’s carom billiards team in the world with Korean comrades Ga Young Kim and Yu Ram Cha in the XTM Women’s International Team Carom produced by Dagon Promotions. The challenging team included Captain Miyuki Sakai (JPN), Shanelle Loraine(GUA), and Isabelle Krafczyk (GER).

The three cushion billiards event took place in a semi-dome arena set up outside of La Festa, a busy and popular shopping district. The event was sponsored by CYON Phones, Coca Cola, Costri Cosmetics, Ra Beauty Salons, Predator Cues, Poison Cues, and Hollywood Tables.

The first match was a 3-on-3 match up with teammates alternating shots in each three cushion match. The race to 5 format with the first team reaching 9 matches as the victors. The players started out slow with no one making a point the first few innings. World Team struck first with a point but was not long before the Koreans caught up. the Koreans held a 4-2 lead but Sakai made it 4-3 but then Krafczyk and Loraine missed their chances to tie and Korea won the first match point. Next match was even closer with Sakai and Loraine fighting to 4-4 against Kim and Cha before Cha scored the winning point 5-4.

The away team finally got a break with Japan/Germany pairing of Sakai and Krafczyk against Lee and Kim. Lee and Kim had immense carom experience between the two, but Sakai and Krafczyk fought to tie it at 4-4 with Sakai making excellent caroms, but it was Krafczyk scoring the winning point with a three rail draw shot carom. Korea now held a 2-1 lead.

In the singles, the Koreans were dominant as Cha beat Krafczyk 5-1, Kim crushed Loraine 5-0, and in the Captains Match Lee defeated sakai 5-3.

Sakai was no doubt playing very well scoring the most points for the World Team. In the Doubles once again, she was paired with Guam’s beautiful Shanelle Loraine. Loraine was having a difficult time but Sakai was making a point on her turn almost each inning keeping Lee and Cha on the fence. Loraine had an opportunity at 4-4 to score the winning point but a miscue gave Korea back the inning and they made the final point to win 5-4 once again. The momentum was so strong at this point that the Koreans seem to fly by in the next few matches with Yu Ram Cha scoring the event ending point the final match for Korea’s 9-1 devastation of the World Team.
This team put together for Korea is amazing. Yu Ram, Ga Young and myself…it’s really a very talented trio. Said Jeanette Lee.
It was alot of fun even though we lost. I mean, who is going to beat them (Lee,Cha,Kim) in carom or in pool? said Sakai.

After the event the excited fans spent an hour in line getting autographs from the stars of the event. The young ladies then all spent a night on the town enjoying Korean food and karaoke.

Photos Courtesy of www.playphoto.co.kr (http://www.playphoto.co.kr/) Dragon Promotions

Davis Coasts to Win on Jacoby billiard Tour
Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour / Kinston, NC

by Rock City Promotions
Pastime billiards and Pub of Kinston, NC, hosted the second stop on the 2007-2008 Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour November 17-18, drawing a field of 27 players for the main event. Mike Davis took first place over Cary Dunn, earning $1,000, plus entry into the 2008 Carolina Open, courtesy of Fast Eddie’s in Goldsboro, NC.
The weekend began with an early bird tournament on Friday night. Younger Chapman defeated Terry Champion 7-1 in the final match. The junior tournament Sunday saw Mac Harrell besting Justin Ward 7-5 in the final match. Junior players score points that accumulate for the first 10 events on the tour, and the top point winners in each division will qualify for the 2008 Junior Nationals.
Also on Sunday, a second-chance tournament was won by Larry Faulk. Faulk finished 7-2 over Mac Harrell, who squandered chances on three 9 balls.

