Greg Sullivan and Diamond Billiard Products welcomed scores of players and fans from all over the world to the 26th anniversary of the greatest show in pool!
Attracting a record number of players, the tournament featured five events – the Bigfoot Ten-Ball Challenge, Nine Ball Banks, the Banks Ring Game, One Pocket and Nine Ball.
This year’s tournament had a major change in that a day was added and the finals of the Banks, One Pocket and Nine Ball championships were all held on that additional day.
Kicking off the tournament was the Bigfoot Ten Ball Challenge played on the ten footer. Sixteen players competed in this single elimination, race to ten, alternate breaks event.
Whittled down to four players, the first semi-final saw defending champ Joshua Filler face 2018 Bigfoot champ Roberto Gomez. Filler cruised into the finals with a 10-6 victory over Gomez.
The second semi-final pitted Lithuania’s Pijus Labutis against Peruvian Gerson Martinez. Martinez went down in a 10-5 thrashing and Labutis cruised into the finals.
With their eyes on the prize, the formidable German came up short as The Lithuanian Lion took the 2025 Bigfoot crown 11-7!
While the Bigfoot Challenge was in progress, the Nine Ball Banks Division was underway with 476 players and after scores of matches, 2024 Player of the Year and last year’s Master of the Table, Fedor Gorst, locked up his seat in the finals. His opponent, Tony Chohan, reigning Buffalo’s Pro Classic One Pocket champ, claimed the other berth and was looking for his first Derby City banks title and banner.
While the Banks was winding down, the 400 player One Pocket had cranked up. Locking up another finals berth was Louisville transplant Fedor Gorst. His opponent was none other than Captain America – Shane Van Boening. The Billiard Digest’s last Player of the Decade hadn’t had a Derby City title since 2016.
Friday night was the fan favorite – the Nine Ball Banks Ring Game! To no one’s surprise, it came down to whom many consider to be America’s best bankers in addition to being best friends – Billy Thorpe and Sky Woodward. When the smoke cleared, it was Woodward who took the cheese.
Saturday saw the elimination of many players in the 501 player field as the Nine Ball wrapped up. Alex Pagulayan, the 2016 Master of the Table, was the first to arrive at the final match. Fighting to prevent Fedor Gorst from making a possible sweep of all three events was defending champ and last year’s Master of the Table, Joshua Filler. Killer Filler made short work of Gorst and rocketed into the finals.
Sunday rolled around for the big day! The Bank Pool final was first featuring Gorst and Chohan. Fedor steamrolled through the match blitzing Tony 3-0 to claim the title.
The One Pocket final was next. Playing flawless one pocket, Gorst claimed his second Derby City title of the weeks by defeating Van Boening 3-1.
And, finally, Filler successfully defended his title after defeating Pagulayan 9-6.
Congratulations to Joshua Filler for winning back-to-back Nine Ball titles and Fedor Gorst for taking both the Bank Pool and One Pocket titles to become the 2025 Master of the Table!
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