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Pedro Wins 5th National Title
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Pedro Piedrabuena
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The 2012 USBA National Three-Cushion Championship Tournament, played for the second consecutive year at the Las Vegas Tropicana Hotel as part of the ACS national tournament week, ended in dramatic fashion as defending champion Pedro Piedrabuena overcame a twelve point deficit with a scorching finish to defeat Mazin Shooni 40 to 33 in 34 innings. With the victory, Piedrabuena not only defended his crown but also notched his 5th national championship title.
Played in the Cohiba Room of the Tropicana on 8 fabulous Gabriels Elements tables with Simonis 300 Rapide cloth, the USBA national championship started on Sunday, May 6th with 49 players from around the country. The 49 players were randomly placed in flights of 7. After a three-day round robin, where a player competed against each other player in a flight, 20 players advanced to the semi-finals. The semi-finalists were placed in 4 flights of 5 players, where another round robin was played. The top two players in each flight advanced to the finals, which was contested in a single-elimination bracket with consolation matches to determine all 8 places.
In addition to Piedrabuena and Shooni, the other finalists were Hugo Patiño, Miguel Torres, Sonny Cho, Jae Cho, Michael Kang and Khalil Diab. In first round action of the final day, Patiño squeaked by Diab 40 to 38, Piedrabuena beat Kang handedly 40 to 13 in 17 innings for a 2.353 average, Sonny Cho topped Jae Cho 40 to 36 and Shooni bested Torres 40 to 24 in 24 innings for a 1.667 average. Piedrabuena continued his strong play in the next round by beating Patiño 40 to 21 in 24 innings (1.667 average), and Shooni defeated Sonny Cho 40 to 28 in 24 innings (1.667 average), thus setting up the Piedrabuena-Shooni final.
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Finalists: Pedro Piedrabuena (1st), Andrew Janquitto (USBA President), Sonny Cho (3rd), Hugo Patino (4th), Mazin Shooni (2nd), Jae Hyung Cho (5th), Khalil Diab (6th),
Miguel Torres (7th), Michael Kang (8th), Charles Brown (Tournament Director).
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In the title match, Shooni started strong, scoring almost at will. “I knew I had to remaining patient and not do anything crazy on the table,” Piedrabuena later explained what went through his head as Shooni built the early lead. But, with Shooni leading 30 to 18, he missed a five-cushion shot by a hair that would have left position and provided the opportunity to lengthen his lead. Piedrabuena stepped up the wide-open table and ran 5, making the score 30 to 23. With Shooni’s miss and Piedrabuena’s run, the momentum shifted. Over the next eight innings, Shooni managed but 3 billiards, while Piedrabuena scored 17 times, including a finishing run of 7, to win the title. For the game, Piedrabuena averaged 1.212 and Shooni averaged 1.000. For the finals, Piedrabuena’s overall grand average was 1.600, while Shooni’s was 1.395.
With the victory, Piedrabuena took home $4,000, while Shooni pocketed $3,000. In other finals action, Sonny Cho defeated Patiño for 3rd place, and Jae Cho defeated Diab 40 to 15 for 5th place. Torres finished 7th, and Kang 8th. Prize money was awarded to the top 20 players. Eighth place was worth $1,000, and 20th place was worth $300. The total prize fund topped $20,000.
Gabriels was the primary sponsor for the tournament, supplying the tables, the Dyna sphere balls used in the finals, and a cash contribution. Other sponsors included Simonis, which supplied the 300 Rapide cloth and contributed to the prize fund. Aramith supplied the balls used in the preliminaries and the semi-finals, and Tiger Cues supplied three beautiful billiard cues that were raffled by the USBA at the conclusion of the tournament. Tony Ferrara from Massachusetts, Doug Deitel from Texas, and Leonard Williams from Denver won the cues.
Many individuals contributed to the success of the tournament. Among them, great thanks go out to Charlie Brown, the Tournament Director who ran an efficient event; Larry Hundley, Rich Kuchma, Jim Hendrickson, Paul Frankel and Andy Janquitto who helped with assembling the tables; Russ (“Rosy”) Rosenberger, Raye Raskin, Andy Janquitto and Tony Ferrara, who helped with vacuuming the tables between games; Doug Deitel, who manned the live stream cameras and chat room; and many others who volunteered to score matches in the semi-finals and finals.
Special Thanks to our major sponsors for the tournament: David Levine, Bob Jewett, Gabriels, Simonis, Tiger, Aramith & Joe Piper.
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2012 USBA National Championship and Regional Qualifiers
The USBA is proud to announce the 2012 National 3-Cushion Championship will be held Sunday through Thursday May 6-10, 2012 at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. This event will be occurring at the same time, same place as the
ACS National Pool Championships.
Defending National Champion – Pedro Piedrabuena
2011 Runner-up – Hugo Patino
Tropicana Las Vegas
3801 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
1.800.GO2.TROP
TropLV.com
When you reserve your rooms at the Tropicana Las Vegas, use the group code “SACN512”.
Tropicana Las Vegas – “EARLY BIRD” $59 per night
(up to four people, taxes and fees additional – Sunday-Thursday)
If reserved BEFORE January 31, 2012!
$79 per night (up to four people, taxes and fees additional – Sunday-Thursday)
If reserved from 2/1/2012 thru 4/15/2012 !
$109 per night (up to four people, taxes and fees additional – Friday-Saturday)
Reserve by 4/15/2012 !
Entry fees are NO LONGER BEING ACCEPTED
The tentative field will be up to 56 players. Only U.S. Citizens and valid Green Card Holders can participate. Eligibility will be verified electronically at the event.
The top 4 finishers from 2011 are automatically given first priority, leaving 44 available spots.
