Category: Features

TEAM USA, sporting the most garish pairs of strides this side of John Daly, were shocked out of the PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool as they went down to the wire with Singapore and came out second best at the SM Mall North in Manila.

Their exit followed on from the dismissal of England at the hands of Estonia, China by the Swiss and Holland by the Thais to leave the event wide open.

The American pair of Mike Dechaine and Corey Deuel looked the part in their outlandish costumes but soon found themselves in a fight as the Singaporeans took the game to them, as veteran Bernard Tey and Chan Keng Kwan were clearly not fazed by their more illustrious opponents.

“Now What” Wins National 9-Ball Championship!

The finals of the Open 9-Ball Division featured N.J.’s Breakers of Metuchen, N.J., versus Now What of Dayton, Ohio.  Lead by a dominant performance by team captain Alex Olinger, it was Now What winning $15,000 and a national title.  The strong showing by N.J.’s Breakers in the tournament earned them a respectable Runner-up finish and a $7,000 payday.

Dr.Louis Pannullo, Charlie Williams(Bronze), Mike Davis (Silver), Thorsten Hohmann (Gold), Alex Pagulayan (Bronze) & patron sponsor Dr.Michael Fedak during the closing ceremonies.

New Brunswick, New Jersey-  Germany once again reigns supreme in straight pool as Thorsten Hohmann dominated the 71st World Tournament of 14.1.  USA’s Mike Davis had no answer for Hohmann’s precision game and knowledge of 14.1. Both players played their very first match of the event against each other, and met once again in the very end.

The matches went longer than expected, and lasted to 3:00am before finished. But a large number of die hard fans stayed till the very end including for the closing ceremonies.

“I really say thanks to the fans who stayed here to watch me play to the very end”, said Hohmann in his appreciation for the fans.

“There’s no fans in the world like the ones that come to the World Tournament of 14.1 each year. I recognize 90% of them each year because they love the event and keep coming back”, said Cindy Lee, CEO of Dragon Promotions.

DENVER, CO/September 1, 2011/Executive Billiards/, manufacturer of the Delta-13 billiard ball rack, announced today that they are hosting a pool trick shots contest for novice and amateur players on “œYouTube.” “œThe Delta-13 International Amateur Trick Shot Contest” will give away over $20,000 in quality billiard accessories, including a 7′ Diamond Sport pool table. Four winners will also receive airfare plus three nights stay in Las Vegas from May 11-12, 2012.

Pool Tricks Add Excitement to Home Recreation

“œWe are promoting artistic pool and trick shots during the four month contest to expose the home recreation market to this exciting sport. Young and old alike, who have access to a pool table, will find trick shots are a terrific activity to entertain family and friends,” says Terry Taggart, President of Executive Billiards.

The process for competing in the contest requires 4 easy steps:

Photos by Charles Eames

Williams beats Ortmann again and makes the quarter finals of the World Tournament for the 3rd year in a row.

New Brunswick, New Jersey-  The USA will make the finals of the World Tournament of 14.1. Guaranteed. For the first time in over twenty years, an American will have a shot at the title that has been dominated by Europeans in modern times. And on the other side of the coin, a foreign player will also be guaranteed in the finals. Philippines, Germany, and the USA.

Tom “œDr. Cue”Â® Rossman, Steve Lillis, and Mike Massey Reunite as GTS/RACK Team; Perform Benefit to Honor Veterans and Armed Forces in Orlando, Florida

Tom “œDr. Cue”Â® Rossman, BCA Chaplain Steve Lillis, and Mike “œTennessee Tarzan” Massey combined their Artistic Pool talents with their inspirational stories of faith in a benefit performance to entertain, encourage, and honor Military Veterans and Armed Forces in Orlando, Florida on Saturday, August 13, 2011 at the Hard Rock Hotel® at Universal Orlando®.  Special guest, Rob “œThe Hurricane” Peacock, released days earlier from the hospital and still recovering from critical injuries sustained in an auto accident several months ago, performed a brief Trick Shot segment and shared his compelling testimony with the audience.  Canine Companions for Independence® supported the event with a presentation on their Wounded Veterans Initiative Program that provides highly skilled assistance dogs to Disabled Veterans, free of charge.

New Brunswick, New Jersey-  The Captain’s back. Mike Sigel put on a renaissance 14.1 clinic in his first 7 matches of The World Tournament of 14.1. He showed no mercy or weakness and pounded on all of his opponents showing why he is considered by many as one of the greatest ever.

Lipsky Upsets Cohen: Hohmann Runs 134 & Out

New Brunswick, New Jersey- Local New Yorker Steve Lipsky had one of his biggest matches of his career as he took down former World 14.1 Champion Stephan Cohen of France. The quiet spoken lefty kept the pressure on Cohen throughout the match and got a big ovation from the predominantly New Jersey and New York fans.

Thorsten Hohmann cruised past Amsterdam Billiards Qualifier Danny Mastermaker with a finale 134 ball run and out. He now holds the event high run thus far. Bill Austin of Utah is awarding $1000 to the player with the highest run.

