ACKDO Supports QC Vs The World Grand Billiards Showdown

The QC-Philippines vs the World Grand Billiards Showdown received another boost with the Association of Clubs, Karaoke and Disco Operators (ACKDO) throwing its all-out support to the much-anticipated event slated December 2 to 4 at the Trinoma Mall in Quezon City .

With promoting Quezon City as the country’s sports tourism capital, ACKDO did not think twice in backing the project when approached by its chief proponent, City Council Majority Floor Leader Ariel Inton.

“We are very happy to be part of this big event. Entertainment is one of the premier tourist attractions here in Quezon City, so we in the industry are giving our all-out support to this project, which in more than one way will also benefit us,” said ACKDO secretary-general Amil Yap.

ACKDO has been supporting a number of sports events, including the Billiards Managers and Players Association of the Philippines (BMPAP)'s Search for the New Billiards Idol series.

Also known as the “City of Stars ”, Quezon City boasts of having the biggest and liveliest entertainment spots in the country.

Already home to major television broadcasting networks, including giants ABS-CBN and GMA-7, Quezon City also houses dozens of restaurants, bars, night clubs, massage parlors, KTVs and the likes.

Pool icon Efren “Bata” Reyes banners the eight-man Team Q.C.-Philippines, which will pit prowess against a selection of topnotch cue artists from other countries in this three-day competition supported by the Quezon City Government led by Mayor Sonny Belmonte, QC Tourism Council headed by chairman Raffy Chico, and BMPAP with Solar Sports, RPN and the Philippine Star as media partners.

Besides Reyes, the other members of the Team QC Philippines are fellow former world champions Alex Pagulayan and Ronnie Alcano, reigning world no.1 Dennis Orcollo, Francisco “Django” Bustamante, 2007 World Pool runner-up Roberto Gomez, Lee Van Corteza and Warren Kiamco.

They will go up against a foreign team also led by three former world titlists in Chia-Ching Wu of Chinese-Taipei, Mika Immonen of Finland and Thorsten Hohmann of Germany. The other players of Team World are 2006 Asian Games gold medalist Satoshi Kawabata of Japan , Ching-Shun Yang of Chinese-Taipei, and Charlie William and Rodney Morris of the United States and another top European player.

They will compete for the $40,000 winner purse.

Jentsch upsets Immonen in Florida

Play at the Lucasi Hybrid Invitational Classic 14.1 event is into the third round and we have our first major upset of the event.

Mika Immonen, fresh off of his 119 ball run early in the event, was sent to the one loss side by sixteen year old German sensation Dominic Jentsch 125 to -3.

Jentsch has already assured himself of a place in the final sixteen player redraw.

Other players who have already locked up their positions in the final sixteen are World #1 ranked Dennis Orcollo and Mr 400, John Schmidt.

Ouschan Defeats Immonen to Advance to Final Eight

Action at the Predator Straight Pool Championships in East Brunswick, NJ, moved into the final round of eight early Friday evening with Oliver Ortmann, Francisco Bustamante, Huidji See, Niels Feijen, John Schmidt, Thorsten Hohmann, Nick Van Den Berg, and a surprise Jasmine Ouschan advancing out of the single-elimination round of 16.

Ortmann, who ousted Thomas Engert 200-42, was set to square off against Ouschan in Friday’s final session, leading to Saturday’s final four. Ouschan, who overcame some adversity in the round robin sessions of the tournament, reached the final eight by defeating frontrunner Mika Immonen 200-174.

Earlier in the day, Huidji See concluded Corey Deuel’s tournament run 200-96 and turned to face Francisco Bustamante, who’d advanced with a 200-137 defeat of Harriman. Niels Feijen defeated Ignacio Chavez 200-128 and earned a spot battling John “Mr. 403” Schmidt, who eliminated Mike Dechaine with a 200-144 victory.

The final pairing was to pit Thorsten Hohmann against Nick Van Den Berg. Hohmann had eliminated Ralf Souquet from further action with a 200-144 victory, as Van den Berg was concluding Dominic Jentsch’s day 200-38.

