Monday, August 30, 2010

There Can Only Be One

The 2010 APA Ultimate Trick Shot Tour Championships were last week in Las Vegas. Fourteen of the best trick shot artists in the world were there to vie for the title, including six that have been invited to ESPN's Trick Shot Magic or World Cup of Trick Shots this year - Andy Segal, Nick Nikolaidis, Bruce Barthelette, Jamey Gray, Tom Rossman, and Dave Nangle. The preliminary brackets looked like this: Flight A - Andy, Bruce, Tom, Tim Chin, Paul Danno, Dainius Stipinas, and Gordon Hedges; Flight B - Nick, Jamey, Dave, Jason Lynch, Jason Kane (a late replacement for Stefan Mendrick), Joe Bonge, and Matt MacPhail. On the surface, it looked like a race for fourth place and the final playoff spot in each group. Flight B turned out that way with Nick going undefeated followed by Jamey and Dave. The final preliminary round match between the two Jasons was essentially a play-in match which Jason Lynch won as he pulled away towards the end.

In Flight A though, I had other plans. I started out well against Paul and almost stumbled against Dainius, but strung together enough shots in the end for the win. A tougher match awaited against Bruce, who I defeated last year in the quarterfinals. This year's match was a little closer, but I took advantage of a couple of misses from him to prevail 9-7, his only loss in the preliminary round. It didn't get any easier against Tom who just came off an incredible tie against Andy. In the end, I just played for the tie instead of going for a bigger shot and we drew 9-9. Against Andy, the shots got a little stranger, but we also tied 7-7. I rounded it off with a late win against Gordon on Thu night to cap off first place in the group, followed by Tom, Andy, and Bruce (fourth place with just one loss, ouch).

That stuck me in the quarterfinals against Jason Lynch and his intimidating stroke. I kept to my plan and managed to capitalize on a couple misses from him, sealing the match with one of Nick's shots which I'll try to post in the near future. My semifinal match against Jamey took a similar route, as he missed one of his challenges that I was able to make, and I kept the pressure on by making most of mine. In the end, he conceded when I had the last shot and a one point lead. Against Nick in the final, we went back and forth in the beginning before he took a lead toward the middle of the match at 4-3 and 5-4. I pulled the point back with a frozen masse shot, squeezing the cue ball out between two frozen balls and getting it to masse back to make a hanger. We each missed a couple shots after that and I made my last challenge which looked like it confused Nick to take a 7-6 lead. He tried an audacious jump-fouette shot, narrowly nicking the rack on his last two attempts to give me the victory. It was quite an amazing run for me, especially to beat some of the biggest names in the game in the same tournament.

Check out this video clip and American Poolplayers Association news brief about my win!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

WPA Artistic Pool World Championships

I recently found out there will be no 2010 WPA-APD (Artistic Pool Division) World Championships. The 2011 Worlds will be held at Valley Forge in March 2011, taking over for the usual slot for the Masters. The winner will be guaranteed an invitation to 2011 Trick Shot Magic.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Trick Shot Magic 2010 schedule

Here's the quarterfinal schedule for Trick Shot Magic 2010 on September 1 at Green Valley Ranch in Las Vegas, NV.

10am: Nick Nikolaidis vs. Gabi Visoiu
11am: Stefano Pelinga vs. Florian Kohler
1pm: Jamey Gray vs. Tom Rossman
2pm: Andy Segal vs. Dave Nangle

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Trick Shot Calendar

Busy stretch coming up in the trick shot calendar. Lot's of entertaining pool action to be had, coast to coast and even in between. Get to one in your area!

2010 APA Ultimate Trick Shot Championships
August 24-27, 2010
Riviera Hotel and Casino
Las Vegas, NV

2010 ESPN Trick Shot Magic
September 1-2, 2010
Green Valley Ranch Resort
Las Vegas, NV

2010 APA Southeast Classic
September 30 - October 3, 2010
Atlanta Billiard Show - Gwinnett Center
Duluth, GA

2010 World Cup of Trick Shots
October 7, 2010
Mohegan Sun
Uncasville, CT

2010 Dr. Cue Artistic Cup IV
December 2-5, 2010
Side Pockets
Saint Charles, MO