Van Boening wins $20K Challenge Match

SVB outshoots Pagulayan 30-17 on Final Night

During the early going, American 10-ball hero Shane Van Boening seemed stuck in low gear. Facing Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan in a three-day race-to-100 marathon last weekend, the wiry pool shark from Rapid City, South Dakota would put together two racks in succession here, three racks there. And the misses were aplenty.

SVB outscored Pagulayan on Friday thanks only to dramatic 7-pack at the very end of the night. On Saturday SBV won one game fewer than Pagulayan.

"He's weak. He's broken down," commentator Billy Incardona noted of the South Dakota Kid's early performance.

But all that changed Sunday, the last day of the much anticipated Action Report challenge match, when the man many believe to be America's greatest 10-ball player suddenly found his groove. Van Boening buried opponent Pagulayan beneath a torrent of pocketed balls on his way to what suddenly became an easy victory.

Final score after three days: Shane Van Boening: 100. Alex Pagulayan 84.

For his effort in the two-man ActionReport.com tournament, Shane Van Boening goes home with $20,000. Pagulayan goes home empty-handed. Both players put up a $10,000 entry fee. The event was streamed over the Internet from Las Vegas.

What had began as a trickle ended in a flood.

Pagulayan, a former U.S. Open nine-ball champion, Canadian snooker champion and World Pool Masters champion, is a dangerous opponent who beat Van Boening during an earlier Action Report challenge match. The first two nights of the rivals' latest confrontation where characterized by exchanges of safeties. Bothh players also appeared flummoxed by the extra-tight table pockets.

Van Boening, also a former U.S. nine-ball champion, committed several unforced errors during those first nights, and maintained a slim lead thanks only to his thunderous break and a big 7-pack on Friday. But he immediately won the first half dozen games Sunday, and then never let up. Pagulayan was stuck in his chair for most of the night.

In all, SVB outscored Pagulayan 30-17 during the final night of the event.  He played quick, and played aggressive. His famous break smashed open the balls so thoroughly that those that weren't pocketed immediately ended up spaced on the table as if he had positioned them by hand.

"He blew him out tonight," Justin Collett, the event promoter, said of SVB's performance Sunday night.

The Action Report has sponsored similar challenge matches over the last several years, including those pitting Van Boening against 9-ball legend Earl Strickland and Van Boening against two-time U.S. Open champion Mika Immonen.

The outcome Sunday corresponded closely with fan predictions at the poolhistory.com Facebook page. By an 8-1 margin, fans predicted Van Boening would come out on top. The average margin of victory for Van Boening, among those predicting he would ultimately prevail, was 17.24 games. The actual margin of victory was 16 games.

-- R.A. Dyer

Bi Zhu Qing Surprise Winner of Women's World 9-Ball Championship in China

BY TED LERNER

Story Courtesy World Pool Billiard Association

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MY147.COM

SHENYANG, CHINA -- Bi Zhu Qing stands no more than 4’11”. But Sunday night in Shenyang, this tiny woman became a giant of women’s pool and a sporting hero in the most populace nation on earth. This after the relatively unknown from Beijing defeated world number 2 and heavy favorite Chen Siming 9-7 to capture the 2011 Women’s World 9-ball Championship.

Bi’s title win capped an incredible day for the 23 year old.  Up until Sunday, she was mostly unknown beyond her professional peers in China, where the women’s game is wildly popular and its top players are legitimate stars.  She is ranked number 7 in China and 81^st worldwide and had never won any pool tournaments of note.  

That all changed on the last day of the Women's World 9-Ball Championship in this northeastern city of 7 million people. After she quietly worked her way through the field at the Liaoning Hunnan Sports Training Arena beginning Thursday, Bi shocked defending champion and world number one Fu Xiaofang in Sunday’s semi-final, 9-6.  Playing the role of underdog perfectly, Bi played seemingly without a care in the world, while the pressure of stardom and expectation appeared at times to get to Fu.

“I’m very happy, very excited,” Bi said afterward as a throng of media snapped the new champion’s picture. “That’s the best I ever played. Fu and Chen are great players and to beat them both in one day makes me proud. I was more nervous during the finals than in the semi-finals but I wanted to do my best because this was my chanced to achieve my dream. So I tried to relax.”

Chen hardly seemed disappointed as she joked with Bi in the media room afterwards and posed for photos. She realized that she hadn’t played her best and, with a gracious manner typical of all the Chinese women pool players, gave full credit for the win to Bi.

