Guimond Goes Undefeated to Claim Final AAA of the Season

By: Markus Noé

This past Sunday April 26th Maximum Billard played host to the final regular season AAA tournament, for the Québec Federartion.  20 players showed up to take part in this $500 guaranteed for first event.

Pascal Guimond who calls Maximum Billard his "home room" defended his home turf with authority. He went undefeated to claim the title and did so with ease as none of his opponents made it past 5 games on a race to 9. Going out early in one of my A tournaments at Dooly's Longueuil located five minutes away, I was able to watch a few of Guimond's matches.

The first one was against Jean Louis-Savoie a strong AAA and a well liked tournament director for the Federation. This promised to be a tightly contested match however Guimond came out charging, breaking and running a 3 pack early. Savoie was never really able to recover from this blitz
as Guimond went on to win 9-3.

Next up was Jean Vaillancourt in the winners side final. The 2014-2015 season for Vaillancourt has been amazing as he seems to be in the top 3 of any tournament he has played in. However even he was no match for Guimond as he went down 9-4.

In the losers side final Vaillancourt was eliminated by Jean-Francois Dorais 7-2. This was a rematch from earlier on in the day in which Dorais lost 9-5. In the final Guimond continued on with his high level of play winning this match 9-3. The Grande Finale for the AAA will be held at Dooly's Valleyfield May 23, we will have full results on Cue Sport Nation.

Adam Monture wins Corner Bank Shootout

Adam Monture 

By The Corner Bank

The Corner Bank hosted its first 10 ball shootout this past weekend and it proved to be a huge success on all fronts.

Qualifiers were organized and run at venues in Quebec and in various clubs throughout southern Ontario including two at Petrina’s in Pickering.  All in all a full field of 32 players was assembled with 6 players making the trip from LaBelle province to compete.  The only criteria for entry was that all players had to have a recognized handicap of 9 or lower on the Four Points Tour and with the Unified Handicap System and be no higher than a Semi Pro in Quebec.  All recognized pros in the sport were ineligible.  This proved to be a noteworthy decision on behalf of the organizers as the field basically filled up within days of being officially announced.

The prize money on offer was $17,000.  That included $1000 added by Marc Dumoulin’s new promotional enterprise known as “Moneyball Promotions”.

The Calcutta run Saturday morning prior to the draw garnered $11,000.  A significant amount added to the prize fund putting the weekend tally of cash on offer at $28,000.  Easily one of the largest weekend tournaments held in the GTA.  The event was also streamed live by Hustinstream.tv out of Quebec.  A big thanks to David Deschenes and his partner Max for their efforts in this regard.

The races on the winner’s side were all to 11 and the races in the loser’s bracket were all races to 9.  The final was contested over a race to 13 racks, one race to determine the overall winner of the inaugural event.

There was some terrific play over the weekend and the standard was extremely high, as noted by many people watching at The Corner Bank who are more than familiar with the professional game.

The business end:

The A side final saw Adam Monture secure the hotseat with a pressure filled run out and an 11-10 victory over Dave Parker.  Parker now had to face off against Justin Leyland who had just beatenYan Lalande convincingly 9-5 to set up the clash with London’s Parker.  As is the case more often than not, the player coming into the B side final with the win and positive momentum usually carries that through to their next match.  This was no exception as Leyland prevailed over Parker with a score of 9-6.

Justin Leyland

Dave Parker

The final of the first Corner Bank 10 ball shootout was contested over a race to 13 racks.  Monture with the benefit of some rest and all the confidence of knowing his game was in high gear, was just too strong for Leyland in the final.  With some solid shot making and a strong break he ran out a 13-7 winner to claim the $6,000 winner’s purse.  Leyland had a fantastic weekend too and went home with a $3,500 payout, not bad for a weekend’s worth of work.

Following is the breakdown of where all the cash went:

Winner:          $6,000 Adam Monture
Runner Up:    $3,500  Justin Leyland
3rd Place:        $2,000  Dave Parker
4th Place:         $1,500  Yan Lalande
5-6th Place:     $1,000 each  David Deschenes & Marc Dumoulin
7-8th Place:     $500 each  Andre Gagnon, Craig Gould
9-12th Place:   $250 each  Jason Williams, Jesse Piercey, Ryan Millar, Stefane Godinho

 The Corner Bank wishes to thank all players and spectators for a great weekend full of class competition and sportsmanship.  And a big shout out to Marc Dumoulin for coming up with a superb idea for an event and allowing the players the chance to compete for some serious money.

