Three years and counting

Billiard Pulse is a gargantuous three years old today!

.. or rather yesterday, but I've been a bit lazy.

The biggest change since the second anniversary is the addition of polls. Other than that the concept is the same as one year ago:

1. Provide links to current and upcoming events
2. Write short reports from major events with references to related material
3. Cover the billiard blogosphere and maintain a list of billiard blogs and other billiard related sites

This blog is still a "labour of love" for me. I hope you find it useful.

Thanks for visiting!

State of the blog

In total there's been 196 posts since the start and 56 in the last year.

They have been tagged 1306 times with 132 different tags. 98 (28 in the last year) posts have been tagged with pool, 44 (12) with snooker and 31 (10) with carom.

The link list in the right menu now contains 179 links, of which 123 are blogs. That's a slight increase since last year when the numbers were 170 and 118 respectively. I had to retire a fair share of those though.

Related posts:

• Here we go! (initial post)
• One year and counting
• Two year and counting

Allister Carter bags first ranking win in the 2009 Welsh Open

England's Allister Carter won the 2009 Welsh Open.

His opponent Joe Swail (N.Ireland) took the early lead with 5-2 before Carter stormed back with seven frames on the trot to win 9-5.

Anthony Hamilton (England) and Neil Robertson (Australia) lost out in the semifinals.

Carter received £35,000 for the victory and Swail got £17,500 for his runner-up spot.

Marco Fu (Hong Kong) had the highest break of the tournament with a 142. That earnt him £2,000.

Defending champion Mark Selby (England) lost 5-3 to Hamilton in the quarterfinals.

This was the first ranking title for Carter. Swail was also looking for his first title. The popular Irishman will be happy to finally have reached a final though. This was his 10th(!) semi-final appearance.

Carter improves from fourth to third in the provisional rankings. Swail jumps eight places, from 28th to 20th. The top two remain the same. Ronnie O'Sullivan (England) stays on top, followed by Stephen Maguire (Scotland).

The event took place at the Newport Centre, Newport, Wales 16-22 February, 2009. It was the sixth ranking tournament of eight on the 2008/2009 Main Tour. Next up on the snooker calendar is the Honghe Industrial China Open which starts 30th March 2009.

See also:

• Welsh Open 2009 (World Snooker)
• Carter storms to Welsh Open title (BBC)
• Carter seals first ranking event (Eurosport)
• Carter Comeback Sinks Swail (Sporting Life)
• Ali Carter clinches breakthrough victory after match of two halves (Times Online)
  
• Welsh Open 2009 (Global Snooker)
• Ali Carter: Welsh Open Champion (Snooker Scene blog)
  
• Welsh Open 2009: Captain Carter flies to Welsh glory (Pro Snooker Blog)
• Welsh Open - Newport (Fergal O'Brien)
• Welsh Open Qualifying (Fergal O'Brien)
• Cuefacts - Welsh Open 2009 (Global Snooker)
• SnookerManager: Welsh Open 2009
• Welsh Open 2009 (snooker) (Wikipedia)
• Ali Carter (Pro Snooker Blog)
• Allister Carter (Wikipedia)

Related posts:

• Stephen Lee wins Welsh crown (2006 Welsh Open)
• Neil Robertson wins Welsh Open (2007 Welsh Open)
• Mark Selby wins Welsh Open after impressive comeback (2008 Welsh Open)
• It's Ronnie again in the Northern Ireland Trophy (2008/2009 Main Tour)
• Walden strikes gold in Shanghai Masters (2008/2009 Main Tour)
• John Higgins captures Grand Prix (2008/2009 Main Tour)
• It's three out of three for Neil Robertson with Bahrain Championship win (2008/2009 Main Tour)
• Shaun Murphy wins 2008 UK Championship (2008/2009 Main Tour)
• O'Sullivan wins fourth Masters (2008/2009 Main Tour)

Shameless plugs:

• Event Prediction: Welsh Open 2009
• WWW Snooker: Welsh Open 2009

Feijen takes French Open for back-to-back Euro Tour titles

Niels Feijen from Netherlands captured the 2009 French Open for his second Euro Tour win in a row.

In the final the merited Dutchman defeated 15-year old Mario He (Austria) 9-4. The victory was worth €5000. Mario got €3300 for second place.

The semi-finals saw Feijen defeating Poland's Thomasz Kaplan 9-4. Mario overcame Tour legend Ralf Souquet (Germany) by the same score.