World Straight Pool Final Sixteen

Phase two is complete at the Predator World Straight Pool Championship and the field has now been narrowed to just sixteen players.

The rest of the event is single elimination and all prior losses have been forgiven.

At the time of this writing, Oliver Ortmann had already defeated Thomas Engert 200-42 and was comfortably awaiting the winner between Mika Immonen and Jasmin Ouschan.

Other matches for today are Huidji See vs Corey Deuel, Danny Harriman vs Francisco Bustamante, Ignacio Chavez vs Niels Feijen, John Schmidt vs Mike Dechaine, Ralf Souquet vs Thorsten Hohmann and Nick Van Den Berg vs Dominic Jentsch.

World Straight Pool Stage 2; Immonen, Hohmann and Deuel advance

We apologize for our incorrect reporting of the format for the second phase of the Predator World Straight Pool Championship.

We reported that the top four players from each group advanced into a single elimination thirty two player board. The correct progression is for the top four from each group to advance into a double elimination thirty two player board and the final sixteen players from that group will advance into a sixteen player single elimination board.

The thirty two player board will be complete by Thursday evening and Mika Immonen, Thorsten Hohmann and Corey Deuel have already advanced into the final sixteen. Marquee matches underway on the winners side at the time of this report included Dominic Jentsch vs Thomas Engert, Danny Harriman vs Francisco Bustamante and Oliver Ortmann vs Mike Dechaine.

Top players with their hopes still alive on the one loss side include Jasmin Ouschan, Danny Barouty, Mike Sigel, Ralf Souquet, Allen Hopkins and John Schmidt.

World 14.1 Enters Knock-Out Phase

Finishing off round-robin play in dominating fashion, Mika Immonen earned the top seed in the knock-out stage of the Predator World 14.1 Championship — held through Saturday at the Hilton Hotel in East Brunswick, N.J.

Going 7-0 in the group stage, Immonen ended with a combined score of 700-210 — averaging an astounding 70-point margin of victory.

Three other players also went unbeaten through the first three days of play. Nick Van den Berg of the Netherlands secured the second seed in the 32-player bracket, while countryman Niels Feijen took the No. 3 spot. Johnny Archer finished fourth overall among the 64 players by going undefeated in his group.

Straight-pool legend Mike Sigel survived what turned out to be the "group of death." Five players tied with 5-2 records in Group 2, including Thorsten Hohmann and Charlie Williams. Jonathan Fulcher was the unlucky man out, eliminated by virtue of a tiebreaker based on total points.

The World Championship will now be single-elimination until a winner is crowned on Saturday evening.

Interesting matchups in the round of 32 include Mika Immonen against Jasmin Ouschan, who advanced despite struggling to a 3-4 record in group play; rising star Mike Dechaine facing Bobby Hunter, the last American to win the world title in 1990; and Hohmann taking on Williams, who has had a number of top finishes in recent months.

Mika Immonen wins Raxx Blaze Stop

The Blaze 9 Ball Tour made its way to Raxx Bar & Grill in New York on Aug 9th and 10th with a strong field of 41 players coming out to play.

Leading the top half of the bracket was Eddie Abraham with wins over Mike Ettl 9-3, Liz Ford 9-4, John Alicia 9-6, and Alejandro Calderon 9-4. Leading the bottom half of the bracket was Mika Immonen with wins over Bobby Blackmore 9-3, Gregg McAndrews 9-2, Vinnie Leone 9-2, and Manny Chau 9-6.

Playing for the hot seat it was Eddie Abraham vs Mika Immonen. This was a great match with Mika Immonen pulling away mid-match to win 9-5. This sent Eddie Abraham to the one loss side. On the one loss side it was Manny Chau waiting for Eddie Abraham. This too, was a great match with Manny Chau pulling it off at the end with a 9-7 win to get to the finals.

In the finals it Mika Immonen vs Manny Chau in one race to 13th and it was all Mika Immonen running away with the match winning easily 13-7.