LIVE from the Horseshoe Southern Indiana Resort and Casino, Elizabeth, IN
As a matter of historical interest, no one player has had a career "Grand Slam, i.e., won all three Derby City Classic Master of the Table divisions: Bank Pool, One Pocket and 9-Ball.
Efren Reyes has won both One-Pocket and 9-Ball; Shannon Daulton has captured 9-Ball and Bank Pool and, got close last year with a second against Efren in the One Pocket.
Will history be made? They're both in the last 3 in the Banks Division and very capable of taking any title but, we're getting ahead of ourselves.
Let's get you caught up.
Diamond BIG Foot 10-Ball Challenge.
Shane Van Boening and Jason Klatt opened Sunday's action on the Accu-Stats TV table at noon. Jason had been playing a 10 am, One-Pocket match while Shane waited, warming up BIG Foot. There's nothing like it to work out the body's early morning cobwebs.
Shane's work ethic is, without a doubt, a major contribution to his success. At every opportunity, he's practicing on BIG Foot.
When everyone else is doing whatever, last thing at night, he's in the Accu-Stats Arena running balls. "I actually practice more at tournaments than I do when I am at home," he confessed.
Jason, a little late to the table as Shane was in fine fettle, took time to adjust and clambered to a very admirable 8 before Shane dropped the hammer.
It was then John Morra and Alex Pagulayan stepped into the ring. John, like many, just couldn't get BIG Foot's tight jaws to devour any balls on the break.
Alex is more familiar with massive expanses of Simonis as he had spent a lot of last year on the UK snooker circuit.
His, seemingly, miniature body stretched across the slate, capitalized on every offer John presented. Morra wasn't allowed to regroup as he did so elegantly, yesterday, against Bustamante. He had to settle for 7 before Alex slammed the door.
22 year old, Manila native, Jeff Ignacio can play. In fact, last year, Efren commented that Jeff was then the best player in the Phillipines. Yet, sometimes, he missed the simplest of balls. "I am very quick, maybe too quick; Fast decision, fast release," he stated. "I have to learn to control my impulses."
10-Ball is the Filipino game of choice. After easily dismissing a struggling Orcollo, Jeff said that, when they match-up in the Phillipines, he usually gets the 9. "Yeah, but that was about 4 years ago," countered Orcollo.
He didn't need the 9 today. "I couldn't see clearly," Dennis defended after his defeat at 6, "I had only managed 4 hours sleep." (We'll blame it on the Jet lag).
Mika and Lee Vann closed out the evening session with Mika, up 5-2, getting sharked by a raised water bottle in his line of sight to a straight-in 5-ball.
Lee Vann jumped to the table and soon had overtaken Mika. Mika's demons were alive and well and the audience was aware of his distress. Enter good-buddy Rodney Morris. Rodney sat behind Mika's chair consoling while motivating him," "Shake it off, shake it off. You'll get your chance."
When that chance arose and Mika was back on the scoreboard, "Now, take a time out," insisted Rodney. Mika new that he was right.
Ten minutes later Mika's maturity as an athlete was apparent. He approached the game composed and courageous. The BIG Foot battled ensued until Corteza was on the hill and Mika had fought to 9,
Then, up jumped the devil. Remember we're on BIG Foot now. The slightest overhit can have devastating results. In Mika's safety attempt to tie up the cue ball, a millimeter made all the difference and Lee Vann was left a peek at the cash. He took it straight to the bank.
And then there were four: Shane versus 3 Filipinos. Surprised?
In Semi's #1, Corteza faced the fearless Ignacio.
Jeff started well and was ahead 3-1. Then his break stopped working, "And, I had 4 scratches," he commiserated.
With an 11-7 win, Lee Vann observed, "It seems I'm always coming from behind, Then, he gave me so many opportunities…and I took them," he smiled wryly.
Semi's #2: Shane's discipline of practice showed up and his ball pocketing, table speed, position play, were near flawless. Then you add, never mind the power, the precision of his break. When he completes his follow thru, his forefinger is circling the butt 6 inches behind the joint.
Previously, Alex was executing like he had found his pool form that eluded him on his return from the snooker circuit.
Unfortunately, today, against Shane, he didn't get a chance to use it.
Shane was on fire. Alex, always a gentleman, had to applaud him. And, when Alex did get to break, twice his cue ball found the pocket. He managed only 2 games before Shane had ensured his berth, again, in the finals.
