Tournaments

McMinn rebounded from a loss to Hennessee to twice defeat him in the finals. (Photo by JP Parmentier)

McMINN SHOWS ’EM

Pros slowly returning to action with bar table events taking center stage.

Show Me Classic

Smokin’ Aces Bar & Grill, Poplar Bluff, Mo.

IN AN event that is most remembered for what took place after the competition, Shane McMinn bested Jonathon Hennessee in back-to-back matches to earn top honors in competition at last month’s Show Me Classic at Smokin’ Aces Barbecue in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

The victory was second consecutive for McMinn at Smokin’ Aces, who also defeated Hennessee at the facility’s November event last year.

McMinn opened the 36-player, double-elimination event with a 13-3 defeat of Reece Lindley, cruised past Jeremiah Tice, 13-5, then easily defeated Chris Esker, 13-3. After defeating Joey Evola, 13-5 and surviving 13-10 against Chuck Raulston, McMinn suffered his lone loss in the event to Hennessee, 13-9. Now playing on the one-loss side of the bracket, he gutted out a hill-hill match against Jesse Engel, rematched against the unbeaten Hennessee, whom he defeated 13-6. Since it was the Tennessean’s first loss in the event, the two competitors matched up again, which McMinn survived, 13-9.

Runner-up Hennessee won five consecutive matches on the winner’s side of the bracket, including a second round 13-11 defeat of Team USA Mosconi Cup team member Skyler Woodward and 13-7 decision against Johnny Archer, before falling to McMinn in back-toback matches.

Engel, who has a handful of top-10 finishes at the United States Bar Table Championships in the last decade, sustained an early defeat then made a charge through the one-loss side of the bracket to finish third. After a hill-hill victory against Tommy Greer, Engel fell to K.C. Massey, 13-11. He then rattled off six consecutive victories on the oneloss side of the bracket, including a 13-6 decision against BCA Hall of Famer Archer, before falling to McMinn, 13-12.

POLISH DUO CAPTURES PREDATOR ONE DOUBLES

Predator One Pool Championship

Online Event

Rising young Polish superstars Mieszko Fortunski and Konrad Juszczyszyn used solid breaks and even more solid pattern play to claim the doubles championship in the first Predator One Pool event of the new year, defeating Spaniards David Alcaide and Francisco Sanchez-Ruiz in the two-inning championship match.

After breezing through their firstround match against Melih Dagas and Ferdi Ozdemir and quarterfinal contest with Aloysius Yapp and Sharik Sayed undefeated, the Polish duo faced its toughest test of the event in Filipinos Elijah Alvarez and Aivhan Maluto. The two teams played a nip-and-tuck 10-inning first set, with Alvarez using a break-and-run in the final frame to best Juszczyszyn’s run out with ball-in-hand, 105-101. After the Polish pair failed to run out twice and broke without pocketing a ball once in the second set’s early stages, the Filipinos used two breaks and runs paired with two run outs to build a 50-26 edge. After Maluto failed to run out in the third inning and Alvarez failed to pocket a ball on back-toback breaks, Fortunski and Juszczyszyn tied the match at 67 points and played the Filipinos even down the stretch to force a sudden death deciding set.

The Filipino team built a 15-6 advantage in the first inning of overtime, but Juszczyszyn had a chance to close out the match with a run out of his own but failed to pocket the game-winning 10 ball. As the extra period progressed, Fortunski broke and ran to give the pair a 15-10 lead. Alvarez had an opportunity to reclaim the lead for the Filipinos but left the cue ball behind the 7 ball while attempting to secure position on the 2 ball, then missed a three-rail kick shot on the object ball.

Fortunski and Juszczyszyn would have a much easier time of it in the finals, using four run outs and two breaks and runs to build a 68-29 lead as they cruised to a 93-48 win in the first set. The pair then took advantage of the Spanish team’s early breaking struggles in the second set to hold on and win the title, 75-53.

VAN BOENING RETURNS TO WINNER’S CIRCLE

Michael Montgomery Memorial

Snookered Billiards Frisco, Texas

Shane Van Boening overcame a midtournament defeat, rallying on the oneloss side of the bracket to win the open 9-ball division of the Michael Montgomery Memorial at Snookered Billiards in Frisco, Texas.

The South Dakotan opened play with an 7-2 decision against Duanne Zimmerman, blanked Marcus Kupczynski, 7-0, and easily defeated Chris Ferguson, 7-1. After coasting past Robb Saez, 7-3, and besting James Ray Davis, 7-4, Van Boening was defeated by reigning World 9-Ball Champion Fedor Gorst of Russia, who defeated the five-time United States Open 9-Ball champion, 7-5.

Van Boening wouldn’t face an easy draw on the one-loss side of the bracket, opening play with 6-4 decisions against James Aranas and Shane Winters. Waiting for Van Boening in the one-loss finals was Gorst, who had lost to Skylar Woodward 7-4 in the hot seat match. The South Dakotan won the rematch against the young Russian, 6-4, then defeated Woodward in back-to-back matches by scores of 7-1 and 6-2 to claim the championship.

The victory was Van Boening’s first in tournament play since winning the Turning Stone Classic last January. With a second-place finish in the Memorial’s 10ball miniature event, the South Dakotan earned $11,280 for the weekend.

Runner-up Woodward started the event by winning seven consecutive matches before sustaining the consecutive defeats at the hands of Van Boening. After breezing by Dean Williams, 7-2, in the opening round, the young man from Kentucky would survive his next four matches against Thomas Haas, Jalal Alsarisi, Jesus Antecio and Evan Lunda by the same 7-5 score. He defeated Winters 7-3 in the winner’s side semifinals then earned the right to meet his Mosconi Cup teammate in the title match and the one-loss side rematch by besting Gorst, 7-4.

Like Woodward, the young Russian opened the event with a string of victories before faltering down the stretch. After a 7-0 blanking of Jeese Kohl, Gorst got by Ruben Flores 7-4, and survived Robert Gomez 7-5. After defeating Daniel Schneider 7-4, winning a hill-hill battle against Manny Chau and getting past Van Boening on the winner’s side, the European Mosconi Cup rookie fell to Woodward and Van Boening in the rematch.

The 128-player, double elimination 9-ball tournament was one of four events held during the five days of competition, with Filipino Dennis Orcollo taking home top honors in the 10-ball miniature and one-pocket events. Russian Kristina Tkach traveling to Texas with Gorst and earning the championship in the 32-player ladies’ tournament.

As a duo, Fortunski (top) and Juszczyszyn (above) were virtually unstoppable.

Photos by JP Parmentier