This was Feijen's first win in the French Open and fifth Euro Tour win overall, from ten finals. It moves him into fourth in the all-time list, only behind the German trio of Souquet, Oliver Ortmann and Thomas Engert.

It was Feijen's second straight win, having also lifted the trophy at the 2008 Costa del Sol Open. Souquet won the two events leading into that event. Before that Johnny Archer (USA) was the last man to win back-to-back titles, in 2000.

Defending champion Tony Drago (Malta) lost 9-8 to Rafael Guzmann (Spain) in the Losers Qualification.

The win took Feijen from second to first in the season's first Euro Tour Ranking. Losing finalist Mario improved from 184th to 96th. Former leader Souquet dropped to second and Nick van den Berg slipped to third.

The tournament was played 12-14 February at the Leader Billard Club, Paris, France. It was the first event of seven on the 2009 Euro Tour. Next up is the Italy Open which runs from March 25-28 2009.

See also:

• French Open 2009 (Event page)
• French Open Photo Gallery (www.eurotouronline.eu)
• IBP Euro Tour in Paris/France (Jasmin Ouschan)
• Niels Feijen is the Euro Tour 2009 French Open Champion (Pro9.co.uk)
• Feijen Pulls a Double (AZ Billiards)
• Feijen Wins in Paris (CueSport TV)
• Niels Feijen gana el primer Euro Tour del año (Billarnet - Spanish)
• Official Website of the EPBF - IBP Eurotour
• Two in a row!!!!!! (Niels Feijen)
• Feijen Pulls a Double (AzBilliards)
  
• Feijen Wins in Paris (CueSport TV)
• Terminator wint van He-Man (Poolkrant - Dutch)
• Niels Feijen (Official player page)
• Niels Feijen (Wikipedia)

Related posts:

• Tony Drago wins French Open (2008 French Open)

John Brumback is Master of the Table in 2009 Derby City Classic

John Brumback from the USA is the Master of the Table in the 2009 Derby City Classic.

The tournament is comprised of three events. Brumback was first in bank pool, top-ten in one pocket and 9th in 9-ball. He bested Johnathan Pinegar (USA) with only half a point, 175.5-175.

Here are the final results, with field sizes:

Bank pool (398): Winner: John Brumback (USA), $10,000; Runner-up: Rodolfo Luat (Philippines), $5,000
One pocket (333): Winner: John Schmidt (USA), $12,000; Runner-up: Scott Frost (USA), $6,000
9-ball: (341) Winner: Shane Van Boening (USA), $16,000; Runner-up: Lee Van Corteza (Philippines), $8,000

All-around title (Master of the Table):

1. Brumback, $20,000
2. Pinegar, $3,000
3. Luat, $2,000

This was Brumback's first all-around-title and also his first bank pool crown. Earlier he had finished runner-up twice in banks. Schmidt and Van Boening also lifted their first trophies in the event.

Francisco Bustamante (Philippines) was the defending over-all champion but ended outside the top four this year.

During the week there were several more events being staged. For instance, Danny Harriman (USA) beat defending champion Darren Appleton (England) in the final of the Straight Pool Challenge.

The tournament ran from January 23-31 at the Horseshoe Casino and Hotel, Elizabeth, Indiana, USA. It was the 11th edition of the event.

See also:

• Derby City Classic (official site)
• Van Boening wins Derby 9-Ball (AzBilliards)
• DCC Master of the Table: Brumback (Billiards Digest)
• New Digs, Still Classic (Billiards Digest)
• Brumback Clinches All-Around Rewards (Inside Pool Magazine)
• DCC 2009 (Markus Hofstätter)
• Derby City re-cap (Mika's Blog)
  
• Derby City day 7 (Moore Blogging)
• Home from Derby...Finally (The Tip Jar)
• My DCC adventure (roy d'fish)
• Home Sweet Home (Sarah Rousey)
• @ the DCC (Katrine Jensen)
• Derby City Classic (The Pool Pack)
• Derby City Classic 2009 (Images - Billiard Coach Mike Feldhammer)
• DCC 2009 Tournament Photos (onepocket)
  
• Accu-Stats On Location (Live Pay Per View)
• The Action Report (Video coverage from the DCC Action Room)
• Derby City Classic (AzBilliards Forums)
• DCC gossip and links (Pro9.co.uk Forum)
• City Classic (Wikipedia)

Related posts:

• Reyes is Master of the Table in Derby (2007 Derby City Classic)
• Bustamante wins all-around title in Derby City Classic (2008 Derby City Classic)