Tuesday's Moment of Truth

Tuesday's Moment of TruthThings are getting hectic at the North American Open 8-Ball Championship, as things are getting down to the wire. The last round has started, and to many, their success or failure will determine whether or not they will advance to Wednesday’s rounds. With a payout difference of $5,000 between the two days, it is understandable that the players are bearing down and trying their hardest.IPT discussion forumDay 3 image galleryMatch scheduleHolland’s Nick Van den Berg was awarded a match 8-0 when his opponent Greg Hogue failed to show up. Hogue won a pre-qualifier and then won the qualifier for this event—on the first day, he had three out of four wins, but today his record was 0-3 when he forfeited his fourth-round match. Hogue also failed to show up for his match against David Matlock and is now eliminated.Van den Berg commented, “I played two days ago and won all four matches, but I didn’t sleep too well last night. I’m feeling better now that I have made it to the next stage, and I’m getting more comfortable.”
George San Souci, who was in a tough group that has three Filipino players and Corey Deuel in it, did not win any matches in the first four rounds and forfeited his last match against Gandy Valle. Commenting on his break ability, he said, “I think balls went in on fifty percent of the breaks, and maybe eighty percent of the fifty I run out. I practiced a real hard break, and I just try to let the cue ball slide over to get more action out of the pack. Everyone seems to struggle breaking.”Surprisingly, Danny Basavich has not won a match yet today—his losses come from Jason Kirkwood 8-6, Lee Heuwagen 8-5, Sarah Ellerby 8-2, and Teddy Garrahan 8-3.The Filipino Invasion continues to thrive. Alex Pagulayan bested Chris Orme from Canada by a whopping 8-1, Antonio Lining did the same to Howard Vickery, Rodolfo Luat allowed Michael Zimmerman three games before he won their match, “Marvelous” Marlon Manalo won over Marko Lohtander 8-4, Santos Sambajon Jr. won over Bobby Hunter 8-7, and Efren Reyes defeated Philip Harrison 8-2.Australia’s Quinten Hann won 8-4 over Wayne Catledge, making him four for four so far today. “Today was a lot better than yesterday,” he affirmed. “Because I haven’t played in a couple years, I used a snooker cue, and you can’t do that. So today I used a pool cue but I never used one before … If I can pot balls on the break, I think I’ll win.”Upsets in this round include Sal Butera winning 8-5 over Russia’s Evgeny Stalev, Sandor Tot of Serbia besting former world champion Thorsten Hohmann 8-4, and Brian Groce dealt Shawn Putnam his first loss of the day 8-6. Additionally, Raj Hundal defeated Gabe Owen by the strong score of 8-3. No wins for the women in the fourth round: Allison Fisher was defeated by the undefeated Ivica Putnik 8-5, Loree Jon Jones suffered an 8-4 loss to fellow Hall of Fame member Mike Sigel, James Walden won 8-5 over Gerda Hofstatter, and Sarah Ellerby lost to Jason Kirkwood 8-4.Francisco Bustamante won his fourth-round match over Dee Adkins with an 8-0 whitewash and commented, “I broke and ran four times and then the fifth I never made a ball—he missed a shot, so I won again. Then I ran another three. Right now I am four-oh and I played strong. I had no problems with the break, but it depends on how you play eight-ball—if you don’t make anything on the break it can be a big problem.”After losing to Jonathan Pinegar 8-5, Earl Strickland said, “The guy treated me like a thief.”Round 2 Groups Match schedule for July 25, 2006Group 41Kirkwood, JasonHeuwagen, LeeEllerby, SarahHarper, CoreyBasavich, DanielGarrahan, TheodoreGroup 42Bennett, KeithPagulayan, AlexMonday, SamOrme, ChrisFrost, ScottVarner, NickGroup 43Ginn, AnthonyStrickland, EarlPaez, IsmaelPinegar, JonathanWalden, JamesHofstatter, GerdaGroup 44Hundal, RajDiks, RicoOwen, GabeKoukiadakis, AndreasBroxson, DavidBroumpton, RichardGroup 45Reyes, EfrenBustamante, FranciscoHarrison, PhilipAdkins, DeeMacias, JonathanKlasovic, AndrejaGroup 46Sigel, MikeManalo, MarlonJones, Loree JonLohtander, MarkoCatledge, WayneHann, QuintenGroup 47Boyes, KarlFisher, AllisonAbood, GaryPutnik, IvicaBarger, FloydBeckley, JeffGroup 48Orcollo, DennisAlcano, RonatoSan Souci, GeorgeDeuel, CoreyWims, JohnValle, GandyGroup 49Archer, JohnnyDaulton, ShannonMcKenna, RobertImmonen, MikaO'Sullivan, RonnieStorm, TomGroup 50Hohmann, ThorstenOrtmann, OliverTot, SandorPeach, DarylTademy, MarkCalderon, JerryGroup 51Hatch, DennisSchmidt, JohnBreedlove, GeorgeFu, JianboMcCready, KeithJones, SammyGroup 52Souquet, RalfButera, SalJoyner, CliffStalev, EvgenyWetch, JimmyMajid, ImranGroup 53Zimmerman, MichaelLining, AntonioLuat, RodolfoVickery, HowardPutnam, ShawnGroce, BrianGroup 54Foldes, VilmosEckert, RalphWatson, GerryYounger, JoelMekari, TomokiPotier, PaulGroup 55Marquez, MarcoMartinez, RafaelMorris, RodneyDavenport, KimBeaufils, YannickHopkins, AllenGroup 56Raybone, NeilMoore, SteveNevel, LarryOkumura, TakeshiJuva, MarkusJahnke, BernardGroup 57Petroni, FabioAppleton, DarrenMontal, EdwinJones, JeremyHunter, BobbySambajon, SantosGroup 58Chamat, MarcusMorris, CarlFrank, TroyWilliams, CharlieBartram, ChristopherTownsend, ScottyGroup 59Chohan, TonyHill, MichaelSchmidt, MichaelGay, LeilLely, AlexFeijen, NielsGroup 60Salvas, LucVan den Berg, NickKucharo, JonHogue, GregMatlock, DavidMladenovic, GoranVisit Inside POOL Magazine for the latest news from the sport of pool and billiards and the IPT North American Open 8-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.