Mika Immonen 3rd at Blaze Billiard Tour

Francisco Bustamante stole the show at the Blaze 9-Ball Tour’s Annual NYC Championships August 24. Hosted by Skyline Billiards in Brooklyn, NY, this event attracted a field of 61 pool stars from all over the world.

With the field peppered with players such as Johnny Archer, Manny Chau, Mike Davis, Shaun Wilkie, and Alan Rolan, it was difficult to pick a champion, but last event’s winner, Mika Immonen, blazed through the top half of the bracket with wins over Alex Gilvarg 9-1, Ray Lee 9-0, Mhet Vergara 9-2, Bustamante 9-7, and Davis 9-7.  Chau, last event’s runner-up, led the bottom half, notching victories over Ariel Rivera 9-1, Kevin Coyle 9-3, Mike Fingers 9-1, Mike Dechaine 9-5, and Chavez 9-3.
In a replay of the August 11 event’s final match, Immonen and Chau met to play for the hot seat. However, in a different outcome, Chau easily won the match 9-5 to send Immonen to the semifinal match. There he met Bustamante, whom he had earlier defeated. A motivated Bustamante stormed through Immonen 7-1 to reach the finals. In the single race-to-9 finals, Bustamante held on to his momentum and handily defeated Chau 9-4.

Results:
1st Francisco Bustamante
2nd Manny Chau
3rd Mika Immonen
4th Mike Davis
5th Chavez
Mike Dechaine
7th Alan Rolan
Eddie Abraham
9th Wali Mahammad
Adam Kielar
Mhet Vergara
Marc Vidal

Bustamante, Immonen, and Archer Win Opening 14.1 Rounds

Three days of preliminary round robin play launched the $25,000-added, 2008 Predator Straight Pool Championships in East Brunswick, NJ, August 25. Eight groups of eight players, featuring competitors from all over the world, squared off to play two or three opening rounds of play (depending on match progress within the groups) at the Hilton Hotel.

The Philippines’ Francisco Bustamante started his tournament bid with a 100-79 victory over Carmen Lombardo and then handed Tony “The Silent Assassin” Robles his first defeat of the tournament 100-39. Germany’s Ralf Souquet (#12), in that same group, defeated Austria’s Martin Kempter (#5) 100-64 in his opening match.

Finland’s Mika Immonen (#7) started off in grand style, allowing two opponents to sink only 39 balls between them. He defeated USA’s Bobby Hunter 100-9 in a match that saw Immonen sink 86 in a row, and then defeated Mark Ritter 100-30. 

Fresh off his Turning Stone Classic win, Johnny Archer started his tournament off with two victories, as well, defeating Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan 100-36 and then Netherland’s Mohammed Hakim 100-68. Though Thorsten Hohmann (#2) defeated tournament founder Charlie Williams 100-68 to start his tournament off on a positive note, Williams rebounded to win his next two against Jonathan Fulcher 100-66 and Devon Cataldi 100-31.

Recent Hall of Fame inductee Allen Hopkins, seeded #16, handed defending champion Oliver Ortmann an early defeat 100-60 and followed it with an even stronger showing versus fellow American, Bernie Pettipiece 100-18. Within that same grouping, USA’s Mike Dechaine defeated Korea’s Yu Ram Cha 100-35 and followed it with a 100-41 victory over countryman Bill Maropolous.

High run of the day honors went to USA’s Corey Deuel in a 100-54 victory over Earl Herring. Deuel had been defeated by Nick Van Den Berg 100-30 in the opening round of play and watched as Herring broke and ran 54 balls in the opening moments of their match. Deuel stepped to the table and ran 100 balls to win the match.

Other double winners in the opening rounds of play included the Netherlands’ Niels Feijen (#13), who ran 91 balls in a 100-41 victory over USA’s Danny Harriman (#4), and followed that with a 100-33 victory over Bob Maidhof. Shaun Wilkie defeated Dominic Jentsch 100-76 and turned in a commanding 100-8 performance against Dan Heidrich. Germany’s Thomas Engert (#6) opened his tournament bid with a 100-52 victory over Raj Hundal (#11). The Netherlands’ Huidji See (#3) fell to USA’s John Schmidt 100-85 before rebounding to defeat John Rousseau 100-19.

2008 Predator World 14.1 Championship Group Pairings

East Brunswick, New Jersey-  Dragon Promotions announces the official group pairings for the 2008 Predator World Straight Pool Championship. The round robin stage will be held Aug 25-27, with the field narrowed to 32 in the double elimination stage races to 150 on Aug 28, and the last sixteen playing race to 200 points on Aug 29-30.

There may be last minute changes and substitutions in the schedule and the event if a player is not able to attend.
Official Group Pairings of the 2008 Predator World 14.1 Championship. Round Robin Races to 100 Points.

