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| Photo Courtesy of Guy Simard www.billardquebec.com |
By: Markus Noé
Terminus Bar-Billard in Gatineau, Québec hosted the most recent Falcon Québec Pro Tour this past weekend November 18-19. In the 3 year history of the tour, Terminus has always been one of their best results in terms of player participation. This season was no different as 49 players came to partake, some came as far from Montreal, New York State and the Greater Toronto Area.
Danny Hewitt current number one player in Québec and one of the most accomplished players in the country is a co-founders of the tour. The rules are similar to Mike Zuglan's Joss Tour as it is break from the box, which makes the break shot more unpredictable. The difference in the Falcon Tour compared to the Joss Tour is that every shot is call shot, you are permitted to rack your own balls and it is alternate break.
Despite the high participation the tournaments favourites remained virtually the same. As per usual Danny Hewitt was a clear favourite as I believe he has won nearly half of all the events over the 3 year existence of the tour. Then Alain Martel, Francis Crevier and Martin Daigle were all in the mix. However not to be forgotten is the up and coming young pro's in Québec who are beginning to make names for themselves, Dany Nguyen, Joey Cicero and Maxime Villneuve to name a few.
As a mid range amateur I have been a big supporter of this tour, which to my knowledge is the only Pro Tour in Canada. Whenever the tour stops are within reach I enjoy throwing my hat in the ring and testing my skills against some of the best players in the country. Quickly for me this was my best performance in a pro level field as I was able to cash in the 13-16th place. On route to doing so I had the luxury of playing two legends.
In my first round I matched up against Alain "The Dancing Bear" Martel, who over the years I have been doing Cue Sport Nation as become a friend. Before our match he must of noticed I was a little nervous as this was my first time playing him. In classic Martel humour he says to me after we shake hands, "this is the first time we play right? I have been waiting for this moment all my life." I could not help but laugh out loud. Martel went on to beat me 9-2, then on the losers side I was able to dispatch some good players before I ran into Luc "Machine Gun" Salvas who ended my run 9-3. With the staggered entry these tournaments are great learning experiences for players at my level and I highly recommend participating whenever possible.
In Martel's next match he paired up against a strong Semi-Pro from my home room of Rack-M-Up Billiards Jean Therriault. In what is considered a major upset, Therriault notched his first ever win against Martel in a thrilling 9-8 victory. The other day 1 upset was Andy Aupin a strong pro from Sudbury who just had a good tournament at the East Coast Challenge in Halifax the week before defeated Hewitt 9-7. Otherwise all the favourites made it through the winners side on day 1.
It should be noted that Dany Nguyen who already had one previous final appearance in Trois-Riviere this season was on fire. He won his first round 9-2, then in what on paper would seem to be a fantastic match of two of Québec's young pro's ended up being a white of Nguyen over Joey Cicero 9-0. On Saturday no one was able to get past 5 on the day, which shows just how dominate Nguyen was. In his last matche of the day against Jean Therriault he won with ease 9-2.
Sunday the final 4 on the winners side were Nguyen vs Daigle and Crevier vs Aupin. Nguyen continued his torrid pace winning 9-2 and Crevier was able to edge out Aupin 9-8. On the losers side Hewitt began to find his form as he beat Pierre Normand 9-1, then Martin Daigle 9-1 and followed this up with a 9-3 win over John Leblanc. In the losers side match Crevier ended his run 9-6 setting up a winners side final rematch.
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| Francis Crevier and Dany Nguyen |
I would like to thank Danny Hewitt for the sponsorship so I could cover this event. Also Luc Paquette long time director of the Falcon Tour despite having a significant personal health issue and a week outside of a surgery came and did a great job as always. Francis Farley was also vital for keeping the tournament running smoothly throughout the weekend and acted as a referee, both these guys did a great job this weekend. Finally I would like to thank Patrick De Repentigny and Daniel Samson and the entire Terminus Staff. Before this tournament they invested a significant amount of money to re-cloth and level all the tables so the conditions were nearly flawless for this event.
The next Falcon Tour Stop will be at La Patriote in St.Eustache December 2-3 hope to see you all there!
Falcon Tour Pay Out
1-Dany Nguyen 1125$
2-Francis Crevier 900$
3-Danny Hewitt 680$
4-John Leblanc 500$
5-6 Martin Daigle 340$
5-6Andy Aupin 340$
7-8 Luc Salvas 200$
7-8 Pierre Normand 200$
9-12Jean Thériault 90$
9-12Eric Hamel 90$
9-12Maxime Villeneuve 90$
9-12Alain Martel 90$
13-16Markus Noe 40$
13-16Andre Goyette 40$
13-16Mehdi Bahloul 40$
13-16Nicolas Charette 40$
Amateur Only Second Chance Pay Out
1-Dave Simard 200$
2-Dominic Gauthier 150$
3-Alex Lalanne 100$
4-Neil Ayotte 50$
