ABO AA-AAA Results from Gatineau

By: Jacques Roy, President, ABO

With the help of Monique Thibert and François Leblanc I ran the AA and AAA tournament on Saturday, September 24th, 2016 at Billard Le Huit in Gatineau. There were 18 players, not bad on a beautiful sunny day. This was a season premiere for many.

It should be noted that five or six players traveled 14 to 16 hours from communities in Northern Québec to play in the tournament. These persons have been regulars in ABO tournaments for many years. The winner, Sam Matthews, was one of them and others were in the money or very near.

Another notable fact was the performance of Jessie Langelier who had not played an ABO tournament for many years. He came back from the losers' side to finish in position 3-4. It was a stressful day for him in his own words, but very satisfying.

Newcomer to ABO was Guillaume Sylvestre who reached a respectable 5-7 position with veteran Dan Desjardins. It was a high level tournament , exciting, full of surprises and a lot of evident effort from all players. Competition was noticeable but very gentlemanly from its early beginning at 10:30 AM to 8:15 PM.

ABO wants its tournaments to finish at a reasonable time in the early evening to, among other things, allow room owners to service their evening clientele adequately.

Mission accomplished thanks to an early start at 10:30 AM and double elimination up to the last four players with single knockout thereafter. Several evening hours are thus saved. Races to 7 for all matches obviously accelerate play, as well as increase spectator interest.

Payouts were good with the winner getting $ 300, the finalist had $ 200 and the 3-4 position got $ 90 each.

Thank you to our host Martin Lafrenière of Bar-Billard Le Huit. Tables were good and several had new cloth. Thank you also to the always obliging and affable Mélanie at the bar.

Next ABO tournaments at the Terminus on October 1st and 8, 2016

Falcon Pro Tour: The "Dancing Bear" Continues his Fall Feast With Third Win in a Row

Winner Alain Martel with director Alain Parent

By: Markus Noé

The weekend of September 17-18 the beautiful venue of Dooly's Valleyfield was taken over by the Falcon Cues Quebec Pro Tour. This is the second year of this tour which has stops in Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick and has been met with open arms by professional players. With handicap tours on the rise combined with the trend of tournaments not allowing Pro's to play this circuit is greatly needed in this area.

On this occasion 35 players came to partake, with this stop being so close to Montreal and Ottawa I expected around 60 players for this event. Unfortunately there is just too many tournaments in the area for amateurs to play in, and they did not show up in the numbers I was hoping for. That being said this was still a talent packed field with most of the top players in Québec participating.

Favourites going into this tournament were Danny Hewitt, Luc Salvas, Harold Rousseau, Sylvain Grenier, Martin Daigle and of course Alain Martel. Martel who is always a threat and did win last year, seems to have found another gear to start this season. It is my understanding that Martel had some nagging health issues and to a certain extent it showed last season. As a pundit it is most likely an unfair comment however whenever someone is as dominate as Martel has been for decades now even the sightless drop off is noticeable.

That being said any concerns are long forgotten as Martel looks better than ever at the moment. He has started off the season winning the first two stops on the Falcon Tour and it was hard to believe that anyone was going to keep him from winning three in a row. He began his quest for a three-peat against two of the best players from my home room of Rack-M-Up Billiards in Cornwall, Ontario. First up was Jody Roy a solid AAA who Martel dispatched 9-2, next up was local Pro Jared Amyot who after a 3 year absence has come back to the scene. Amyot did what he could but it was a tough task and he fell 9-5. Top player from Mascouche Québec Joey Cicero who lost 11-10 to Martel in the first final of the season was the next challenge. Martel never seemed in trouble against the young upstart and won 9-4.

Micheal Donnelly 

On the other side of the winners bracket a new edition to the Falcon Tour was causing a stir. Michael Donnelly from Heuvelton New, York came in as an unknown to the players of Québec, but after beating well known local pro Norm Pomainville 9-4 he got a few peoples attention. Martin Daigle did end his run on the winners side in the next match 9-3. Donnelly was not done just yet however beating a very strong Semi-Pro Sebastien Laramée 9-7 in the last match of the day on the losers side.

The returning final 8 on Sunday included 4 Canadian legends. Former Canadian Champion Harold Rousseau faced off against Danny Hewitt in the winners side final 4. Alain Martel was in the other final 4 match against Daigle and home town favourite and room owner Luc Salvas was also still alive on the losers side.

Harold Rousseau 

Donnelly looked poised to make a run at the title defeating Cicero 9-2 in his first match of the day. However in his next match he faced Rousseau who was just defeated by Hewitt. Rousseau played well in this match and took advantage of a couple errors by Donnelly and ended his impressive run in the 5/6 position 9-2. On the other side of the losers bracket Salvas was making a charge knocking Michael Bernier and Daigle out. He then went on to lose to Rousseau 9-7.

