OBSA Results: Non Handicap Pool Returns to GTA!

Erik Hjorleifson, Raymond Cruz, Barry Hetherington,Eric Hildebrand 

By: Erik Hjorleifson 

This past weekend marked the first event of the newly formed OBSA (Ontario Billiard & Snooker Association) open tour. A non handicapped open tour has been a long time coming for the pool scene in Ontario. In year one five rooms have banded together hosting one event each from all regions of Ontario. Stop number one was at Petrinas, The Corner Bank, Tony's, Strokers and On the Snap will also be holding events over the next few months. The tour is full dress code, winner breaks, 9 ball on the spot, race to 9 on the winners side and race to 7 on the losers side with a one set final race to 11. 

20 players showed up for the first event which was 500 added. A couple faces that we haven't seen in years were in attendance such as Raymond Cruz and Eric Hildebrand along with strong semi pro players Ben Crawley and Barry Hetherington. Staggered entry fees encouraging participation from lower ranks were offered as well as prizes for the highest finishing A and AA players.

Jamie McKeen a much improved player in recent months made his presence felt with a win over semi pro Ben Crawley in the second round and forced a hill hill battle in the third round before falling to Eric Hildebrand. Jay Goyer a strong and experienced player from Kingston made his way through to the winners side semi final where he had a close match with Raymond Cruz losing  9-6. In the other winners side semi final I played Eric Hildebrand who showed that his game is still sharp despite not playing much in recent years, I was able to slide by with a 9-6 win. In the winners side  final the match was tied at 4 all and from there I got a good break going in this winner breaks format going on to win the match 9-4. As the B side progressed Hildebrand came back to play Cruz in the losers side final, these two old foes had a close match with Cruz edging out Hildebrand by a 7-5 scoreline. In the final I started with more good offensive play breaking and running most of the racks on my way to a 6-0 lead from there Cruz wasn't able to mount any offensive charge and I took the match 11-5.

I would like to stress that events like these are vital to promoting player development in Ontario. The amount that handicap play has become prevalent in Ontario and the recent exclusion of top players is something that will severely hurt the quality of players coming out of Toronto in the future. Congrats to the OBSA for making an effort to turn things back in the right direction and congrats to the 20 players that showed up to measure their game against the best. I can guarantee that players participating in this series will see an overall long term improvement in their game.

1st Erik Hjorleifson $700

2nd Raymond Cruz $400

3rd Eric Hildebrand $250

4th Barry Hetherington $195

Top A player Che Lemmon

Top AA player Jamie Mckeen

Hewitt Avenges Loss to Gingras to Win Falcon Tour Stop #8

Danny Hewitt, Patrick Guay, Sylvain Gingras

By: Markus Noé

This past weekend January 14-15 Dooly's Levis hosted the 8th stop of the 2016-2017 Falcon Cue Quebec Pro Tour. Since its debut last year this tour has been well attended by players all over Eastern Canada has it has stops in Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick.

A strong field of 40 players participated in this event. Most of the top players from Québec were in attendance with the exception of Alain Martel who did not make the trip from Montreal and Martin Daigle was in New York City playing in the World Pool Series.

There was only one big name that did not make it through to day 2 as Luc Salvas suffered a first round loss to Andre Pelletier 9-7. After winning a few matches on the losers side Jeff Blais eliminated him 9-6.

Sylvain Gingras was the talk of this tournament as he marched his way through the winners side of the bracket. Along the way he beat some of Canada's best players Danny Hewitt 9-4 and Sylvain Grenier 9-4. Gingras is a good pro from Quebec City, perhaps a little bit less known than the top players in the province however very capable.

Once on the losers side Hewitt matched up with Francis Crevier and ended his tournament in the 5/6 position 9-7. From there Hewitt went on to win 9-6 against Patrick Adam and Grenier. This earned him a rematch with Gingras. Once in the final Hewitt once again showed his class and won in dominate fashion 11-4.

In the picture above the person in the middle is Patrick Guay. This tournament that he hosted was in honour of his late father Neil Guay who was a well known promoter in the province of Québec.

