Immonen Wins UPA Finals at Bicycle Club Casino

Immonen Wins UPA Finals at Bicycle Club Casino By Hilary Morse, InsidePOOL MagazineWhile “Bad To The Bone” blared through the stereo system, Finnish superstar Mika Immonen strode confidently through the room as www.worldpool.com introduced him to the 400-plus spectators at the Bicycle Club Casino in Bell Gardens, CA. The final day of the 2003 UPA Finals has concluded, and Immonen, bad to the bone, came out on top over Charlie “The Korean Dragon” Williams.
Four matches took place on Sunday. The first match of the day was on the one-loss side between Williams and Efren “The Magician” Reyes. At the previous UPA event, which was back in August at Master Billiards in Queens, NY, Williams not only beat Reyes for the first time but double-dipped him as well—the first person to do so in 10 years. Williams must have gotten somewhere in Reyes’s head because he defeated Reyes easily by the score of 11-4.The hot seat match featured Ralf “The Surgeon” Souquet versus Immonen. The two battled through a hill-hill match that ultimately saw Immonen take the win and his place in the hot seat.Souquet and Williams played next in the semifinals. Souquet was missing in action and finally came out ready to play. Williams started off strong and had a 4-0 lead. At 5-1, Williams put a two-pack on the German to take a 7-1 lead. In the next rack, Williams came up dry on his break, and Souquet fought his way back into the match, bringing the score to 8-6 Williams. However, Souquet missed the 1 ball at that point, and Williams ran out that rack and didn’t allow his opponent another game before he won the set 11-6.In the final match, Immonen scratched on the first break, giving Williams ball in hand. However, Williams missed, giving his opponent the first game. Immonen then broke and ran out. In the third rack, Williams scratched on the 3 ball, and Immonen must have found the Zone, for he ran out that rack and then put a four-pack on Williams to take a 7-0 lead. After a missed 2 ball by Williams, Immonen looked invincible with his head start, but when he left a 2 ball in the following game for Williams, “The Dragon” ran the rack out to finally get a game under his belt. “I’ve only got a few more to go,” Williams joked with the crowd. Obligingly, Immonen gave his opponent ball in hand to allow him one more game in the extended race to 13, but in the end, Immonen finished the match off the way he started, with strong safety play and more run-outs to win the set over Williams 13-2.Visit InsidePOOL for the latest in the sport of billiards and pool.

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