Danny Hewitt 

In the winners side final it was an intriguing match up between two of Canada's best Danny Hewitt and Alain Martel. It is always a coin flip between these two and it usually comes down to a few finer points. In this case I noticed that Hewitt seemed to have an edge on the break and ended up winning 9-5.  In the losers side final Martel made quick work of Rousseau 9-2 and gave the crowd the rematch they wanted.

In the final I noticed Martel was trying a few things with his break, one being a soft cut break. In the end he went back to his patent big break and that seemed to work the best. He mounted a 7-1 lead at one point and looked to be on his way. However Hewitt was not done yet getting the score back to within one. In the end Martel did what he needed to and got the win 11-9 and continued his hot streak. Congratulations to all the winners, I would like to thank tournament organizers Danny Hewitt and Alain Paremt. As always they are a class act and provided everything I needed to cover this event. Make sure to follow along at Cue Sport Nation for all the results of the 2016-2017 season. For full results and dates for upcoming events please go to http://www.falconcuesquebectour.com/

Armand Fradette 

It should also be mentioned that strong AAA player Armand Fradette also has a three-peat of his own. As he has won each of the second chance tournaments this year which is an impressive feat in its own right.

Pay Outs 

1. Alain Martel $ 1000

2. Danny Hewitt 755$

3. Harold Rousseau $ 550

4. Luc Salvas $ 400

5-6th  Mike Donnelly and Martin Daigle $ 300

7-8th Michael Bernier and Joey Cicero $ 200

9-12th Pierre Normand, Maxime Villeneuve, Eric Cloutier and Sebastian Laramée $ 100

13-16th Norm Pomainville, Jared Amyot, Jody Roy and Eric Hamel $ 50

Roy Wins Rack-M-Up Summer Series Grand Final

Winner Mark "Roll" Roy , Runner Up Kirk Pawis owner Doug Disotell 

By: Markus Noé

Sunday September 11th my home room Rack-M-Up Billiards in Cornwall, Ontario hosted  the Grand Final for its handicapped Summer Series. This was the third edition of this circuit which has become very popular. There are many competitive players in the area who have no tournaments to play during the summer months because the circuits in Montreal and Ottawa go on hiatus, therefore the summer series has become very popular.

There was eight qualifiers with the first one being in May. Roughly every two weeks since then there was another qualifier. Each one allowed a maximum of 16 players, this allowed tournaments to be completed in a timely manner. To the credit of Doug Disotell the main organizer of this circuit each event sold out. Players interested in qualifying for the grand final had to play in four out of the eight tournaments. A portion of each entry fee was held and was added to the grand final prize pool, in the end two thousand dollars was added. There was also a "calcutta" which is a player auction where people can place a wager on who they think will win the tournament. This added another two thousand to the prize fund for the top 4 players.

26 players ended up qualifying for the grand final. There was a buzz in the air as it is not everyday you get a shot at a $4,000 prize pool in this area. The draw-sheet for the tournament was completely random which means some of the favourites to win could end up drawing each other early on and this did happen. Jody Roy and Justin Miller two of the highest ranked players in the field ended up squaring off right away, with Miller winning 7-6.  Myself and Jayson Hall who both won a qualifier and were favourites to do well in this event ending up meeting in the first round as well. I was fortunate to get a good start and went on to win 7-3. I won my next match against Eric Mallet another winner on this years circuit. Kirk Pawis ended my run on the winners side of the bracket 7-5.

The biggest surprise of the tournament was the success that new comer to 9 ball Joe Herne had. He is a well known bar box 8 ball player but has had very little experience playing on 9 ft tables and playing the game of 9 ball. Herne made it all the way to winners side final guaranteeing him a 3rd place finish. In the winners side final Pawis barely edged out Herne 7-6 booking his spot in the final.

On the losers side of the bracket in the 5/6 spot I met up once again with my road partner Jayson Hall. It is never fun or easy playing one of your friends especially one you traveled all over with playing tournaments. Hall got his revenge on me in this match 7-3 and moved on to the 4th place match. There he met up with Mark Roy who after losing to Herne beat a very tough Jay Cuggy who was one of only two players to win multiple qualifiers this season.

In the final few matches of the tournament it was clear that fatigue was becoming a big factor. Hall did not look like the same player in the 4th place match as he was making uncharacteristic errors  and Roy took full advantage winning 7-6. Roy went on to beat Joe Herne to book his spot in the final match.

Roy was in stroke from his previous matches on the losers side as Pawnis had to wait a few hours to find out who he would play in the final. In the end Roy was just two much and handed Pawis is only loss of the tournament 7-5 and thus being crowned the Rack -M-Up Summer Champion. Congrats to Roy and Pawis who played great in this event and all season. Thank you to the owners of Rack-M-Up Billiards Doug Disotell and Amanda Collins for hosting this series. There are rumors that the first Winter Series will take place this year, make sure to follow along at the Rack-M-Up Billiards Facebook page for details. The fall pool leagues are about to get underway if you are interested please call 1-613-933-9362 and ask for Doug.

