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2012 USBA TOUR
2012 Verhoeven Open Tournament at Carom Café Billiards
Piedrabuena at His Brilliant Best in New York
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Pedro Piedrabuena, invincible at the Carom Cafe in New York.
Photo by Joe Ratke
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-By Andrew Janquitto
There are 64 players in the tournament. Some top foreign players: Torbjorn Blomdahl, Raymond Ceulemans, Eddy Leppens, Roland Forthomme, Glen Hoffman, Javier Teran, Allen Jensen, Carlos Campino, Alexander Salazar, Andres Naranjo and Wim van Cromvoirt. Blomdahl and Ceulemans are seeded into the semi-finals, which begin on Friday. All others are involved in the qualification rounds. Most of the top US players are also present: Pedro Piedrabuena, Hugo Patino, Mazin Shooni, Miguel Torres, Sonny Cho and Michael Kang. Many good local players are also participating. There is one woman in the field, Katrina Jetten (who played in last year's women's tournament).
The 64 players have been placed into eight flights (A to H). Eight players were seeded:
Mazin Shooni, Carlos Campino (Pan-American champ), Eddy Leppens, Roland Forthomme, Javier Teran (returning champ), Pedro Piedrabuena, Sonny Cho, and Hugo Patino.
Flight C is clearly the toughest, with Leppens, Hoffman, Michael Kang and two very good NY/Korean players, Sand Bin Lee and Won Sik Kang. Kang suffered two losses on the first day, to the aforementioned Korean players. He'll have a hard time advancing with tough matches ahead with Leppens and Hoffman. Group D is also deep with talent, featuring Roland Forthomme, Miguel Torres and Alexander Salazar (Columbian national champ and former Pan-American Champ). At the end of the first day, Forthomme remained undefeated. Salazar had lost to Forthomme, and Torres had lost to Salazar. There were no other surprises in the other groups. With the exception of Torres, the seeded players are on schedule to advance. Torres faces an uphill battle with his loss to Salazar and his game with Forthomme on the horizon.
The tables are playing great. There is a large crowd, many of whom are at Carom Café to enjoy both the 3-C and the 14.1 tournament.
Blomdahl has been practicing 9 ball, and Ceulemans was working on his 71.2 balkline stroke.
The second day of qualifiers is almost over. In Flight A, Mazin Shooni is sure to advance. Freddy Cato and Wim van Cromvoirt are in the running for second. Hugo Patino leads Flight B with Julian Morales and George Reyes contending for the runner up spot. Eddy Leppens and Glen Hofman will advance from Flight C. Roland Forthomme is the best in Flight D with Alexander Salazar favored to move on to the semis. Javier Teran has secured a spot in the next round. Alex Alzate has the edge for second. In flight F, Allen Jensen and Pedro Piebrabuena, each 4-0, faced off in the mid-afternoon. Jensen averaged 2.0 but managed only 10 points as Pedro was out in five innings for the best game of the tournament so far. Andres Naranjo looks to advance from Flight G with Sonny Cho and Brian Yi contending for the other place. Carlos Campino is the best in Flight H with several still vying for second place.
Pedro is playing great, as is obvious from his 5.0 game. Shooni also looking strong, but the field (look at the leaders in each group!) is VERY strong, and will get stronger when Torbjorn and Raymond join the others in the semis. Two from each flight advance, plus a lottery and an auction, and then Torbjorn and Raymond will make it 20 players. There will be two fights of 10 in round robin. The winner of each will play for the championship.
The last games in the preliminaries are being played now. Shooni and Cato advance from Group A. Hugo Patino advances from Group B. Waiting to see who else moves on. From Group C, Forthomme is in and Miguel Torres should be if he wins his last match. In Group D, Teran wins and second up for grabs between Alzate and Man, who play each other for the honor of competing in the semis. Pedro and Jensen move on from Group F. Naranjo and Sonny Cho advance from Group G. Campino wins Group H. Second goes to Morales.
The 20 semi finalists are set. Group A consists of the following:
Torbjorn Blomdahl
Eddy Leppens
Javier Teran
Mazin Shooni
Miguel Torres
Roland Forthomme
Glen Hoffman
George Reyes
Carlos Man
Jim Shovak
Group B consists of
Raymond Ceulemans
Pedro Piedrabuena
Andes Naranjo
Carlos Campino
Hugo Patino
Sonny Cho
Robinson Moralses
Allan Jensen
Freddy Cato
Joel Switala
Joel Switala purchased the auction spot for $4,000. A local player won the lottery spot and put it up for auction, and Jim Shovak paid $3,000 for it.
-By Frits Bakker
The American player Pedro Piedrabuena has grown in three-cushion to the level of an international star player, who undoubtedly can make the step to the top of the world. In the Open Verhoeven tournament in New York, where he met a great field of players, the 40-year-old American champion (21 August 1971), who lives in San Diego and was born in Montevideo (Uruguay), grabbed victory in a thrilling final battle against Torbjörn Blomdahl: 40-37 in 29 innings.