In the main event, Davis had a relatively smooth road to the hot seat, defeating Joe Hawkins 7-3, Wayne Sutton 7-2, Charles Jones 7-5, Paul Mullins 7-2, and Dunn 7-4.
Dunn struggled early with David Brown but emerged the winner in a hill-hill match. After making quick work of Ty Bissett 7-1 and Eddie Little 7-2, Dunn headed west after his loss to Davis. Dunn earned his rematch with Davis by defeating Mullins, who was the underdog of the tournament.
The final match—a single race to 9—started out with unforced errors and missed opportunities on the part of both players. Snookered and down 3-1, Dunn made a good hit on the 1 ball and left Davis safe. Davis made a good hit, but Dunn ran out nevertheless.
Rack seven proved to be the turning point. After making the 7 ball on the break, Davis made the 1 and 2, then played a safety on the 3 ball. Rewarded with ball in hand, Davis ran out. Davis stretched his lead to 8-2, thanks to a 9 ball on the break and back-to-back break and runs.
Dunn’s last chance was in the eleventh rack. After an empty break by Davis, Dunn made the 1 ball and missed a desperate 2/9 combination. Davis missed a 7 ball late in the rack, but a fortunate roll left Dunn snookered. Davis won the final game and the match 9-2.
Results:
1st Mike Davis
2nd Cary Dunn
3rd Paul Mullins
4th Eddie Little
5th Younger Chapman
Sidney Champion
7thLarry Faulk
Terry Champion

Gilbert Goes All the Way
McDermott All-American Tour / Hinsdale, NH

by InsidePOOL Staff
Chad Gilbert went unscathed at the November 17 stop of the McDermott-All American Tour. Hosted by the VFW in Hinsdale, NH, this $800-added event drew 21 billiard players in a double-elimination 8-ball format on 7-foot bar boxes.
Gilbert, a local player, slipped past Scott Parent 3-1 in the hot seat match. Beforehand, in the A-bracket semifinals, Gilbert dominated Corey Parker 3-0, while Parent eclipsed Troy Butler 3-1. In the B-side finals Troy Butler ousted Kevin Smith to claim another shot at Gilbert, but Gilbert again prevailed in the finals by a 3-1 margin to claim the title over Butler.

Results:
1st Chad Gilbert
2nd Troy Butler
3rd Scott Parent
4th Scott Laird

Williams and Lim Capture Korea Pro Tour Championships

The Korean Dragon Charlie Williams and Korean Pro Tour (KPT) number 2 Women’s Yun Mi Lim made it in all Korean Champions day as they defeated their international counterparts. This made it the first time ever in Korean billiard history that both men and women’s divisions were won by Korea. The event was produced by Dragon Promotions and matches were televised on MBC ESPN and sponsored by Lotte Department Store, Ra Beauty Salons, Predator Cues, Poison Cues, and Min Tables.

Lim set the tone for the day with her match against WPBA top pro and World Games Gold Medalist Jasmin Ouschan. Ouschan was thus far undefeated in the event but the event had now changed to single elimination. Lim had lady luck on her side as she made a 9 ball on the break and later lucked a missed shot and ran out. She backed it up with two break and runs. Jasmin got a few opportunities but was not able to make balls on her break and left open tables for Lim. Lim was able to keep control of the match with a 6-2 win to advance to the finals.

She had a few rolls in the match and then backed it up with good play. I had dry breaks and then pretty soon it was over. What can you do. said Ouschan about the match.

Next the Men’s semi finals #1 featured new Filipino sensation Joven Bustamante against unheralded Ricky Zerna. Bustamente, managed by Bugsy Promotions, has had a tremendous rookie year in international play with a 3rd place finish at The World 8-ball, 3rd place at the World 9-ball, 1st at Korea International Championships, and now a minimum finish guaranteed. Ricky Zerna, an unknown player but member of Negros billiard Stable owned by Jonathan Sy, already took out countryman Jundal Mazon and was now looking for his first international win. Errors by Bustamante proved to be costly in the race to 7 TV matches. Joven’s powerful break also failed him giving Zerna the opportunities he needed to take the lead and never look back with a 7-3 victory.

