.(Photo of Mitch Ellerman courtesy of Fred Stoll of Filmless Art)

 The Billiard Education Foundation (BEF) is pleased to announce the 2012 recipients of its annual scholarship program. The objective of the BEF Academic Scholarship Program is to grant scholarships to high school seniors who have benefited from the sport of billiards and are pursuing a college education.

The scholarships are divided into two categories: BEF Excellence in Education scholarship ($2,000 award) and BEF Aiming for Higher Education scholarships (3 x $1,000 award).

The prized students adhered to the following scholarship criteria:

1) maintained a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA (on a 4.0 scale);

2) received an ACT score of at least 23 or SAT combined score (critical reading + math) of 1050 or higher;

3) submitted a 500-1000 word essay on how billiards has been an integral part of their life;

4) submitted a letter outlining academic achievements, leadership and/or community service work and a description of the applicant’s background and career objectives;

5) must be accepted to an accredited undergraduate academic program by June 1;

6) must attend an accredited undergraduate institution and carry at least 12 hours per semester.

Congratulations to the following 2012 winners:

BEF “Excellence in Education” Scholarship ($2,000 award)

Megan Ferry of Denver, NC

BEF “Aiming for Higher Education” Scholarships ($1,000 award)

Benjamin Horton of Moyie Springs, ID

Lesly Ibarra of Garland, TX

Kole McGuire of Rockwall, TX

Essays may be viewed on the BEF website at www.BilliardEducation.org

The Billiard Education Foundation has awarded over $200,000 in scholarships since 1993. Said BEF executive director Laura Smith, “The BEF is proud to help young adults who have benefited from billiards to offset their education expenses and become our future leaders.”

About the Billiard Education Foundation

The Billiard Education Foundation (BEF) was formed in 1993 as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit charitable organization. The BEF funds academic scholarships, produces the Junior National 9-Ball Championships, offers opportunities for billiard athletes to attend the WPA World Junior 9-Ball Championships and promotes “Pool In School” programs. For more information about the BEF please visit www.BilliardEducation.org or contact Samm Diep-Vidal at samm@BilliardEducation.org or phone 303-667-8000.

Played in the Cohiba Room of the Tropicana on 8 fabulous Gabriels Elements tables with Simonis 300 Rapide cloth, the USBA national championship started on Sunday, May 6^th with 49 players from around the country.  The 49 players were randomly placed in flights of 7.  After a three-day round robin, where a player competed against each other player in a flight, 20 players advanced to the semi-finals.  The semi-finalists were placed in 4 flights of 5 players, where another round robin was played.  The top two players in each flight advanced to the finals, which was contested in a single-elimination bracket with consolation matches to determine all 8 places.

In addition to Piedrabuena and Shooni, the other finalists were Hugo Patiño, Miguel Torres, Sonny Cho, Jae Cho, Michael Kang and Khalil Diab.  In first round action of the final day, Patiño squeaked by Diab 40 to 38, Piedrabuena destroyed Kang 40 to 13 in 17 innings for a 2.353 average, Sonny Cho topped Jae Cho 40 to 36 and Shooni bested Torres 30 to 24 in 24 innings for a 1.667 average.  Piedrabuena continued his strong play in the next round by beating Patiño 40 to 21 in 24 innings (1.667 average), and Shooni defeated Sonny Cho 40 to 28 in 24 innings (1.667 average), thus setting up the Piedrabuena-Shooni final.

 SCROLL DOWN FOR CHARTS

In the title match, Shooni started strong, scoring almost at will.  “I knew I had to remaining patient and not do anything crazy on the table,” Piedrabuena later explained what went through his head as Shooni built the early lead.  But, with Shooni leading 30 to 18, he missed a five-cushion shot by a hair that would have left position and provided the opportunity to lengthen his lead.  Piedrabuena stepped up the wide-open table and ran 5, making the score 30 to 23.  With Shooni’s miss and Piedrabuena’s run, the momentum shifted.  Over the next eight innings, Shooni managed but 3 billiards, while Piedrabuena scored 17 times, including a finishing run of 7, to win the title.  For the game, Piedrabuena averaged 1.212 and Shooni averaged 1.000.  For the finals, Piedrabuena’s overall grand average was 1.600, while Shooni’s was 1.395.

With the victory, Piedrabuena took home $4,000, while Shooni pocketed $3,200.  In other finals action, Sonny Cho defeated Patiño for 3rd place, and Jae Cho defeated Diab 40 to 15 for 5^th place.  Torres finished 7^th, and Kang 8^th.  Prize money was awarded to the top 20 players.  Eighth place was worth $1,000, and 20^th place was worth $300.  The total prize fund topped $20,000.

Gabriels was the primary sponsor for the tournament, supplying the tables, the Dyna sphere balls used in the finals, and a cash contribution. Other sponsors included Simonis, which supplied the 300 Rapide cloth and contributed to the prize fund. Aramith supplied the balls used in the preliminaries and the semi-finals, and Tiger Cues supplied three beautiful billiard cues that were raffled by the USBA at the conclusion of the tournament.  Tony Ferrara from Massachusetts, Doug Deitel from Texas, and Leonard Williams from Denver won the cues.  The finals were live streamed courtesy of Richard Helmstetter and Helmstetter/Adams cues.

