Rafael Martinez won the tournament. Here is the report from Tournament Director Gene Miller:
NOBODY COULD TOUCH RAFAEL
Mountain View's expansive California Billiard Club has presented another
great weekend of tournament 9-ball, and when we reached the finals of the
108-entry field, certainly nobody was surprised to see Rafael Martinez and
Santos Sambajon playing for the $1,500 top prize. For many players it was an
entirely new format, but it's been in Bob Jewett's repertoire for many years
and has been used extensively in NPL tournaments. It's the buy-back system,
and there were many players who put up $20 to give it another try. You could
call it the "assembly-line" system. While one 8-player tournament was
starting, another was well under way and another was wrapping up. The first
six finalists qualified in one try, but some players entered as many as five
qualifiers without advancing to Sunday's double-elimination championship. In
all, there were fourteen 8-player qualifiers (actually, thirteen and a
half), a seventeen-hour tournament treadmill that finished at 3:30am Sunday.
The response from players was unanimous - they liked the format, and many
made comments like "We should do this every month!" With a low $20 entry
fee, plus $2,500 added, and a guaranteed $40 if you could win your first two
matches, almost every player who didn't qualify would re-enter at least
once. I heard no complaints on the alternate breaks format (except one guy
on the phone), as most players seem to realize that alternate breaks is a
good way to keep the matches close, and it puts pressure on a player to
finish a rack when opportunity knocks. There were enough upsets to satisfy
me, a tournament director who does not want to use a format that heavily
favors the experts. The number of upsets and hill-hill matches compares to
NPL handicapping.
There were so many exciting matches during the weekend that the
Martinez-Sambajon match was an anticlimax. Rafael was in fine form and
Santos just couldn't stay with him. Although Santos nearly caught up from a
5-2 deficit, he would have needed absolute perfection to overcome Rafael,
and the disappointed gallery, thirsty for a second match, saw instead a last
desperate twisting kick shot by Santos before Rafael finished the evening
with a 6-4 win and $1,500 in his pocket.
Events like this don't just happen automatically. Room owners must WANT them
to happen. So thanks to Chris and Ben of California Billiards, and thanks to
Bob Jewett. It was a blast. Want to see some pictures? Bob Beaulieu brought
his camera! Check his photography at:
http://www.worldppa.org
JULY 9-BALL JAMBOREE
108 entries @ $20, $2,510 added
$4,670 prize fund
1st - $1,500: Rafael Martinez defeated Etan Mizrahi, Mike Doolittle and Eric
Harada to qualify. Sunday he defeated Octavio Priego, Frank Nordmann Jr.,
Jaynard Orque, and Colin Mazaika to reach the hotseat. He defeated Sambajon
6-4 to win the tournament.
2nd - $700: Santos Sambajon qualified with wins over Bryce Avila, Norman
Alicea and Melvin MacKay, then defeated Eric DeMesa (forfeit), lost to
Jaynard Orque, defeated Octavio Priego, Frank Nordmann Jr., Deo Alpajora,
Marshall Williams and Colin Mazaika before a 6-4 loss to Martinez.
3rd - $400: Colin Mazaika defeated Mike Leahy, George Michaels and Mike Suhr
to qualify in his third attempt, then defeated Kenny Koo, Marshall Williams
and Deo Alpajora before losing to Martinez and Sambajon.
4th - $300: Marshall Williams needed a second try but qualified with wins
over Trevor Smith, George Michaels and Jaynard Orque. On Sunday he defeated
Bob Jewett, lost to Mazaika, defeated Billy Palmer, Kenny Koo and Orque
before losing to Sambajon.
5th/6th - $200: Jaynard Orque needed a third try, and in fact we had to beg
him to play! The final 8-player qualifier was actually only 4 players, and
he defeated Mike Suhr and George Michaels. Sunday he drew a bye, defeated
Sambajon, then lost to Martinez and Williams.
5th/6th - $200: Deo Alpajora qualified in his second attempt with wins over
Kenny Koo, Omar Montiel and Rylan Hartnett. Sunday he defeated David
Espinoza, lost to Mazaika and Sambajon.
7th/8th - $150: Kenny Koo qualified in his fourth attempt with wins over
Chris Swart, Jordan Beers and Eric Harada. Sunday he lost to Mazaika,
defeated Bob Jewett and David Espinoza before a loss to Marshall Williams.
7th/8th - $150: Frank Nordmann Jr., representing Sacramento (uh, he told me
to say that) qualified with wins over Mike Doolittle, Jordan Beers and Mike
Suhr. Sunday he defeated Bryce Avila, lost to Martinez, defeated Eric De
Mesa, lost to Sambajon.
9th-12th - $100: Billy Palmer, David Espinoza, Eric De Mesa, Octavio Priego.
13th - $75: David Espinoza and Bob Jewett.
13 players won $40 for second place in the 8-player qualifier tournaments.
