Tuesday 27 January 2015

Meunier and Hook Take Down Terminus Scotch Doubles Event




By: Markus Noé

Last Saturday January 24 Terminus Pool Hall and Bar in Gatineau Quebec hosted its first of what could be many Scotch Doubles events. 16 Teams from the Gatineau-Ottawa region as well as Montreal showed up to take part in this event. Tournament play started at noon and was done promptly at 9:30. Congratulations to the winners Dave Hook and Mike Meunier as they dominated the final against Erik Horth and David Lanthier 9-1.


1-Mike Meunier/ Dave Hook - $415

2-Eric Horth/ David Lanthier - $250

3-Patrick Lacelle/ J-F Dorais - $105

4-Philippe Lacroix / Sylvain Sigouin - $60

3 Way Chop at Star Billiards First 9 Ball Tournament


By: Erik Hjorleifson

This weekend in London, Ontario Star billiards hosted their first tournament since falling under new management a few months ago. The room has a very storied history in the London area, I noticed a picture on the wall of Mario Morra and Cliff Thorburn that appeared to be dated from the 70's. Located in Downtown London the room features 10 Black Crowns and 2 National 9 foot tables, 4 BCE snooker tables and three 3 cushion tables. Room owner Patrick Chen bought all new ball sets for the tournament and is interested in promoting competitive play in the future including weekend events, weekly tournaments and in house leagues.
 
The format for this weekends tournament was a no handicap races to 9 on the winners side, races to 7 on the losers side, winner breaks and rack your own. There was a $200 high female prize as well which attracted about 8 female players, entry was $30 for everyone and the house generously added $1000 to the prize fund. Tournament promoter Darryl Heywood  did a great job of running the player auction and assigning the players to their tables efficiently. The one roadblock was that the tournament was planned for one day and the overwhelming response of 56 players meant that it would inevitably be a long day and it was indeed.
 
 Tournament favourites included all the of the top players from Western Ontario including Tyler Nearing, Jesse Piercey, Adam Monture, Pod and Harvey Shognosh, Dj McGinley and Dave Parker among many others. Myself, Naomi Williams and Mario Morra made the trip down from Toronto to round up a highly competitive field.
 
Following the random draw it so happened that the top half of the draw was considerably stronger than the bottom half. On the bottom half the hottest contested match was between Jesse Piercey and Tyler Nearing. Tyler came ahead this time and made his way through to the winners side final to face off against the winner of the talent packed top half of the draw. In the first round pre tournament favourite Mario Morra was put to the test by Greg Plester who after trailing 8-1 one made a big comeback eventually falling by a 9-6 score line. Morra also fended off another late charge by Dave Parker in the winners side final 8, after trailing 8-1 Parker came all the way back to 8-8 before losing a tough 9-8 match. This set up a final four match-up of the two players from Toronto myself and Mario Morra, this was a tooth and nail battle and after getting the majority of the rolls I squeaked out a 9-7 victory.
 
On the losers side the players battled off and notable finishes were Pod Shognosh, who after after losing his first round match came all the way back to fifth place. Stuart Mctaggart gave notice of recent improvement beating Harvey Shognosh and losing a close match to Dave Parker 7-5 settling for a 7th place finish. Paul Edgar also had a strong tournament finishing 4th. It was a long day to say the least and at about 4:30 am I played Tyler Nearing in the winners side final and I played pretty well and won 9-5. By the time the losers side caught up it was about 6am! the three remaining players myself, Tyler and Mario decided to make an agreement on the prize money and call it a night/morning. Knowing the response that this room can attract, future tournaments will be planned as 2 day events. 
 
 
I would like to note again that this was an Open non handicapped event, something that is not the norm in the Southern Ontario pool scene and considering the affordable entry fee it was refreshing to see a group of players get together and just go out and play pool. No whining about handicaps just players playing the game we love, I would say that a good time was had by all who attended.  Special thanks again goes out to Star billiards, the owners are a great group of people and  it is nice to have a new addition to the pool scene in Ontario, be sure to check it out next time you are in the area and join their Facebook group "Star Billiards" for location info and future tournament announcements.
 
