Schau and LeCain Take Billiard Titles

Schau and LeCain Take Billiard Titles KBP 8-Ball and 9-Ball Tours / Palm Harbor and Tampa, FL
by Rick Davis

The February 10-11 weekend brought a pair of billiards events from KBP that were met with open arms from the players. The first event was 8-ball held at Strokers in Palm Harbor, FL, where Paul LeCain stormed through undefeated. The next day, 9-ball action took place at Planet 9-Ball in Tampa, FL, where Rich Schau emerged atop the field after a late defeat to own the event.
Saturday’s 8-ball action was fast and furious as LeCain and Chris Walsh blitzed the board to reach the hot seat match. Neither of the players gave up more than two racks in the race-to-5 format until LeCain defeated Walsh 5-3 to claim king of the hill. On the one-loss side, 14-year-old Taz Naravan was mounting a comeback after an early loss to LeCain. Naravan bested the remainder of the one-loss board in order to meet Walsh. After a quick race-to-3 scuffle, Walsh slipped by double-hill to see the finals. Again, Walsh made things tough for LeCain taking the match double-hill, but in the end LeCain was crowned the champion.
The next day 9-ball action got underway across town with a 27-player field. On the winners’ side the show belonged to Schau as he came off a first-round bye to light up the board and reach the hot seat match. Meeting him there was Jose Ybarra, who obliterated several opponents, including a 7-2 slap against tour heavyweight Josh Lewis, on his way to the hot seat match. Fighting for king of the hill, Ybarra slipped past Schau for a well-deserved rest.
On the one-loss side, two players were fighting for a comeback. After a second-round loss, Wesley Whitfield took five matches to reach the quarterfinals and only gave up a single rack in three of the matches. Nearby, Lewis’ comeback also included five straight wins, although he handed out two shut-outs along the way. With the quarterfinals on hand, Lewis was in control and after he handed out his third shut-out against Whitfield, he was on his way to the semifinals. Schau had his sights on Lewis and as the match reached double-hill the coin toss favored Schau who slipped past 5-4. That brought Schau to the finals for a rematch against Ybarra, and this time he was ready. The race-to-9 was no trouble for Schau, and in no time he had defeated Ybarra 9-5 to take the top spot.
KBP action continues February 24 with a ladies’ event followed by a 9-ball event the next day. Both events will be held at Hammer Heads in Holiday, FL.
8-Ball Results:
1st Paul LeCain
2nd Chris Walsh
3rd Taz Naravan
9-Ball Results:
1st Rich Schau
2nd Jose Ybarra
3rd Josh Lewis
4th Wesley Whitfield

Pool Balls and Billiard Balls at LOW PRICES!!!

About the Author:
Inside Pool Magazine publishes billiard news. Definitive Synergy creates pool and billiard management software.