Friday 21 November 2014

Results From $500 Entry Semi-Pro in Dolbeau


 By: Markus Noé

16 players showed up last weekend at L'Hotel Motel Maison Blanche in Dolbeau Quebec for the $500 entry semi-pro tournament. Many of the players and fans who showed up for this event came from Montreal which is about a 5.5 hour hike north, the other group of players and fans came from the Quebec City region. Recently in the U.S these types of high entry limited field tournaments have been on the rise for on barbox, however this event was 10 ball and played on a 9ft table.

Maison Blanche started putting on these tournaments a few years ago and they have become very popular amongst the Quebec players. This particular prize pool was $9000 with the hotel adding $1000 and giving a free room to all the participants. There was also a substainal calucutta and gambling going on during each match between the railbirds, I was told the average bets were between $200 - $300.

The action climaxed mid way through the tournament when Daniel Gagné and David Deschene met up. It was reported that this match had up to $1000 dollars of side action on the line. This was such a thrilling match they ended up replaying it on Poolstreamtv, who was there all weekend streaming the entire event. Gagné went on to win that match 11-10 then beat Pat Desbiens 11-9 before losing to Jeff Bérubé, finishing just out of the money.

The story of this tournament was Stephane Adam who was actually ranked a profressional in his mid teens. However after taking several years off and just getting back into the swing of things he was allowed to partake in this event. Showing that he has not missed a beat he cruised to the final undefeated, notably beating Alain Parent 11-7, who has been on a tear of late including a high finish at Turning Stone Classic beating Jayson Shaw and Hudji See.

Bérubé who lost to Alain Parent on the winners side, came back to win two matches on the losers side against Daniel Gagné 11-9 and Johnathan Hébert 11-8. This earned him a rematch in the losers side final against Parent, which Bérubé won 11-7 to meet Adam in the final.

Stéphane Adam photo from Poolstreamtv Facebook Page
The final was an extended race to 13-6 in which Adam continued to show his dominance winning 13-6 to claim the $4000 first place prize. There is no confirmed dates yet but there is talk to have a similar event in the spring. Thank you to Alain Parent who filled me in on all the details necessary to make this update possible.

 Payouts

Stéphane Adam-$4000

Jeff Bérubé -$2500

Alain Parent-$1500

Johnathan Hebert-$750


Wednesday 19 November 2014

Q&A With Paul Potier: Launch of New Instructional Program




Hello everybody my name is Erik Hjorleifson, one of the founding members of Cue Sport Nation (CSN). Recently on behalf of CSN I sat down with one of our leading contributors and instructional writers Paul Potier to ask questions and to learn more about his new online coaching program as well as the face to face coaching program that he is currently offering out of his home base in Calgary, Alberta.

For those of you that are less familiar with Paul it may be because he has spent some time away from the game in the last 5 years, thankfully he is now back doing what he loves. In 2014 Paul played in the Canadian Championships for the first time in a long time and he had top 5 finishes in every division which were 8 ball, 9 ball and 10 ball.

During the 90's and 2000's Paul put together a very impressive competitive resume including two third place finishes at the All Japan Championships, along with a 5th place finish at the World 9 ball Championships. During that time he also represented Canada at the World games on two occasions and captained a Canadian team to a 2nd place finish at the World Team Championships.

Paul has also accomplished many things in the instructional world of pool as well, most notably he was the architect of Pool School in Paradise that ran for 11 years in Vancouver. The instructors for that school were Gerda Hofstatter, Allison Fisher and Mike Massey and it was a very successful venture for a long time. Here is a testimonial from Mike Massey which can also be seen on Paul's site: http://paulpotier.com/testimonials/


"To anyone who is considering hiring Paul Potier as their coach. My name is Mike Massey. Paul has been my good friend for over 30 years. In that time I have seen him develop himself into a top professional pool player and I have been there to watch some of his great accomplishments first hand.  I have also watched him help others to reach their goals of playing well, and some even becoming professional players themselves. Paul and I were partners with Allison Fisher and Gerda Hofstatter for 11 years in a very successful pool school venture called Pool School in Paradise. I can honestly tell you that I believe that Paul is one of the billiard world’s best instructors and coaches. I can attest to the fact that he generally cares for every student he teaches. He is very organized and has a great talent for analyzing players. Paul is quite unique as he is actually a champion himself, so he can truly help someone through the process of becoming a champion. I suggest that anyone who has a passion to improve their game should work with Paul in his new online coaching program."

Mike Massey,
18 time World Trick Shot Champion


Q &A

Cue Sport Nation

Hello Paul nice to be here with you today, tell us what have you been up to in your time away from the game recently?



