Ozone billiards US Amateur Open
Amateur men and women players will be excited to again play in the 3rd Annual Ozone billiards US Amateur Open at Bankshot billiards, July 30-Aug 3,2008 in Jacksonville, FL. Seven events will be available for play in 9-ball 8-ball. The amateur events are also supported by Lucasi Hybrid Cues and Simonis cloth. No Pros, No Semi-Pros, No Top Rated Amateur players will be allowed to play. These amateur events are created for the true amateur players, and even certain known amateurs are not allowed to play in the events to offer fair chance for anyone to win. The Ozone billiards US Amateur Open will be played next to the pro arena simultaneously with the Lucasi Hybrid Invitational Classic.

This will mark the first major event that Ozone billiards will take on as title sponsor. Ozone billiards has had a history of supporting professional tours and events on ESPN, but now has turned its more focus on regional tours, up and coming players, and amateurs.

We are always looking to try new things, and we see the importance and benefits of supporting not only major pro events, but the smaller events as well. We know it’s a tough economy now, but we want to do what we can to support and promote the sport on all levels. said Shawn Gargano, President of Ozone billiards.

Ozone billiards will also be the presenting sponsor of the Lucasi Hybrid Invitational Classic which will feature top pro names such as Thorsten Hohmann GER, Johnny Archer USA, John Schmidt USA, Efren Reyes PHI, Francisco Bustamante PHI, Mike Davis USA, Mika Immonen FIN, Charlie Williams USA, Raj Hundal IND, Dennis Orcullo PHI, Ronnie Alcano PHI, Tony Chohan IND, Shane Van Boening USA, and many more pro stars!

The amateur events will have great quality equipment using 8 ft Olhausen Tables, Simonis cloth and Master Chalk. No coins needed to play matches as there will be a $20 registration and green fees all inclusive in every entry fee in all divisions. Players may also choose to play in multiple divisions with no scheduling conflicts.These events are open to all true amateurs(men or women) and no membership fee is required .This year an added new event is the Mixed Doubles 9-ball so now men and women can travel and play together on one team, as well as play in their individual singles events .

Complete Updated Ineligible List of Players can be found at http://www.dragonpromotions.com/ineligiblelist.html (http://www.dragonpromotions.com/ineligiblelist.html)

Eligible players are determined by the following:
· are not ranked in the top 50 in the UPA or the top 20 in WPBA
· have never been ranked in top 16 in WPA rankings
· have never won a men or women’s major U.S. pro tournament
· have never won 1st or 2nd at a pro event in any country outside the USA
· have never finished in top 16 in any male pro tournament sanctioned by the current governing body of pro pool at that time(including any of the 3 divisions at Derby City Classic)
· never been ranked in or have never won 1st or 2nd in the finals on these following men’s tours: FL Tour, Joss Northeast Tour, Pro Senior Tour,
· We will use our discretion on certain players depending on their skill level and amount of 1st and 2nd place finishes in the following tours : Kings Bay Promotions Amateur Tour, the Super billiards Expo Amateur Open, Planet pool Tour, Viking Tour, Pechauer Tour, Fast Eddies Tour, Stan James Canada Tour, Pechaur New England 9 ball Series, Blaze Tour.
· never been in the finals of the Mens BCA National Masters or Singles, or the APA National Amateur singles Championships
· Have not been Men or Women Players of the Years or finished #1 Ranked for the Year on any major U.S. recognized regional tour
· DP reserves right to use our own judgment as well if a player is deemed fit or unfit to play in the US Amateur Open events

The Official Host Hotel of Ozone billiards US Amateur Open Lucasi Hybrid Classic Pro events. Please book your hotel room by calling
Hampton Inn 1-904-281-0443 $89 night Mention Dragon or billiards

