I just returned from five days at the World Games in which I attended all sessions of the billiards events.
The venue was magnificent, with four tables side by side, one for each of men’s nine-ball, women’s nine-ball, carom and snooker. The tables were well spaced, the seating was ample, and most of the sessions were fairly crowded on the side of the room intended for fans, though not at all crowded on the side meant chiefly for media.
Nine Ball- Men’s Division
Round 1 nearly brought a big upset in the Filler vs Styer match. Tyler played well and led most of the way, reaching 9-4 ahead in the race to eleven. As is often the case in big comebacks, the player chasing needs some luck along the way and Filler’s big roll came in rack 14 when he missed the seven-ball but left Tyler cushion-hooked. Josh then rallied all the way to 10-10. At double hill, Tyler hit a truly brilliant three rail safety off the one ball, leaving Josh hooked with a tough kick. It seemed this would be the match-winning shot, but Filler kicked it in and ran out for an electrifying victory.
Form seemed to hold most of the way and the men’s division featured two more truly superb matches. Yapp and Pehlivanovic had a match in which no player ever had a two-rack lead on the way to 7-7, but Pehlivanovic closed it out with superb play for an impressive victory. Yapp would continue his fine play to win bronze.
The final was a dandy. Pehlivanovic played something close to perfect pool on his way to a 6-4 lead. Neither player missed a ball in those ten racks. Filler, who wasn’t creating much with his break, clawed his way back to 8-8 and then found his strongest game to win the gold, but one had to walk away from the match thinking that the youthful Pehlivanovic, who settled for silver, has some big titles ahead of him. What a player!
Nine-ball: Women’s Division
There were two excellent matches in Round 1. Jennifer Barretta and Brittany Bryant reached double hill when Jennifer seemed to bet the match on a tough bank of the seven-ball. She made it but had to run into the eight and wasn’t left with a shot, which cost her the match. Another dazzling match was Pia Filler vs Rubilen Amit, which also reached double hill. At double hill, Pia won the race to the first good shot, earning ball in hand on the one, but failed to run out and Amit prevailed. Pia’s game is developing very nicely.
Kelly Fisher was clearly best at the World Games, but she had one scare along the way against Brittany Bryant in the quarterfinals. Brittany led 7-5 and had a shot at a seven-nine combination that I’d guess was a 60% chance. When she missed, the tide of the match turned and Kelly advanced.
Kelly outlasted Chou in the final and crowd favorite Yuki from Japan won bronze.
A Quick Note on the Carom Event
I saw several three-cushion matches, the best of which was Daniel Sanchez vs Eddie Mercxx , which reached 38-38 in the race to 40 before Eddie closed it out. Dick Jaspers was by far the best and easily won the gold medal.
Socially
I was not very busy socially but met some new people in both the tournament room and at breakfast. I got to chat at great length with the Federation Presidents of both Poland and Germany and met the Federation President of Austria one morning when I breakfasted with Albin Ouschan. I also met Josh Filler’s coach, as well as Thorsten Hohmann’s coach. I ran into some friends, but not as many as I normally would at a pool event. I went out to dinner just once, with a group that included SVB, John Morra, Jennifer Barretta, Hunter Lombardo and Ivan Lee, and we all had a grand old time.
I caught up on a few occasions with WPA president Ian Anderson, and I complimented him on the superb production of the World Games billiards events and applauded the lift of the ban on Russian players. He seemed every bit as happy about it as I was.
An unexpected pleasure was meeting Shane Tyree, executive of the BCA, whom I’d seen before but had never met. He asked to have a chat and I was happy to comply. Shane came across as a conscientious and capable manager very dedicated to our sport and its future. Yes, he made a very nice first impression and I made a new friend.
In Conclusion
The World Games billiards events were really a treat and I’m so glad I went.
