Just got back from four days at the World 14.1 Championships, so I'll share my thoughts.
Round Robin Stage
The Round Robin produced some great drama, with some of the usual suspects nearly failing to advance, including Jasmin Ouschan, Tony Robles, and Dan Barouty all eking out a fourth place finish in their respective groups. The biggest surprises were a) the fine play of Francisco Bustamante and Ignacio "The Mexican" Chavez, neither of them well versed in 14.1, and b) the fact that the sixteen year old Jentsch was clearly capable of competing at the top level of the game. Steve Lipsky thrilled the local crowd with his fine play, and Amsterdam house pro Chris Lynch narrowly missed advancing when he lost to Gerda Hofstatter. Marc "Spain" Vidal went 4-3, including a win over John Schmidt, but was eliminated via tiebreaker. The greatest enigma was Corey Deuel, who was explosive but whose true speed was not easy to gauge. The three best players in the round robin stage were Mika Immonen, Niels Feijen and Nick VanDenBerg. Archer also went undefeated, but was much less impressive than these three. Finally, the saddest story of the first round was that of Johnny Fulcher, who went 5-2, but so did four other players in his group. With the lowest total ball count of the five, he failed to advance.
The Final 32 Playing down to 16
Day four, as always, produced great drama. Feijen, Immonen, and Van DenBerg continued to set the standard, each finsihing the day undefeated at 9-0. Archer lost to Hundal and Lipsky back-to-back and his tournament was over. After a four inning game loss to Immonen, Ouschan looked to be on the verge of elimination, but bounced back by crushing Maidhof and then beating Babica decisively, securing a spot in single elimination. Hohmann made Souquet watch helplessly as he ran 150 and out. Engert beat Jentsch easily, but Jentsch bounced back to earn a spot in single elimination. Casulaties of the day included Barouty, Robles, Hopkins, Lipsky, Stepanov and Hunter. The New York / New Jersey contingent would not participate in the single elimination, disappointing for this fan.
The Final 16 Playing Down to 4
Schmidt opened with over 100 against Dechaine, and Dechaine came back valiantly, but couldn't catch him. A day after being crushed by Feijen 150-10, Chavez fought the good fight against Feijen, but Feijen still won easily in the end. The shocker was Immonen's loss to Jasmin Ouschan. She jumped on him early, with a sixty three ball run that ended on a very freaky scratch, but he had his chances in the later stages of the match and couldn't execute, which added up to elimination. Vandenberg shot lights out against Jentsch and again against Hohmann to reach the last four. With a spot in the semifinals riding on it, Feijen edged Schmidt when the last eighteen balls were, unexpectedly, conceded in a 184-182 game. Ouschan's win over Immonen gave her a shot at defending champion Oliver Ortmann, with a chance to reach the semis, and she beat him quite convincingly. Butamante disposed easily of Deuel and then faced 2007 runner-up Huidji See for a spot in the semifinals. A win by See would give the Dutch three of the four semifinalists, but it was not to be as Francisco crushed him. Losses by Ortmann and Hohmann in the quartefinals meant that Germany would not produce it's third straight winner of the event. Nonethless, for the third straight year, Europe would have three of the last four in the event: a) 2006 (Hohmann, Engert, Immonen, Eberle) b) 2007 (Ortmann, See, Kempter, Harriman) and c) 2008 (Feijen, Vandenberg, Ouschan, Bustmante).
The Final Day
Feijen and Vandenberg arrived at 11-0, and were clearly the best players of the week thorugh Friday, and a great match was expected. It never came. The play was mediocre and lethargic up to 100 points. Feijen found his game late to advance to the finals, but I'm sure he knew that a similar performance in the final probably wouldn't be good enough. Vandenberg will surely feel he had ample opportunity to win and let it get away. Ouschan vs Bustamante was a good one and an entertaining one, with Ouschan controlling the match decisively early, but a couple of bad misses kept Francisco in the match, and he ran a 71 to take control, and ultimately prevailed. Feijen vs Bustamante for the title was no match at all. Feijen was a worldbeater. After running 43 and 72, he appeared headed for 85 and out, and an almost unfathomable three inning 200-0 win, but a ball skidded on him at 195 and he settled for a 200-11 win. His 13-0 record for the week spoke for itself.
