OK youve seen the brackets now some words from some one who was there front and center for the winners side matches. The Young Guns were blazing! Mika has not missed a ball since he has been in Cali. Not in the tournament or the action tables where he is doing a little minor gambling. Last nite he took apart Buddy Hall and tonite he clamped down on Mad Max and did not give him a chance. Max could only eke out 4 games early on before Mika shut him out. Alex the Lion looked like he came in on a white horse and kept pool god Efren in his seat running a 5 pack to end his agony. Beating Efren 11 to 3. Efren came in early to practice and he looked real nervous. I knew he was going to be in trouble. He just didnt seem to be his confident self. Alex was talkative and noisy before the match but he immediately got down to business when Efren won the first game. As soon as he got the opportunity Alex found the key to his victory. A real soft break, about 12 miles per hour (courtesy of the guys at Worldpool.com where you can buy the dvd of this match.). The wing ball kept going in and the one ball hit the long rail by the side pocket and floated down to the short rail where the cue ball that was drawn was waiting. Efren tried to respond when he had the chance by trying to out shoot Alex but as his fantasy corner man I was hoping he would engage Alex in a safety battle. Efren's only chance. He won his 3 games by locking Alex up on phenomenal safe plays. Last nite Arturo Rivera almost beat Alex as he took Alex out of his rhythm by slow play and good safes. (11-9). But Efren tried all kinds of fancy cuts and just lost it.
The only ones that could save the old guard was Ralf Soquet who played a magnificent scientific game adding defense and offense to throw Charle Williams off his game. Also Ernesto Dominguea put an old fashioned whipping to Tony Robles. Break and run out. No flash, no difficult shots. Just like the Lassiter days. Jose Parica did the same to Ronnie Wiseman. Jose is serious.He wants recognition. He is the only pro without sponsorship. He really feels left out of the club and wants respect. He will do that with his stick.
Johnny Archer not to be outdone by the young guns ran a six pack on Santos S. With his wicked 20 mile per hour break and shot at the one and got position no matter from where. Santos by now a veteran of many tour wars tried to fight and claw back valiantly catching up to Johnny nine games to ten scratched on a bold cut shot and Johnny ran out the rest for the win.
Rodney Morris was cut down by sharp shooting Marcus Chamat and the flu bug. Nick Varner did his usual and engaged in long battle with future champion Danny Harriman. His match lasted almost 3 hours. I have seen Nick in long sessions. In Vegas I saw him give a kid 7 games in a race to 10. 5 sets! Nick never lost one. Thats 50 games. I think this kind of thing will lead to Nicks downfall in this tourney. I mean the stamina one would need to play 3 hour matches especially if from the losers side where you are playing all day is too much to ask from a guy in his 50's and is an avid smoker. Nick won 11-9.
All in all a great tournament from a gracious Charlie Williams.
Oh yeah for you Ian Costello fans. Ian played Efren at Hard Times getting 10-6 in some cheap one hole action and won 3 games!
The only ones that could save the old guard was Ralf Soquet who played a magnificent scientific game adding defense and offense to throw Charle Williams off his game. Also Ernesto Dominguea put an old fashioned whipping to Tony Robles. Break and run out. No flash, no difficult shots. Just like the Lassiter days. Jose Parica did the same to Ronnie Wiseman. Jose is serious.He wants recognition. He is the only pro without sponsorship. He really feels left out of the club and wants respect. He will do that with his stick.
Johnny Archer not to be outdone by the young guns ran a six pack on Santos S. With his wicked 20 mile per hour break and shot at the one and got position no matter from where. Santos by now a veteran of many tour wars tried to fight and claw back valiantly catching up to Johnny nine games to ten scratched on a bold cut shot and Johnny ran out the rest for the win.
Rodney Morris was cut down by sharp shooting Marcus Chamat and the flu bug. Nick Varner did his usual and engaged in long battle with future champion Danny Harriman. His match lasted almost 3 hours. I have seen Nick in long sessions. In Vegas I saw him give a kid 7 games in a race to 10. 5 sets! Nick never lost one. Thats 50 games. I think this kind of thing will lead to Nicks downfall in this tourney. I mean the stamina one would need to play 3 hour matches especially if from the losers side where you are playing all day is too much to ask from a guy in his 50's and is an avid smoker. Nick won 11-9.
All in all a great tournament from a gracious Charlie Williams.
Oh yeah for you Ian Costello fans. Ian played Efren at Hard Times getting 10-6 in some cheap one hole action and won 3 games!
