John Morra
Shaw, Strickland, Kiamco, Sossei, Davis and Tate (among others) advance to Day Two
Some of the ‘bigger’ guns who’ve trekked to Oaks, PA to participate in the 29th Annual Super Billiard Expo (SBE) this weekend (April 13-16) got to sit out the first day of competition yesterday (Thursday) for the Open Nine Ball Professional Players Championship. There were 16 competitors out of 56 entrants who were seeded, the top eight were awarded opening round byes; Jayson Shaw, Earl Strickland, Shane Wolford, Jonathan Pinegar, John Morra, Jose Alberto Delgado, Warren Kiamco and Jonas Souto. They’ll join the 24 competitors who played and advanced in the event’s opening round during the day yesterday (Thursday) and well into the night of Day One. They’re all playing in a new format that hasn’t been seen at the SBE Players Championship in at least a decade; single elimination, races to 5, with players looking to win the best of five potential sets.
While it has a way of taking the ‘sting’ out of straight single elimination, where you get to play just one match to advance, it also has a way of competing with One Pocket for the Longest Matches Award. In the last set of matches in the opening round, which began at 7 p.m., the last two standing, junior competitors Landon Hollingsworth and Thomas Haas, didn’t finish their double-hill fifth set until 11. Haas won it.
Of the 24 matches that took place on Day One, 10 of the competitors shut out their opponents (3-0 in sets), while only three went the distance (five sets) to double hill. Advancing to the second round without giving up a set were Martin Daigle, Ron Casanzio, Frankie Hernandez, Greg Hogue, Lukas Fracasso-Verner, Mike Davis, Jr., Kang Lee, Joey Tate, Sina Valizadeh and Bryan Farah. Joining them will be the four who survived double hill (set) battles in their opening round; Thomas Haas, Dylan Spohr and Ramesh Gokhul.
Beginning at 1 p.m. today (Friday), the eight who sat out the opening round will join the party. Jayson Shaw will face Brad Unger, Earl Strickland will face Greg Hogue, Shane Wolford will battle Ron Casanzio, Jonathan “Hennessee from Tennessee” Pinegar will meet Jesse Hornbeck, John Morra will take on the youngster Thomas Haas, Jose Alberto Delgado draws Paul Song, Warren Kiamco gets Kevin West, and Jonas Souto gets to play junior competitor Joey Tate.
Premiering at the 2023 SBE today (Friday) is the Seniors 9-Ball Professional Players Championship for all players 50 and over, which will play host to such notable seniors as Karen Corr, Mika Immomen, Tommy Kennedy, Mike Massey and Rodney Morris, among others. The Open Amateur event got underway yesterday (Thursday), with the Women’s Open Amateur scheduled to begin today (Friday), along with an Amateur Seniors event. Scheduled for Saturday will be a ProAm event, the Super Seniors (65+) and two Junior events; 12 & Under and 17 & Under.
Streaming options for viewing matches in the Professional Arena, provided by Upstate Al and Onsite Pool, are available by going to the SBE Website at Watch Now! • Super Billiards Expo.
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