Pedro Piedrabuena, who received the 8000 dollar bonus for his win, played a tournament in the Carom Cafe in which he showed himself invincible: in the first round the champion won all his seven matches, in the final group of ten, he defeated all his opponents. And at the end he claimed victory in his duel with one of the most famous players in three cushion: Torbjörn Blomdahl.
On his way to this sensational victory the American faced some great competitors. Roland Forthomme for instance, the Belgian who in 2008 won the Sang Lee tournament in a final against Frédéric Caudron. Forthomme was in the other final group, where he finished second behind Blomdahl.
Raymond Ceulemans, the 75-year old master, who has lost something of his glamour as a world class player, but still is a formidable opponent.
Eddy Leppens, who was marvellous in his matches against Blomdahl and Hofman, but missed the top four due to some unlucky losses.
Glenn Hofman, the young Dutchman, also in the other group of the final, who, although he didn't have a strong start, later demonstrated his class with some wonderful matches.
Torbjörn Blomdahl of course, the Swede who for so long is at the top of the world and actually was launched as the big favorite for the win. He finished with the best average: 1.708 and took 5000 dollar for his second place. Roland Forthomme played a great tournament as well, averaging 1.658.
The strong Colombians with Robinson Morales, Carlos Campino and Andres Naranjo. And the Americans, who Piedrabuena meets so often in the tournaments in his country: Hugo Patino and Sonny Cho.
Pedro Piedrabuena overpowered them all, culminating in his top finals match against Cho in eleven innings (3.182 average).
The spectators at Carom Cafe often watched breathlessly the undisputed star of the tournament when he came to the table. Piedrabuena combined his strong attack and a highly technical game with a solid defensive concept. He is not one of the fastest players in the circuit, but can be devastatingly strong in the decisive moments of a match.
And so he towered far above his opponents, showing his great talent. He showed his power in each match, in which he often flaunted with a kickstart. He hugely impressed his opponents, of which Torbjörn Blomdahl was the most dangerous. The Swede suffered two defeats in his group against Carloman Ortiz (35-28) and Eddy Leppens (35-18), but entered the final by a last win against Roland Forthomme (35-33 in 18).
The Belgian grabbed third place beating Hugo Patino in a direct match 35-19 in eighteen innings and two final runs of 9 and 5.
Eddy Leppens defeated Robinson Morales for fifth place 35-31 in 24. Glenn Hofman took seventh place with a 35-12 victory against Javier Terán in 26 innings.
-Stories were edited for content and spelling or punctuation.
Ranking Points to be awarded for this tournament (must be a USBA Member):
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1st Place
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80 points
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2nd Place
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60 points
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3rd Place
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50 points
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4th Place
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40 points
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5th & 6th Place
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30 points
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7th & 8th Place
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25 points
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9th through 12th Place
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20 points
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13th through 16th Place
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15 points
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17th through 24th Place
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10 points
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25th through 32nd Place
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5 points
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33rd Place and over
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3 points
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2012 USBA TOUR Sponsors:
David Levine, Jim Shovak, Bob Jewett, Creative Billiard Shirts,
Marty Isserlis, Paul Frankel, Tommy Thomsen
USBA Sponsors:
Simonis
Gabriels
Tiger Cues
Aramith
Consumer Credit Services
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Livestream of Verhoeven Open & Predator 14.1 World Championship Pool
The Verhoeven Open at Carom Cafe and the Predator 14.1 World Championship pool tournament is available on livestream pay-per-view. The Predator tournament is from Sunday July 29 through Friday August 3rd. The Verhoeven Open is from Wednesday August 1 through Sunday August 5th.
Also, on Sat and Sun August 4th and 5th, there will be a special presentation of expertise between Efren Reyes, Raymond Ceuelemans and Torbjorn Blomdahl, called "Billiard Sages Exhibitions".
Efren Reyes will play 9-ball against World 3-cushion Champion Torbjorn Blomdahl originally from Sweden. Then the two will lock horns in 3-cushion. Efren is an exceptional 3-cushion player as well.
But Efren's favorite game is a game called "balkline" where he will play billiard legend Raymond Ceuelemans, a 35-time World Champion in all the carom disciplines.
Daily Streaming Passes
$20/day for both feeds: World 14.1 and Open 3-Cushion
$15/day for World 14.1 feed only
$15/day for Open 3-Cushion feed only
$15 for Billiard Sages 3 Exhibitions (Sat & Sun) starring Reyes v Blomdahl (3c+9b), Reyes v Ceulemans (balkline)
Full Streaming Packages
$99 for all days (7/29-8/5) both feeds, World 14.1 & Open 3-cushion & exhibitions (Complete package)
$65 for all days (7/29-8/3) of World 14.1 feed (exhibitions NOT included)
$65 for all days (8/1-8/5) of Open 3-cushion feed (exhibitions NOT included)
Pay-pal will be accepted as well as major credit cards.
