I arrived in NY on Saturday 27th May 2006 several days before the start of the tournament. I had been working as a full time web developer for the past few months so I new I needed as much practice as I could get in order to play well. In order to save a few quid I stayed with a friend on the upper west side of Manhattan, this was also an ideal base as it was close to the world famous Amsterdam Billiards Club.

I was a bit rusty on my first day's practice but still managed to run a 79 first visit before playing a few sets with a good pool friend. The next day I played a little better and ran my first ever century, 104 before missing a simple ball with another rack at my mercy! Also just to top off a perfect day Mike Sigel, Oliver Ortman, and Thurston Hohman walked in late in the evening for a few hours practice - I think my century remained the high run of the day and its not often that happens in such world class company!

I arrived at the Hilton Hotel on Tuesday afternoon and the hotel lobby was already buzzing with a few familiar faces including Janette Lee and Max Eberle. I met up with Lee Chenman my room mate and we had a wonder around the hotel. The pool tables had been delayed at customs and so we didn't really get much chance to have a practice before the tournament started. We did have an interesting players meeting though as planned which raised various differences between the old and the new school players, all the issues where resolved and we awaited the match time schedule. I was drawn in Group 1, the clear favorites where Danny Harriman (World Bank Champion, and current Derby City Straight Pool Champion), Johnny Archer (multiple World 9 ball Champion), Max Eberle (Hollywood Billiard House Pro and former BCA Champion), and Japanese Pro Kusano (current Korean Open Champion). However the group also contained two talented German players, young Nico Wehner who reportedly runs 100's daily and 200+ ball runner Kevin Becker. Current IPT Pro player Larry Schwartz completed the group which meant it would be extremely tough to qualify in one of the 4 spots.

In my first match I started a little scrappy but managed to make a tough long ball to the top pocket from the back rail and split the pack, I ran 54 and out to start off with a good win.

Next I played young 15 year old German Nico Wehner but after missing two bank shots early in the match I pulled out a pressure bank and a long ball down the rail to win a tight match.

In my third match of the day I played Danny Harriman, a match I had been looking forward too. In January Danny had beaten some of the best players in the world at the Derby City Classic to win the inaugural Straight Pool Challenge, therefore Danny was not only favorite to win our match but also one of the favorites to win the tournament. It turned out to be one of the best matches either of us has ever been involved in! I started out well and raced into a 60:10 lead before Danny clawed his way back into the match to set up a tense final. We were also put on a shot clock at the end of the match which only added to the tension. There was so many twists in the last few racks its hard to recall them all, Danny missed a bank shot, I hooked myself on a rack ball, we both missed various shots, I tried a crazy carom with the shot clock running out, and I finished an inch short of getting the cue ball in the rack which would have left me with a perfect break shot.

In my last match of the day I played Larry Schwartz at around 3am in the morning! It was a scrappy close match and after leading early on I somehow managed to string a 40+ ball run together to win the match at around 4am. I was extremely tired and my poor eyes where red raw from wearing contacts for the first time in a pool event. It had been an extremely long and grueling day but I was so pleased to have won 3 out of 4 matches and give myself a great chance to qualify.

My first match the next day was against Kevin Becker who had ran a big run in beating Johnny Archer the previous day. I won the lag and started off well running the first 3 racks for a 42: 0 points lead. I had a perfect break shot to the side of the pack but I let myself down by watching a guy walk past my line of shot and missing the break ball. I should have stood up as I really felt like I was going to run 100 and out! However I managed to keep my nose in front for another 60:10 lead before Kevin ran about 70 balls to take the lead. The match went down to the wire but Kevin made a great combo from the stack at the end of the match to fall over the line. Sadly I felt Kevin used a number of unsporting sharking tactics towards the end which spoilt what was otherwise a great match.

Next up was a good friend Max Eberle who was playing extremely well and had run all his 5 matches so far. We both missed tons of balls early on in the match; I was struggling badly with my eyes at this stage of the event and missed many balls I wouldnt normally due because I couldnt see the balls clearly. I might still have lost the match as Max was playing very well but this was very frustrating.

