Four hundred entries from 11 states competed September 1-4 at the Radisson Fort McDowell Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona in the BCAPL Southwest Regional Championships. With an $18,550 prize fund, the event was played on Diamond 7' Smart Tables provided by Bad Boy's Billiard Productions and produced by CueSports International, the parent company of the BCA Pool League.
The tournament had seven divisions: Scotch Doubles, Women's Open Singles, Men's Advanced / Master Singles, Men's Open Singles, Men's / Mixed Open Teams and Women's Open Teams. While the event is open to all BCA Pool League and USA Pool League members, a special Arizona rating 6 and Under Singles division was also included.
Starting Thursday, 32 teams played in the single elimination Scotch Doubles event. Arizona husband and wife team, Mike and Susan Williams took home $500 for first place. Thursday evening was a special BCAPL swimming pool party in celebration of Labor Day Weekend. Players relaxed pool side with their friends, family and team mates under the warm Arizona summer night.
Friday morning the four singles divisions revved up. The Men's Open Singles (which also included any women master level players) had 71 entrants. In the finals were Benjamin Sutherland from Phoenix and Shaun Murphy from Ramona, California. Sutherland was the hot seat recipient after winning 7 consecutive matches including three hill-hill. However, Sutherland could not take out Murphy. After initially being tossed into the one loss side by North Dakotan Brian Erickson, Murphy rallied back winning 6 more matches before double dipped Sutherland 5-1 and 5-3.
The Men's Advanced / Master Singles division had 10 players including top area players such as: Tres "Big Daddy" Kane, Carlos Avalos, Nick DeLeon and Pete Lhotka. A force on the AZ Desert Classic Tour, Lhotka defeated John Smith 6-5, Kane 6-2, Jeff Hagen 6-3 and Provencio in the finals 6-3 to take home the tidy sum of $500 for his 4 match win.
This year the Women's Open Singles field (which included Women Advanced players spotting a game) grew 38% from 23 players in 2010 to 37 this year. Sara "Millie" Miller, ranked 3rd on the Arizona Women's Billiard Tour (AWBT), cruised into the hot seat taking out Nancy Kennedy 5-0, Lori Kinny 5-2, Bianca Lindahl 5-2, Vilene Stutesman 5-2 and Sue Orr 5-2. Eager for a rematch, Orr dominated Miller in the finals from the beginning, winning set one 4-2, then shutout Miller in set two 4-0 and walked with $600 for the win.
Growing in popularity, the AZ 6 and Under Singles division fielded 66 entrants, up 47 players from 2010. The players in this handicapped division were for BCAPL Arizona players who had an AZ state rating 4 to 6. Sitting in the hot seat was Miguel Diaz (AZ 6) from Casa Grande, AZ. Diaz faced Joshua Welch from Yuma, in the finals. Diaz punted Welch to the one loss side during the hot seat match. Eager for revenge, Welch came back tougher than ever double dipping Diaz in the final 6-2, 6-1 to walk with the $700 first place prize.
Teams took center stage Saturday September 3rd. The team competitions were handicapped based on the national BCAPL rating of the fielded team members. Open players were valued at 2 points, Advanced players 3 points, Master players 4 points and Grand Master 5 points. Each team fielded a 4 player roster. The player rating points were added together with a minimum 8 and maximum 12 games to win based on the team members' individual BCAPL national rating.
The Men's / Mixed Open Team division fielded 23 (4 player) teams. Led by top AZ player Mitch Ellerman with team mates Chad Barber, JR Burkhart and Jerry Stuckart, Stinger's Venom double dipped Knobby Bull Dawgs who was comprised of Burt Balancad, Pat Dicker, Larry Eans, Jose Gonzalez and Chris Shenker all from Arizona.
The Women's Open Team division had 10 teams vying for the $700 first place payday. Going into Sunday the team sitting in the hot seat was Arizona's Q & Brew Q-Tease comprised of Leandrea Gaff, Tami Hathcock, Cathy Hamilton-Kelley and Veronica Poore. The team handily took out all in their path including long time veteran team Badd Azz Babes who they later would face in the finals. The Babes included Kitty Carroll, Sonia Flores, Sara "Millie" Miller, Sophia Morquecho and Susan Williams. In this case experience won out with the Babes bearing down and double dipping the Q-Tease for 1st place.
For all brackets and payouts for the 2011 BCAPL Southwest Regional Championships visit the CueSports Tournament System (CTS) at www.ctsondemand.com. A photo gallery courtesy of Kevin Tank Arco can be viewed at www.playbca.com. For more information about other CSI produced events including other BCAPL state and regional tournaments visit the Upcoming Events Calendar at www.playbca.com.
CueSports International is dedicated to creating more choices for all players. CSI is the parent company of the BCA Pool League and the USA Pool League. CSI also produces independent events such as the US Bar Table Championships, the Jay Swanson Memorial, the US Open One Pocket Championship and the US Open 10-Ball Championship. Visit www.playcsipool.com, www.playbca.com and www.playusapool.com for more information about CSI and its divisions.