“The first three racks I played well,” Chen said. “But after that, Bi played better than me. I’m happy for her.”

Bi won $30,000 while Chen took home $15,000. 

The World Pool Association (WPA) is the world governing body of pool. The 2011 Women's World 9-ball Championship is being sponsored by Chevrolet Automakers. Star  is the official pool table, while Andy is the official table cloth. The event is sanctioned by the WPA  and the Chinese Billiard and Snooker Association, (CBSA).

Van Boening retains razor thin lead

After 10 hours, Pagulayan picks up a single game

After running neck and neck with opponent Alex Pagulayan, American Shane Van Boening regained a razor thin lead in the The Action Report's winner-take-all challenge match underway this weekend in Las Vegas.

The score now stands at 70-67, Van Boening's favor. The competitors finished up the second night's set at about 3:30 a.m. Central Standard Time, after more than 10 hours of grueling play. The 10-ball marathon concludes tonight, with victory going to the first player to notch 100 victories.

But getting to 100 will be tough.  Van Boening appears almost equally matched with Pagulayan, with the lead see-sawing back and forth Saturday night and into Sunday morning. Van Boening began the night four games ahead, and ended it only three games ahead. The score was completely tied on several occasions Saturday.

Pagulayan's greatest barrage came late in the session, and concluded with a long-rail combo that opened a 66-61 lead, the largest margin of the evening. But Van Boening grinded back, eventually tied the score and then finishing out the evening on top. It appeared that Van Boening made more unforced errors throughout the evening, but was carried through by the power of his thunderous break.

Play resumes tonight at 6:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, with the winner pocketing $20,000 and second place going home broke. Both players paid a $10,000 "entry fee" to compete in the two-man tournament.

The pay-per-view event is sponsored by The Action Report, which earlier streamed similar challenge matches featuring Earl Strickland and Mika Immonen. Participants of an informal poll on the poolhistory.com Facebook page picked Van Boening as the heavy favorite to win the event. You can also pick a winner at the separate poll, listed on the right-hand panel of this page.

-- R.A. Dyer

ALL CHINESE SEMI-FINALS AT THE 2011 WOMEN'S WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP

 BY TED LERNER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MY147.COM

STORY COURTESY WORLD POOL ASSOCIATION

World number two Chen Siming

SHENYANG, CHINA --The semi-final cast is set at the 2011 Women’s World 9-ball Championship in Shenyang, and, in what is essentially a shot across the bow to the wider world of women’s pool, all four players hail from China.

The young and fiercely talented freight train that is women’s pool in China has been building momentum all week, and it rampaged right through the field straight through to Saturday night. The last foreigner standing, Lin Yuan Chun of Taiwan, went down to defeat at the hands of 23 year old Bi Zhu Qing in the second quarter final  at the Liaoning Hunnan Sports Training Arena, guaranteeing with still a day to go that the women’s world title will stay in China for the third year in a row. The incredible feat clearly stamped China’s virtual ownership of the women’s game.

The first semi-final on Sunday will feature world number one and defending champion Fu Xiao Fang, who will play Bi in a race to 9. The second semi-final will see world number two, Chen Siming take on fellow Chinese Han Yu. Both Fu and Chen are favored in their matches.

The 23-year-old Fu has played like the favorite all week but she very nearly stumbled out of the event in the first quarter final this afternoon, a marquee battle against China’s “Queen of 9-ball,” Pan Xiaoting. While her popularity certainly hasn’t waned, Pan has, over the last few years, taken a back seat in terms of victories as she’s toiled overseas, while at the same time the floodgates have opened to scores of much younger talent like Fu, Chen, and others.

Against Korea’s Ga Young Kim in the round of 16 earlier on Sunday, Pan played quality pool throughout the match and, despite nearly blowing a three-rack lead right at the end, she said afterward she felt satisfied that her game seemed to be on the rise. It was, she said, the result of her rededicating herself to practice so she could reestablish herself as the best woman player in China.

Pan always draws rabid fans whenever she plays and the match against Fu was no exception. Fans showed up with homemade signs that they hung on the metal railings urging Pan on, while others clutched  large posters showing their love of the diminutive star. 

