Marc Vidal
Mr. Marc Vidal Claramunt was a busy man this past weekend. On Friday night (Mar. 21), he signed on with 63 other players to compete in a $500-added, single-elimination 9-ball Mini tournament as part of the 8th Annual Charlie Shootman Memorial weekend, hosted by Rac’m in Colorado Springs, CO. Just ahead of 2 a.m. on Saturday morning, Claramunt, who had gone undefeated to the hot seat, and Sharik Sayed, being the only two men left standing, opted out of playing a final match and shared the title while splitting the top two cash prizes.
As it turned out, Sayed got a little more sleep than Claramunt did as they subsequently joined 126 players in a $6,000-added, double-elimination 8-ball event (same location). Claramunt’s opening-round match got underway just after noon, while Sayed didn’t step to the table for his first match until just a little over three hours later. The two did not meet in the 8-ball event. Claramunt and Jonathan Lopez Sandoval met three times in this event; winners’ side semifinal and two sets of a double-elimination final. Sandoval won the first, sending Claramunt off on a short, loss-side journey that eventually gave him a second and third chance at the title. He took advantage and won it.
Single-elimination tournaments can be a little nerve-wracking unless you’re a competitor who knows his (or her) way around the loss side of a double-elimination bracket. One and done is the prevailing reality, which initiates a kind of pressure that can exert a powerful influence on competitors who aren’t used to it. Marc Vidal Claramunt, Sharik Sayed and Jonathan Lopez Sandoval (runner-up in the 8-ball tournament) would tend to qualify in that regard.
Bearing in mind that match scores do not always accurately reflect how easy or difficult an actual match may have been, Claramunt was breezing along in his opening matches in the Friday night 9-ball Mini, downing Craig Sommerdorf 6-2 and Jason Flowers 6-3 before benefiting from a forfeit by Nick Tafoya. Things started to tighten up as Claramunt had to overcome a double-hill challenge from Brian Begay in one of the four quarterfinals. He survived that challenge and advanced to a semifinal versus Tom D’Alfonso, who’d defeated Jahnzel Sevadera 6-1 in their quarterfinal matchup.
Sayed, in the meantime, was having his own version of a ‘breeze’ on the way to his semifinal matchup against Donavin Warson, who’d survived a double-hill challenge from Seth Krafczik to reach him. Sayed had played four, race-to-6 matches, ending up with an aggregate score of 24-6. He gave up two each to Ashli Safford and Luis Altamirano and then ‘tightened the screws’ by giving up one each to Chase Morrison and in another of the quarterfinals, Craig Mondragon. After surviving a double-hill challenge from Seth Krafczik, Warson stepped into the semifinal against Sayed.
Claramunt ran right into his second straight, double-hill challenge, from D’Alfonso, in their semifinal. It turned out to be the last match for both of them. Sayed kept ‘tightening (those) screws’ in his semifinal and shut Warson out. Negotiations were initiated for a split of the top two 9-Ball Mini prizes, after which (one would assume) Claramunt and Sayed left the building for some ‘shut eye.’
Claramunt takes a short, loss-side trip and double dips Sandoval in finals to claim 8-ball title
In a way, double-elimination events reflect a reality about pool in any of its game forms. Occasionally, ‘stuff’ happens. Even Shane Van Boening, Joshua Filler and Fedor Gorst (to name just a few) can have an ‘off’ match, usually as the result of a simple mistake or two, a single or set of bad rolls and the occasional ‘luck factor’ showing up to assist an opponent. Double-elimination gives players a ‘mulligan,’ which is an embrace of the idea that ‘stuff’ happens and in pool, like life, you get a second chance.
As it turned out, Marc Vidal Claramunt needed (and got) one in the 125-entrant, 8-Ball main event of Charlie Shootman’s 8th Memorial tournament. He advanced through five opponents before running into Jonathan Lopez Sandoval in one of the winners’ side semifinals. It sent him to the loss side, from which he returned to challenge and defeat Sandoval twice in the true, double-elimination final, which offered Sandoval a sort of ‘mulligan’ as well.
In races to 5 (both sides), were it not for a double-hill challenge from Matt Valdez in his third match, Claramunt would have showed up to compete in his winners’ side semifinal with an aggregate score of 20-3. He shut out Dave Jaramillo for starters and gave up two to Johnny (Bass) Sandifer before running into Valdez. With a quick exhale in recognition that he’d just avoided the need for a ‘mulligan’ by defeating Valdez, Claramunt got back to work, shutting out Jose Manuel, giving up another ‘1’ to Gabe Owen and drawing Sandoval in one of the winners’ side semifinals.
Owen, by the way, re-joined the land of active competitors last year, after a five-year hiatus between ’19 and ’24. He’s been recording payouts into his AZBilliards profile since just before the century turned (’99) and chalked up his best recorded earnings year, to date, in 2006. Two years earlier, he’d served notice on the pool community about his skills by going undefeated to win the 2004 US Open 9-Ball Championships, downing Thorsten Hohmann in the finals. In 2024, he recorded two cash finishes on the Ultimate Pool USA tour; 17th at a stop in Kansas City, Missouri and 5th at a stop in Westminster, Colorado. A ‘welcome back’ tip of the hat to Owen as he continues his career at the tables.
Meanwhile, as Claramunt and Sandoval were working on their meetup, Ruis Romero was working on his trip to the hot seat match with wins over Lucas Taylor (1), Aiden Wiley (0), and Roberta Maestas (2), before running into a double-hill challenge from Miguel Martinez. He survived the challenge, advancing to defeat Chris McDaniel 5-2 and picked up Ruben Silva in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Sandoval, of course, sent Claramunt to the loss side 5-2, while Romero sent Silva over 5-3. Sandoval and Romero battled to double hill. Sandoval dropped the last 8-ball and claimed the hot seat.
Claramunt arrived to do his loss-side battling and ran right into two straight double-hill matches. His first was against Chris McDaniel, who’d followed his loss to Romero with a victory over Tony Piazza 5-1 and then, inadvertently preventing the match between Claramunt and Sharik Sayed which didn’t happen in the 9-ball Mini the night before, eliminated Sayed 5-2. Claramunt won the double-hill battle with McDaniel and advanced to a quarterfinal versus Silva, who’d defeated Rodriguez 5-2.
Claramunt fought Silva to a double-hill deciding game as well, won it and in an almost-double- hill match (5-3), eliminated Romero in the semifinals.
Claramunt was not done with double-hills. In their first match of the true double-elimination final, he bested Sandoval that way, forcing a second set. That double-hill loss may have taken a little ‘wind out of Sandoval’s sails.’ He won only two racks in the second set, allowing Claramunt to claim the event title 5-2.
Tour director Madelyn Whelan thanked the ownership and staff at Rac’m along with advertising sponsors HCD Underground, J2D Electric, Thayer Mechanical, Westside Billiards, Andy’s Auto, Adam’s Apple Lounge, CS Fanatics, Pike’s Peak Billiard Club, Colorado Springs High County Pool Association and Bijou Billiards. Thanks were extended, as well, to Dar Kyle, Eric Matson Jolene Lindenberger Tallent, Ruben Silva (Caveman Custom Cues), and the streaming crew of Mark Slam and Donald Lowe with Legends Brews & Cues.
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