Day two at Thetford mines was the beginning of the 10 ball event, as well as second chance for those who washed out early in the 9 ball to make a little bit of money before leaving town. This day had a little bit of everything; great crowds, world class pool and some heated words between two top touring professionals.
For those who have not heard of up and coming Quebec talent like Michael Bernier or Dany Nguyen, this weekend acted as a coming out party for them. Both are young talents who have worked their way through the Montreal SCAB Federation ranks and exploded on the local pro tour by claiming wins during their first year as a ranked professional. Bernier Finished 13-16 in the 9 ball and placed 7/8 in the ten ball losing a close match 8-6 to Jayson Shaw to be elimiated. Nguyen placed 7/8 in the 9 ball and 9-12 in the ten ball losing a tight match to his friend Bernier 8-7.
It was also a good day for other Canadian talent like Erik Hjorleifson, Alain Martel and Jason Klatt, who all had good showings. Klatt cruised through his first few matches on the winner side until meeting up with Thorsten Hohmann who was in form beating him 9-3. Next up was Jayson Shaw who continued his high level of play despite suffering a 9-8 loss to Mika Immonen first round. He has been tearing up the B side and ended Klatts bid 8-2. Hjorleifson was virtually automatic early on and went on to finish in the 5/6 spot only losing to Mike Dechaine and Jayson Shaw. Martel, who lost his first round match, made some noise of his own on the losers side winning 4 matches to finish 7/8, losing to Johnny Archer on the hill.
The match that had everyone talking on this day was the winners side final between Mike Dechaine and Thorsten Hohmann. Hohmann, who was in control of this match from the start, earned himself a 4-0 lead when he kicked combo a six ball to the disbelief of Dechaine. According to Dechaine, Hohmann neglected to call this shot and after some jawing back and forth a frustrated Hohmann yelled, "you think you are World Champion? You have won nothing!" This brought some laughter from the crowd and resulted in the two taking a break to work things out. Hohmann came back and continued to dominate, winning 10-1. Regardless, Dechaine is only one win away from a rematch in the final which could turn out to be a classic match up.
Returning for the last day of the 10 ball is Hohmann, Archer, Shaw and Dechaine; in the 9 ball the same except for the addition of Klatt. As I finish this update, Klatt just lost 8-4 to Dechaine. Archer will take on Dechaine next to see who plays Shaw in the 9 ball final.