Tournament Payouts 

1.Mark Roy $750
2. Kirk Pawis $460
3. Joe Herne $305
4. Jayson Hall $200
5/6 Markus Noé/Jay Cuggy $125

Calcutta: 

1. $792
2. $594
3. $396
4. $198 

New TV Series About Snooker Coming

Submitted by: www.snookercanada.ca 

The game of snooker is about to experience a lot more visibility in 2017, as a new television series is on the horizon.

“The Art of Snooker” is a new show that will be produced by Rogers TV and will be aired beginning in January on a weekly basis.

“We are thrilled about this new project” says Snooker Canada president Patrick Guigui.  We have been trying to get our game on the Canadian airwaves for a long time.  Last year’s brief stint with the Richler Cup is what got our foot in the door, now it’s time to kick it down”.The show will be about the game of snooker, and will feature a combination of snooker matches, interviews, the history of the game in Canada, the game’s similarities to other precision sports including golf, darts and other forms of cue sports.

The executive director of the show is Snooker Canada’s director of marketing, Gord Mewhiney, who will be working alongside, Rob DeCator, Photographer / Videographer.

If anyone wants to be part of the show, drop us a line.  Whether you are a snooker player, fan, billiards related business or have any other interest in being involved, we look forward to seeing you during production.

A studio will be set up at the Royal Canadian Legion in Cambridge, and shooting will take place next month on October 15, 16 & 17 (SSM).

FREE Admission , Lots of Parking

Contact us today!  888-487-7506 or info@snookercanada.com

Falcon Tour Stop #2: The "Dancing Bear" Wins Again!

Danny Hewitt, Alain Martel, Alain Parent. Photo by Marie-France Blanchette

By; Markus Noé

This past Labour Day weekend O'Black Jack Pool hall in Edmunston New Brunswick hosted the second stop of the 2016-2017 Falcon Tour. 15 players from Quebec joined another 15 local players to see who would take home top prize.

Favourites in this field were Alain Martel, Danny Hewitt, Joey Cicero Tommy Theriault, Jeff Blais and Martin Daigle just to name a few. Three time World Speed Pool Champion and Canadian Champion Luc Salvas has been struggling a bit of late and did not have an easy first round draw. He was up against the resurgent Alain "The Dancing Bear" Martel who has been playing well and won the first stop of this tour. It was a close match but in the end Martel won 9-6.

Throughout the first few rounds there was not to many surprises as the cream floated to the top of the bracket as usual in these events. In the third round winners side there were two notable matches to speak off. The first one was Jeff Blais vs Martin Daigle. Both hail from Quebec City and have met each other countless times in competition. Daigle got the nod here 9-8.

Another match that could have gone either was was Tommy Theriault up against Joey Cicero. This match was intriguing as it pit two young pro's Cicero from QC and Theriault from NB against one another. Both players have the talent to be included in the handful of players in Canada that can be a threat internationally in the future. This match did not disappoint as it went right down to the wire with Theriault winning 9-8.

Theriault went on to win his next match against Martel 9-8 which guaranteed him 3rd place. In the other final 4 side match-up a bit of an upset occurred as Martin Daigle defeated Danny Hewitt 9-7. Hewitt won nearly half of these events last year in dominate fashion so this was a good win for Daigle.  

In the winners side final it was another tightly contested affair. Daigle was able to secure the win 9-7 and found himself in his first Falcon Tour Final. Alain Martel defeated Yan Lalande who had an impressive tournament 9-6 in the 5/6 bracket. Next for Martel was his old rival Danny Hewitt and surprising no one, this match went right to the end with Martel winning 9-8. 

In the losers side final Martel had a shot at revenge against Theriault and he took full advantage winning 9-5. Going to the losers side seem to help Martel as he caught a gear and won the final easily 11-5 and took home his second win on the Falcon tour in as many tries. 

Congratulations to Martel for his win as well as Daigle and Theriault for their great performances. The next Falcon tour stop will be September 17-18 at Dooly's Valleyfield which is also Luc Salvas room. Each pro event at this pool hall usually is a spectacle all too itself as it is one of the nicest pool halls in the area. Cue Sport Nation will be in attendance I look forward to seeing you all there. 

I would like to thank Luc Paquette who is a vital member of the Falcon Team. He writes all their articles for the french website www.rds.ca and he gave me all the information necessary to write this article. Also Thank you to Danny Hewitt and Alain Parent co-founders of the Falcon Tour for everything they are doing locally for pool. 

The Falcon Tour would like to thank their sponsors: 

Falcon cues: http://www.falconcues.com/

FQSB : http://webillard.com/

Odilam : http://www.odilam.com

The winning stroke : http://thewinningstroke.com

Billardquebec : http://billardquebec.com

Tabillor : http://www.tabillor.com