 The next event is 10 Ball Shootout is tentatively scheduled for July 18-19 at The Corner Bank.  Qualifiers will soon be announced and locked in at various venues in southern Ontario and in Quebec.

Thank you to Andrew Attard at www.thepoolscene.com for access to this story. 

Dan Devos Clinches the Victory!

 

Article taken from www.royalcitychallenge.ca

The last regularly scheduled event was held on April 11th and saw a full field of 32 players come out to compete. Congratulations to Dan Devos for his 1st Place Finish..  Dan’s journey to the A side final wasn’t an easy one..  He drew Jay Secord 1st round, and after defeating Jay, went on to meet and win against Greg Plester, Rod Arsenault, Neil Mills and Jeff Robson.. Devos sent Robson over to the B Side Finals..waiting for the Final match..

Jeff’s journey was no less difficult, meeting up first with Ephraim Day and progressing on the A Side with defeats against Shane Gummerson, Nick Persian, Rick Hutchings, until Dan Devos sent him to the B Side Finals.   Robson defeated Rick Hutchings once again, sending him back over to face Devos in the finals.  Being a true double elimination tournament, Robson one the 1st set, but then ultimately, Dan Devos came out the victor!!

Finals Standings
1st Place:      Dan Devos                   $520     $845 (c)
2nd Place:    Jeff Robson                 $275      $440 (c)
3rd Place:     Rick Hutchings           $185     $295 (c)
4th Place:     Adam Monture            $105     $170 (c)
5/6 Place:     Justin Kluznik              $ 50      $ 85 (c)
5/6 Place:     Neil Mills                       $ 50      $ 85 (c)

We look forward to seeing all the qualified players out for the Final Event on May 22nd – May 23rd (if required)  Contact us today to hold your spot!

Hustlin Stream T.V Live Stream of $16,000 Semi-Pro Event this Weekend

 

By: Markus Noé

For the past few months as qualifiers throughout Québec and Ontario have been played, anticipation for this tournament has been growing. This weekend live on HustlinStream.Tv the $500 entry 32 player max Semi-Pro 10 Ball Shootout, will be played at the recently opened Corner Bank Pool hall in Scarbourough Ontario.

This tournament will feature some of the strongest players throughout the two provinces and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top. For as little as 10$ you can watch all the action this weekend. For those who have not heard the Corner Bank is the new pool hall opend by T.V personality Jim Wych and Professional John White. They have been getting rave reviews since they opened as it is one of the only pool hall's in the country that his filled with Diamond tables, and the overall atomsphere is very player friendly. Make sure to tune into HustlinStream.Tv this weekend for full coverage and check in with Cue Sport Nation as we will also be updating.

Results from ADBQ Junior Tournament

By: Luc Paquette 

Last Saturday April 18, the second edition of the juniors tournaments from the L'Agence de développement du billard au Québec (A.D.B.Q) took place at La bande au coin in St-Lambert, Québec. There will be 12 of these tournaments divided up over three venues; Billiard Loretteville, Academie de Billard Sylvain Grenier. With the Québec provincials acting as a finale there will be 13 tournaments in total for the juniors to play. 

15 players attended the event split in two different ages categories. Eight players played in the 13 years old and less event, while seven battled in the 14-17 division.

Nine year old Michael Morin went undefeated to win the event, defeating Laurence Grenier the daughter of Trois Rivieres Professional Sylvain Grenier in the finals. Grenier had just defeated Malik Pelletier son of another Québec pro Andre Pelletier, in the semi finals.

When questioned about his strategy on the air of BillardQuebec.com, Morin told us he planned to beat his opponents by three fouling.  During the winners side final he accomplished his goal by winning a key rack by three fouling Pelletier.

In the 14-17 category it was Laurier Duchaine who ended up victorious. Duchaine who has not played for almost 5 years, defeated Adam Barro in the final. Duchaine had finished third at La Classique des Appalaches in 2011.