Paul Potier 

Hello Erik I would first like to say that it has been a pleasure working with you and Markus at Cue Sport Nation and am pleased to see the effort that you are putting together to improve the state of cue sports in Canada and around the world. In 2007 after the failure of the IPT it could see the writing on the wall for the billiard industry over the following years to come so I decided to go back to the hospitality industry. I had a newborn baby at home and was forced to change my priorities in life. Five years later after an amicable separation with my wife I found myself itching to get back to the game I love so that is exactly what I did. Given the state of the game in British Columbia which had been my home base for over 20 years I decided to make a move to Calgary where the pool scene is a lot more active.



Cue Sport Nation

Interesting, how has the relocation treated you?


Paul Potier

It has been great the league scene in Calgary is very active as it has been for many years. Currently I am competing as much as i can and have been focusing on my instructional work. I have put together a coaching program that offers 26 hours of coaching at a one time discounted cost of $1000, students also have the option to pay in 5 installments of $250. I have had great response to this offer and am happy to be helping out my students once again.


Cue Sport Nation

We hear that you will now be offering these services online, can explain what you will be doing there?

Paul Potier

After some development with my partner from Oregon I now have the capability to coach online. This is a very exciting avenue for me because now I can reach out to anyone in the world through online communication.

Cue Sport Nation

Excellent, what are the main ways of communicating?

Paul Potier

Students can speak with me directly on Skype, they can also post videos to youtube and I can insert voice over instruction in real time as they are playing. Right now I am offering a free analysis to anyone who may be interested in long term coaching. There is no obligation if you like what you hear you are welcome to sign up to my complete online coaching package. I offer instruction to all skill levels all the way from beginner to pro level players. 2 of my proudest success stories in fact are two women Jennifer Chen and Kyoko Sone who after spending time with me achieved some great heights in women's professional pool.A short example of this online coaching can be found here  on the PaulPotier.com site under coaching programs.

Cue Sport Nation 

Looks great Paul it was fantastic catching up with you is there anything you would like to add?

Paul Potier

Thank you it was nice speaking with you as well, I would like to add that all my instructional courses are fully comprehensive we will not only address all the fundamental components of your game but also work on the mental side of the game which we all know is paramount. I have methods of teaching development of proper habits associated with pool and devlopment of a positive mental attitude and disposition towards this beautiful game that we all love. I would love to hear from you, all my contact information is available at my website http://paulpotier.com/.

Cue Sport Nation

Thanks Paul it was a pleasure speaking with you and we will be in contact again in the future for a follow up on your new online coaching program, good luck!

After sitting down with Paul at the U.S. Open this year and hearing what he had planned for the next year I was immediately interested in taking advantage of an opportunity to take in the knowledge of someone that has been at the forefront of not only competitive pool but also instructional pool for over 30 years.

I have officially signed on with Paul's online coaching program and after our first conversations I can personally tell you that he has answered every question and  has brought up aspects of my game that I have overlooked in the past. Being an instructor myself I am always in search of new knowledge and different ways to look at this complex game. I am particularly excited to continue talking to Paul about the mental side of the game. What he has offered so far has stuck with me and I feel like our future conversations will begin to greatly strengthen that part of my game. I would strongly recommend any of our followers to get in touch with Paul and see for yourself what he has to offer.





Shane Van Boening First Big Win Overseas


By: Erik Hjorleifson

Last week saw the annual World Pool Masters title up for grabs in Nottingham, England. The event is a 16 man invitational tournament in which players are invited by the promoters Matchroom Sport. The field is made up of players from across the globe with an emphasis on including talent from different regions. The bulk of the field is from Europe and this year the representatives from other parts of the world were Alex Paguayan (Canada), Shane Van Boening (USA), James Giorgiadis (Australia), Wang Can (China) and Waleed Majid (Qatar).

 Stand outs from Europe included Darren Appleton, Thorsten Hohmman, Mika Immonen and Neis Feijen. In the end there could only be one winner and Shane Van Boening came out on top with his first major win on overseas soil after about 15 major wins on U.S. soil.

The first round saw a few minor upsets, the strength of the field is so strong that it is hard to call any of the results in this tournament major upsets, especially considering that it was only a race to 8 winner breaks format.