Prize money Including player Auction:
1st $1750 Erik Hjorleifson and Tyler Nearing/ Morra
2nd $800 Tyler Nearing/Mario Morra
3rd $550 Tyler Nearing/ Mario Morra
4th $350  Paul Edgar
5th/6th $175 Dave Parker
                 Pod Shognosh
7th/8th   $75  Stuart Mactaggart
                 $75 Paul Duell  
 
Top Female Denise Belanger $200

Chalk Cube Joins CBSA Sponsorship Team


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The CBSA is pleased to announce our newest sponsor Chalk Cube which produce one of a kind chalk holders and cue holders. 

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The CBSA would like to thank Mario Paradis and Chalk Cube for their support. Please view the Chalk Cube Facebook page for more information. 

Chalk Cube will now join OB Cues, SimonisDiamond Billiard Products, Aramith, Kamui and Think Green Industries as major sponsors of the CBSA. 

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If any company or individual is interested in sponsoring the CBSA please contact Kyle Richard at kyle.richard@cbsa.ca or visit http://www.cbsa.ca/. 



Wednesday 21 January 2015

Simonis and Aramith Continue to Support CBSA

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The CBSA is pleased to announce that Simonis and Aramith have agreed to continue their sponsorship with the CBSA. 

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The CBSA would like to thank Ivan Lee, Simonis and Aramith for their support. Please visit both of their website’s for more information. 

Simonis and Aramith will continue to support the CBSA along with Diamond Billiard Products, OB Cues, Kamui and Think Green Industries as major sponsors. 

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If any company or individual is interested in sponsoring the CBSA please contact Kyle Richard at kyle.richard@cbsa.ca or visit http://www.cbsa.ca/.

Monday 12 January 2015

Royal City 9 Ball Weekend Results

1st Place Split – Chen vs Duell

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Another successful event saw 32 extremely strong players come out to compete in the Royal City 9 Ball Challenge.
Congratulations to Kenny Chen and Paul Duell, for their shared 1st/2nd Place Finish.. Kenny Chen’s day started off with a tough match against Naomi Williams, with Chen coming out the victor..he went forward on the A Side, sending  his opponents to fight it out on the B Side, Chad Bishop, Isaac Ramos, Sumon Sarkar and finally Paul Duell.. Kenny sat in the hot seat waiting for his final opponent..   Paul Duell’s match ups were no less difficult, playing and defeating Stuart MacTaggart, Jeremy Brown, Dave Lettner, Jason Knight where he then met Kenny, who sent him to the B Side finals.   Duell played against Naomi Williams, who had a long hard fight through the B Side.  Duell came back to meet Chen in the finals,  beating Chen the 1st set, but because of the late hour, both players agreed to split the 1st and 2nd Place prize fund.
We look forward to our mid season tournament on February 7&8 where the field will be extended to 64 players.  Registration is now open, contact Eric or Katherine ASAP to book your spot!
1ST Place:     $510           C  $870
Kenny Chen/Paul Duell
2nd Place:     $270           C  $455
Kenny Chen/Paul Duell
3rd Place:      $180            C  $315
Naomi Williams
4th Place:      $100            C $175
Sumon Sarkar
5th / 6th:        $ 55           C $ 85
Mike Patay & Jason Knight

Thursday 8 January 2015

Ottawa Bar Box Championships Starts Today!

By: Markus Noé

The much anticipated Ottawa Bar Box Championships is set to begin play today and will continue on right until Sunday. This has been a popular event for some time now and sells out nearly every year. The big prize pool brings out some of the best bar box players from Ontario and Québec.

Tailgator's has become known for holding the biggest bar box tournaments in Eastern Canada and if you are a fan of great pool stop sometime during the next four days.. They have a great bar, full menu and a fantastic spectating venue - everything you need to get out of the cold and watch some top tier pool. 

Ron Benedict, Photo by Tyler Scott 
Also one of our sponsors Ron Benedict will be in attendance to shape and put on tips or to even do some small cue repairs if needed. Mr. Benedict is well known in the G.T.A for his fine cue work, he has even made some of his own custom cues which he sells. A few short years ago John Morra actually won one of his Canadian titles using a Ron Benedict Custom Cue. So if you need his services this weekend make sure to stop in and see him, and let Mr. Benedict know you heard about him here at Cue Sport Nation. 


Tuesday 6 January 2015

Desbiens/Deschenes 3 peat at Scotch Doubles Tournament



By: Markus Noé

Once again Dooly's St. Hyacinthe was the place to be January 2-3 as they hosted two well attended scotch doubles events. In recent years whenever the Québec Federation goes on a break for holidays and during summer layoff, the owners of this location step up to the fill the void by hosting their own tournaments. Because of the great playing conditions and player friendly environment Dooly's St. Hyacinthe has become a favourite stop.