Quality of Play
The field was deep and the play impressive. Only the safety play was lacking, and it seems that much of the old defensive theory has vanished from the game, with some fairly standard moves seemingly unknown to most of the younger players. The balls were not breaking well, however, and most of the players chose to hit their break shots harder than usual, which meant more misses and more scratches off the pack. Those resisting the temptation to do so found themselves with a poor leave more often than would be customary. Hundred ball run were scarce, with just two runs I can recall exceeding 110 (Hohmann's 150 and out vs Souquet and Souquet's 121 and out vs Stepanov).
The Shot Clock
It's no secret that I've always favored the use of the shot clock, but I've always felt that in the semifinals and finals, it should be in effect from the start of the match. The Feijen vs. Vandenberg semifinal was clearly influenced when the shot clock was turned on. The way it works is that each player gets five extension for the remainder of the match from the point at which the shot clock is turned on. That reallty isn't enough. At a key moment late in the match, Vandenberg, who had one extension left, opted not to use it on a breakshot at 144 and rushed the shot a bit for an error that really sealed the deal. Whether he should have used his last extension certainly makes for interesting debate, but if he did, he'd have to play his last 55 balls without an extension, which isn't so easy. Strangley enough, Feijen, whose play had been undeniably lethargic for the first half of the semifinal, started playing much better once the shotclock was turned on. Anybody who was there could tell you that Vandenberg was rattled a bit by the shot clock, and it was a shame that this was so.
Conclusion
I had a grand old time at the event, and can't wait for next year. Thanks to Dragon Promotions, the sponsors and the players for a great show. I think what I'll remember the most from this year's event will be the fine play of Steve Lipsky, Jasmin Ouschan beating Mika Immonen and Oliver Ortmann in back-to -back races to 200, the remarkable sixteen year old Jentsch, Bustmante's unexpected run to the final, and the general excellence of the Dutch players.
Round Robin Stage
The Round Robin produced some great drama, with some of the usual suspects nearly failing to advance, including Jasmin Ouschan, Tony Robles, and Dan Barouty all eking out a fourth place finish in their respective groups. The biggest surprises were a) the fine play of Francisco Bustamante and Ignacio "The Mexican" Chavez, neither of them well versed in 14.1, and b) the fact that the sixteen year old Jentsch was clearly capable of competing at the top level of the game. Steve Lipsky thrilled the local crowd with his fine play, and Amsterdam house pro Chris Lynch narrowly missed advancing when he lost to Gerda Hofstatter. Marc "Spain" Vidal went 4-3, including a win over John Schmidt, but was eliminated via tiebreaker. The greatest enigma was Corey Deuel, who was explosive but whose true speed was not easy to gauge. The three best players in the round robin stage were Mika Immonen, Niels Feijen and Nick VanDenBerg. Archer also went undefeated, but was much less impressive than these three. Finally, the saddest story of the first round was that of Johnny Fulcher, who went 5-2, but so did four other players in his group. With the lowest total ball count of the five, he failed to advance.
The Final 32 Playing down to 16
Day four, as always, produced great drama. Feijen, Immonen, and Van DenBerg continued to set the standard, each finsihing the day undefeated at 9-0. Archer lost to Hundal and Lipsky back-to-back and his tournament was over. After a four inning game loss to Immonen, Ouschan looked to be on the verge of elimination, but bounced back by crushing Maidhof and then beating Babica decisively, securing a spot in single elimination. Hohmann made Souquet watch helplessly as he ran 150 and out. Engert beat Jentsch easily, but Jentsch bounced back to earn a spot in single elimination. Casulaties of the day included Barouty, Robles, Hopkins, Lipsky, Stepanov and Hunter. The New York / New Jersey contingent would not participate in the single elimination, disappointing for this fan.