Notable results from the first round included:

Alex Pagulayan 8 Darren Appleton 6

Shane Van Boening 8 James Georgiadis 6

Chris Melling 8 Dennis Orcollo 6

Daniele Corieri 8 Neils Feijen 4

The quarter finals were a little more predictable as the Europeans once again showed their strength in the sport as 3 of the 4 semi finalists were from Europe. Chris Melling defeated recent World Cup of Pool champion Karl Boyes 8-6, Karol Skowerski ended Daneile Corieiri's run with an 8-3 scoreline. Nick Ekonomopolous who was coming off a third place finish a few weeks back at the U.S Open, beat Alex Pagulayan 8-3. The lone player from outside of Europe, Shane Van Boening, got one step closer to his first International triumph with an 8-4 victory over Mark Gray.

The semi finals saw Van Boening moving on with an 8-5 win over Chris Melling who admittedly has not been playing any pool in the past year, he is now focusing his efforts on playing professional snooker and has had some promising success so far. Ekonomopolous looked vey strong in an 8-3 win over 2012 World Pool Masters Champion Karol Skowerski from Poland.

 This set up the final match-up with two of the hottest players in the game at the moment, Ekonomopolous and Van Boening. For Van Boening this would be his first major final in singles play overseas. The anticipation of this day has been many years in the making as Van Boening has been so dominant in the U.S. and was yet to break the ice internationally.

 Although Van Boening is regarded as one of the worlds best, and for many people their pick for top player in the world, their opinion could always be countered with the lack of Shane's success outside of the U.S.A. All the naysayers would have to be quiet at least on this day as Van Boening won in convincing fashion taking home the title 8-2. After the match Van Boening said he "had been waiting for this day for a long time", and considering his professional attitude and likeable style at the table I'm sure his fans were happy to see it come as well. It will remain to be seen how many titles he can rack up including World Championships in the years to come. 

Results

1st Shane Van Boening       $20 000

2nd Nick Eknomoplous       $10 000

3rd/4th Chris Melling           $5000
          Karol Skowerski

5th/8th Alex Pagulayan        $2500
                      Mark Gray
               Daniele Corieri
                       Karl Boyes

9th/16th Waleed Majid          $2000
        Thorsten Hohmann
             Darren Appleton
                Mika Immonen
                 Dennis Orcollo
              James Giorgiadis
                         Wang Can
                       Neils Feijen

Friday 14 November 2014

Qualifiers Start Tomorrow for Women's International Pool Championship




Dragon Promotions Press Release:

New York City, New York-  Ladies from all around North America will be taking their best shot to take on the world's best at the Qualifiers for the Women's International Pool Championship .   Dragon Promotions is bringing big time, world class women's pool back to the United States with the 6th Annual Women's International Pool Championship ! The event takes place December 16-21, 2014 featuring 64 elite women from around the world and hosted by Steinway Billiards Cafe in New York City, the epicenter of American culture. The event is sanctioned by the WPBA.

From Seattle to Quebec, and Tampa to New York City, there will be a multitude of opportunities for players to qualify. The ones who do win will get to play a guaranteed 7 matches in the round robin! Not bad for a $50 entry fee and taking a crack at the $14,000 1st place prize. A very big opportunity for up and comers looking to gain experience on the women's pro tour scene.

The event formerly known as the Women's World 10-Ball, was created by Charlie Williams, Executive Producer for Dragon Promotions back in 2009. It has seen the rise of women's pool in Asia and Europe. First time World Champions were made there such as Jasmin Ouschan (Austria), Kelly Fisher (England), Rubilen Amit (Philippines), and made Korea's Ga Young Kim a 3 times World Champion. The championship has been produced in the Philippines for the past 5 years, so bringing the championship to the USA is a major move.
 
A mixture of East & West have had successes at the Women's International Pool Championship making household names of players such as Jasmin Ouschan & Rubilen Amit

QUALIFIER SCHEDULE FOR the WOMENS INTERNATIONAL POOL CHAMPIONSHIP ! Brought to you by Andy ClothPool & Billiard Magazine Kamui Brand & Steinway Billiards. 

Nov 15 (Sat) Florida - SLATE BILLIARDS (Boynton Beach) mbradford23@gmail.com or Jeannie Seaver jeannieseaver@yahoo.com : 1 spot awarded Florida Slate Billiards

Nov 15 (Sat) Canada- BILLARD DES PROS (Quebec) edwidgecavanna@billardfeminincanada.com (450) 963-0309 
1 spot Canada 

Nov 15 (Sat) Washington CUE-TOPIA BILLIARDS (Lakewood) deby@behindtherocktour.com 1 spot Washington

Nov 22 (Sat) Washington MALARKEYS POOL & BREW (Tacoma) info@malarkeysonline.com suzos78@gmail.com 
2 spots Washington

Nov 22 (Sat) Ohio - PLAYERS FAMILY BILLIARDS (Columbus) deepoolplayer@live.com Kellyisaac79@yahoo.com 
1 spot Ohio