Ozone billiards US Amateur Open Events
July 30-Aug 1: Open 8-ball
1st Place $3000 ($1000 minimum guaranteed)
Limited to 200 Players
July 30-Aug 1 : Women’s 8-ball Open
1st Place $1000 ($300 minimum guaranteed)
Limited to 64 Players
July 30-Aug 1: Seniors 8-ball Open
(must be 50 years old and up-bring ID)
Limited to 64 Players
Aug 1-3: Open 9-ball
1st Place $4000 ($1500 minimum guaranteed)
Limited to 200 Players
Aug 1-3 : Women’s 9-ball Open
1st Place $1250 ($500 minimum guaranteed)
Limited to 64 Players
Aug 1-3 : Seniors 9-ball Open
(must be 50 years old and up-bring ID)
1st Place $1400 ($500 minimum guaranteed)
Limited to 64 Players
Aug 3 : Mixed Scotch Doubles 9-ball Open
(1 Man 1 Woman per team)
1st Place $1000 ($500 minimum guaranteed)
Limited to 32 Teams
The amateur event will be at same venue and next to the pro event. Tickets can be bought in advance at Bankshot billiards 904-998-2100
Amateur event players can also purchase tickets to watch the pro event at the door .
This event is designed for non-full time playing amateurs who do not play pool for a career. Note that below does not all apply to women. Click Amateur Eligibility to read Dragon Promotions Amateur Events Eligibility. Besides that list, the organizers of the event reserve the right to use their judgment if they deem a player not eligible for the event. Players who are not sure if they would be able to play should contact Dragon Promotions prior to the event.

Pan Determined to Defend Great Lakes Title
by InsidePOOL Staff

The Women’s Professional billiard Association (WPBA) kicked off their Great Lakes Classic event, right on the heels of the GenerationPool.com 9-ball Championships in Charlotte, NC, two weeks ago. This tournament, the third stop on their 2008 calendar, is being hosted by the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, IN, and will conclude June 29.

Xiaoting Pan, who won the women’s division at the GenerationPool.com event, will be looking to defend her title at this event as well. And so far, so good. Her first-round match with Line Kjorsvik she won 9-7, and then she went on to handily defeat Tina Larsen 9-2. Pan’s next match will be against Monica Webb.

Third-place finisher at the GenerationPool.com tournament, Anna Kostanian is also doing well so far. She dusted Megan Minerich 9-3 in the first round and then sent Ewa Laurance to the one-loss side with a 9-5 victory and will next play Dawn Hopkins.

Karen Corr and Allison Fisher, both of whom finished in fifth place in Charlotte, are both in the winners’ side of the bracket still. Corr started off with a surprising forfeit from Laura Lindauer and then a 9-4 win over Caroline Pao. Fisher only allowed three games between her first two matches, defeating first Leanne Amable 9-1 and then Melissa Little 9-2.

Ga Young Kim, runner-up to Pan in Charlotte, also remains on the winners’ side, having gone through Sueyen Rhee 9-4 and Melissa Herndon by the same score in her usual rapid time. Surprisingly, though, Jasmin Ouschan suffered a first-round loss, going hill-hill with Yu Ram Cha and ending up on the left side of the bracket.

Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

Robles Wins IPT billiards Challenge
by InsidePOOL Staff

Tony Robles triumphed over Karl Boyes at the latest installment of the IPT’s challenge match, held in Los Angeles June 24. Robles, a last-minute replacement for Alex Pagulayan, flew in the same day from New York in order to participate.

Before the eagerly anticipated 8-ball match, however, fans were treated to a straight pool match between John “Mr. 403” Schmidt and the retired Mike Sigel. In their race to 125, Sigel started off strong with a run of 60, but Schmidt retaliated by overtaking him at 73. This was the end of the line for Schmidt, though, for “The Mouth” whizzed through rack after rack without looking back. At the end of the match, Sigel’s high run was 64, with Schmidt’s high run at 59.

The 8-ball bout between Karl “El Guapo” Boyes and Tony Robles was a knockdown, drag-out fight. Boyes, a native of the United Kingdom, was originally scheduled to match up against former world champion Alex Pagulayan, but “The Lion” had troubles with his passport and was unable to make it. In a pinch, Robles was able to fill in, and it couldn’t have been better timing for him, for he has won the last two stops on the Predator 9-ball Tour, including one this past weekend.

Robles started off in the race to 15 with a 5-2 lead before Boyes took advantage of a couple of misses and moved into a 5-all tie. They traded the next six racks, and then Robles pulled ahead to an 11-8 lead. Robles missed his penultimate stripe, and Boyes cleared his solids. After exchanging the next two games to make it 12-10, Robles missed an acute shot on the 8 ball, and Boyes drew within a rack.

Robles reached the hill after two key errors by Boyes but came up empty on his final break. Boyes opted to play safe, and after trading safeties, Robles broke up the balls by firing the 10 up the rail. An excellent crossbank followed, and then Robles chose to play safe; however, Boyes did have a shot, which he made, and then Boyes cleared the rest of the solids. Unfortunately for Boyes, he scratched on his next break, and with the balls wide open, Robles easily picked through the rack to win 15-12.

Team Canada Regain Can-am Snooker Challenge
Team Canada have repeated their success in the first Can-Am Team Snooker Challenge, after winning the third staging of this annual event by narrowly defeating Team USA 11-9 at the Riviera Hotel Casino in Las Vegas.