Group 1

Oliver Ortmann  GER
Allen Hopkins USA
Yu Ram Cha KOR
Mike Dechaine USA
Bernie Pettipiece USA
Bob Chamberlain USA
Bill Maropolous USA
Peter Burrows USA

Group 2

Thorsten Hohmann  GER
Mike Sigel USA
Jonathan Fulcher  SCO 
Charlie Williams USA
Stevie Moore USA
Jim Gottier USA
Devon Cataldi USA
Allan Cornia USA

Group 3

Huidji See NED
John Schmidt USA 
Dominic Jentsch GER
Shaun Wilkie USA
Mark Vidal SPN
Jimmy Mendoza  USA
Dan Heidrich USA USA
David Daya USA

Group 4

Danny Harriman USA
Niels Feijen  NED
Danny Barouty USA
Gerda Hofstatter AUT
Bob Maidhof USA
Chris Lynch USA
Mark Snodgrass USA
Stefan Cohen FRA

Group 5

Martin Kempter AUT
Ralf Souquet GER
Tony Robles USA
Francisco Bustamante PHI
Vincent Facquet FRA
Dan Wallace USA
Dennis Hatch USA
Jonathan Smith USA

Group 6

Thomas Engert GER
Raj Hundal  IND
Corey Deuel USA
Nick Van Denberg NED
Sebastian Staab GER
Liz Ford USA
Tom Parisian USA
Shin Young Park KOR

Group 7

Mika Immonen FIN
Bobby Hunter USA
Konstantin Stepanov RUS
Mike Davis USA
Ed Deska USA
Mark Ritter USA
Michael Yednak USA
Bob M. Cozzolino USA

Group 8

Johnny Archer USA
Jasmin Ouschan AUT
Radoslaw Babica POL
Tony Rodriguez  USA 
Calvin Coker USA
Mohammed Hakim NED 
Steve Lipsky USA
Steve Lillis USA

Fans and players can still reserve rooms at Hilton East Brunswick at 1-732-828-2000. The room code for the event is "POL"    There are still limited amount of rooms available. Tickets can be purchased in advanced at www.dragonpromotions.com or in person at the event, or at Amsterdam Billiards in NYC or Comet Billiards in NJ.

The 2008 Predator World Straight Pool Championship is proudly sponsored by Dr.Michael Fedak of NYC, Joel Schapiro of NYC, The Predator Group, Diamond Billiard Products, Aramith Balls, and Simonis Cloth. For more information on player registration, sponsorship, or if you would like to submit a comment, please email, worldstraightpoolchampionships@gmail.com or contact Dragon Promotions at 1-407-782-4978.

Mika Immonen on Predator Tour to Host Charity Event for Cancer Group

The Predator 9-Ball Tour will play host in early September to a high-profile and star-studded charity event benefiting children with cancer and their families.

The Pannullo-Predator Charity Tour Stop will take place on Sept. 6-7 at CueBar in Bayside N.Y. Top players who already have registered for the event include Allison Fisher, Jasmin Ouschan, Jeanette Lee, Gerda Hofstatter, Thorsten Hohmann and Mika Immonen, as well as tour director Tony Robles.

The event is spearheaded by New York-based dentist Dr. Louis Pannullo, who has chosen The Michael Magro Foundation as the focus on the event’s fundraising. The Foundation benefits children with cancer and their families. To start off the fundraising, Dr. Pannullo has offered to contribute $5,000 to the foundation, located on the Web at www.michaelmagrofoundation.com . Individual donations are welcome.

Pre-registration is required for the event. For more information, visit www.predator9balltour.com or try the following link: http://worldchampionsmiles.cuetable.com/Press.html . Contact Eileen Dolan at emdolan@earthlink.net if you would like to purchase tickets for the Sept. 6 private fundraising gala.

Immonen on Turning Stone Gets Rolling

The seventh-ranked player on the Classic Tour posted the biggest upset of the day, beating Corey Deuel in dramatic fashion. Kelly faced an 8-6 deficit against Deuel, who snapped off the Allen Hopkins 9-Ball Shootout last week. But Deuel was a little sloppy with a safety, and that's all Kelly needed. She cleaned up that rack then took the next two for the win.

As recent history suggests, Johnny Archer will be the man to beat when the bracket narrows. He has won three of the last four Turning Stone events, including February's final over Jeremy Sossei.

Archer easily advanced into the second round, routing Pete Bowman, 9-2. He will face Tony Crosby in one of the most anticipated second-round matches.

Other big-time matches in round two include Mika Immonen against Jose Parica, Mike Davis facing Raj Hundal, and Ernesto Dominguez meeting Francisco Bustamante.

Action at the Turning Stone Classic held at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino, will run through the weekend, with the final scheduled for Sunday evening.

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.