The next Falcon Tour stop will be held February 4th &5th at Tailgators located in Ottawa Ontario! 

Payouts 

1- Danny Hewitt 1000$

2-Sylvain Gingras $ 750

3-Sylvain Grenier $ 575

4-Patrick Adam $ 400

5-6 Francis Crevier and Michael Bernier $ 300

7-8 Andre Pelletier and Eric Cloutier $ 200

9-12 Jacques Cyr, Jeff Blais, richer francoeur, Pierre Theriault $ 100

13-16 Jean-Francois Bérubé, Louis Martin Pratte, Sébastien Hoe, yanick bedard $ 50

John Morra Announces Hiatus

"Feels great to be home "

Proud of myself for finishing 5th-6th at Turning Stone yesterday. It was exactly 10 years ago when I finished 2nd place to Johnny Archer at Turning Stone at just 17 years old. That was a huge breakthrough for me and that's when I knew for sure I could compete professionally at the highest level.

Nothing in this world ever made me feel as good as this game has, growing up in my early years I faced a lot of challenges in life like everyone and playing pool was the one thing that made me feel like everything was going to be okay. I'm taking a long break from this game possibly permanent and pursuing something different in life.

I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for all of the love and support that you gave me throughout the years whether I was home in Canada, America or thousands of miles away overseas. I've learned so much about myself and life in general that I cannot express how grateful I am to each and everyone of you that I've gotten to know in this great pool world.

I appreciate and embraced all the challenges my opponents and this game has faced me with. Although I didn't accomplish some feats that I think I could have I still made a name for myself, won major events and made myself and my loved ones very proud. Mom and Dad showed me and let me play this game from a young age and sacrificed so much so that I could make the best of it. They are responsible for all of my success. Where this new life takes me I don't know, but I'm going to find out. New person with a fresh outlook on life. Not going to sleep on it this time. I wish you all nothing but the best. Time to make it happen and go further and harder than I ever have before. Love & Peace

John Morra

Ottawa/Gatineau: ABO Resumes Their Season This Weekend!

 

Recapitulation of new tournament format as of 14 January 2017
A and B  Game: 9-Ball, but 9 off the break does not count   Break: Alternate   Entry fee:      B = 20$,  A= 30$  Races  Winner side:   B = 6,      A = 7  Loser side:      B = 5,      A = 6   Double & Single elimination:  16 players or less: Last 4 = single elimination, pay 4  17 to 24 players: Last 8 = single elimination, pay 4 only  25 players or more: Last 8 = single elimination, pay 8   Registration: Starts at 9:30 AM, tournament starts at 10:30 AM	AA, AAA, Semi-PROS et PROS  Game: 9-Ball with 10-Ball rules  Break: Winner  Entry fee: 50$ (all classes)  Races:   AA = 6  AAA = 7 Semi-Pros = 8  Pros = 8 but will be rated as 8+1 or 8+2 and will forfeit 1 or 2 games to their opponents accordingly.   That means, for example, if a AA plays against a Pro 8+1 he will race to 6 but will benefit from a one game handicap to add to his score sheet at the onset. The Pro player will thus be giving the equivalent of 3 games.   If a AA plays against a Pro 8+2 he will benefit from a two game handicap. The Pro 8+2 will be giving the equivalent of 4 games. And on it goes for AAA and SP who will receive from the start one or two handicap games from a Pro while playing to their number. Only the Pros will have that 8+1 or 8+2 rating. ABO will determine, case by case, who are the +1 and the +2.   Double Elimination: full except for last match   Sponsor: Marc-André Mercier will add 200$ to the Champion’s purse for the 3 remaining tournaments.   Registration: 11:00 AM, tournament starts 11:30 AM
2017 Tournament Schedule  14 Jan. – Terminus  11 Feb. – Dooly’s, Ottawa  11 March – Billard le Huit, Gatineau  8 and 9 April, Finals at Billard le Huit. Double elimination over two days except for last match. All players who have played in at least 3 tournaments in any class during the 2016-2017 season will be eligible for the Finals.