Mosconi Cup, Team America captain and Accu-Stats commentator Mark Wilson reported that, "Shane displayed one of the most inspiring 10-Ball performances that he had ever witnessed." Shane had shot an Accu-Stats' Total Performance Average(TPA) of 957–on BIG Foot! If you missed the Pay-per -View, no worries, you can catch it, soon, on the DVD.
The Finals: it seemed that Corteza was boggled by Van Boening's power and ability and smothering of Alex. Shane was as comfortable on BIG Foot as he had ever been on any table. He showed no weakness; no sign of stress or nervousness. Lee Vann had slivers of opportunity that he could not quite capture. With Shane on the hill while he, too, had mustered only 2, he missed ball that he would have made in his sleep. Shane had shot him into submission.
By allowing only 4 games against him in the semi's and finals, is there a contender on the planet who can contain Shane?
We'll see in the One Pocket and 9-Ball.
Diamond Derby City Classic XVII: Bank Pool Division
From 413 candidates on Friday, by Monday, at 10am there were 30. At 6pm there were 12.
John Brumback then eliminated Dee Adkins. Ditto with Justin Hall over Justin Bergman then, Daulton over Kentucky's Kaelin Conkright, Bobby Hunter over Bustamante, Indianapolis native Brian Groce–always a contender–over Brandon Shuff (who had given Efren his ticket to the buy-back booth) and, with the coldest roll ever, Scott Frost was ousted by the aforementioned Reyes.
Cold, you may ask? Up 2-1, and needing one ball, while Efren needed 4, Scott made the perfect bank into the heart of the corner pocket.
He stepped forward to offer Efren his hand only to realize that the ball had slowed and hung up in the jaws.
Efren stepped up and, before Scott knew it, they were jousting over one ball. Efren bounced it off the short rail and nothing but net. 2-2.
He broke and ran 4. Scott's bank attempt got close but left a distant, long rail cross into the corner. Without a wobble, the "Magician" escaped again.
With 6 remaining, Efren persevered over Bobby Hunter, Shannon allowed Brian Groce a graceful exit and, old school Brumback learned young gun Hall.
They will redraw tomorrow evening, Each has only one life left. One lucky contender will get a bye straight into the Finals and you get to watch it all at accu-stats.com.
The One-Pocket Hall of Fame Banquet
Tuesday evening, Steve Booth will host the most entertaining night at the Derby, The One Pocket Hall of Fame Banquet at 6pm in Legends Bar near the food court in the Horseshoe Southern Indiana.
Needless to say, the evening will celebrate the life and times of the inimitable Freddy "The Beard" Bentivegna.
Don't miss this! The food's good too.
visit onepocket.org for more.
The George Fels Memorial Straight Pool Challenge
The George Fels Memorial Straight Pool Challenge got off to a raucous start when young Scot, Jayson Shaw, reached for a Guinness–The Book of records that is. By breaking all previous competition record runs, he strung together staggering 227.
"That was my first inning of my second attempt." noted Shaw. Players get 12 attempts, in groups of 4 break shots, to create a high run. The top 8 finishers switch to a single elimination format and the winner is determined on Saturday.
"In my first 4 attempts, I had couple of 50 somethings and a 6! I have run in the hundreds before so, I'm not going to let it get to me. So, I bought back in. I managed the 227 in my first inning. I got $300 for high run of the day"
Daily bonuses are distributed to the top 3 high runs.
Shaw continued his innings on Monday and secured a 165 before getting his cue ball stuck in the stack.
Mika Immonen heard all the commotion and decided, 227, thats' something to shoot at. When he got 100; no sweat, At 200, the texts were blazing around the resort. "Still going? Jayson texted tourney director Bill Maropulos, "Yup," Bill responded.
At 224, that's 16 consecutive racks, folks, Mika blasted the break shot. Jayson's 227 remains intact.
Nick Van Den Berg has a 149, Warren Kiamco-145, last year's winner Dennis Orcollo–127. There are double the entrants from last year and more big runs are expected. Jayson and Mika are pretty safe, although, John "Mr 400" Schmidt is in the house.
See two more days of qualifiers before the highest 8 square off in single eliminate at www.tvmike.tv
Diamond Derby City Classic XVII: One Pocket Division
The DCC success continues as 352 One Pocket players looked for a little luck at the Horseshoe. The usual suspects are torturing the meek. No upsets as of yet.
Diamond thanks its sponsors: The Horseshoe Southern Indiana, Cyclop Balls, Simonis Cloth, BCA Pool League, and BadBoys Billiard Productions.
Accu-Stats thanks its Arena Sponsors: Simonis Cloth, Cyclop Balls, OB Cues, Cue and Case, MEZZ Cues, Samsara Cues, and National Billiard Academy.
