Sunday, September 24, 2006

Eddy Merckx is 3-cushion World champion

Eddy Merckx from Belgium won the World Three Cushion Championship in St. Wendel, Germany.

In the final against Nikos Polychronopoulos from Greece he won 3-1, with the set scores 15-11, 15-14, 4-15 and 15-2. Peter de Backer (Belgium) captured the bronze medal.

Marco Zanetti (Italy) had the highest average in the tournament, with 1.802. Current European champion Frédéric Caudron from Belgium had the highest single match average with 2.812. Dick Jaspers (Netherlands) had the highest run in the event with 15.

Merckx is No.13 in the current World Players Ranking and is a multiple Belgian Champion.

The championship was held in Saaldau, Germany between 19th and 24th September.

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Alex Lely wins Euro Tour event on home turf

Alex Lely from Netherlands won the PoolComps.com Netherlands Open and the top prize of €5,000. In the final he defeated German veteran Oliver Ortmann 10-8.

Thomas Engert (Germany) had his second successive third place finish. He was joined by David Alcoberro from Spain, the surprise package of the event.

The tournament was played 20-22 September at the House of Billiards in Weert. In total 234 players participated. It was the fifth event of the season. There are two more stops, in Switzerland (Oct 4-7) and in Spain (Dec 6-9).

With this victory Lely leaps from 30th to 7th in the Euro Tour Ranking. Engert retains his lead. He is followed by Nick van den Berg (Netherlands) and Imran Majid (England), both moving up one place.

Losing finalist Ortmann jumps from 7th to 4th, Christian Reimering (Germany) moves from 6th to 5th and Niels Feijen (Netherlands) drops from 2nd to 6th.

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Saturday, September 23, 2006

Efren Reyes wins final event of Asian Tour season

Efren Reyes (Philippines) won the Indonesia leg of the San Miguel Asian 9-ball Tour. In the final he defeated local player Ricky Yang 11-7 to claim the $10,000 first prize.

This completed a Philippine sweep on the Tour. Efren Reyes won in Vietnam, Ramil Gallego won in Thailand and Rodolfo Luat won in Taiwan.

The tournament was played in Mutiara Ballroom, Jakarta 15-17 September.

The top 10 finishers in the Order of Merit earned spots in the 2006 World Pool Championship. Reyes tops the list. Here are all the qualifiers:
  1. Efren Reyes (Philippines)
  2. Wung Hung Hsiang (Taiwan)
  3. Li He Wen (China)
  4. Wu Chia Ching (Taiwan)
  5. Francisco Bustamante (Philippines)
  6. Yang Ching Shun (Taiwan)
  7. Ramil Gallego (Philippines)
  8. Rodolfo Luat (Philippines)
  9. Masaaki Tanaka (Japan)
  10. Chao Fong Pang (Taiwan)
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Daniel Sanchez wins World Cup in Egypt

Daniel Sanchez from Spain won the 3 cushion World Cup event in Hurghada, Egypt.

In the final he beat Peter de Backer (Belgium) 3-1.

Netherland's Jean Paul de Bruyn occupied third spot and Michael Nilsson from Sweden took fourth.

World champion Frédéric Caudron (also Belgium) had the highest average in the tournament, with 1.879.

The event took place at the Sunrise Garden Resort, Hurghada, Egypt, September 4-9. It was the fourth World Cup event of the year. Only one event remains, in Istanbul Turkey.

The win takes Sanchez to the top of the World Cup ranking. Dick Jaspers (Netherlands) drops to third. Roland Forthomme (Belgium) is in third and Caudron is in fourth.

Sanchez also tops the UMB World Players Ranking. He is followed by Caudron, Jaspers and Blomdahl.

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Thursday, September 14, 2006

Efren Reyes wins World Open 8-Ball Championship

Efren "Bata" Reyes from the Philippines won the World Open 8-ball Championship.

Reyes earned a massive $500,000 for the win, the richest prize in pool history.

USA's Rodney Morris was defeated 8-6 in a tight final. His three scratches on the break might have been his downfall. The runner-up checque of $150,000 isn't a bad consolation prize though.

