Turning Stone Classic Commences

Mike Zuglan’s Turning Stone Classic XI kicked off August 14 with a stacked field of 128 billiard players all raring to go. This biannual event is held at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY, and features a $25,000-added prize purse.

Defending champion Johnny Archer is on hand, as is Mike Davis, who is fresh off his Seminole Pro Tour victory last weekend. Corey Deuel, recent winner of the Million Dollar 9-Ball Shootout, is present, as well as runner-up and 2007 Player of the Year Shane Van Boening, who bested Bucky Souvanthong 9-5.

Other threats to run away with the title include Shawn Putnam, Steve Moore, Gabe Owen, recent EnjoyPool.com 9-Ball Championships winner Jeremy Jones, Louis Ulrich, Robb Saez, Shaun Wilkie, Ronnie Wiseman, and Dennis Hatch.

The father-and-son team of Oscar and Ernesto Dominguez made it out from Los Angeles to do their part to take home the first-place prize. Traveling farther to be there, though, is Raj Hundal of the UK. Popular players Tony Chohan and “Rocket” Rodney Morris were scheduled to show but did not.

There are also a few ladies playing. Frequent Joss Tour contestant Karen Corr is participating and has already won her first match, defeating James Roberts 9-1. Local girl Tamiko Kumatori is on the one-loss side after her first-round match against Charlie Williams, against whom she did quite well before he defeated her 9-6. Julie Kelly, Liz Ford, Elizabeth Kirkman, Yu Ram Cha, and Joanne Ashton are also competing in this event.

Mika “Iceman” Immonen won his first-round match against Ray McNamara with a tight 9-7 score. Tighter still was Tony Robles’ double-hill loss to Chuck Altomare. And strong Northeast player Eddie Abraham defeated Randy Labonte in the first round, also hill-hill.

Immonen Heats Up Lucasi Hybrid Classic

The Lucasi Hybrid Invitational Classic is underway at Bankshot Billiards in Jacksonville, Florida with 39 players competing in the 14.1 division.

The big upset of the day happened in the match between Corey Deuel and Tim Hall. Hall went on the win the match, 125-86.

While all of the top seeds received byes into the second round, Mika Immonen FIN has quickly staked his claim to the high run honors with a 119 ball run against Brandon Shuff. Immonen won that match 125-19. Charlie Williams defeated junior up comer Adam Behnke 125-34. Other results of first matches are Van Boening over Neil Fujiawara, Sambajon PHI over Chavez MEX 125-51. NYC 14.1 legend Danny Barouty defeated Florida pro Dave Grossman.

In another match of interest to the fans in Jacksonville, 14 & Under USA Junior Champ Landon Shuffett defeated 19 & Under USA Junior Champ Austin Murphy. Shuffett will face Tony Crosby in round two.

Currently at this time #1 seed Thorsten Hohmann GER was leading 107-12 against USA’s Dave Broxson. Marquee matches coming up include Johnny Archer USA vs Santos Sambajon PHI, Williams vs Barouty.

Super Mika Makes Final Match

Mika Immonen, a veteran of the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters, has finally made it through to the final following a tactical match over Taiwanese teenager Ko Pin-yi which saw the Finn emerge a 8-4 winner.

The dry break was a con stan t factor through the match and safety play dominated throughout. They shared the first eight racks as neither player could assert themselves. Increased confidence from Immonen, coupled with a wilting Ko, saw the Finn dominate the closing stages for the win.

A millimeter perfect lag gave Immonen the break but no balls fell and Ko fluked the 1 ball into the centre pocket, kicking off the top rail. It set up a run out as he took the opening rack. A dry break from Ko allowed Immonen to run out to level the score before Ko cashed in on a fruitless break from his opponent to regain the lead. A fourth dry break allowed Immonen back to the table but he missed a bank off the side rail on the 1 ball. Ko missed it down the rail to give Mika a chance and he duly took it to square the match up at 2-2.

Once again the break shot delivered no balls and the unsmiling Ko negotiated the table to once again regain the lead at 3-2. At last a player made a ball in the break, as Ko dropped the 5 ball. The 2 ball obscured the 1 so Ko pushed out. Both players exchanged safeties before Immonen missed the 1 ball into the corner pocket and left it on for Ko.

The assured Taiwanese looked composed as he ran through the balls for a 4-2 lead. He made two balls off the break in the next but missed the 1 ball trying to squeeze it by the 8 ball, rail first. Immonen grabbed the opportunity to clear, including a magnificent long pot on the 8 ball off the rail, drawing all the way back down table for perfect position on the 9 ball.

Another dry break handed the onus back to Ko and he tied Immonen up in a snooker. The Finn jumped out of trouble but left it on for Ko. He pocketed the 1, 2 and 3 before making his first unforced error as he missed an easy 5 ball. Immonen took full advantage to level the score at 4-4. Another dry break gave the table to Ko and the young Taiwanese pushed out to a jump shot. Immonen put him back in but Ko’s effort left the 1 close to the 9 and Immonen made a 1/9/8 combo to stay at the table.

He played a tight snooker and Ko scratched as he escaped to give Immonen ball in hand. He duly cleared the table to take the lead for the first time at 5-4. Three balls off the break gave Immonen a great chance to increase his lead and he completed the first break and run of the match to take a 6-4 lead.

