Final Six to Return Saturday

Final Six to Return SaturdayThere was a huge crowd in the ballroom where the North American Open 8-Ball Tour is being held at The Venetian, all waiting to see which 6 of the 18 players are advancing.The grueling format took its toll on some, but the 50-year-old Efren Reyes was the only player to remain undefeated, winning all five of his matches in a row, besting Larry Nevel 8-4 lastly. Also qualifying from his group is Russian whirlwind Evgeny Stalev, who tied with the U.K.’s Darren Appleton as far as games won but squeaked by on the games-won percentage. Stalev defeated Appleton 8-4 in the last round.IPT discussion forumDay 7 image galleryDay 6 image galleryMatch schedule for July 29, 2006In the second group, Ralf Souquet led the pack, only losing one match to Dennis Orcollo. In the last round, Souquet matched up with big-breaking Francisco Bustamante and won 8-5. Having already taken two major titles this year, Souquet looks very strong going into Saturday’s matches.
“Well, I won four matches and lost one,” Souquet reported. “After I won the first, I got beat pretty bad in the second one—from there I had to win all three matches, although it turned out that I didn’t have to win the last one because of the group situation. I had the better game record.“It feels great, but it’s still not over yet, tomorrow is another day. Actually, I played well, I felt well, and saw all the patterns and played the way eight-ball is supposed to play, at least for my point of view. That’s why I am feeling quite well.”Joining Souquet in his group is Dennis Orcollo, who had to fight his way onto the tour by beating world champions at the Bellflower, CA, qualification event last February. Orcollo won three of his five matches tonight, losing to David Matlock and Daryl Peach.Orcollo recounted after his last match with Peach, “I got three and two losses. I don’t know yet if I will make it. I am tired. This last match, every time I broke, I scratched, my opponents played well but my breaks were bad.”The third group came down to the wire, with a three-way tie before the end of the Thorsten Hohmann/Marcus Chamat match, which saw Chamat in the lead 7-6. From there, Hohmann broke and ran two racks to win the match and seal his spot in tomorrow’s rounds. Also qualifying from this group is Marlon Manalo, who tied with Chamat as far as games won but edged by on the games-won percentage.Tomorrow, sixth place will earn $40,000, while third will take home $80,000. On Sunday, $350,000 and $99,000 will go to first and second place, respectively. The IPT has already given away an incredible $1,316,000 at this event. Round 6 Group 82Group 79Q. HannE. StalevE. ReyesL. NevelD. AppletonR. LuatGroup 80F. BustamanteD. MatlockD. PeachD. OrcolloR. AlcanoR. SouquetGroup 81M. ManaloA. PagulayanT. HohmannM. ChamatG. OwenR. DiksVisit Inside POOL Magazine for the latest pool and billiard news from the North American Open 8-Ball Championship.

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