Nov 23 (Sun) New Jersey - SANDCASTLE BILLIARDS (Edison) sandman@sandcastlebilliards.com 2 spots New Jersey

Nov 23 (Sun) Canada - Shooters Snooker and Sports Club (Toronto) ehjorleifson@hotmail.com 647 717 8219 or 416 750 7787 poolroom 1 SPOT Toronto

Nov 29th (Sat) Florida - STROKER'S (Tampa) josestrokers@gmail.com kiku_1@comcast.net 
2 spots Florida

Nov 29th (Sat) California - HARD TIMES (LOS ANGELES) brookleb@aol.com , harreguin1@verizon.net 2 spots California 

Dec 13th (Sat) New York - FINAL QUALIFIER in NYC Location: TBA Final 2 Spots




sponsored by produced by Dragon Promotions please LIKE us and this page! 
#pool #billiards #womenspool #allisonfisher#poolrooms


"At that time in pool about a decade ago, no one had ever thought of doing a major 10-Ball event for women. Many thought that it would be too long or difficult for the ladies. But we started out doing televised international 10-Ball ladies events in South Korea, and then we saw that the women had the potential to play the game at a good level and pace for TV, as well as for fans. And the ladies loved it, so when we discontinued doing 9-Ball pro events for the men, we did the same for the ladies. So the Women's World 10-Ball was born from that, and now has transformed into the Women's International Pool Championship. Even as a professional player and coach of the game of pool, I have been impressed by the women's improvements every year and they now play a high standard in 10-Ball. That's why we have elected to do a proper format which encompasses a lengthy round robin and now even longer races in the final stage. Most of the professionals considered our title the toughest and most prestigious to win before, and with the new evolving of the format it's going to be even more so", explained Williams

Women's International Pool Championship format will be even more challenging than previous years. It begins with 8 women round robin with every player playing a guaranteed 7 matches. The field is cut in half and then moves onto the knockout rounds in a race to 10. The quarter-finals goes to a race to 11, and then the semi-finals race to 13.  The Pool Championship Finals will be a race to 17. The eventual tournament winner will have played 12 world class opponents.

The Women's International Pool Championship is the most sought after title in women's billiards


"The WPBA is excited to partner with Dragon Promotions in an effort to provide a unique opportunity for WPBA players to compete against their international counterparts on American soil. We anticipate the thrill that accompanies the Women's International Pool Championship competition and look forward to collaborating with Dragon Promotions  on future events", said Kim White-Newsome, President of the Women's Pro Billiard Association. 

  


Sponsorships are available for industry members and fans. For advertising packages call 407-782-4978 or email support@dragonpromotions.com 

Dragon Promotions & Synergy International are event organizing and marketing companies respectively. Dragon Promotions is one of the leading producers of billiards and sports programming in the world today covering billiards, tennis, football, golf, MMA, charity events and more.  In a span of 14 years, Dragon Promotions has produced over 300 international events airing on TV networks globally from the USA, China, Philippines, South Korea, Canada, the Middle East, all of Asia, and Europe. Events include The World Tournament of 14.1KIA Motors Football Korea vs Philippines, The Women's International Pool Championship Dragon MMA Combat Night, The African American Tennis TournamentThe Queens Cup, The Orlando Summer Tennis Open, The International 10-Ball Championship, King & Queen of Carom, The Typhoon Haiyan Tennis Tournament, Pro Pool Schools,  Women's Trickshot Challenge, World Junior 10-Ball Championships, The World Mixed Doubles,  the Vietnamese Tennis Open  and many more. Visit www.dragonpromotions.com  . 

For interest in marketing and branding your company, business, or events please contact Orlando Synergy at 1-407-782-4978 or email support@dragonpromotions.com 



-- 

Thursday 13 November 2014

China is Becoming The New Mecca for Pocket Billiards




GBE (Guangzhou International Billiards Exhibition) is a large Billiard Trade Exhibition held annually in China. The GBE2015 show will be held in Guangzhou Pazhou at the China Import and Export Fair Complex from May 9-11. GBE2015 will mark the 8th year for this very prestigious and successful show.

The 2015 GBE will showcase 450 booths taking up an impressive 10000 square meters of floor space. There will be many Chinese Billiard industry companies as well as international companies from countries such as: The United States of America, The United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore, South Korea, Belgium, Australia, Italy, etc. Any company that has Billiard related Products should not hesitate to contact Eve at grand.ev@grahw.com or go to their web site http://www.gbechina.com

Sincerely,
Paul Potier