The Final 16 Playing Down to 4
Schmidt opened with over 100 against Dechaine, and Dechaine came back valiantly, but couldn't catch him. A day after being crushed by Feijen 150-10, Chavez fought the good fight against Feijen, but Feijen still won easily in the end. The shocker was Immonen's loss to Jasmin Ouschan. She jumped on him early, with a sixty three ball run that ended on a very freaky scratch, but he had his chances in the later stages of the match and couldn't execute, which added up to elimination. Vandenberg shot lights out against Jentsch and again against Hohmann to reach the last four. With a spot in the semifinals riding on it, Feijen edged Schmidt when the last eighteen balls were, unexpectedly, conceded in a 184-182 game. Ouschan's win over Immonen gave her a shot at defending champion Oliver Ortmann, with a chance to reach the semis, and she beat him quite convincingly. Butamante disposed easily of Deuel and then faced 2007 runner-up Huidji See for a spot in the semifinals. A win by See would give the Dutch three of the four semifinalists, but it was not to be as Francisco crushed him. Losses by Ortmann and Hohmann in the quartefinals meant that Germany would not produce it's third straight winner of the event. Nonethless, for the third straight year, Europe would have three of the last four in the event: a) 2006 (Hohmann, Engert, Immonen, Eberle) b) 2007 (Ortmann, See, Kempter, Harriman) and c) 2008 (Feijen, Vandenberg, Ouschan, Bustmante).
The Final Day
Feijen and Vandenberg arrived at 11-0, and were clearly the best players of the week thorugh Friday, and a great match was expected. It never came. The play was mediocre and lethargic up to 100 points. Feijen found his game late to advance to the finals, but I'm sure he knew that a similar performance in the final probably wouldn't be good enough. Vandenberg will surely feel he had ample opportunity to win and let it get away. Ouschan vs Bustamante was a good one and an entertaining one, with Ouschan controlling the match decisively early, but a couple of bad misses kept Francisco in the match, and he ran a 71 to take control, and ultimately prevailed. Feijen vs Bustamante for the title was no match at all. Feijen was a worldbeater. After running 43 and 72, he appeared headed for 85 and out, and an almost unfathomable three inning 200-0 win, but a ball skidded on him at 195 and he settled for a 200-11 win. His 13-0 record for the week spoke for itself.
Quality of Play
The field was deep and the play impressive. Only the safety play was lacking, and it seems that much of the old defensive theory has vanished from the game, with some fairly standard moves seemingly unknown to most of the younger players. The balls were not breaking well, however, and most of the players chose to hit their break shots harder than usual, which meant more misses and more scratches off the pack. Those resisting the temptation to do so found themselves with a poor leave more often than would be customary. Hundred ball run were scarce, with just two runs I can recall exceeding 110 (Hohmann's 150 and out vs Souquet and Souquet's 121 and out vs Stepanov).
The Shot Clock
It's no secret that I've always favored the use of the shot clock, but I've always felt that in the semifinals and finals, it should be in effect from the start of the match. The Feijen vs. Vandenberg semifinal was clearly influenced when the shot clock was turned on. The way it works is that each player gets five extension for the remainder of the match from the point at which the shot clock is turned on. That reallty isn't enough. At a key moment late in the match, Vandenberg, who had one extension left, opted not to use it on a breakshot at 144 and rushed the shot a bit for an error that really sealed the deal. Whether he should have used his last extension certainly makes for interesting debate, but if he did, he'd have to play his last 55 balls without an extension, which isn't so easy. Strangley enough, Feijen, whose play had been undeniably lethargic for the first half of the semifinal, started playing much better once the shotclock was turned on. Anybody who was there could tell you that Vandenberg was rattled a bit by the shot clock, and it was a shame that this was so.
Conclusion
I had a grand old time at the event, and can't wait for next year. Thanks to Dragon Promotions, the sponsors and the players for a great show. I think what I'll remember the most from this year's event will be the fine play of Steve Lipsky, Jasmin Ouschan beating Mika Immonen and Oliver Ortmann in back-to -back races to 200, the remarkable sixteen year old Jentsch, Bustmante's unexpected run to the final, and the general excellence of the Dutch players.
Last edited:
