We Finally Got What We Wanted!
Exclusive Report by Tommy Thomsen, USBA Director
We billiard players are always trying to get pool players interested in our game. Not since Dallas West and Larry “Shorty” Johnson have we had a ”pool-player” that comes close to .500. Well, as I stated above, “we finally got what we wanted”.
Danny Louie, a fixture on the tour, has decided to join our ranks. In Medford, Oregon at the Medford Elks Lodge on December 7th through December 9th, he went undefeated in the preliminaries and lost only once (in the 1 hole!) in the finals to finish first in the NW qualifier for the USBA Nationals. NW USBA Director Tommy Thomsen was the only player to beat him and came in second. Both Danny and Tommy will be in Edison, New Jersey in April for the USBA Nationals.
We wanted a good size field but we had to offer the “C” players a half-price entry fee. We ended with sixteen players, eight “B” players and eight “C” players. The field was evenly divided with four “B” and four “C” players in each flight. That gave us a chance to have a “C” tourney at the same time as the “B” qualifier tourney.
The “C” finalists were Marc Smith, Alfred Wenzl, J R Greenlee, and Jerry Gibson. Marc finished first, Alfred second, J R Third with a best game of 1.000, and Jerry finished fourth. Toshi Moriguchi had the high run of 5.
In the “B” finals Danny finished first, Tommy second, Bob Tracy third, and Ramses Verlinden fourth. Bob Tracy, our oldest competitor at 81 years of age, had the high run of 8 and the best game of 1.042, 24 in 25 innings.
We especially want to thank the Medford Elks Lodge for allowing us to hold the tournament there. The Lodge was given a gift of eight Gabriels billiard tables last year and is by far the best 3-cushion venue north of Los Angeles.
The USBA will be holding four more tournaments there in 2013. Look on the website, USBA.net, for particulars. We encourage players of all skill levels to visit us and hit the balls around.
Results of the Prelims and the FInals: