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| 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
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