Medals were given to the first two players in 13-,while top 4 in 14-17 got medals

Michael Morin                                  Laurier Duchaine

Laurence Grenier                             Adam Barro

                                                            William Harrison

                                                            Mattias Dagenais

These players all qualified for the provincial championship in November 2015. Since Barro had already qualified in the first tournament, Tommy Downey who finished 5th was awarded the pass for the provincial.

The third tournament will be held in Loretteville, Quebec on May 16. For any information contact the website infobillard.com. For photos of the entire event including the winners please visit BillardQuebec.com 

Tournament Announcement: 10K Added Archer Cup May 15-18

By: Markus Noé

The anticipation is almost over, as we are now only six weeks away from one of the premier events this country has to offer. Of course I am talking about the sixth edition of the Classique de Billard des Appalaches in Thetford Mines, Québec May 15-18. Over these past few years the tournament has grown to the point in which it not only attracts the best players in the country but some of the best in the world as well.

Last year players like Thorsten Hohmann, Johnny Archer, Mike Dechaine, John Morra, Jason Klatt, Erik Hjorleifson, Mika Immonen and Alain Martel were all present, just to name a few. This year there will only be one division for the Pro's to play which will be 10 Ball. In the previous year there were two $5,000 added divisions, this year they decided to put all the added money in one division. 

Winner of the 9 Ball last year Mike Dechaine 

Because of his personal relationship with Marco Sanschagrin, along with the entire C.B.A board, Johnny Archer has been a big factor in helping to promote this event. A few weeks back he did a little tour of Québec as a part of these promotions and it was announced that the Pro event will now be dubbed the "Archer Cup."

The field this year will likely feature most of the same big names as last year. The C.B.A will also reach out to Darren Appleton and Shane Van Boening to gauge their interest.  I am told that the cut of line for this $10,000 added event will be at 32. However after speaking with Sanschagrin he did mention that if they would get up to 40 players signed up, first place would be $10,000 guaranteed. If it stays at 32 players he has guaranteed $8,000 for top prize. 

Mika Immonen at last years event

Similar to the Super Billiard Expo there will be some exhibitors set up including Cue Sport Nation, a full list will be advertised at a later date. There will also be 12 other tournaments played throughout 8 divisions with $8,000 added throughout the divisions. This includes one Semi-Pro 9 Ball division, a Junior division and a Women's division.  For players ranked B-AAA there are 9 and 10 ball divisions to play in.  An addition this year will be a scotch doubles tournament. This will feature one ranked professional paired up with a ranked semi-professional. Most of these teammates will have little to no experience with one another so it should make for some entertaining matches.    

The main tournaments do not begin until Saturday, however it has been tradition for there to be an exhibition of sorts on the Friday night. Last year there was a team event that included teams from Québec, Ontario and the U.S.A. They played a series of matches against each other and the winners walked away with $2,000. This year the C.B.A will have a series of different games such as bank pool and speed pool which anyone can qualify for. It is still being planned, but for now they are thinking of holding $50 qualifiers on the Friday afternoon. This makes it so that anyone has a chance to play against some of the best players in the world. I was told that the top 4 ranked players in the world who attend along with the top 4 from Québec will automatically qualify for these challenge matches. There will be a guaranteed $1500 in this skills competition, $1000 for the winner and $500 for the runner up. 

Stay tuned to Cue Sport Nation, as we will have a series of articles updating the progress of this event as we draw nearer. I recommend to anyone interested in playing, especially at the amateur level to reserve your spot now. As it is customary for all these divisions to sell out and some are already over half filled as I write this article. We would like to thank our sponsors the C.B.A and Chalk Cube who have made it possible for me to attend this event and cover it in person.

C.B.A Sponsors 

John Morra Becomes First Canadian Triple Crown Winner

By: Markus Noé

Right now in the Canadian pool scene there is no bigger name than John Morra. He has won several Canadian Championships but this year he decided he wanted them all for himself. When we talk about Morra being the first "Triple Crown" winner we are of course referring to him wining the 8, 9 and 10 Ball titles this year. Some have been quick to point out that Alex Pagulayan has won three Canadian titles in a year but that included a Snooker title, and we can all agree that Snooker is in a separate category than pool. When it comes to the format that took place this week, John Morra is the only Canadian player to even come close to winning all three, not only in a single year but a single week.

What is even more impressive than Morra sweeping the Canadian Championships this year is how he did it. The entire week he only dropped one set and that was in the 8 Ball division to Erik Hjorleifson in the winners side final. Morra rebounded from this loss to come back to beat Hjorleifson in the final and went undefeated the rest of the week.

