Handicap Event At Amazin Billiards
Mazin Shooni, 2006 USBA National Champion, hosted 22 USBA members in a handicap tournament at his private club, Amazin' Billiards, in Malden, Massachusetts, and took away the top prize.
Play began on June 8. The 22 players were grouped into 4 flights for round-robin preliminary action. After a full day of play, the top two players from each flight advanced to an 8-player final. The finalists were placed into two groups of 4 for the second day of round-robin play. The top two players from each Sunday group then played for positions 1 through 4. Shooni took home the top prize, besting Ellis Lawrence. John Johnson topped Tony Ferrara for third place.
Aside from the players who cashed, some of the highlights came from players who played in their first 3-cushion tournament. Baran Yildirim finished 2 - 3 with several close loses. Ken Beers bested a seasoned veteran in Lenny Collibee, while going 2 - 3 and costing Collibee a spot in the semi-final. Leo Pais lost his first game badly but recovered to win 3 out of 4 games and just missed making the semi-finals; Walter Burr and Andemar Perdomo, both going 2 – 3, also showed well.
All in all, it was a very competitive and hard fought handicap event at the beautiful private setting of Amazin' Billiards. Hopefully many more 3-cushion events will be played in this beautiful setting. Many thanks to Jim Shovak once again for organizing the schedule and reporting results and thanks and congratulations go out to the incomparable Mazin Shooni for his devotion to the game, the invitation to his room and for his stellar play in besting twenty-two 3-cushion players all gunning for him.