Strong International Showing at BCA Open 9-Ball Championship Event

Strong International Showing at BCA Open 9-Ball Championship Eventby InsidePOOL StaffThe 2005 BCA Open 9-Ball Championship began on Sunday, May 16, with a full field of 64 players in both the men’s and women’s divisions. This is the only event where the men and women play alongside each other, and the crowds have been filing in daily to watch. The event is being held at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV, and will wrap up on Saturday, May 22.The international flavor of the event is evident in its roster, with a notable lack of Filipino players. Santos Sambajon Jr., who took third place at last year’s event, and “Marvelous Marlon” Manalo are the only representatives of the Philippines. Sandor Tot of Hungary, Sweden’s Marcus Chamat, Mika Immonen of Finland, and several German players, including Ralf Souquet, Thorsten Hohmann, and Andreas Roschkowsky are also present.
The initial round saw a few surprises: In the men’s event, 2004 U.S. Open champion Gabe Owen succumbed to Canada’s Paul Potier 11-1, while in the women’s event, Kelly Fisher, who won the latest WPBA stop in North Carolina, was defeated by Kim White 9-7. Allison Fisher and defending champion at this event, Karen Corr, both advanced in the first round, with wins over Ikumi Ushiroda and Gail Grecar, respectively.InsidePOOL Magazine’s 2004 Player of the Year, Thomas Engert, capped off the evening rounds with a solid victory over John Schmidt. Initially, the match began as a break-and-run contest, but soon Engert pulled away to an 8-3 lead in the race to 11. Schmidt pulled within four games before Engert reached the hill and then won three more, but Engert was in the zone and broke and ran out the last rack for an 11-8 win.Several more excellent match-ups on Monday evening include Tot over “Rocket” Rodney Morris in a hard-fought hill-hill match, Tony Crosby over Earl Strickland in an 11-4 routing, 16-year-old Chia-Ching Wu over Chin-Ching Kang 11-8, and Chris Szuter of Ohio over Bobby Hunter 11-3. In the women’s division, crowd favorite Vivian Villareal triumphed over Liz Schwartzreich 9-1, Stacy Hurst of Orange, CA, won 9-4 over Kim White, Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news on the 2005 BCA Open 9-Ball Championship.

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.