Mika Immonen (Finland) and Oliver Ortmann (Germany) came third and fourth respectively. Dennis Orcollo (Philippines) came 5th and Corey Deuel (USA) took sixth.

Francisco Bustamante (Philippines) had the best games won percentage in the event with 63.67. Ortmann had the best break and run percentage with 47.94.

Reyes and Orcollo also made the last six in the North American Open.

The win moves Reyes to the top the Money List Rankings, ahead of Thorsten Hohmann (Germany), Morris, Orcollo, Immonen and Manalo.

This was the second event of the International Pool Tour's inaugural season. It ran from September 2-10 at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nevada. 200 players participated. Next up is the Masters 8-Ball Championship in Chicago November 26 - December 3.

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Frédéric Caudron rules at Sang Lee International Open

Reigning world champion Frédéric Caudron from Belgium won the 2006 Sang Lee International.

In the final Caudron edged Swedish legend Torbjörn Blomdahl 40-39. Blomdahl was down 37-28 before making a 10 points run to get right back in it. Turkey's Semih Sayginer took third.

Caudron received $12,750 for the win. Blomdahl earned $10,200 and Sayginer $8,500.

Best game honors went to Dick Caspers (Belgium) who made 40 points in eight innings against Kyung-Roul Kim (South Korea). That's an average of 5.000! Caudron won high run honors with a brilliant 20.

70-year old Raymond Ceulemans (Belgium) finished in an impressive 11th place.

The event was played August 13-20 in Carom Café Billiards, New York, USA. The tournament featured 82 players from 18 countries.

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Sunday, September 03, 2006

The IPT World Open 8-ball Championship has started

Play has commenced in the IPT World Open 8-ball Championship.

Two major announcements were made at the players meeting; The London event is cancelled and the IPT has been sold to Ho Interactive.

This is the second event of the International Pool Tour's inaugural season. It runs from September 3-9 at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nevada. The winner receives $500,000 from the $3 million purse.

Germany's Thorsten Hohmann and Marlon Manalo from the Philippines came first and second in the North American Open. They're back and have to play very well to fend off the brilliant cast of contenders.

There are many top names among the IPT cardholders, e.g. Efren Reyes (Philippines), Ralf Souquet (Germany), Earl Strickland (USA), Mika Immonen (Finland), Oliver Ortmann (Germany) and Allison Fisher (England).

Also there's a lot of quality coming through the qualifiers. The biggest name may be Taiwan's double world champion Chia-Ching Wu. There's also a number of qualifiers from the Philippines; Ronnie Alcano, Antonio Lining, Santos Sambajon and Ramil Gallego.

Jasmin Ouschan from Austria is possibly the strongest female player at the moment. She qualified from the Norwegian event. Others coming through were Thomas Engert (Germany), Tony Drago (Malta), Hui-Kai Hsia (Taiwan) and Imran Majid (England).

The two American legends Buddy Hall and Jim Rempe have withdrawn. They have been replaced by Rico Diks from Netherlands and David Matlock (USA). Ronnie O'Sullivan had to stay home because of an ear infection. He was replaced by Michael Schmidt from Germany. George SanSouci had to pull out for personal reasons. His spot went to Rodolfo Luat (Philippines).

Billiards Digest has a superb 2006 Season Preview (PDF) that provides you with all the information you need.

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Saturday, September 02, 2006

Philippines capture World Cup of Pool

The Philippines "Dream Team" of Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante won the inaugural PartyPoker World Cup of Pool.

In the final they overwhelmed the American duo of Earl Strickland and Rodney Morris 13-5. Germany and Vietnam shared third place.

The event took place from August 22-27 in the Newport Centre, Newport, Wales. First prize was $60,000. All matches were scotch doubles with alternate break.

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Ding Junhui wins Northern Ireland Trophy

China's Ding Junhui grabbed his third ranking title by winning the Northern Ireland Trophy.

Ronnie O'Sullivan (England) was impressive throughout the tournament but had to surrender 9-6 to Junhui in a well-played final.

The win puts Junhui at No.5 in the provisional rankings. O'Sullivan is in 8th position. The list is headed by Ireland's Ken Doherty, followed by Scots Graeme Dott and John Higgins.

The event took place in Waterfront Hall, Belfast Aug 13-20.

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