Kenny Rutman
Rutman and Brandon Shuff battle twice for title
It was certainly something of a star-studded lineup that competed in this past weekend’s 2nd Annual, $2,000-added, PA Pro-Am Pool’s 8-Ball Championships that drew 42 entrants to Bluegrass Billiards in Philadelphia, PA. Any time you have the competitor who’s known as ‘T-Rex’ on-hand (Tony Chohan), one is bound to attract the kind of attention an actual T-Rex dinosaur might attract if it showed up on Fifth Avenue (NY). Not necessarily more than others who were in attendance, like, though not limited to Shaun (“Get Some”) Wilkie, Lukas Fracasso-Verner, Brandon Shuff, Matt Krah, members of the Haas family (Scott, the father and Thomas, the son) and just to give female credit, where female credit is due, PA State’s Women’s Champion, Ashley Benoit (pronounced ‘ben-wa’).
The name that won the tournament, coming from the loss side – Kirill (Kenny) Rutman – may not be as generally well-known as some of those mentioned, but he is something of a household word in and around Bluegrass Billiards, his home room. Following the victory, Rutman commented on a PA Pro-Am Pool Facebook post, acknowledging the ‘hometown’ support and the part that it played in capturing the event title.
“It definitely meant a lot to win at my home pool hall, with all my friends supporting me, every match,” he wrote. “Thanks to Frank Maialetti for putting on another great event and thanks to everyone for all the love. It really does go a long way.”
All the way, apparently, to the winners’ circle of a highly competitive tournament.
Winning one’s opening match by shutout is always a good sign. Not necessarily punching a ticket to the win, but certainly capable of providing a competitor with a healthy dose of confidence in what is sure to be a long couple of days. Rutman defeated Artem Fedorov that way in the opening round, advancing to send the younger Haas (Thomas), Fracasso-Verner, and Hunter Smutney to the loss side by an aggregate score of 24-4 and advancing to a winners’ side semifinal against Marty Ciccia.
Eventual runner-up Brandon Shuff, in the meantime, was busy working on his own shot of confidence. He opened with 6-2 wins over T-Rex, Shaun Dobson and Ben Lou, before downing Ashley Benoit 6-3 and drawing Shaun Wilkie in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Rutman defeated Ciccia 6-1 and was joined in the hot seat match by Shuff, who’d survived a double-hill battle against Shaun (‘didn’t get enough this time’) Wilkie. Shuff claimed the hot seat 6-2 over Rutman.
Upon his arrival at the loss side of the bracket, Wilkie had the misfortune of running into the ‘dinosaur,’ T-Rex. Following his opening loss to Shuff, Chohan went on a six-eventually-seven match winning streak that, while opening up with the tried-and-true confidence of a shutout (over Suzzie Wong), advanced by Jason Halpin, and Nelson Tran, before running into the potential ‘buzz kill’ of a double-hill match against Shawn Bogutskie. T-Rex survived that challenge and then, eliminated Hunter Smutney (2) and Ed King (3) to draw Wilkie.
Marty Ciccia had the same kind of misfortune when he arrived on the loss side and drew the elder Haas (Scott), who’d lost his opening match to Tarek Elmalla and also set out on what was destined to become an eight-match winning streak. He eliminated #5, Ashley Benoit by shutout and #6, Fracasso-Verner 5-3 to face Ciccia.
Haas defeated Ciccia 5-3 and advanced to the quarterfinals. Chohan and Wilkie locked up in one of those “would love to have been there to see it” double-hill fights that eventually advanced Chohan to join Haas in the quarterfinals.
The quarterfinal turned into a double-hill match, too, with Haas advancing to face Rutman in the semifinals. Haas got within a game of making that a double-hill match, as well, but Rutman edged out in front to win it by two, 5-3.
It was, then, about 2 o’clock in the morning and the stage was set for another double-hill battle, which didn’t happen. It had been nearly two hours since Shuff had claimed the hot seat, although he’d be the first to tell you that it wasn’t the ‘reason’ behind the result. And given the eventual score, 8-5, that gave Rutman the event title, it wasn’t a ‘walk in the park’ for either of them.
Tour director Frank Maialetti thanked the ownership and staff at Bluegrass Billiards for their hospitality, along with sponsors Integrity Cues, Kamui Tips, InTheBox Sportswear, CrossRoad Cues, TrophySmack, MindForge Nutrition, M & TS Billiard Instruction, 8910Ball, CuePocket LLC, Perceptive Lighting, and Marty Magee’s Irish Pub.
The next stop on the PA Pro-Am Pool calendar will be a ‘499 & under/500-599’ 9-Ball split bracket event, scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 9-10 and hosted by Bluegrass Billiards. The 2nd Annual PA State Women’s 9-Ball Championship, in collaboration with the J. Pechauer Northeast Women’s Tour is scheduled for the weekend of Dec. 7-8 (same location), while the $3000-added, 2nd Annual PA State 9-Ball Championships (also same location) are scheduled for the following weekend, Dec. 14-15.
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