By: Markus Noe
Summary:
Last week May 23-29 the Black Lake arena in Thetford Mines Québec hosted the 2017 CBSA (Canadian Billiard & Snooker Association) Canadian Championships. Within the last year the EvenTime Production team headed by Marco Sanschagrin has joined up with the CBSA to produce the Canadian Championships.
Most would know EvenTime from their annual tournament Classique des Billard Appalaches which features tournaments over 4 days from C classe to Pro. The CBA recently celebrated its 9th anniversary and wrapped up just two days before the Canadian Championships. They also run the Archer Cup which have seen some of the best players in the world participate. Every year the EvenTime team invest more money and makes improvements whether with scheduling issues, equipment and so on. The big plus is that these promoters really value input from the players and use that to improve their events year after year.
While speaking with Sanschagrin he admits that they would not be where they are without their sponsors, especially the city of Thetford Mines. This year with the help of their sponsors EvenTime invested another $50,000. $20,000 of which went into the rigging for the lighting alone which you can see in the picture below.
The little inside information that I received this week is that EvenTime has put in a bid to host the Canadian Championships for next 5 years. This year was a trial of sorts to see how things worked out in Thetford Mines. Overall I would say it was a success as this was the first year since I started following pool, that the venue was big enough to host all the Canadian Pool Championships at once under one roof. This includes all the Open and Amateur events. Numbers could have been higher throughout all the divisions however unfortunately this week ran right into the popular VNEA leagues in Vegas. However this week was still a far cry from the low numbers of the past and in just two years we have seen significant improvement from the CBSA.
I would like to take a moment to Congratulate the CBSA board for a successful event and for the hard work that I saw John White, Randall Morrison and Alain Parent do.
The entire EvenTime team deserves some recognition as well for an amazing venue and atmosphere. I know the team is big and I am leaving people out, however these 3 are the ones I have dealt with. Congratulations to Marco Sanschagrin, Roger Doyon and Michel McCutcheon for an amazing job this year. I look forward to seeing what they have for us in the future.
Results:
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| Adam Monture |
8 Ball
The Open Championships began Tuesday May 23rd with 8 Ball. In what could be considered a fairly good underdog story. Long time player Adam Monture who before this week was ranked a Semi-Pro in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) broke through and snapped of the title undefeated. Since we started Cue Sport Nation Monture has taken down some serious events winning close to $10,000 at a time, twice. This is a perfect example of the talent "bubble" in the GTA. With world class players such as John Morra, Alex Pagulayan, Jason Klatt, Erik Hjorleifson all calling Toronto home at some point in the last 10 years, it has really stepped the talent level up. To the point with the big four being so dominate it has impeded the ranking progressions of others in my opinion, but it has not stopped their development as players. This is of course is just my opinion but I believe it is what has allowed for a monster talent and player like Adam Monture to fly under the radar for so long.
Last year was the first time I met Monture in person and this year I had the luxury of spending more time speaking with him and seeing him play. If you have not had the pleasure yet he is one of the good guys, a real class act on and off the table and an incredible shot maker who shows little to no nerve. Good luck in China! Also it should be noted that Monture is the first player not named Klatt, Hjorleifson, Morra or Pagulayan who has broken through and won a Canadian title in sometime. This goes to show you just how impressive this victory was. Here is a list of his victims on route to his first national title .
Monture 9 Bagot 5
Monture 9 Massender 6
Monture 9 Aupin 4
Monture 9 Hjorleifson 4
Monture 9 Morra 4
Monture 9 Klatt 7
While celebrating his big win, here is what Monture posted on Facebook, " I would like to Dedicate my 8 ball Championship title to my father if it wasn't for him I don't think I would of even picked up a cue and thanks to On the Snap , cool kids and thanks to all my friends and families who cheered me on."
9 Ball
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| John Morra |
Hjorleifson caught fire on the losers side with no one really getting close. He had wins over Kluznik, Monture, Klatt, Martel, and Daigle on his way to meet Morra. The final was thrilling as either player was able to gain more than a 2 rack lead at anytime. With the scoreline 14-14 race to 15 it was Hjorleifson who was breaking for the title. He had a successful break and the table looked like it would not be a problem. However a positional error from the 4 to the 5 ball which can only be described as a mental error left him a tough shot on the 5 which he missed. Morra quickly pounced and added yet another Canadian Championship to his resume.
On a side note John Morra did not RETIRE! He simply stated early this year he will be taking a break to pursue other interests which he has done. What he really meant more or less is that he will no longer be playing 40 tournaments a year and spending 8 plus months on the road anymore. He has done this for a decade and with a new beautiful fiancee at home and other opportunities arising he will be picking and choosing when he plays more carefully in the future. Congratulations to John Morra who once again showed his class over the rest of the field this week, good luck in Qatar.
10 Ball
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| Jason Klatt |
On May 27th the Canadian 10 Ball Championships got underway. The story of this tournament was how Jason Klatt and John Morra showed their world class stamina and cut through the field with ease. After a long week of pool most of the feild showed fatigue however these two well traveled pro's showed almost no drop off. Both players went undefeated to the winners side final. Klatt had an easier path to this point in terms of scorelines as no one was able to get past 5 games. While Morra had to fade two double hill matches against Danny Hewitt and Martin Daigle. However in the winners side final Morra won easily 10-3.
Klatt met up with Alain Martel for the second time that day in the losers final. Winning again 10-7 to earn a rematch with Morra. The final was a much closer affair with Klatt wining 10-3. Congratulations to Jason Klatt on his win. Currently there is no World 10 ball Championship scheduled. There are rumors that China will pick this up as well as the 8 ball, if so Klatt will be our representative!
We will post the Women's Open Results and Amateur results later this week. As well as the Speed Pool, 14.1 and Bank Pool Results.
I would like to once again thank my sponsors for this event!
Touhey Management
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