These spots will be filled by winners of Regional Qualifiers first, and then will be made available to USBA Members in the following order of priority:
1) Members who have played in a Qualifier. Entry fee is only $300.00 on a first paid/first served basis.
2) Members who have played in a USBA Tournament in 2011. Entry fee is $500.00 on a first paid/first served basis.
3) All other members. Entry fee is $500.00 on a first paid/first served basis.
Registration: Saturday, May 5th, 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Practice: Saturday, May 5th, 1:00 to 6:30 p.m., 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight
Players' Meeting: Saturday, May 5th, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Preliminary Rounds: Sunday through Tuesday, May 6th-8th, 9:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Semi-Finals: Wednesday, May 9th, 9:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Finals: Thursday, May 10th, 9:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Probable Format:
Prelims based on number of players. If 49, then probably will be 7 groups of 7 players each round robin to 25 points. If 48, then probably 6 groups of 8 players each.
20 players advance to the semi-finals.
Semi-Finals: 4 groups of 5 players each to 30 (?) points.
Top 2 from each group advance to Finals (8 players).
Finals: single elimination to 40 (?) points.
Admission is free. It is in the Cohiba room.
There will be spectator seating.
Ranking Points to be awarded for this tournament:
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1st Place
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120 points
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2nd Place
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80 points
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3rd Place
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60 points
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4th Place
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50 points
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5th & 6th Place
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45 points
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7th & 8th Place
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40 points
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9th through 12th Place
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30 points
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13th through 16th Place
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25 points
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17th through 24th Place
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15 points
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25th through 32nd Place
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10 points
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33rd Place and over
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5 points
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Players List:
Top 4 Finishers of the 2011 Nationals:
1) Pedro Piedrabuena- 2011 USBA Champion
2) Hugo Patino- 2011 Nationals Runner-up
3) Frank Torres - 2011 Nationals 3rd place finisher
4) Miguel Torres - 2011 Nationals 4th place finisher
Players Who Have Qualified for the 2012 Nationals:
5) Lupe Cruz - Marshalltown, IA Qualifier
6) Fred Lamers - Marshalltown, IA Qualifier
7) Jim Henrickson - Tacoma, WA Qualifier
8) Mark Hansen - Tacoma, WA Qualifier
9) Ramses Verlinden - Tacoma, WA Qualifier
10) Joe DeAmato - Peabody, MA Qualifier
11) Khalil Diab - Chico, CA Qualifier
12) Mazin Shooni - Louisville, KY Qualifier
13) Gilbert Najm - Louisville, KY Qualifier
14) Jim Shovak - Louisville, KY Qualifier
15) Jim Bishop - Louisville, KY Qualifier
16) Jamil Isreal - Commerce Twp, MI Qualifier
17) Michael Kang - Flushing, NY Qualifier
18) Sonny Cho - Flushing, NY Qualifier
19) Victor Cuzzi - Doral, FL Qualifier
20) Antonio Rivera - Watsonville, CA Qualifier
21) Jae Hyung Cho - Savannah, GA Qualifier
22) Thanh Vu - Houston, TX Qualifier
23) Cesar Cardoza - Milpitas, CA Qualifier
Other Players:
24) Chris O'Brien
25) Larry Hundley
26) Gary Cohen
27) Raye Raskin
28) Gary Eake
29) Tommy Thomsen
30) Bob Tracy
31) Bassel Elshaar
32) Tom Rossman
33) Ellis Lawrence
34) Eric Hughes
35) Tony Ferrara
36) Robert Ferrara
37) Jim Watson
38) Dung Nguyen
39) Phuc Le
40) Doug Deitel
41) Paul Frankel
42) Homero Landa
43) Bob Page
44) Gary Elias
45) Peter Banyai
46) Spencer Winston
47) Rich Kuchma
48) Carlos Bazo
49) Eduardo Avila Gomez
Gabriels Billiards and the United States Billiard Association (USBA) have entered into a three-year sponsorship partnership beginning January 1, 2012.
Under the terms of the agreement, Gabriels will become the “Official Partner of the USBA” and will financially support the USBA Three-Cushion National Championship Tournament during the term of the agreement.
Founded in 1932 in Antwerp Belgium by René Gabriels, a legendary balkline player, Gabriels specializes in the production of high-end carom tables. Gabriels website is www.gabrielsbilliards.com
The USBA is the governing federation for carom billiards in the United States. Its website is www.usba.net
The partnership will enable the USBA to continue its efforts to grow carom billiards in the United States.
Players from across the country will showcase their skills at one of the most challenging cue disciplines in the world when the United States Billiard Association (USBA) and Professor-Q-Ball promotions brings the USBA Three-Cushion National Championships back to the neon lights of the Tropicana in Las Vegas as part of the Lucasi Hybrid American Cue Sports (ACS) National Championships week. The USBA Nationals will be held from Sunday May 6th through Thursday May 10th, 2012.
The “ACS Board of Directors” asked the USBA to return to the Tropicana after the success of the USBA's 2011 national tournament at the same location.
Gabriels Billiards, the Official Partner of the USBA, will provide eight Kronos carom tables for the USBA championship tournament. The Kronos is Garbiels' latest model. Specially designed for tournament play, the Kronos was featured at the World Cup in Vienna in October, where Frédéric Caudron set a world record with a grand average of 2.420.
According to Andy Janquitto, the President of the USBA, returning to the Tropicana enables the USBA to hold its feature event in a destination city and allows the USBA to expose the game of carom billiards to pool and snooker players. Janquitto thanked Gabriels, the ACS, Professor-Q-Ball and the Tropicana for the opportunity.
USBA Members also receive between 5-10% discount from the following
car rental companies, if they service the area:
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