The weekend started off with a 37 team 4A event, the requirements being that the combined ranking of any team cannot exceed 4A. Meaning that two "AA" can play together or an "A" with a "AAA".  After a full day of play the final came down to Joey Cicero/Michel Paré vs Roger Theriault/Pat Desbiens. It was a tightly contested affair with the team of Cicero/Paré winning 7-5 and collecting $2050 for their troubles and the runner up making $1300.

Winners of the 4A Cicero and Paré
The next day featured the 6A event meaning that two "AAA" could play together or a Semi-Pro with an "A" player. 26 teams participated all with the intentions of dethroning the 2 time defending champions of this event, Pat Desbiens/David Deschenes.

The duo were going to have to fight hard in order to secure a 3-peat as many of the top professional players were in this event such as Danny Hewitt, Martin Lalonde, Martin Daigle.  In the third round Desbiens/Deschenes faced some adversary as they were down 5-1 in a race to 9 against Marco Caron and Mehdi Harraq. They showed a lot of heart coming back to win 9-8. From there they marched into the winners side final where they met up with Danny Hewitt/Roger Theriault. Desbiens/Deschenes ended up winning this match and the rematch later on in the final to secure their 3-peat. The winners split $2000 while the runner up split $1390.

6A Winners Pat Desbiens & David Deschenes 

Diamond Tables Becomes Official Sponsor of the Canadian Championships

                                                                                                    January 5, 2015  
  
  
PRESS RELEASE  
  
  
DIAMOND BILLIARD PRODUCTS SPONSORSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT  
  
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On behalf of The Canadian Billiards and Snooker Association and the Canadian Cue Sport Association we are very pleased to announce that Diamond Billiard Products has come on board as the official table sponsor of the 2015 Canadian Combined Pool Championships.  
  
“Having an affiliation with a company like Diamond Billiard Products and the reputation they have in the industry is invaluable to our present and future goals in Canada.  Being able to host our Open Pool events on Diamond pool tables means every one of our competitors this coming season will know they are playing on the very best equipment available.  And that in turn reflects well on us,’ notes CBSA President Steve Cooper.  
  
The 2015 Canadian Combined Pool Championships are slated for The Delta Meadowvale Hotel and Conference Centre in Mississauga, Ontario and will run from March 30-April 4th, 2015.  Scheduled events include CCS team events, as well as 8-ball, 9-ball and 10-ball for both men and women.  National champions will go on to represent Canada at the WPA (World Pool – Billiard Association) World Championships.  
  
For more info, visit the Canadian Billiards and Snooker Association website at:  www.cbsa.ca  
  

Monday 5 January 2015

Stabbing at Le Skratch Laval



By: Markus Noé

Unfortunately today I have some bad news to report from Laval, as there was a stabbing this past weekend in front of the flagship "Le Skratch". When it comes to these types of articles I am always hesitant whether or not to report negative news such as this, because at the end of the day I am a promoter of Cue Sports.However my Journalism background is always there nagging at me because in reality this is news.

The stabbing happened in the parking lot in to a 21 year old male early Sunday morning. The victim was stabbed in the abdomen and he is listed as in "stable condition" after surgery. This act of violence appears to have nothing to do with Billiards at all except for the fact that it occurred near one of the more notable pool halls in Montreal. The apparent  reason giving for this incident is a "love triangle" argument which escalated.

My initial protective reaction to this story is "well it happened in the parking lot" with lots of other businesses in the same strip-mall. However it was early Sunday morning and they were the only place open and selling alcohol. For the moment I will give full credit to the major media outlets covering this story as they have yet to take the usual stigma based approach to this type of story which occurs more often than not.

It just so happens that next weekend January 18th I will be at this location for a tournament as I am there at least once a month during this time of the year. I invite anyone to join me as this was an isolated incident and in no way means that this is an unsafe or bad place to be.

CBSA Mission Statement


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The CBSA would like to announce our new About Us page and Mission Statement. 
The CBSA is also working extremely hard to improve our Website, our Facebook page and to continue to acquire new sponsorship partners. 

The CBSA would like to thank all of our current sponsors for their support. 

Stay tuned for more exciting news in the very near future. 

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If any company or individual is interested in sponsoring the CBSA please contact Kyle Richard at kyle.richard@cbsa.ca or visit http://www.cbsa.ca/.