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LION ROARS INTO HALL OF FAME

Over the years, Alex Pagulayan, the comical, mischievous and lethal Canadian-by-way-of-the-Philippines pool star, has parlayed his talents into the World 9-Ball Championship, a U.S. Open 9-Ball title and a pair of Derby City Classic Master of the Table crowns. Those achievements have now earned the 41-year-old “Lion” the “ultimate accomplishment,” induction into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame.

The United States Billiard Media Association announced that Pagulayan will enter the sport’s most exclusive club, along with table manufacturer/promoter Greg Sullivan and Johnston City Hustlers Jamboree creators George and Paul Jansco. All will be formally honored during ceremonies at the Norfolk Sheraton Waterside Hotel in Norfolk, Va., on Friday, Nov. 1.

Pagulayan, who earned election in a run-off against England’s Kelly Fisher after the two had tied on the initial ballot, will enter the Greatest Players wing of the Hall of Fame. Sullivan, 70, and the late Jansco brothers will be honored in the Meritorious Service category.

“I don’t know what to say,” said Pagulayan after being informed of his election. “For a pool player, this is the ultimate accomplishment, right? And I’m happy to become the first Canadian in the BCA Hall of Fame.” Pagulayan, who moved from the Philippines to Toronto at 16, made his presence felt in 2002, when he reached the final of the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships. After losing to Germany’s Ralf Souquet in the title match, Pagulayan, then 24, reached the final of the World Pool Championship a year later. Again, he lost in the final. Again, he lost to a German player, Thorsten Hohmann. But it was clear that Pagulayan had championship ability, and in 2004 he returned to the title match at the World Pool Championship in Taipei, Taiwan. This time he emerged victorious, topping local hopeful Pei Wei Chang for the title. A year later, Pagulayan exorcised his U.S. Open 9-Ball demon as well, winning the title. In addition to World Summit of Pool and World Pool Masters titles, Pagulayan is the only player to have won titles in all three divisions of the annual Derby City Classic — One-Pocket, Banks and 9-Ball. He also earned Master of the Table titles in 2015 and 2016.

“The Derby City All-Around titles are my biggest career highlights,” Pagulayan said. “They are such big fields and you have to play all three games well. And it’s really hard to win all three disciplines. I feel like I won pool’s triathlon.”

It was the first year of eligibility for both Pagulayan and Fisher. Each were named on 62 percent of the ballots, forcing a run-off vote. In the special election, Pagulayan received 21 votes, while Fisher received 16. Holland’s Niels Feijen (27 percent) and American Corey Deuel (24 percent) were the next highest vote-getters on the initial ballot. Shannon Daulton, Jeremy Jones, Stefano Pellinga, Vivian Villarreal and Charlie Williams were named on less than 10 percent of the ballots.

For Sullivan, admission into the BCA Hall of Fame caps a life of service trying to elevate pool from a recreation to a legitimate professional sport. An Indiana native, Sullivan became a poolroom owner and, with input from top players, began constructing pool tables to professional specifications.

Sullivan launched Diamond Billiard Products, with his tables quickly becoming the preferred playfield of the pros. Frustrated by coin-operated tables that forced players to use magnetic or oversized cue balls, Sullivan is also credited with introducing optical sensor to coin-op tables so that standard cue balls could be used. For Sullivan, it marked another victory in putting professional equipment into the hands of all players.

In the 1990s, Sullivan contracted the Pantone Company to research the optimum color for pool cloth. The testing resulted in the Tournament Blue prevalent in today’s professional tournaments.

As a lifelong fan of the Johnston City Hustler’s Jamborees of the 1960s and ’70s, Sullivan launched a similar multi-discipline event, the Derby City Classic, in 1998. The annual event has drawn thousands of professional and regional players to Southern Indiana for 21 years.

“I have to say, I’m in shock,” Sullivan said when informed. “My whole life has been about pool, just trying to turn it from a game to a sport. It’s all I’ve ever done.”

That George and Paulie Jansco should join Sullivan in the same Hall of Fame class is appropriate, since the Southern Illinois club owners founded the famed Johnston City Hustlers Jamboree and All-Around Pool Championship in the 1960s. The Janscos contributed to the pool’s romanticized image as a gunslinger’s activity. Their promotion of the gambling aspect of the sport contributed to its rise in popularity with the public, with their tournaments drawing media coverage from major television networks and national magazines like “Sports Illustrated.” So popular were the Johnston City events that the Jansco’s launched a second event, the Stardust Open in Las Vegas. The Janscos could also be credited with moving 9-ball and one-pocket into the game’s forefront during a time in which straight pool was considered the only professional game. They were also among the first promoters to welcome integrated fields, paving the way for players like African-American Cicero Murphy to compete for world titles. George Jansco passed away in 1969. Paul Jansco died in 1997.

