SJM’s First Trip to Turning Stone
I missed the first twenty-nine events at Turning Stone, but in the last couple of years, Cardigan Kid has urged me to check it out and, at last, I followed his advice. Mike Zuglan, who has seen me sitting in the front row of many a major pool event on either the stream or the Accu-stats, has also said to me “You seem to go to all the big events except mine.” I hope I’ve gotten Cardigan Kid and Zuglan off my back now.
AZBers Were Making it Happen
I didn’t get to meet fellow poster Tin Man, but I saw him play and he made quite an impression. I was watching when he came within a hair of eliminating Jayson Shaw on Saturday night. KMRunout also has game, reaching the semis of the second chance event. I was pleased that he came over to me to introduce himself.
The Matches
OK, on to the matches. I didn’t arrive until very late Friday night, so the first matches I saw were on Saturday. Perhaps the most exciting match of Saturday afternoon was Shane Van Boening vs Matt Krah, which got to 7-7 before Shane closed it out. Also making an impression were a couple of the ladies, as Caroline Pao (25th) and Jennifer Barretta (9th) both cashed. Johnny Archer turned back the clock and played like the Johnny of old, turning aside opponent after opponent by lopsided scores.
The evening brought a couple of real nail-biters. Jennifer Barretta had a great double hill win over straight-shooting Canadian Danny Hewitt. Olli Turkalainen, a Finn with whom I was unfamiliar, sent Jayson Shaw to the B-side, too. Perhaps the nail biter of the evening session was Danny Hewitt vs. Donny Mills. Donny looked like he was running out for a 9-7 win but went wrong and the match reached double hill. The double hill rack was decided by an intense safety battle in which each player bent but didn’t break. Hewitt finally won the race to the shot and ran out for the 9-8 win. The late matches left the eight remaining players for Sunday, with SVB, Johnny Archer, Eric Hjorleifson, and Hunter Lombardo on the A-side and Zion Zvi, Olli Turkalainen, Jayson Shaw, and Bucky Souvanthong on the B-side. Everyone was in pretty good form, so Sunday looked like it would provide some compelling drama.
Turkalainen and Shaw prevailed in Sunday’s early B-side action, and SVB and Archer advanced to the hot seat match at the expense of Hjorleifson and Lombardo, but Eric and Hunter rebounded impressively, with Lombardo beating Turkalainen and Hjorleifson topping Shaw. The quarterfinal was a bit of a stinker, with Lombardo winning easily against an off-form Hjorleifson.
The drubbing of Archer by SVB in the hot seat match was classic Shane, and after watching it, one sensed that the semifinal pitting Archer against Lombardo was for second place, rather than a shot at the title. SVB was in the kind of form where he’d be virtually unbeatable. Archer eked out a close one in the semifinal, but he got crushed for a second time in the final by the very deserving champion, SVB. Vintage Van Boening for sure!
The Venue and the Event Itself
Turning Stone is an impressive place, with a nice casino, some good restaurants and a generally nice feel to it. Unfortunately, I booked so late that I didn’t get into the host hotel and stayed across the street at the La Quinta, which was nice enough but inconvenient.
The tournament venue was very nicely set up, with ample good seating, plenty of wiggle room, and good lighting. The direction of the tournament was first rate, as one always expects of a Joss Tour event. Zuglan’s events always run with few incidents and the match schedule is always maintained. I believe that Mike is the best tournament director in the Northeast United States.
Socially
I was a bit concerned, as the fellow I’d hoped to attend with couldn’t, for business reasons, make it, so I went alone. Of course, there were countless familiar faces at the event, but my best time was spent with Cardigan Kid, who even brought his lovely wife with him on Sunday. Not only did we sweat matches together, but we had dinner together both days and had a grand old time talking pool and a whole bunch of other stuff.
After the conclusion of the event on Sunday, Mike Howerton and Jerry Forsyth invited me to join them for some dessert, and we enjoyed ourselves. Oh yeah, Jerry picked up the tab.
Would I Do it All Again?
Yes, I hope to attend another Turning Stone event soon. If you’ve never been to the Turning Stone Classic, you should find a way.