The Billiard Education Foundation (BEF) Academic Scholarship Program is pleased to announce the 2011 recipients of its annual scholarship program.  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 objective of the BEF Academic Scholarship Program is to grant scholarships to students who have benefited from the sport of billiards and are pursuing a college education.

photos by Charles Eames

New Brunswick, New Jersey- Hollywood could not have scripted this any better. 76 year old retired pro pool player enters his first pro championship in over 20 years and plays against the reigning World Champion and is victorious. Today that is what exactly happened as Ray “Cool Cat” Martin gave Oliver Ortmann his very first loss at the 71st World Tournament of 14.1.

New Brunswick, New Jersey-  Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan and Ralph Eckert split the finals of the World Tournament 14.1 Warm-Up. Both players went undefeated in the single elimination race to 100 format. The one day event was sponsored by Dr.Michael Fedak and Amsterdam Billiard Club which gave the players a bonus $3000 added tournament. The tourny drew 26 players and was a prelude to the main World Tournament the following day.

World Tournament of 14.1 Day 1: Martin vs Sigel Tomorrow!

New Brunswick, New Jersey-  Overcoming mother nature, The World Tournament went on relatively unscathed on Day 1. Dragon Promotions accommodated players stuck in traffic, floods, and disaster zones to make their matches rearranging times in the grueling round robin format.

A full field of 64 players started a full day of 14.1 at the beautiful Hyatt Regency Hotel in the  World Tournament arena. Oliver Ortmann overcame two cancelled flights, a whole day delay, arrival in a far off city, car rental and 4 hour drive to make his matches at a chance to defend his title and win a 3rd World Tournament 14.1 title.
“It was unbelievable. Three days of traveling and dealing with changes in cities, planes, etc. Even last night once we got near the hotel, the roads were closed so we had to stay at another nearby hotel till it cleared in the morning. And now I goto rest, and get ready for the evening matches”, said Ortmann of his arduous journey.
Most of the top seeds advanced unscathed, including Ortmann. One upset was USA’s Max Eberle win over former World 14.1 winner Stephan Cohen of France. Mika Immonen will have a tougher sleep when he led 95-30 against Dennis Hatch, before Hatch ran a 70 and out for the 100-95 win. “Alex did the same ting to me last night in the Warm-Up. When you miss in straight pool, you’re not sure if you will shoot again”, said hatch.  A glimmer of hope for the USA?

Ray Martin won his first 2 matches handily. The 76 year old super veteran ended his day on a high note to the delight and applause to the audience with his wins over Peter Burrows and Chris Riley. Tomorrow will be a tester as he faces Jose Parica, Oliver Ortmann, and a much anticipated  match with Mike Sigel!

“I’m not sure if we have ever played each other straight pool. Ray was just a little before my time”, said Sigel.

“It feels nice to still win. Dragon Promotions has done such a wonderful job producing this event and promoting my induction into the 14.1 Hall of Fame. I think I’m going be very teary eyed on Wedneday night,” said martin.

Ray Martin won the World 14.1 Championship in 1978. Sigel won the next year. This could be history in the making tomorrow night at 8:30pm!  The match will be live streamed on www.insidepoolmag.com

Insidepoolmag.com will be streaming matches starting from 10am to midnight tomorrow with many marquee matches with Ortmann, Sigel, Immonen, Martin, and many more 14.1 legends.

Checkout www.worldstraightpool.com for full groups and other 14.1 news from the event

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Worldstraightpool.com is Launched!!

New Brunswick, New Jersey-  The Official Website of the World Tournament of 14.1 is now up and running! Fans and players alike can checkout www.Worldstraightpool.com for exclusive interviews with the pro stars, and all the latest and even archive news of the World Tournament. The site will cover the biggest straight pool tournament in the world at the Dragon Promotions & Dr.Michael Fedak produced event. It all takes place on August 28- September 2, 2011 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

The complete listing of this year’s roster of players is also now available on the site. Oliver Ortmann, Johnny Archer, Thorsten Hohmann, Niels Feijen, Allen Hopkins, Stefan Cohen, Mike Sigel, Tony Robles, Rodney Morris, Charlie Williams and many, many more will make this event memorable.

The site also contains all the info on purchasing tickets for the event, The 14.1 Hall of Fame Banquet, and discounted hotel reservations at the Hyatt Regency Hotel where the event takes place. During the event, daily updates will be added every few hours so fans can keep up with all the latest results and exciting stories. The site will also have the official brackets and tournament charts from the round robin through the end final single elimination charts.

Daily match times and complete tournament schedule will also be on the site. Online Live Streaming Coverage will also be on www.InsidePoolmag.com , the Official On-Site Media Partner of the World Tournament.

The 2011 World Tournament is proudly co-sponsored by Predator Cues,  Olhausen Tables, Amsterdam Billiards, Inside Pool Magazine, Andy Cloth, Aramith Balls, Kamui, Pool & Billiard Magazine, Sandcastle Billiards and straight pool aficionados Bill Austin of UT, Dr.Louis Pannullo, Ralph Rubin of MD.  Co-contributors Dennis Walsh, Dr.James Heller, Charles Eames, Mark Snodgrass, and Bill Marapolous.  For more information on player registration, sponsorship, or if you would like to submit a comment, please email worldstraightpoolchampionships@gmail.com or contact Dragon Promotions at 1-407-782-4978.
Full event info is now at www.Worldstraightpool.com   and more info on www.dragonpromotions.com