GIFT OF GOLD COMES TO CHANG, OUSCHAN, GREENE AND SANCHEZ

As he stood on the medal stand late Sunday afternoon at the Saalbau arena in Bottrop, Germany, Pei-Wei Chang still had a look of amazement on his face. The 26-year-old from Chinese Taipei was the recipient of the gold medal in Men’s 9-Ball at the 2005 World Games, in large part because he was the fortunate recipient of an unfortunate shot.

After making numerous errors in the final games of his gold-medal match against Thorsten Hohmann, allowing the German to make up a 10-6 deficit, Change sat helplessly watching Hohmann work his way carefully through the case rack. But the German undercut a simple shot at the 7 ball in the side pocket, handing the World Games gold to the thankful Taiwanese player.

“I was very, very lucky,” said Chang, runnerup to Alex Pagulayan at the 2004 World Pool Championship. “I gave the match to him, and he gave it back.”

Chang was joined by 18-year-old Austrian Jasmin Ouschan (Women’s 9-Ball), England’s Gerard Greene (Snooker) and Daniel Sanchez of Spain (Carom) as gold medalists, as the billiard competition concluded.

Ouschan, two-time European champion, handled error-prone Jennifer Chen of Chinese Taipei, 9-5, showing steely nerves and a razor-sharp game the belies her 19 years. The Austrian trailed 1-0 against Chen, but rolled out to a 7-2 lead, then buckled down for two solid run-outs to secure the match after Chen had fought back to 7-5.

Sanchez and Holland’s Dick Jaspers put on a nifty 3-cushion exhibition for the capacity crowd at the Saalbau, with Jaspers using a run of 11 to take an 18-14 lead after just four innings. The match stayed close throughout, with Sanchez scoring twice in the 15th inning to reach 40 points. Jaspers responded with three from the break in his half of the inning to tie the match and force a playoff. Each player started with an opening break, with the player who scores more points awarded the victory. Sanchez ran just two from the break shot, but won the match after Jasper’s cue ball froze to an object ball after his break shot. His futile attempt failed, and Sanchez, who won the gold medal at the 2001 World Games in Akita, Japan, nabbed the top prize.

Greene, a 31-year-old, upset Chinese sensation Junhui Ding, in the snooker finale, rebounding from a 3-1 frame deficit to win, 4-3. The final frame was not decided until Greene banged home a cross-side shot on the green for a 71-45 win.

But it was the seesaw, emotionally draining Chang-Hohmann match that had the crowd buzzing. Confident and precise, Chang raced off to a 4-0 lead in the race-to-11. But a poor safety attempt in the fifth rack gave Hohmann a chance to loosen his powerful arm, and quickly the match was knotted at 4-4. Hohmann earned what would be his only lead at 5-4, then Chang returned to form and won four consecutive games for a seemingly insurmountable 10-6 lead. With alternating breaks, Chang would have at least three opportunities to close out the match. A scratch on the 1 ball turned into a two-game swing, as Hohmann cleared that rack, then ran out from the break to cut the lead to 10-8.

Chang then missed a long, but simple, shot on the 2, and the lead was down to a single game. Even after Hohmann scratched on his break in the next game, Chang failed to get out, hooking himself on the 4 ball and fouling on his kick attempt. In the case game, Chang opened with a soft 1-5 combination, but again he ended up hooked on his next shot. Chang barely clipped the 1, and left Hohmann a table-length cut on the 1 along the bottom rail. And when Hohmann sliced the 1 in, much to the delight of the partisan crowd, Chang’s fate appeared sealed.

But Hohmann left himself a thin cut on the 7 ball to the side pocket, and left the 7 dangling in the jaws. A shocked Chang carefully pocketed the final three balls for the gold medal.

Hohmann, Chen Reach Gold Medal Match

The opening lag turned out to be Thorsten Hohmann’s best friend in his semifinal match against American Rodney Morris at the World Games in Duisburg, Germany Saturday afternoon.

Winning the lag earned Hohmann the advantage of breaking in the deciding game in the alternating break, race-to-11 format. And with the score tied 10-10, the German star ran a flawless rack from the break to win the match and advance to Sunday’s Gold Medal match. Hohmann awaits the winner of the second semifinal, pitting Greek surprise Vangelis Vettas against Chinese Taipei’s Pei-Wei Chang. Morris will play the loser of that match for the Bronze Medal Saturday evening.

