Author: Paul

The finals of the 3rd U.S. Open 10-Ball Championship was between two highly decorated professionals from both sides of the Atlantic. After 6 days the field of 96 player, representing 10 countries, whittled down to U.S. favorite Shane Van Boening and Spain’s David Alcaide.  Held at the Riviera Hotel & Casino and produced by CueSports International (CSI), in front of an enthusiastic crowd, Van Boening was crowned the 2011 champion winning 11-6.

Starting the day four players returned for day six of the event. The first match featured Spain’s David Alcaide versus relatively unknown player, Dennis Haar from Terre Haute, Indiana. This was Haar’s first professional 10-ball tournament and his best finish in any big event. Haar cleared a path to the final four by way of defeating top players James Baraks, Mitch Ellerman, Mike Dechaine, and Jonathan Pinegar. Unfortunately, his efforts fell short against Alcaide who jumped ahead at 6-5. Haar jumped and hung a 1-ball for Alcaide to get on the hill. At 7-5, Haar missed a 4-7 combination that would cost him the match.

Dechaine is Story of Day 4 at the 3rd U.S. Open 10-Ball Championship

Going into Friday morning at the 3rd Annual U.S. Open 10-Ball Championship the story on everyone’s lips was the outstanding performance by currently #1 U.S. ranked player “œFireball” Mike Dechaine. As the field gets smaller, the matches get tighter. Although moved to the one loss side earlier in the week by Kenichi Uchigaki, Dechaine has fired through the one loss side with a vengeance. After eliminating Earl Strickland during the 6 pm Thursday round, Dechaine then defeated “œThe Scorpion” Johnny Archer 8-0 in the 11 pm round, running seven consecutive racks to close out the set. Friday morning Dechaine then went on to defeat Jeremy Sossei 8-4 and Raj Hundal 8-5.

Reyes Crowned U.S. Open One Pocket Champion

“œThe Magician” Efren Reyes went undefeated through the full 64-player field to become the 2011 (12^th) U.S. Open One Pocket Champion at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Produced by CueSports International, the $10,000 added event drew the finest one pocket players from around the world as well a sophisticated room full of spectators. Reyes defeated poker star Chris Gentile in the single set finals 5-2. This was Gentile’s first U.S. Open One Pocket and his most successful finish in a major one pocket event.

Read more to see flow charts of the Prelims

Also check out some pictures of the players

Jun Lin Chang and Yu Ram Cha are the 2011 Champions of the Beijing Open.  Chang, a former winner on the Guinness Tour, proved his mettle this week by taking on a series of tough opponents and vanquishing them all.  He first eliminated Carlo Dalmatin of Croatia who had earned his pedigree by bettering Thomas Engert (9-6) and Charlie Williams (9-2) Just to get into the Championship draw sheet.

His next opponent had promise of being a very tough match. Feng-Ban Zhao had just come from a solid 11-4 trouncing of newly crowned Philippine Open champ Thorsten Hohmann but Chang was simply an over-reach for Zhao as Chang mangled him 11-5  to earn the right to do battle with Nick Van Den Berg.

New Brunswick, New Jersey- For the sixth straight year, Dragon Promotions will produce the 71st Annual World Tournament of Straight Pool .  In partnership with the support of Dr.Michael Fedak, this year’s event will have the biggest payout in straight pool history with $20,000 going to the champion. The event is $35,000 added , boasting a total $70,000 in the prize fund. The luxurious Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick, NJ will host this year’s event starting August 28 through September 2, 2011. Once again the greatest straight pool players from around the world will arrive on USA’s east coast again to New Jersey, and attend this prestigious event to play for the coveted title of World Straight Pool Champion.