Please support the event by buying the stream!
Go to:
http://www.CaromTube.com
and select either "Live Full Package" or "Limited Streams" at the top.
If you have a problem viewing, I suggest that you do a search and download firefox or safari:
http://www.download.com
Tournament Dates: August 1 - 5, 2012 – players' meeting July 31, 7:00PM
Tournament Venue: Carom Café Billiards – Flushing, NY (718) 358-8585
Prize Fund: $34,750* with the top 20 finishers receiving prizes:
1st $8000
2nd $5000
3rd $4000
4th $3500
5th $2700
6th $2200
7th $1700
8th $1200
9th $1000
10th $800
11th $550
12th $550
13th $500
14th $500
15th $450
16th $450
17th $425
18th $425
19th $400
20th $400
*$34,750 prize fund is based on a minimum field of 49 Players in the qualifications.
The prize fund distribution may change depending on the number of players inscribed in the tournament and the format of play.
Torbjorn Bomdahl will be giving a clinic to interested parties on Wednesday and Thursday the 1st and 2nd of August. For more information regarding clinic, please contact Michael Kang at 917-204-6070.
Entry Fee:
“A” Players (.800 avg. & above) $385*
“A” Players (.800 avg. & above) $360 USBA Member Discount
Non “A” Players (.799 avg. & below) $285*
Non “A” Players (.799 avg. & below) $260 USBA Member Discount
*Includes $10 USBA Sanction Fee & $25 USBA non-member fee which goes to the USBA
Qualifications Format:
The Qualifications format will be determined by the number of entrants.
It will be based on Groups of 7, or 8 players. Matches will be 25 points.
Example: 49 players divided into 7 Groups of 7 players – playing round robin. The top 2 finishers plus some of the best third place finishers from each Group advance to the Semifinals.
18 players plus 1 Auction & 1 Lotto will advance to the Semifinals/Finals. 20 players total.
The tournament director reserves the right to seed up to one player into each of the separate Qualification Groups. The remaining players will be assigned by random draw.
If more than 49 players wish to inscribe we may open the tournament to additional players.
Semifinals/Finals Format:
The format will be determined once the final number of entrants is determined.
Example: 2 Groups of 10 Players Round Robin. The winners of each group play for 1st & 2nd.
Please contact Tournament Directors
Charles Brown 646 528 3238 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Michael Kang 917 204 6070 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
USBA Rankings Bonus: For "Open" TOUR events, the top 6 nationally-ranked players will each receive $300 expense money when they arrive and play at the event, assuming they are eligible to participate. "B" or "C" players are also permitted to participate in this benefit if they manage to become nationally-ranked into the top six. Jim Shovak has opted himself out of this benefit. This extra bonus money is coming directly from individual sponsors. In order to qualify for the bonus, a player must reside in the United States and must not play in a foreign National Championship. The Rankings Bonus qualifications for each event will be based on the USBA Rankings that is in effect at the time that the tournament is officially announced. Those players' names will be posted in the tournament announcement and will not change regardless of any in-between rankings changes.
The Rankings Bonus for this event is based on the 4/30/2012 USBA Rankings. The players who qualify for this bonus are to be announced.
Ranking Points to be awarded for this tournament (must be a USBA Member):
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1st Place
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80 points
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2nd Place
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60 points
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3rd Place
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50 points
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4th Place
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40 points
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5th & 6th Place
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30 points
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7th & 8th Place
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25 points
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9th through 12th Place
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20 points
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13th through 16th Place
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15 points
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17th through 24th Place
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10 points
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25th through 32nd Place
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5 points
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33rd Place and over
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3 points
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Tournament Hotel:
Lexington Marco Hotel (formerly the Wingate Hotel)
137-07 Northern Boulevard, Flushing, NY 11354
Walking distance from Carom Cafe
Beautiful hotel. 718-445-3300
USBA Discounted Rates:
January through March: $109 king/$119 double
April through June: $129 king/$139 double
July through December: $10.00 off the Rate of the Day
Blackout Dates: Aug 22-Sept 12, 2012 and Dec 30, 2012 - Jan 2, 2013
Breakfast is $10 additional per person.
Reservations should be made as far in advance as possible otherwise rates are not guaranteed.
If you experience any problems, then ask for Denise. This is a contract with the USBA, not Carom Cafe.
2012 USBA TOUR Sponsors:
David Levine, Jim Shovak, Bob Jewett, Creative Billiard Shirts,
Marty Isserlis, Paul Frankel, Tommy Thomsen
USBA Sponsors:
Simonis
Gabriels
Tiger Cues
Aramith
Consumer Credit Services
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