This result meant I was still looking for the final win that would guarantee my passage through the group stage. The bad news was I had to play four times 9 ball champion Johnny Archer in my last match. The good news was I had a high ball count and I knew I probably only really needed to make about 80 balls to make it through. I played quite well in this match making a lot of big shots to win the match and make the last 32!

RESULTS

DAY 1

• 100 - 52  Kusano, Hisashi (JPN)
• 100 - 84  Wehner, Nico (GER)
• 96  - 100 Harriman, Danny (USA)
• 100 - 73  Schwartz, Larry (USA) 

DAY 2

• 80  - 100 Becker, Kevin (GER)
• 21  - 100 Eberle, Max (USA)
• 100 - 67  Johnny, Archer (USA) 

LAST 32

• 150 - 78  Foldes, Vilmos (HUN)
• 142 - 150 Barouty, Danny (USA)
• 150 - 130 Wehner, Nico (GER) 

LAST 16

• 200 - 82  Davis, Mike (USA)

PAYOUTS

1st - $13,000
Thorsten Hohman

2nd - $6,000
Thomas Engert

3rd - $3,500
Max Eberle

4th - $3,500
Mika Immonen

5th-8th - $2,500
Mike Davis
Danny Harriman
Allen Hopkins
Jasmin Ouschan

9th-16th - $1,500
Danny Barouty
Michael Felder
Bobby Hunter
Nico Otterman
Craig Riley
John Schmidt
Ralf Souquet
Charlie Williams

17th-24th - $500
Vilmos Foldes
Jeanette Lee
Bob Maidhof
Oliver Ortmann
Fabio Petroni
Mike Sigel
Go Takami
Nico Wehner

25th-32nd
Carlos Cabello
Stefan Cohen
Antonio Fazanes
Hayato Hijikata
Steve Lipsky
Dennis Orcullo
Matt Tetrault
Mike Zuglan

GROUP DRAWS

Group 1
USA Johnny Archer
JAP Hisashi Kusano
ENG Craig Riley
USA Danny Harriman
GER Nico Wehner
USA Max Eberle
NET Kevin Becker
USA Larry Schwartz

(Results)

Group 2
GER Oliver Ortmann
USA Dennis Hatch
JAP Hayato Hijikata
USA Mike Davis
USA James Baraks
USA Carlos Vieira
CHI Lee Chenman
USA Bob Maidhof

Group 3
GER Thorsten Hohmann
USA Allen Hopkins
USA John Schmidt
AUS Jasmin Ouschan
USA Megan Minnerich
USA Ed Deska
USA Jim Gottier
CAN Tom Cacic

Group 4
USA Mike Sigel
USA Jeanette Lee
GER Ralf Souquet
USA Randy Goldwater
USA Holden Chin
USA Tim Hall
ISR Zion Zvi
USA Matt Tetrault

Group 5
FIN Mika Immonen
USA Jose Garcia
CAN Luc Salvas
GER Nico Otterman
USA Steve Lipsky
USA Tom Karabotsos
NET Gilliano Smit
GER Michael Felder

Group 6
GER Thomas Engert
USA Tony Robles
ITY Fabio Petroni
USA Pete Fusco
JAP Go Takami
USA Steve Lillis
SPA Carlos Cabello
USA Jonathan Smith

Group 7
USA Nick Varner
PHI Dennis Orcullo
FRA Stefan Cohen
USA Danny Barouty
HUN Vilmos Foldes
USA Jimmy Mataya
GER Klaus Zobrekis
USA Ryan McCreesh

Group 8
USA Bobby Hunter
USA Mike Zuglan
SPA Antonio Fazanes
USA Charlie Williams
JAP Tomoki Mekari
USA Chris Lynch
CAN Jody Matheson
USA Rolando Alavena

RELATED LINKS

AZ Promo Link

AZ Results Article

Seyberts Online Coverage and Results