World number one and defending champion Fu Xiao Fang

Fu jumped out to a 2-0 and looked tough in the early going. The defending champion has a quiet but feisty demeanor and backs it up with quality shot making and excellent cue ball control. Even when she loses position, she often manages to recover.

The match stayed tight throughout but Fu always seemed to have an answer every time Pan came knocking. Then up 8-5 and at the table, Fu missed a makeable 4 ball, which led to Pan’s supporters letting out a round of applause. Pan cleared to make it 8-6, then broke and ran to move to 8-7.

In the next rack Fu missed a makeable 2 bringing another round of applause from the crowd. Fu appeared rattled by the odd reaction from the normally polite Chinese crowd. And ominously for her, Pan had found her game just in time and the match soon went to a one rack decider.   

In the last rack Pan broke but had to push out, and left a long one for Fu, which she potted. With palpable tension swirling in the arena, Fu worked the rack down to the final two balls. She took on a risky cut on the eight ball in the side and made it, then pocketed a difficult blind cut on the 9 for a gutsy win over a Chinese sporting legend.

“Yes, I felt nervous today,” Fu said afterward. “I know Pan when I was a kid and just starting out. I’m honored to play her. But I didn’t really notice the audience. I’m just thinking about how to play the game better.”

Fu will now play Bi Zhu Qing in Sunday’s first semi-final. The 23-year-old Bi, who started her career as a snooker player, made a nice fight back against Taiwan’s Lin, the 2008 world champion. Lin raced out to a 4-1 lead and held on to the advantage until the tiny Bi tied it at 5. Bi took control from there, helped along by an array of misses from Lin and won the match 9-7.

The semi-finals and finals will take place Sunday the Liaoning Hunnan Sports Training Arena. The total prize fund for the 2011 Women’s World 9-Ball Championship is $150,000 with $30,000 going to the winner on Sunday.

The WPA will be providing full coverage of all the action at the 2011 Women’s World 9-ball Championship. Fans around the world can follow matches as they happen via our live scoring platform. The live scoring button can be seen on the front page of the WPA’s website, www.wpa-pool.com.

For updated brackets please CLICK HERE

The World Pool Association(WPA) is the world governing body of pool. The 2011 Women's World 9-ball Championship is being sponsored by Chevrolet Automakers. Star  is the official pool table, while Andy is the official table cloth. The event is sanctioned by the WPA  and the Chinese Billiard and Snooker Association, (CBSA).

Van Boening takes lead in Challenge Match

But "The Lion" Pagulayan led during much of the first night action

After struggling for much of the night, American pool star Shane Van Boening dramatically ran seven racks straight to take a 35-31 lead during the first night of his challenge match with Alex "The Lion" Paguluyan in Las Vegas.

Van Boening -- or SVB as he's known to many fans -- continues the winner-take-all 10-ball contest with Pagulayan tonight. Both players have put up $10,000. The winner goes home with $20,000. The loser goes home busted.

Van Boening looked off his game for much of the night, missing several shots and making position errors on others. On several occasions he failed to run out with just a ball or two left.

For a long stretch Van Boening trailed the steady-playing Pagulayan by about five games, and he seemed utterly incapable of closing the gap.  "He's weak. He's broken down. The (tight) pockets are stopping his barrages," commentator Billy Incardona noted about halfway through the grueling 7 hours of play Friday night.

But then Van Boening, trailing 31-28, came roaring back, stringing together a 7-pack to finish out the set. "Damdest thing I ever saw," said event promoter Justin Collett.

Play resumes tonight at 6:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, and ends when one of the competitors wins 70 games. The race-to-100 event finishes Sunday. The pay-per-view event is sponsored by The Action Report, which earlier streamed similar challenge matches featuring Earl Strickland and Mika Immonen. You can find out more here.

Participants of an informal poll on the poolhistory.com Facebook page picked Van Boening as the heavy favorite to win the event. You can also pick a winner at the separate poll, listed on the right-hand panel of this page.


-- R.A. Dyer

World 9-Ball Update

Resurgent Pan Xiaoting in Quarterfinals

BY TED LERNER
Photos by my147.com

(Courtesy World Pool Association)

SHENYANG, CHINA-- Chinese superstar Pan Xiaoting moved into the quarterfinals of the 2011 Women’s World 9-ball Championship today after holding off world number 3 Ga Young Kim in a 9-8 thriller.