In women’s 9-ball, Women’s Professional Billiard Association star Jennifer Chen, of Chinese Taipei, defeated Korea’s Sung-Hyun Jung, 9-4, to earn a spot in the Gold Medal match. Chen awaits the winner of the semifinal matchup of former WPBA regular Line Kjorsvik and Austrian teen Jasmin Oschan.

Eighteen-year-old Chinese snooker sensation Jun-Hui Ding cruised into the Men’s Snooker Gold Medal match with a convincing 4-1 win over England’s Mark Allen. Ding dropped his second 100-plus break in the match, posting a 102 in the third set. Belgium’s Bjorn Haneveer meets England’s Gerard Greene to determine Ding’s opponent.

And in Carom, Dick Jaspers of Belgium scored 40 points on his 40th birthday to defeat Turkey’s Semih Sayginer, 40-26 in 28 innings. Defending World Games champion Daniel Sanchez of Spain will play Turkey’s Murat Coklu in the second semifinal match Saturday afternoon at the Saalbau arean in Bottrop, site of the cue sports competitions.

The World Games is the largest gathering of non-Olympic sports, with more than 3,000 athletes representing more than 100 countries. The cue sports made their World Games debut in 2001 at Akita, Japan.

Gold Medal Matches Set

CHANG, OUSCHAN ADVANCE AT WORLD GAMES

Pei-Wei Chang of Chinese Taipei cruised past unheralded Vangelis Vettas of Greece, 11-7, Saturday afternoon to move into Sunday’s Gold Medal match against German Thorsten at the World Games in Duisburg, Germany. Chang, runnerup to Alex Pagulayan in the 2004 World Pool Championships, never trailed in the match.

In the women’s 9-ball division, 18-year-old Jasmin Ouschan, of Austria handled former WPBA player Line Kjorsvik of Norway, 9-5. Ouschan will meet WPBA star Jennifer Chen of Chinese Taipei for the Gold Medal.
In Snooker, 31-year-old Brit Gerard Greene defeated Belgium’s Bjorn Haneveer, 4-2, to move into a Gold Medal match against 18-year-old Chinese sensation Jun-Hui Ding.

And in Carom, defending World Games gold medalist Daniel Sanchez beat Turkey’s Murat Coklu, 40-27 in 29 innings. Sanchez will meet Belgian Dick Jaspers for the Gold.

“Rocket” Lone US Medal Hope

Rodney Morris overcame an early 4-1 deficit against Germany’s Thomas Engert Friday evening to win 11-8 and advance to the semifinals of the men’s 9-ball division at the 2005 World Games in Duisburg, Germany. With the ousters Friday of Charlie Williams and Vivian Villarreal, Morris is the only U.S. contestant remaining in the four cue sport medal categories.

Morris will face former world 9-ball champion and reigning Billiard Congress of American Open 9-Ball Champion Thorsten Hohmann of Germany on Saturday for the right to play in the Gold Medal game. Hohmann squeaked past Sweden’s Tom Storm, 11-10, to earn his semifinal spot. The other Saturday semi in the men’s division will pit China’s Pei-Wei Chang against surprising Vangelis Vettas of Greece. Vettas, who shocked Germany’s Ralf Souquet in the opening round of the 16-player single-elimination field, dumped Williams, 11-7, on Friday. Chang, 2004 World Pool Championship runnerup, beat Holland’s Niels Feijen, 11-7.

In Women’s 9-Ball, Korea’s Sung-Hyun Jung beat Villarreal, 11-8, to earn a spot in the semifinals. She’ll be joined by Jennifer Chen, who upended Allison Fisher, Jasmin Oschan of Austria, and Norway’s Line Kjorsvik.

Two Turks, Semih Sayginer and Murat Coklu, earned semifinal spots in the Men’s Carom discipline, along with Dick Jaspers of Holland and defending champion Danny Sanchez of Spain.

Men’s Snooker saw 18-year-old Jun-Hui Ding post a 138 clearance enroute to a 3-0 win over Germany’s Lasse Munstermann. Ding reached the semis along with Amateur World Champion Mark Allen of England, countryman Gerard Greene and Belgium’s Bjorn Haneveer, who overcame a 2-1 deficit to beat England’s Gavin Pantall, 3 sets to 2.

World Games Quarterfinals Set

Americans Rodney Morris, Charlie Williams and Vivian Villarreal will take U.S. medal hopes into quarterfinal matches today at the World Games in Duisburg, Germany.

In men’s 9-ball, Morris, who routed Aruba’s Roland Acosta, 11-4, on Wednesday, will face Germany’s Thomas Engert, and Williams, an 11-7 winner over Japan’s Massashi Hoshi, will battle Vangelis Vettas of Greece. Vettas shocked Germany’s Ralf Souquet, 11-10, in the opening round of the 16-player single-elimination event.

