2009 USBA TOUR Dion Nelin From Denmark Wins the Carom Cafe International Open

Dates: August 17-23, 2009
Location: Carom Café Billiards in Flushing, NY
Tables: 10 Heated Verhoevens with new Simonis 300 Rapide Cloth
Players: 40

Preliminaries: 5 groups of 8 players each/round robin/25 points
Top 4 from each group advance to the semi-finals (20 players)
2 auction & 2 lottery winners = 24 players

Semi-Finals: 3 groups of 8 players each/round robin/30 points
Top 4 from each group advance to Finals (12 players)

Finals: 2 groups of 6 players each/round robin/40 points
Top 2 finishers from each group advance to the final matches: single elimination to 40 points to determine 1st through 4th place.

Preliminaries:

Flight A: Min Jae Pak wins the group, Young Gull Lee is 2nd, Miguel Torres is 3rd and Francisco Parra is 4th.

Flight B: Hugo Patino wins the group, Bert Van Manen is 2nd, Allen Jensen is 3rd and Don Sperber is 4th.

Flight C: Sonny Cho wins the group, Felipe Razon is 2nd, Joel Switala is 3rd and Kim Staarup is 4th.

Flight D: Dion Nelin wins the group, Michael Kang is 2nd, Jeong Hwan Kim is 3rd and Min Gu Kang is 4th. Highlight: Dave Van Lokeren loses to Jim Shovak 25-24 knocking Dave out of the semi-finals. Ironically, Dave wins the lottery and gets back in!!!

Flight E: Jacob Haack-Sorensen wins the group, Mazin Shooni is 2nd, Hyuk Yoon is 3rd and Jorge Rubio is 4th.

Auctions: Jim Shovak paid $ 550.00 and Jim Watson paid $ 650.00 to enter the semi-finals.

Lotteries: Dave Van Lokeren and Sang Jin Lee won the lotteries.

Semi-Finals:

Group A: Mazin Shooni wins the group, Jacob Haack-Sorensen is 2nd, Min Gu Kang is 3rd and Jeong Hwan Kim is 4th.

Group B: Young Gull Lee wins the group, Sonny Cho is 2nd, Miguel Torres is 3rd and Min Jae Pak is 4th.

Group C: Dion Nelin wins the group, Michael Kang is 2nd, Hugo Patino is 3rd and Francisco Parra is 4th.

Top 15: Dion Nelin, Min Jae Pak, Miguel Torres, Jacob Haack-Sorensen, Hugo Patino,
Michael Kang, Sonny Cho, Francisco Parra, Jeong Hwan Kim, Min Gu Kang, Young Gull Lee,
Bert Van Manen, Hyuk Yoon, Jim Watson. Not pictured: Mazin Shooni.

Finals:

Group A: Dion Nelin wins the group, Jacob Sorensen is 2nd, Hugo Patino is 3rd, Sonny Cho is 4th, Francisco Parra is 5th and Min Gu Kang is 6th.

Group B: Min Jae Pak wins the group, Miguel Torres is 2nd, Michael Kang is 3rd, Mazin Shooni is 4th, Jeong Hwan Kim is 5th, Young Gull Lee is 6th.

Final Matches:

Min Gu Kang (11th place) defeats Young Gull Lee (12th place)
Francisco Parra (9th place) defeats Jeong Hwan Kim (10th place)
Sonny Cho (7th place) defeats Mazin Shooni (8th place)
Hugo Patino (5th place) defeats Michael Kang (6th place)

Top 4 player semi-finals:
Dion Nelin defeats Miguel Torres
Min Jae Pak defeats Jacob Haack-Sorensen

Top 4 player finals:
Miguel Torres (3rd place) defeats Jacob Haack-Sorensen (4th place)
Dion Nelin (1st place) defeats Min Jae Pak (2nd place)

Highlight: Dion Nelin runs 14-and-out to win the tournament.

Min Jae Pak (2nd), Dion Nelin (1st) and Miguel Torres (3rd)

To see PDF file of all tournament charts, http://www.usba.net/2009Tour-Carom-Open-8-17.asp

The USBA Tour will continue on October 9-11, 2009 in Wyoming, Michigan at the Carom Club who will be hosting the Olhausen Open Tournament.

We would like to thank the following:

-Michael Kang, owner of Carom Cafe for putting up his room, for adding money to the prize fund and overall making it a fun time for all.

-Charles Brown for running the tournament smoothly as usual.

-Those that were score keepers for the finals and everyone else who helped. We really appreciate it.

Sponsors:
-Iwan Simonis
-Aramith (Saluc)
-Adam Cue Company

USBA Tour Sponsors:
David Levine, Jim Shovak, Bob Jewett, Professor-Q-Ball (Paul Frankel),
Creative Billiard Shirts, Marty Isserlis, Michael Kang, Andrew Janquitto,
Dean Harrell, Pedro Piedrabuena, Robert Byrne, Tom Resk, Sonny Cho,
Mazin Shooni, Dr.Cue Promotions (Tom Rossman), Bruce Warner, Mike Walo,
Jim Watson, Tommy Thomsen, Tom Haskin, Jamil Isreal, Bob Roach, Mike Melloy, Don Sperber, Norm Brust, Ed Friedman and Pat Young.

For more information and payouts and charts go to http://www.usba.net/2009Tour-Carom-Open-8-17.asp