In the 9 Ball division Morra cut through the winners side bracket virtually untested. In the final four on the winners side against Jason Klatt, many thought this would be the match where he could falter. However after gaining a 6-1 lead early, Morra went on to easily win 11-3. This set up an all Morra winners side final between John and his father Mario. They were matched up earlier in the week and once again it was the junior of the two Morra's who would win as John got by his father 11-6.

Mario celebrating with his son John

In the final he faced Shannon Ducharme from Winnipeg who had shown flashes of brilliance throughout the week. Ducharme was able keep this set close the whole way, but Morra was not going to be denied his place in history. He went on to win 15-12 to become the first ever "Triple Crown" winner. Congratulations to John Morra on his historic run this past week. For his hard work this week he won $3500 plus a trip to three World Championships.

Payouts: 

John Morra - $1,400Shannon Ducharme - $1,100 
Mario Morra - $900Andy Aupin - $700Jason Klatt/Sumon Sarkar - $500

Bryant Wins Canadian 9 Ball Championship

Photo courtesy of  Upsate Al

By: Markus Noé

This past Saturday saw the completion of the 2015 Canadian Championships. In the Women's 9 Ball division Brittany Bryant was looking to secure herself a World Championship spot as Naomi Williams secured hers in the 10 Ball. With only 8 players in the field once again Bryant and Williams were big favourites to meet in the finals of this event.

However this years 9 Ball event opened up for the rest of the field because of Williams early exit. She lost 9-4 to Alberta's Joanne Ashton and followed that up with a loss to Maureen Seto from Ontario 9-5. This guaranteed there would be no Williams/Bryant final which we have all been accustomed to.

Meanwhile on the other side of the bracket Bryant remained her dominate self. She marched to a consecutive final at this years Canadian Championships with scores of 9-3, 9-5 and 9-3. With Williams out of the picture it appeared as Bryant would run away with this title and add it to her already impressive collection.

However in the final Kayla Jones from Ontario was determined to capture this Canadian title for herself. Jones lead early and built on it eventually going up 8-4 in a race to 11. Going down multiple games like this is never easy, and in alternate break format if your opponent breaks well it is almost impossible to come back.

Bryant being the road warrior she is dug in. She tapped in to her ample experience of travelling all over the world and playing the worlds best and began to charge back. In fact Jones never won another game once the tide began to turn as Bryant went on to win 11-8. The payouts have not been made available to me yet but I would imagine that with only two extra players in this event, it would be similar to the 10 Ball payout. Which was a World Championship spot for first and $475 to second place. Congrats to Bryant and Williams for securing themselves World Championship spots.

Morra/Williams Take Home Canadian 10 Ball Titles

Photo courtesy of Upstate Al 

Thursday was the final day of the Canadian 10 Ball Championships. It kicked off with the highly anticipated Father/Son match up of John and Mario Morra. This was a thrilling match up as it is not to often you see such a pairing in the final four winners side of a National Championship. 

Mario Morra Photo courtesy of Upstate Al

It was Mario who able to establish a lead first going up 8-5. However John was able to out duel his father the rest of the way to edge out a 10-9 victory. In the other final four winners side match Tom Theriault continued his solid play with a convincing 10-5 win against a very game Andy Aupin.  

Runner up in the 8 Ball Erik "Big Red" Hjorleifson was looking to make a charge on the losers side. Jesse Piercey would be Hjorleifson's first challenge of the day, and a challenge it was as this was a close match that ended 10-7 in Hjorleifson favour. He was also able to get by Andy Aupin 10-7 to set up a match with multiple Canadian Champion Jason Klatt. With some solid play Hjorleifson earned himself a 8-6 lead. Klatt then won the next 3 games to go to the hill first. At this point the match began to a feel a little bit like their last U.S Open encounter this past October.  

Hjorleifson had Klatt stuck 10-6 and Klatt came all the way back to win 11-10. However this time it was not to be as Hjorleifson got to the hill and then after some safety exchanges, was able to win the case game. Look out for Klatt the next few days as I don't see him being shut out of all 3 Canadian Championship finals. 

