Reflections on The Turning Stone Classic (August 20-23, 2015)
I followed Turning Stone very carefully. It was great and the field was deep, nearly as tough as one would expect at a US Open 9-ball event.
Here's how I saw it and, finally, what I think the results tell us about the Joss Tour and about the Mosconi Cup situation.
I The Stage Was Set in a Big Way
A) The Challengers - As usual, many of pool’s superstars, including Shane Van Boening, Dennis Orcullo, Darren Appleton, Thorsten Hohmann, Roberto Gomez, Justin Hall, Mika Immonen, and Corey Deuel went up against the stars of the Joss Tour. Mosconi hopefuls Dominguez, Frost, Shuff, Woodward, Bergman and Archer were also present. Trying to win at Turning Stone has been a losing battle of late for challengers, with the Joss Tour players combining to capture five of the last six Turning Stone titles.
B) The Joss Tour Regulars - The greatest Joss stars, as we know, are Mike Dechaine and Jayson Shaw, who combine to win most of the big titles. Dechaine was the Joss Tour’s dominant player in 2014, but Shaw has been best by far in 2015, including a win at the Turning Stone earlier this year. Dechaine recently had two high finishes at the BCAPL events, ninth in the US Open 10-ball event and second in the US Open 8-ball event, but those were on bar tables and it was tough to know how well it would translate to the big tables. Then again, he came fourth against a monster field at Super Billiards. Former Turning Stone runner up Jeremy Sossei, third at the 2015 Derby City 9-ball, and former Ocean States Champion Tom D’Alfonso are always to be reckoned with in Joss Tour events, too. Earl Strickland was a no show.
II A Freakish Start Followed by Some Semblance of Order
A) Three Big Names Fall Early - In the first round, Hohmann, Dechaine and Appleton fell and the loser bracket became a nightmare for those in search of a Cinderella run. The three would go a combined 21-0 in the first seven rounds of losers bracket play and each would have a top 10 finish, but in Saturday’s final round, Appleton and Hohmann were beaten, each tying for ninth. Only Dechaine would reach the final day to contend with a seriously strong contingent of SVB, Gomez, Hall, Deuel, Shaw, D’Alfonso, and ?Shuff?.
B) The Last Eight - Dechaine and D’Alfonso eliminated Deuel and ?Shuff?, and form held in the winner bracket semis, with Shaw and SVB topping Gomez and Hall, who were then eliminated by Dechaine and D’Alfonso. That left a final four of SVB and three of the Joss Tour’s very best. As always, the Joss Tour players were shining at Turning Stone.
C) The Last Four - Joss Tour rivals Dechaine and D’Alfonso met up in a one-sided affair, with Dechaine cruising. Shaw edged SVB in the hot seat match. The last three were three of the game’s biggest stars, Shane Van Boening, Jayson Shaw and Mike Dechaine.
III The Fight for the Title
A) The Loser Bracket Final - America’s two best squared off. Aside from an exhibition, they’d split at the BCAPL events, with SVB beating Mike in the US Open 10-ball but Mike beating Shane in the US Open 8-ball. It was Mike’s turn. After a first round loss, Mike won twelve straight, reminiscent of Immonen’s 2009 run to the title through the losers bracket at the US Open 9-ball.
B) The Final - In the race to thirteen, Shaw ran out to good leads, but Dechaine kept fighting back, and the match looked like it was about to go 11-11 when Dechaine scratched on a phenomenal shot on the four ball, a great shot that wowed commentator Danny D. Moments later, Shaw completed the 13-10 victory. It was a well played final and undefeated Shaw was a worthy champion.
IV The Takeaways
A) The Joss Tour - Once again, the Joss Tour contingent reminded all comers that it is the strongest regional tour in America, and possibly the strongest regional tour in American history, taking the first, second and fourth spots. A year ago, the Joss Tour was not represented on Team USA, a grave injustice that I hope won’t be repeated this year.
B) Jayson Shaw - The rise of Shaw can’t be taken lightly. Jayson is on a tear right now, and is a serious contender anytime and anywhere. His raw talent is simply scary, even when he doesn’t win. As incredible as his Turning Stone three-peat is, those who have followed him this year know he a) ran 227 balls in qualifications for the Derby City 14.1, ultimately finishing second and b) appeared about to win the final at Super Billiards Expo when he went wrong on a 7-ball at 12-12, double hill. Jayson’s for real, and must be counted as one of the world’s very best right now. Of the Europeans, I’d only rate Feijen and Appleton higher, and not by much.
C) Mosconi - SVB and Dechaine reinforced that they are still America’s two best rotation-games players, but Justin Hall, second at the US Open 10-ball, fifth this weekend at Turning Stone seventh at the last US Open 9-ball, and the only overachiever on last year’s Team USA, reminded us he’s not very far behind, with his only losses at Turning Stone to Shaw and Dechaine. Corey Deuel had a nice tournament and improved his credentials for being on Team USA, and the same can be said for Brandon Shuff.
In contrast, Mosconi hopefuls Dominguez, Frost, Woodward, Bergman, Archer and Sossei all failed to reach the final day and weakened their cases for selection. Archer's terrible 2015, which follows a poor 2014, continues and I wonder whether he's even a candidate for inclusion at this point.
The Mosconi picture is a tricky one, with three guys so obvious it almost doesn’t merit discussion in SVB, Dechaine and Hall. The fourth and fifth spots are, however, not easy to pick right now and it may come down to the US Open 9-ball. I know there is some ranking system that comes into play here, but I'm not even sure who I want to see filling this team out at this point. I'll sit back and watch for now.
