Fourth IPT Qualification Event Begins

Fourth IPT Qualification Event BeginsA grand total of 76 players came out to Country Club USA in Chelmsford, MA, for the fourth International Pool Tour qualification event. Unbelievably, this field seems even tougher than the three previous ones.IPT member Tony Robles and his son Jonathan are here watching some matches. “Me personally, I think that the field in all of the qualifiers thus far is actually a lot harder than a lot of the pro tournaments we have here in the United States,” he said softly. How does Tony think he would like trying to qualify at this event? “Thankfully, I don’t have to worry about it!” he laughs. “But if I had to do it, I would be more than willing to do it, because this is the opportunity of a lifetime, and this is an opportunity that can actually change the life of every player that’s participating in the IPT.”
World champion Chia-Ching Wu lost his first match to Frank Ruby of Dayton, OH, who kept fairly even with the 16-year-old Taiwanese player until winning the last four racks to take a 10-6 victory. “I don’t think he [Wu] played up to his capabilities at all. I don’t really know him. I know he’s world champion—people have told me that, but I never really knew that. I knew it just before this match. He’s young, and a lot of great young players are rhythm players, and if they’re not breaking and running racks, they struggle. They need that rhythm, they need to be shooting. If they sit in that chair, that’s when they usually don’t play as well as they can play. I watched him play last night, and he’s phenomenal. I mean just flat phenomenal.”There have been other upsets, with Santos Sambajon Jr. losing to Hungary’s Sandor Tot 10-7, while Scott “The Freezer” Frost went down 10-1 to Goh Takami of Japan. Runner-up in California, Eric Hjorliefson of Canada continues his winning ways, besting Japan’s Masasumi Mochizuki 10-7, and Vilmos Foldes lost his match against room owner Jose Garcia 10-8.Three players have received the $500 bonus for making the 8 ball on the break. Gary Abood made it on his first break against Ronnie Wiseman, and Beau Runninger made one against Frankie Hernandez. Chris Melling of the UK dropped two 8s on the break against Tony Sort.The complete list of players:Jeff AbernathyGary AboodJulio AquinoDenver BargerAndy BarnettKevin BartonKevin BeckerJeff BeckleyJean Claude BernatchezKeith BennettKarl BoyesChristopher BradfordGeorge BreedloveRichard BroumptonKevin BrownDavid BroxsonDean BurkhammerBernardo ChavezTony CrosbyRodney CuillerierThomas EngertMichael EntersSparky FerrelVilmos FoldesPerry FosterSam FrangieLee FrenchScott FrostRamil GallegoJose GarciaSteve HancockRobert Hart Dave HemmahFrankie HernandezLee HeuwagenEric HjorlisonCliff JoynerFuruta KazouWarren KiamcoJason KirkwoodDavid LarssonAntonio LiningRodolfo LuatImran MajidTomoki MekariChris MellingMasafumi MochizukiRichard MolinieroTony MougeyBrian NaithaniLouis PannulloTommy PaulowskeDaryl PeachChristian ReimeringTony RubertoFrank RubyBeau RunningenRobb SaezSantos SambajonCraig SanossianGary SanossianMichael SchmidtTim SinghTony SortoNick TafoyaGoh TakamiHiroshi TakenakaJerry TarantolaSandor TotMark TrainerLouis UlrichDaniel WallaceJoel WeinstockJeff WhiteC.J. WileyRobert WilsonRonnie WisemanChia-Ching WuMurphy YoungVisit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

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