Saturday Afternoon at the U.S. Open Championship
By Rick Davis, InsidePOOL Staff
Action continued at the 31st annual U.S. Open Satuday for Day 6 of competition play. The 11 a.m. round was win or go home for four one-loss side matches, while the winners’-side matches wait in the wings until this evening.
Steve Moore started the morning looking focused and fresh, while his opponent Gandy Valle of the Philippines seemed somewhat distant early in the match. Moore got off to a quick 2-0 lead from a break and run, only to miss the 7 ball in the next rack, allowing Valle to get onto the board. Valle scratched on the break, leaving Moore to run out and then break and run another for a 4-1 lead. Moore extended his lead to 7-2 before Valle started to fight back as the match reached 9-7. In the end Moore cleaned up the remaining racks for the 11-7 win, eliminating Valle.
After an hour and a half of play, the other three matches all were put on the clock, giving Antonio Gabica the push he needed to finish his elimination of Shawn Putnam 11-4. Following that, Marcus Chamat came through to eliminate Billy Bailey 11-7, while Tyler Edey ousted Johnny Archer 11-8.
One o’clock matches saw the 11 a.m. winners go right back out. Earl Strickland was waiting for Moore, who just could not get a break. Moore had no rolls, coupled with a scratch on the break, and Strickland got to a 5-2 lead. Each miss by Moore cost him that rack and the next, and before long Strickland eliminated Moore 11-3.
Nearby, Corey “The Prince of Pool” Deuel pounded upon Marcus Chamat, who had just gotten out of a tough match minutes before this round started. A few grinding games opened the set to put Deuel up 3-1, then a quick combo followed by a miss by Chamat put Deuel up 5-1. Both players fought to bring the score to 4-8 in favor of Deuel, then he pressed on to win 11-6. Also in that round, Schmidt eliminated Edey 11-6, while Gabica ousted Slivka 11-9.
Today's rounds began with 24 players, and only 4 will return for Sunday's matches—two undefeated players and two with only one barrel left. An extra round was added to tonight's matches, so there will be an 11 p.m. round.
Tour founder and promoter Barry Behrman called a press conference at 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon, in which he announced that even though the field was not filled to 256, he would be adding over $70,000 to the prize fund. When asked why he felt the field was not full, he explained that the IPT had known about his dates well in advance but had still scheduled an event that conflicted with the U.S. Open; this forced Behrman to reschedule and possibly lose out on players who had planned for the earlier event. Also, Behrman said, “People told me players could not come because they had no money after being in Reno for a week and not receiving their checks.”
Behrman also revealed that earlier this week a box had arrived at the Holiday Inn, the event's host hotel, containing envelopes from the IPT to all of the U.S. Open players not currently participating in Kevin Trudeau's multi-million-dollar tour. The envelopes each contain a cover letter encouraging the player to play in the qualifiers that the IPT is having for the 2007 IPT Tour Card Tournament, along with a question-and-answer sheet entitled "How Do I Get a 2007 IPT Tour Card?," a registration form, and a sheet extolling the benefits of belonging to the IPT Members Club. Behrman said that had the IPT contacted him directly and asked if it were okay to distribute the envelopes, he would have allowed it without question; however, because he felt disrespected, he will not be handing out the envelopes.
By Rick Davis, InsidePOOL Staff
Action continued at the 31st annual U.S. Open Satuday for Day 6 of competition play. The 11 a.m. round was win or go home for four one-loss side matches, while the winners’-side matches wait in the wings until this evening.
Steve Moore started the morning looking focused and fresh, while his opponent Gandy Valle of the Philippines seemed somewhat distant early in the match. Moore got off to a quick 2-0 lead from a break and run, only to miss the 7 ball in the next rack, allowing Valle to get onto the board. Valle scratched on the break, leaving Moore to run out and then break and run another for a 4-1 lead. Moore extended his lead to 7-2 before Valle started to fight back as the match reached 9-7. In the end Moore cleaned up the remaining racks for the 11-7 win, eliminating Valle.
After an hour and a half of play, the other three matches all were put on the clock, giving Antonio Gabica the push he needed to finish his elimination of Shawn Putnam 11-4. Following that, Marcus Chamat came through to eliminate Billy Bailey 11-7, while Tyler Edey ousted Johnny Archer 11-8.
One o’clock matches saw the 11 a.m. winners go right back out. Earl Strickland was waiting for Moore, who just could not get a break. Moore had no rolls, coupled with a scratch on the break, and Strickland got to a 5-2 lead. Each miss by Moore cost him that rack and the next, and before long Strickland eliminated Moore 11-3.
Nearby, Corey “The Prince of Pool” Deuel pounded upon Marcus Chamat, who had just gotten out of a tough match minutes before this round started. A few grinding games opened the set to put Deuel up 3-1, then a quick combo followed by a miss by Chamat put Deuel up 5-1. Both players fought to bring the score to 4-8 in favor of Deuel, then he pressed on to win 11-6. Also in that round, Schmidt eliminated Edey 11-6, while Gabica ousted Slivka 11-9.
Today's rounds began with 24 players, and only 4 will return for Sunday's matches—two undefeated players and two with only one barrel left. An extra round was added to tonight's matches, so there will be an 11 p.m. round.
Tour founder and promoter Barry Behrman called a press conference at 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon, in which he announced that even though the field was not filled to 256, he would be adding over $70,000 to the prize fund. When asked why he felt the field was not full, he explained that the IPT had known about his dates well in advance but had still scheduled an event that conflicted with the U.S. Open; this forced Behrman to reschedule and possibly lose out on players who had planned for the earlier event. Also, Behrman said, “People told me players could not come because they had no money after being in Reno for a week and not receiving their checks.”
Behrman also revealed that earlier this week a box had arrived at the Holiday Inn, the event's host hotel, containing envelopes from the IPT to all of the U.S. Open players not currently participating in Kevin Trudeau's multi-million-dollar tour. The envelopes each contain a cover letter encouraging the player to play in the qualifiers that the IPT is having for the 2007 IPT Tour Card Tournament, along with a question-and-answer sheet entitled "How Do I Get a 2007 IPT Tour Card?," a registration form, and a sheet extolling the benefits of belonging to the IPT Members Club. Behrman said that had the IPT contacted him directly and asked if it were okay to distribute the envelopes, he would have allowed it without question; however, because he felt disrespected, he will not be handing out the envelopes.