Many individuals contributed to the success of the tournament.  Among them, great thanks go out to Charlie Brown, the Tournament Director who ran an efficient event; Larry Hundley, Rich Kuchma, Jim Hendrickson, Paul Frankel and Andy Janquitto who helped with assembling the tables; Russ (“Rosy”) Rosenberger, Raye Raskin, Jim Shovak, Andy Janquitto and Tony Ferrara, who helped with vacuuming the tables between games; Doug Deitel, who manned the live stream cameras and chat room; and many others who volunteered to score matches in the semi-finals and finals.

PRELIMS CHARTS  BELOW

Defending 2011 USBA National Champion

Here we are unloading the tables at Dock

Frames are ready to go up the loading ramp

View of the location

Samm Diep Vidal Joins Billiard Education Foundation!

The Billiard Education Foundation (BEF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Samm Diep-Vidal to the position of Executive Director.

Vidal joins the organization on May 1, 2012 to work alongside current Executive Director, Laura Smith. On August 1, Vidal will assume full executive director duties; Smith will continue on as a trustee of the organization.

Samm Diep-Vidal has made a name for herself in the sport as a player, billiard instructor, writer and promoter. She is most recognized for her online interviews and instructional videos and most recently has been busy as House Pro and Marketing Director for Felt Billiards (Englewood, CO). Said Samm of the appointment, “My goal is to educate players and fans on the benefits of the BEF while creating more event and scholarship opportunities for the juniors involved. The future of our sport depends on each and every one of them.”

BEF Board of Trustees president Shari Stauch said, “The board is excited to have Samm join the BEF team. She has built solid relationships within the industry, and recognizes that promoting young players is key to our sport’s growth. Samm will bring to BEF several creative, fun and innovative approaches that will allow the industry to get behind the BEF in a big way!”

Diep-Vidal’s immediate responsibilities include a re-launch of the BEF’s website as well as identifying new ways that manufacturers, promoters, retailers and room owners can each be part of BEF’s success. Flagship programs of the BEF currently include the Junior National 9-Ball Championships; BEF Scholarships; and “Pool in School” programs that promote high school billiard clubs, inter-school competition, and billiard phys-ed classes.

Photos/Interviews available on request.

About the Billiard Education Foundation

The Billiard Education Foundation (BEF) was formed in 1993 as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit charitable organization. The BEF funds academic scholarships, produces the Junior National 9-Ball Championships, offers opportunities for billiard athletes to attend the WPA World Junior 9-Ball Championships and promotes “Pool In School” programs. For more information about the BEF please visit www.BilliardEducation.org. To become a sponsor, make a donation or inquiry, please contact Samm Diep-Vidal at samm@BilliardEducation.org or phone 303.667-8000.

Andrzej Kaldan goes undefeated  at A/D  9 Ball Tri-State Tournament held at Gotham City Billiards in Brooklyn , N.Y. His tournament trail, included wins over Eddie Perez 6 -1; Inna Bediner 7 – 3; Jaydev Zaveri 6 – 5; Rick Shellhouse 6- 5; Randy Mackin 6 – 2 and, Basdeo Sookhai 7 – 6 to get into the Hot Seat. On the loss side, Basdeo defeated the ever tough Daniel Dagotdot 8 – 4 , to reach the Finals. Due to the late hour and the player’s fatigue, both players agreed to split the event with Andrzej taking top honors. Third place finisher Daniel Dagotdot and KIm Meyer-Gabia forth place, are to be complemented for their strong performance each with a 6 & 2 win/loss record. The next Tri-State event is a $500 Added A/D at  Castle Billiards  in  East Rutherford, NJ on Saturday,  May 5, 2012.  Please provide a thank you to Sterling-Gaming, Ozone Billiards, Ron Tarr Cues, Kamui Tips, Phil Capelle, BlueBook Publishing, Human Kinetics for their sponsorship leading to this event. Please leave tournament staff names out of this article, comments and credits to remain general. Thank You

In Memory of Steve Elzinga.

Steve passed away on April 13, 2012 at the age of 63 from Lung Cancer. Born on March 24,1949 and lived in Grand Rapid MI.

One of Steve interests was Ski Diving and had 720 jumps to his name during the years of 1985 to 1993.

He also liked to play billiards and had played it for 40 or so yrs. Steve helped to promote the game by filming and streaming live 3-cushion tournaments over the course of 4 yrs. His streaming partner Michael Christenson a very close friend of Steve’s worked together and both helped a lot of people on the forums and helped a lot of streamers get started and produce better streams.

His name here was sde and was Mi_Billiards and sde on the streams.

Steve was a proud Viet Nam vet and was buried with honors at the Ft. Custer memorial cemetery in Battle Creek Michigan.

Steve was a great friend and will be surely missed by!!