New Brunswick, New Jersey- Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan and Ralph Eckert split the finals of the World Tournament 14.1 Warm-Up. Both players went undefeated in the single elimination race to 100 format. The one day event was sponsored by Dr.Michael Fedak and Amsterdam Billiard Club which gave the players a bonus $3000 added tournament. The tourny drew 26 players and was a prelude to the main World Tournament the following day.
Ray Martin won against Louis Pannullo 100-49, which made it Ray's first win in 2 decades in 14.1. He fell the next match to John Schmidt, but seemed to rub some rust off. In Archer vs Schmidt, Johnny gave a repeat lashing to Schmidt 100-0. Archer ran in 2 innings, giving Schmidt his second loss in 14.1 in 3 weeks. Rodney Morris won in 20 mins running 60 and 40 against Walker and then 100-91 against Blair Levandowski . Stephan Cohen beat Kunihiko Takahashi of Japan and then beat Mike Davis 100-41. Alex then took down Archer in the semi-finals.
In a 3 inning match, Hatch ran 54 against Pagulayan, only to see Alex comeback with a 101 ball run. "I've been trying for a week to run a hundred, but now it finally comes!" exclaimed Alex. Pagulayan claimed recently that he did not have any idea of how he would do in his first international straight pool championship. Germany's Eckert was also in good form taking down former French World Champion Stephan Cohen to get to the finals.
In the end both players decided to split the cash and goto bed early to get ready for the morning matches. A wise decision as all players will have to play three days in a row with little breaks. But Eckert and Pagulayan will begin their round robins feeling pretty warmed up.
Still a tournament victory eludes the USA....
For the sixth straight year, Dragon Promotions will produce the 71st Annual World Tournament of Straight Pool August 28- September 2 . In partnership with the support of Dr.Michael Fedak, this year's event will have the biggest payout in straight pool history with $20,000 going to the champion. The event is $35,000 added , boasting a total $70,000 in the prize fund. Predator Cues will also be sponsoring the event for the sixth straight year at the luxurious Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick, NJ. Once again the greatest straight pool players from around the world will arrive on USA's east coast again to attend this prestigious event. Their common goal will be to play for the coveted World Tournament of 14.1 title and be recognized as the #1 Straight Pool Player on Earth. The World Tournament is the oldest tournament in history that still exists today. Invented by Jerome Keough and shortly after recognized as the official game of billiards. The first World 14.1 Tournament was held in 1911 and won by Alfredo DeOro. In its history due to war and economics, the World Championships had 29 tournaments that did not take place including a 15 year gap between 1990-2005 until Dragon Promotions revived the game and the World Tournament in 2006.