After the first of the three days of competition played alongside the American CueSports Alliance (ACS) National pool Championships and organized in partnership with the ACS, the Canadian billiards Snooker Association and the United States Snooker Association, Team Canada held a 4-3 points advantage but it was Team USA’s Paul Kimura who won the first match point after he deafeated Team Canada’s Pat McCarthy 3-1.

However Team Canada were back on level terms after the first session’s play, as on the other table the reigning United States National Snooker Champion George Lai went down on the final black in the final frame to Team Canada’s Eriks Malderis.

The next two matches of the second session’s play were both shared as Lai, assisted with breaks of 31, 51 and 40, defeated McCarthy 3-1, and the former United States National Snooker Champion Kimura lost 3-2 to Malderis.

Team Canada, the 2008 Can-Am Team Snooker Challenge champions.
(Left to right) Odie Willet, Pat McCarthy, Eriks Malderis and Lester Mianskum

The next session featured a doubles match consisting of Team USA’s Jack Kung and Truman Wu against Team Canada’s Lester Mianskum and Odie Willet, which saw the Canadian pairing take the tie 3-2.

The final two matches of the first day’s play were also shared as Team Canada’s Mianshum defeated Team USA’s Kung 3-0, and Team USA’s Wu clinched a 3-2 success over Team Canada’s Willet.

A doubles match kicked off the second day’s play, and a 3-1 victory for Team USA’s Lai and Kimura over Team Canada’s McCarthy and Malderis got the Americans back on level terms at four match points each.

Though the next two sessions of play saw disaster for Team USA, as they went on a run of four successive match defeats which put a huge dent in their hopes to retain the Challenge trophy.

Team Canada’s Mianshum overwhelmed Team USA’s Wu 3-0 and on the other table Team Canada’s Willet inflicted the same scoreline on Team USA’s Kung, while in the following session Team Canada’s McCarthy and Malderis defeated Team USA’s Kung and Wu, 3-1 and 3-2 respectively.

At 8-4 down in match points going into the second day’s final session of play, Team USA’s Lai and Kimura rescued the situation somewhat by winning their matches over Team Canada’s Mianskum and Willet, 3-2 and 3-1 respectively.

A good start from Team USA on the third and final day’s play would have put the Canadians under real pressure, and Team USA’s Lai got off to a wonderful start for the Americans in the first session as he defeated Team Canada’s Willet 3-0 to close the deficit to one match point. It was victory however for Team Canada’s Mianskum over Team USA’s Kimura that concluded the first session’s play, and draw ever closer to that eleven-point match winning score.

In the next session, Team USA’s Kung had a comprehensive 3-0 success over Team Canada’s Malderis, but that was countered by victory for Team Canada’s McCarthy over Team USA’s Wu on the final colors in the final frame.

In reaching ten match point wins, Team Canada had now secured at least a playoff, but they wanted to claim victory with no need for a tense one-frame shoot-out that can go in anyone’s favor.

The final session’s matches were doubles ties involving Team USA’s Lai and Kimura against Team Canada’s Mianshum and Willet, with the other match consisting of Team USA’s Kung and Wu against Team Canada’s McCarthy and Malderis.

McCarthy and Malderis got the victory Team Canada needed to regain the Challenge trophy as they won 3-0, but it was better news for the Americans in the other doubles tie as Lai and Kimura gained a 3-1 success.

It was again a great conclusion to this year’s event, and the organizers would like to thank Pacific billiard Sports of San Francisco for the supply and use of the two full-sized BCE Westbury steel-blocked snooker tables.

Robles to Replace Pagulayan

The International pool Tour has announced that Alex Pagulayan will not be playing in the challenge match against Karl Boyes on June 24, 2008. Pagulayan lost his passport and was refused entry into the US. Replacing Pagulayan will be professional pool player Tony Robles.

In a statement released by management at Puyat Sports, Pagulayn said I am very sorry but I will not be able to make to the exhibition match this coming Tuesday, June 24th. I lost my passport in a car mishap last week. I have applied for a replacement of his passport with the Canadian embassy and the foreign affairs department here in Manila.
Both of these government offices will not be able to release his new passport in time for his departure goiing to the US. His passport will on be released on Juen 26th. Alex said he is extremely sorry he will miss the match which he was looking forward to. Alex said he is very eager to schedule another exhibition match and hopes to be invited again by the IPT.

Robles is on his way to the match and is expected to arrive later today.