It was Tom Theriault and Erik Hjorleifson who played in the losers side final with Morra waiting in the hot-seat. Some good play by Theriault allowed him keep this match close until 6-6 when Hjorleifson took advantage of an error and never looked back wining 10-6. This set up a rematch of the 8 ball final between Morra and Hjorleifson. 

Erik Hjorleifson

Morra took a commanding lead early and pushed it all the way to 8-1 before Hjorleifson was able to push back. Big Red made a match out of it closing in on Morra 4-8 and 8-10. However that is where the charge would end. Morra continued to prove why he is regarded as Canada's best player as he went on to win 13-8 to claim his second title in 4 days. Tomorrow in the 9 Ball Morra begins his quest for the "Triple Crown." I believe no ones has ever won all 3 events in a single year, including Alex Pagulayan

Payouts: John Morra $700

                Erik Hjorleifson $500

                Tom Theriault $400

                Jason Klatt $300

                Andy Aupin/Mario Morra $185

Williams Takes Women's 10 Ball Crown  

The final Day of the Women's division began with the hot-seat match between Naomi Williams and Brittany Bryant. A playful rivalry has developed over the years as these two have dominated the Canadian Championships. Thus making these match ups highly anticipated, and they usually live up to the billing. This match was no exception as it was close and ended 7-5 in favour of Naomi Williams. 

It was Joanne Ashton who came through the losers side to challenge Bryant. She did this with wins over Nathalie Chabot 7-4 and Maureen Seto 7-2. Ashton was looking to shake up the usual Bryant/Williams final but was unable to losing this match 7-1. The final was another tight match with Williams just getting past Bryant 10-9 to win the Canadian Women's 10 Ball Championship.

Payouts: Naomi Williams-Trip to the World Championships

                Brittany Bryant-$475

Matches for the Men's and Women's 9 Ball start at 11:00 AM makes sure to go to www.cbsa.ca for the link to the free live stream 

Canadian 10 Ball Update:The Two Morra's Undefeated Through Day 1

By: Markus Noé

Wednesday marked the beginning of the Men's and Women's Open 10 Ball divisions. There is 19 players registered in the Men's and 6 in the Women's, a disappointment for all involved but that is a discussion for another day. Despite the low turn out all the best touring professionals were in attendance along with a few part time pro's with a legitimate chance to win.

Photo of the 8 Ball winners side final

Cue Sport Nations own Erik "Big Red" Hjorleifson, fresh off his second place finish in the 8 ball got off to a good start. He played Shannon Ducharme who has looked like a threat all week, however Big Red played solid and secured a 10-6 win. Next up was Mario Morra who just beat Jason Klatt 10-6. This was a fairly tight match until Big Red pulled away 8-5, then Morra was able to turn the tide and come through 10-8 winner.

This sets up an interested match-up between father Mario Morra and son John Morra who also went undefeated today, with wins over Adrian Fragoso (ON)10-2 and Jesse Piercy (ON)10-2. In the top side of the winners bracket Tom Theriault who has been playing at a very high level,  will be up against Andy Aupin. Make sure to check out the stream at 11:00 am as both final four matches should be a treat to watch.

  Martin "The Grinder" Daigle was the sole representative from Québec in this event. Unfortunately he did not like the lighting conditions, as there is no direct lighting overhead and he could not adjust. He is the first player I heard be vocal of this. However if there were lights over the table as per the norm for any professional event, this would not be an issue. Here is a picture outlining the complaint. .

Photo courtesy Martin Daigle

As you can see there are various light reflections on the object ball that reasonably could affect ones aiming. For someone who is known to demand perfection in his game I could see how this could be a frustrating thing to have to deal with. Daigle lost 9-3 to Thom Theriault and 10-0 to Jason Klatt to end his run. He will be playing in the 9 Ball and keep an eye out for him as I do expect him to adjust to the conditions and hold true to his name "The Grinder."

Women's 10 Ball:

As per the norm in recent Women's Canadian Championship events, Naomi Williams and Brittany dominated the day. They both won their two matches with ease and find themselves in the hot-seat match tomorrow. Nathalie Chabot, Hanna Kwon , Maureen Seto and Joanne Ashton will all battle it out to see if they can end either Williams or Bryant's run of Canadian Championship final appearances.

Go to www.cbsa.ca for full brackets of the Canadian Championships. Also there is a link to the free live stream as well.