Villiarreal, the lone U.S. competitor in the women’s 9-ball division, faces Korea’s Sung-Hyun Jung. Defending champion Jeanette Lee pulled out of the competition at the last minute because of impending back surgery.

Sweden’s Tom Storm, Germany’s Thorsten Hohmann, Holland’s Neils Feijen and Chinese star Pei-Wei Chang round out the final eight in the men’s division.

Top-ranked Allison Fisher, Taiwan’s Jennifer Chen, Italy’s Tiziana Cacciamani, Austria’s Jasmine Ouschan, Japan’s Yukiko Hamanishi and former WPBA regular Line Kjorsvik of Norway make up the remaining women competitors.

Men’s carom billiards and men’s snooker is also being contested at the international sports festival, which is seen as an important stepping stone for the cue sports’ Olympic Games hopes. Two high-ranking officials, Kelly Fairweather, Sports Director of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Ron Froelich, President of the International World Games Association (IWGA), were on hand at the Saalbau arena in Bottrop for the opening matches of the billiard competition.

Alex, the Lionhearted

Alex Pagulayan

Alex Pagulayan

Down 8-2 and fearing he would lose his second straight World Pool Championship final, steely Alex Pagulayan lived up to his nickname, “The Lion,” and roared back to score a 17-13 victory Sunday night in Taipei City, Taiwan.

Hometown favorite Pei-Wei Chang seemed invincible in the early rounds, drilling tough shots from every point on the table and stymieing Pagulayan with lock-tight safeties. But, at 11-6, Chang missed a 2 ball and gave Pagulayan some breathing room. Slowly gathering momentum and falling into his familiar jaunty rhythm, the 26-year-old Filipino (now living in Canada) started stitching together racks and forged an 11-11 tie. With Chang back on top, 13-11, Pagulayan threaded the cue ball through a tight opening in a Chang safety to sink the 1 ball and score a carom on the 4 on the same shot, blowing a hole in Chang’s title hopes. He then cruised through six consecutive racks to claim the $75,000 title, sparking a wild celebration that sent him leaping and dancing around the arena.

Chang, a 25-year-old Taipei resident, won $35,000 for his second-place finish. He ably represented an enormously impressive Taiwanese contingent at the WPC, which placed four shooters in the final eight. They had no answer for Pagulayan, however, who defeated no fewer than four Taiwanese aces on his way to the title.

It was a career-defining victory for the so-called “Killer Pixie,” who refused to relive the 2003 WPC final when he fell into a hole against Germany’s Thorsten Hohmann and couldn’t recover. He also hoped not to repeat the final of the 2002 U.S. Open, where he lost to Germany’s Ralf Souquet.

“No more second place!” Pagulayan screamed as he ran through the arena after his victory, soon breaking into a rendition of “We Are the Champions.”

For more details from the 2004 World Pool Championship, check out the event’s Web site at www.worldpoolchampionship.com.

“Killer Pixie” gets shot at redemption

402aAlex Pagulayan has earned a return trip to the finals of the World Pool Championship, set for Sunday night in Taipei City, Taiwan. The fiery Filipino (now living in Canada) came up short against little-known Thorsten Hohmann in the finals of the WPC in 2003. This year, the “Killer Pixie” will meet an even more obscure opponent, 25-year-old Pei-Wei Chang from Taiwan, who shocked Johnny Archer 11-10 in the quarterfinals and then came back from a 6-1 deficit against Sweden’s Marcus Chamat to win his semifinal match, 11-9.

Check out http://www.billiardsdigest.com/tournaments/index?tournament_id=11 for BD’s on-the-spot coverage, or check out the event’s Web site at http://www.worldpoolchampionship.com

Host Country Celebrates WPC

402aThe field of 128 of the world’s best 9-ballers has been whittled to eight at the World Pool Championship in Taipei, Taiwan, and the host country has a lot to celebrate. When play begins on Saturday evening (Taipei time), no less than half the field will hail from Taiwan, including two-time world champion Fong-Pang Chao (1993, 2000). Here are the matchups for the quarterfinals, which will be immediately followed by semifinal matches:

Pei-Wei Chang (Chinese Taipei) vs. Johnny Archer (USA)
Alex Pagulayan (Canada) vs. Fong-Pang Chao (Chinese Taipei)
Marcus Chamat (Sweden) vs. Marlon Manalo (Philippines)
Po-Cheng Kuo (Chinese Taipei) vs. Ching-Ching Kang (Chinese Taipei)

Check out http://www.billiardsdigest.com/tournaments/index?tournament_id=11 for BD’s on-the-spot coverage, or check out the event’s Web site at http://www.worldpoolchampionship.com