So there you have it!
I followed Turning Stone very carefully. It was great and the field was deep, nearly as tough as one would expect at a US Open 9-ball event.
Here's how I saw it and, finally, what I think the results tell us about the Joss Tour and about the Mosconi Cup situation.
I The Stage Was Set in a Big Way
A) The Challengers - As usual, many of pool’s superstars, including Shane Van Boening, Dennis Orcullo, Darren Appleton, Thorsten Hohmann, Roberto Gomez, Justin Hall, Mika Immonen, and Corey Deuel went up against the stars of the Joss Tour. Mosconi hopefuls Dominguez, Frost, Shuff, Woodward, Bergman and Archer were also present. Trying to win at Turning Stone has been a losing battle of late for challengers, with the Joss Tour players combining to capture five of the last six Turning Stone titles.
B) The Joss Tour Regulars - The greatest Joss stars, as we know, are Mike Dechaine and Jayson Shaw, who combine to win most of the big titles. Dechaine was the Joss Tour’s dominant player in 2014, but Shaw has been best by far in 2015, including a win at the Turning Stone earlier this year. Dechaine recently had two high finishes at the BCAPL events, ninth in the US Open 10-ball event and second in the US Open 8-ball event, but those were on bar tables and it was tough to know how well it would translate to the big tables. Then again, he came fourth against a monster field at Super Billiards. Former Turning Stone runner up Jeremy Sossei, third at the 2015 Derby City 9-ball, and former Ocean States Champion Tom D’Alfonso are always to be reckoned with in Joss Tour events, too. Earl Strickland was a no show.
II A Freakish Start Followed by Some Semblance of Order
A) Three Big Names Fall Early - In the first round, Hohmann, Dechaine and Appleton fell and the loser bracket became a nightmare for those in search of a Cinderella run. The three would go a combined 21-0 in the first seven rounds of losers bracket play and each would have a top 10 finish, but in Saturday’s final round, Appleton and Hohmann were beaten, each tying for ninth. Only Dechaine would reach the final day to contend with a seriously strong contingent of SVB, Gomez, Hall, Deuel, Shaw, D’Alfonso, and ?Shuff?.
B) The Last Eight - Dechaine and D’Alfonso eliminated Deuel and ?Shuff?, and form held in the winner bracket semis, with Shaw and SVB topping Gomez and Hall, who were then eliminated by Dechaine and D’Alfonso. That left a final four of SVB and three of the Joss Tour’s very best. As always, the Joss Tour players were shining at Turning Stone.
C) The Last Four - Joss Tour rivals Dechaine and D’Alfonso met up in a one-sided affair, with Dechaine cruising. Shaw edged SVB in the hot seat match. The last three were three of the game’s biggest stars, Shane Van Boening, Jayson Shaw and Mike Dechaine.
III The Fight for the Title
A) The Loser Bracket Final - America’s two best squared off. Aside from an exhibition, they’d split at the BCAPL events, with SVB beating Mike in the US Open 10-ball but Mike beating Shane in the US Open 8-ball. It was Mike’s turn. After a first round loss, Mike won twelve straight, reminiscent of Immonen’s 2009 run to the title through the losers bracket at the US Open 9-ball.
B) The Final - In the race to thirteen, Shaw ran out to good leads, but Dechaine kept fighting back, and the match looked like it was about to go 11-11 when Dechaine scratched on a phenomenal shot on the four ball, a great shot that wowed commentator Danny D. Moments later, Shaw completed the 13-10 victory. It was a well played final and undefeated Shaw was a worthy champion.
IV The Takeaways
A) The Joss Tour - Once again, the Joss Tour contingent reminded all comers that it is the strongest regional tour in America, and possibly the strongest regional tour in American history, taking the first, second and fourth spots. A year ago, the Joss Tour was not represented on Team USA, a grave injustice that I hope won’t be repeated this year.
B) Jayson Shaw - The rise of Shaw can’t be taken lightly. Jayson is on a tear right now, and is a serious contender anytime and anywhere. His raw talent is simply scary, even when he doesn’t win. As incredible as his Turning Stone three-peat is, those who have followed him this year know he a) ran 227 balls in qualifications for the Derby City 14.1, ultimately finishing second and b) appeared about to win the final at Super Billiards Expo when he went wrong on a 7-ball at 12-12, double hill. Jayson’s for real, and must be counted as one of the world’s very best right now. Of the Europeans, I’d only rate Feijen and Appleton higher, and not by much.
C) Mosconi - SVB and Dechaine reinforced that they are still America’s two best rotation-games players, but Justin Hall, second at the US Open 10-ball, fifth this weekend at Turning Stone seventh at the last US Open 9-ball, and the only overachiever on last year’s Team USA, reminded us he’s not very far behind, with his only losses at Turning Stone to Shaw and Dechaine. Corey Deuel had a nice tournament and improved his credentials for being on Team USA, and the same can be said for Brandon Shuff.
In contrast, Mosconi hopefuls Dominguez, Frost, Woodward, Bergman, Archer and Sossei all failed to reach the final day and weakened their cases for selection. Archer's terrible 2015, which follows a poor 2014, continues and I wonder whether he's even a candidate for inclusion at this point.
The Mosconi picture is a tricky one, with three guys so obvious it almost doesn’t merit discussion in SVB, Dechaine and Hall. The fourth and fifth spots are, however, not easy to pick right now and it may come down to the US Open 9-ball. I know there is some ranking system that comes into play here, but I'm not even sure who I want to see filling this team out at this point. I'll sit back and watch for now.
So there you have it!
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