I missed the first twenty-nine events at Turning Stone, but in the last couple of years, Cardigan Kid has urged me to check it out and, at last, I followed his advice. Mike Zuglan, who has seen me sitting in the front row of many a major pool event on either the stream or the Accu-stats, has also said to me “You seem to go to all the big events except mine.” I hope I’ve gotten Cardigan Kid and Zuglan off my back now.
AZBers Were Making it Happen
I didn’t get to meet fellow poster Tin Man, but I saw him play and he made quite an impression. I was watching when he came within a hair of eliminating Jayson Shaw on Saturday night. KMRunout also has game, reaching the semis of the second chance event. I was pleased that he came over to me to introduce himself.
The Matches
OK, on to the matches. I didn’t arrive until very late Friday night, so the first matches I saw were on Saturday. Perhaps the most exciting match of Saturday afternoon was Shane Van Boening vs Matt Krah, which got to 7-7 before Shane closed it out. Also making an impression were a couple of the ladies, as Caroline Pao (25th) and Jennifer Barretta (9th) both cashed. Johnny Archer turned back the clock and played like the Johnny of old, turning aside opponent after opponent by lopsided scores.
The evening brought a couple of real nail-biters. Jennifer Barretta had a great double hill win over straight-shooting Canadian Danny Hewitt. Olli Turkalainen, a Finn with whom I was unfamiliar, sent Jayson Shaw to the B-side, too. Perhaps the nail biter of the evening session was Danny Hewitt vs. Donny Mills. Donny looked like he was running out for a 9-7 win but went wrong and the match reached double hill. The double hill rack was decided by an intense safety battle in which each player bent but didn’t break. Hewitt finally won the race to the shot and ran out for the 9-8 win. The late matches left the eight remaining players for Sunday, with SVB, Johnny Archer, Eric Hjorleifson, and Hunter Lombardo on the A-side and Zion Zvi, Olli Turkalainen, Jayson Shaw, and Bucky Souvanthong on the B-side. Everyone was in pretty good form, so Sunday looked like it would provide some compelling drama.
Turkalainen and Shaw prevailed in Sunday’s early B-side action, and SVB and Archer advanced to the hot seat match at the expense of Hjorleifson and Lombardo, but Eric and Hunter rebounded impressively, with Lombardo beating Turkalainen and Hjorleifson topping Shaw. The quarterfinal was a bit of a stinker, with Lombardo winning easily against an off-form Hjorleifson.
The drubbing of Archer by SVB in the hot seat match was classic Shane, and after watching it, one sensed that the semifinal pitting Archer against Lombardo was for second place, rather than a shot at the title. SVB was in the kind of form where he’d be virtually unbeatable. Archer eked out a close one in the semifinal, but he got crushed for a second time in the final by the very deserving champion, SVB. Vintage Van Boening for sure!
The Venue and the Event Itself
Turning Stone is an impressive place, with a nice casino, some good restaurants and a generally nice feel to it. Unfortunately, I booked so late that I didn’t get into the host hotel and stayed across the street at the La Quinta, which was nice enough but inconvenient.
The tournament venue was very nicely set up, with ample good seating, plenty of wiggle room, and good lighting. The direction of the tournament was first rate, as one always expects of a Joss Tour event. Zuglan’s events always run with few incidents and the match schedule is always maintained. I believe that Mike is the best tournament director in the Northeast United States.
Socially
I was a bit concerned, as the fellow I’d hoped to attend with couldn’t, for business reasons, make it, so I went alone. Of course, there were countless familiar faces at the event, but my best time was spent with Cardigan Kid, who even brought his lovely wife with him on Sunday. Not only did we sweat matches together, but we had dinner together both days and had a grand old time talking pool and a whole bunch of other stuff.
After the conclusion of the event on Sunday, Mike Howerton and Jerry Forsyth invited me to join them for some dessert, and we enjoyed ourselves. Oh yeah, Jerry picked up the tab.
Would I Do it All Again?
Yes, I hope to attend another Turning Stone event soon. If you’ve never been to the Turning Stone Classic, you should find a way.
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