Women’s semi finals #2 featured Yu Ram Cha against WPBA Top 20 from Japan Miyuki Sakai. Cha had defeated Sakai earlier in the year in the Showdown in Seoul playing 3Cushion, 8-ball and 9-ball sweeping Sakai in all three games. This day would be no different as she crushed Sakai 6-2 to advance to the finals.

In the Mens Semi Finals #2 good friends and former teammates Rodney Morris and Charlie Williams faced each other. A dry break from Morris and then a missed shot in next rack gave Williams a chance to go up 2-0. Morris returned with back to back games of his own at 2-2. A miscue on a jump shot gave Williams another out and a break and run on his break gave him back 4-2 lead. A dry break from Morris gave Williams another out and another break and run to make it 6-2 and Morris was too far behind in the alternate break format with one more game before Williams won at 7-3 in a flawless performance.

I tried to play a few shots to cheat the pocket when I should have played more towards the center of the pocket instead. Just got too cute on some of the shots. But now that it’s over I’ll be rooting for Charlie in the finals. commented Morris after the match.

Rodney played awesome to get to the semi and he made a few errors in the match. In a race to 7 it doesn’t take much to get behind. said Williams.

The Mixed Doubles Finals were on next with Japan’s Takenaka/Sakai versus Korea’s Williams/Cha. Japan got an early lead with a break and run and then a botched up jump attempt by Cha made it 2-0 Japan. Williams missed position for Cha which lead to another oppotunity for Japan and later a missed 5 ball by Cha sealed Korea’s team fate as Japan rolled to 5-0 win.

The Women’s Finals was expected to have Yu Ram Cha against the powerful Austrian Ouschan. Yun Mi Lim had other plans in mind as she took Ouschan’s place and was going to make her own fate. The odds looked against Lim still with her being the brides maid finishing 2nd place in two of the Korea International Championships and two 3rds with never a win. Cha had also earlier gave Lim her only loss in a 7-0 whitewash. Cha took an early lead at 3-1 and on Lim’s break she ran out to the 8-ball but missed sending the 8-ball 3 rails and freezing it luckily to the cueball leaving Cha no shot. Cha tried a safe but left Lim the out. The next game Lim missed the 4ball but left Cha hooked and after Cha made contact on the 4ball Lim ran out for 3-3 tie. Then Lim backed up her good fortune with a break and run. A dry break from Cha gave Lim another out and then Lim broke and ran the last rack to win her first major title at 6-3. The win also enabled her to overtake KPT #1 Eun Ji Park for Player of the Year honors.

The Men’s Finals was Korea versus Phillipines as Hyun Ho Kim(Williams under banner of Korea) took on Ricky Zerna. In a one sided match, Williams was absolutely dominant breaking and running the rack on his break 4 times and taking advantage of a dry break and two missed shots by Zerna. Playing fast and loose, Williams played another near perfect match not missing one shot in the semi or the finals and he defeated Zerna 7-1 in less than 30 minutes. The victory gave Williams his 3rd international title in Korea and $15,000 for 1st place.

It feels good to win here again in Korea. I really had luck on my side yesterday in my wins against the two Japanese champs, but today I pulled through with a good performance. You really need both luck and skill to win a tournament. said Williams.

At the KPT 2007 Awards Banquet all the players were invited for a fabulous authentic Korean array of dishes. A slideshow movie of the past year and awards were given to players.

Man of the Year - Myung Jin Kim -DP Korea General Manager
Sportswoman of the Year- Jasmin Ouschan (AUT)
Sportsman of the Year - Hayato Hijikata (JPN)
Player of the Year(Men) - Young Hwa Jeong (KOR)
Player of the Year(Women)- Yun Mi Lim (KOR)
Fan Favorite - Daerin Lee
Best Dressed- Pil Hyun Cho
Rookie of the Year (Men) - Min Wuk Ha
Rookie of the Year (Women) - Minyung Lee

For more info goto www.dragonpromotions.com (http://www.dragonpromotions.com) or www.dragonpromotions.co.kr (http://www.dragonpromotions.co.kr)