He couldn’t capitalise on it though as he broke dry, but Ko was starting to show nerves for the first time in the tournament and a poor safety left the ball on for Immonen and he gained in confidence to clear and move to the hill at 7-4. Two balls on the break for Immonen and the lowest numbered ball lying over the corner pocket gave Immonen a great chance for victory and he seized the moment to run out for the win.

Immonen Recovers To Reach Masters Semis

Mika Immonen overcame a shaky start to take down Corey Deuel 8 – 5 and book a spot in the semi-finals of the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters, where he plays Ko Pin-yi. The US-based Finn made a couple of shocking misses in the early stages to gift Deuel racks, but recovered well in the second half as he finally got the hang of the break.

“There were definitely some breathtaking situations in that match!” said Immonen. “I missed the 8 and 9 early on and Corey was coming with some nice shots and I felt it was slipping away from me. “But he missed that 7 ball and left me an easy out. I played some great shots including that jump on the 3 ball. “I was reading the rack poorly so I decided to go all out and make some hard contact and not risk an illegal break. “I’ve never played Ko but seen him play and he seems like a stereotypical Taiwanese player – a stone cold killer – and I’ve got to play good to beat him.”

It was Immonen who won the lag and ran out the first rack but he suffered a nightmare in the second as he missed a fairly straightforward 9 ball to gift the rack to Deuel. Aided by some good fortune that saw the 6 and 7 pocketed off the same shot, Deuel took the third rack to take the lead but a dry break saw Immonen back to the table. Immonen played a good safety but Deuel left the 1 ball on. They traded safeties on the 1 ball before Deuel scratched after banking the blue 2. With ball in hand, Immonen ran out to level the score at 2-2.

Deuel took the next and further increased his lead in the sixth game when Immonen made another horror miss, this time on the 8 ball. Deuel though, missed an easy 7 ball cueing off the rail, and it fell perfectly for Immonen who pocketed the remaining three balls to take the score 4-3 in Deuel’s favour.

Immonen pulled out all the stops in the next with a superb table length jump shot to pot the 3 ball and set up a difficult run out to level the score at 4-4. There was no ball down off the break in the ninth game for the Finn, but Deuel scratched and with ball in hand Immonen played a 1/9 combination to take the lead at 5-4.

Deuel won the next but Immonen increased his lead to 6-5 as he played a wonderful cannon off the three ball into the 9 ball which was hanging by the corner pocket. The cue ball looked like it would drop too but miraculously stayed out as it teetered on the brink.

There was more good news for the 2001 World Champion as he ran out from the break to reach the hill at 7-5. Immonen sealed an excellent performance in the next as he ran the table down to the 9 ball before Deuel stood up to shake his hand in victory.

Confident Mika Dents Peach Hopes

Mika Immonen, the 2001 World Pool Champion, enjoyed a comfortable 8-2 win over Daryl Peach to progress at the 2008 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters.

Peach, who himself won the World Championship last year in Manila, was never really in the match as he made too many unforced errors for a player of Immonen’s caliber.

The Finn, who spends most of his time living and playing in the United States, has featured in the Masters many times over the years but has never made it to the business end of the tournament but on this form he will be one of the favourites for Sunday’s final.

“I think I made just one error in the match while Daryl made a lot,” said Immonen.

“He seemed confused out there and I gained confidence from his confusion. I was able to outsmart him and I felt really composed.

“My next match against Corey will be exciting – we’ve played each other many times and it’s always a good game.”

He now meets America ’s Corey Deuel , who earlier beat Christian Reimering, in Sunday afternoon’s quarter-finals.

Confident Mika Dents Peach Hopes

Mika Immonen, the 2001 World Pool Champion, enjoyed a comfortable 8-2 win over Daryl Peach to progress at the 2008 PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters.

Peach, who himself won the World Championship last year in Manila, was never really in the match as he made too many unforced errors for a player of Immonen’s caliber.

The Finn, who spends most of his time living and playing in the United States, has featured in the Masters many times over the years but has never made it to the business end of the tournament but on this form he will be one of the favourites for Sunday’s final.

“I think I made just one error in the match while Daryl made a lot,” said Immonen.

“He seemed confused out there and I gained confidence from his confusion. I was able to outsmart him and I felt really composed.

“My next match against Corey will be exciting – we’ve played each other many times and it’s always a good game.”

He now meets America ’s Corey Deuel , who earlier beat Christian Reimering, in Sunday afternoon’s quarter-finals.

2008 World Pool Masters Site Starts Today

Matchroom Sport is delighted to announce that www.worldpoolmasters.com , the Official Online Home of the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters, is now live.

With the tournament being held for the first time ever in Las Vegas, the site will be your first port of call for news, player profiles, results, stories and pictures of what promises to be a hugely exciting event featuring some of the world’s top players.

Four World 9-ball Champions – Daryl Peach, Mika Immonen, Ralf Souquet, Alex Pagulayan – will be taking part in the event as well as some of the biggest names in the game, including Shane Van Boening, Francisco Bustamante, Niels Feijen and Corey Deuel.

All will be vying for the $20,000 top prize.

The World Pool Masters will be taking place at the Riviera Hotel and Casino from Thursday 9th to Sunday 11th May with afternoon and evening sessions daily, concluding with the final scheduled to commence around 9.15pm on Sunday evening.

www.worldpoolmasters.com will feature exclusive interviews with the stars who make up the field as well as comments and predictions from the big names of world pool.

Bookmark www.worldpoolmasters.com today for full details and information about the 16th annual running of one of pool’s most prestigious events.