NJ State 14.1 Championship Boils Down to Final Four

NJ State 14.1 Championship Boils Down to Final Four By Paul Berg, InsidePOOL Staff WriterDespite a dwindling influence over the American game of pocket billiards, the discipline of 14.1 continuous, commonly referred to as straight pool, has found a home this weekend at Comet Billiards in Parsippany, NJ. The Second Annual New Jersey State Straight Pool championships began with 31 players on Friday, October 3, and four remain to contest the title, beginning at noon today.In the winners’ bracket final, reigning World 9-Ball Champion Thorsten Hohmann will face Tony Robles. Robles represents his home region in the event but faces the obstacle of Hohmann’s background in straight pool. The German has many more opportunities to compete in tournaments featuring the game in Europe, where it is still a favorite.
Robles defeated Niels Feijen on Friday night 150-19 with a 114 ball run to reach the score that is standard for championship level straight pool. He went on to beat Danny Barouty 150-60 and Jose Garcia 150-98 to reach the hot seat match. Hohmann claimed his spot with a 150-112 win over Dick Lane, a Texas player whose performance highlighted a cast of legends from the game’s heyday. Dallas West and Grady Mathews are other respected deans of 14.1 who made a go of it, and other deposed entrants of note include Allen Hopkins and Steve Lipsky.On the other side of the bracket, Barouty and Garcia are matched up when play resumes at noon. Garcia stopped Hopkins with back-to-back runs of 65 and a 150-48 victory, while Barouty handled Lane 150-49. Barouty is coming off a second-place finish behind John Schmidt at the recent Legends of Straight Pool event in Colombia, SC, but Garcia is one poolroom owner who can surprise even experienced players at their own game.Visit InsidePOOL for the latest in the sport of billiards and pool.

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