The gritty win by the 29-year-old Pan, known throughout China as the “Queen of 9-ball,” moves the Chinese superstar into a marquee nationally-televised matchup later on Saturday against defending champion Fu Xiaofang in the first race to 9, alternate break quarter final  at the Liaoning Hunnan Sports Training Arena in the northeastern city of Shenyang.

Pan Xiaoting

Pan’s last rack heroics capped an incredible surge for the home side on Saturday during the round of 16, as the tournament has become nearly an all-China affair with seven out of the eight spots in the quarterfinals of this year’s championship now belonging to players from China.

Pan’s win at the 2007 World 9-ball championship in Taiwan was the first ever by a player from China. She then set off for the US where she carved out a successful niche for herself. At the same time, Pan’s looks, fashion sense and pleasant demeanor fit perfectly with the tastes of the Chinese public. She is a huge star in every sense of the word here, always followed by throngs of fans and media wanting a photo or autograph.

Pan Xiaoting

But while Pan is one of China’s most popular sporting personalities, the massive wave of talent in the likes of Liu Shahsha, Fu Xiaofang,  Siming Chen and others has led to whispers that she has lost a step in the last few years.  Pan said she has indeed heard the gossip and said it has motivated her to step up her game in the last year.

“In recent years I only played in other countries,” Pan said as a throng of media besieged her. “But now there are many new billiard players coming up. Their skills have improved rapidly. This has motivated me to practice more and this is what I’m doing now because I want to show that I’m still capable of being on top of the game.”

None of Pan’s fellow players are going to lie down for the superstar, however. Pan’s quarterfinals opponent Fu looked as solid as ever as she mowed down fellow Chinese Ren Qiuye, 9-4. 2009 world 9-ball champion Liu steamrolled 16 year old Gao Meng, 9-1, a day after Gao had given the boot to Korean’s Yu Ram Cha.  And 17-year-old sensation Siming Chen outlasted Taiwan’s talented Chou  Chei Yu, 9-6.

USA's Monica Web Eliminated

The two non-Asian players remaining in the final 16 will long be ruing what might have been. The USA’s Monica Webb trailed 5-2 to China’s Han Yu then fought back to finally jump ahead at 7-6. Webb had a clear path to the hill with just two balls left on the table but lost position on the 8. The resulting kick out left the table open and Han cleared to leave a one rack decider. In the final rack Webb fouled on the 1 ball which allowed Han to clear the rack and grab the win.

Canada’s Brittany Bryant also saw a sure win slip through her grasp against China’s Zhou Doudou. Up 8-6 Bryant had the match in hand only to commit several basic errors that allowed Zhou back in the contest. Bryant ended losing the match, 9-8. 

The only player not from China to make it into the quarterfinals, Taiwan’s Lin Yuan Chun, looked very tough in her round of 16 match, as she blanked China’s Wu Jing, 9-0.  Lin now faces the daunting prospect of being the only player to have a chance to stop the China freight train in this year’s world championship. Lin faces China Bi Zhu Qing, who took down Japan’s Chichiro Kawahara, 9-6.

 The four quarterfinal matchups will all be played on the TV table on Saturday beginning at 2 pm local time (GMT +8).

2PM: Fu XiaoFang(CHN) vs. Pan Xiaoting(CHN)
4PM: Lin Yuan Chun(TPE) vs. Bi Zhu Qing(CHN)
6PM: Liu Sha Sha(CHN) vs. Han Yu(CHN)
8PM: Zhou Doudou(CHN) vs. Chen Siming(CHN)

The semi-finals and finals will take place Sunday the Liaoning Hunnan Sports Training Arena. The total prize fund for the 2011 Women’s World 9-Ball Championship is $150,000 with $30,000 going to the winner on Sunday.

The WPA will be providing full coverage of all the action at the 2011 Women’s World 9-ball Championship. Fans around the world can follow matches as they happen via our live scoring platform. The live scoring button can be seen on the front page of the WPA’s website, www.wpa-pool.com . There you can also see the brackets icon which will give you updated standings from each group and the knockout stage.

In addition,  the WPA  will be providing insights and analysis with articles posted several times daily on the WPA home page. Fans can also follow the action via the WPA Twitter page, providing fans with instant updates, insights and scores  as they happen. The WPA’s  Twitter user name is @poolwpa. You can go directly to our Twitter page at, http://twitter.com/poolwpa.

For updated brackets please CLICK HERE

The World Pool Association(WPA) is the world governing body of pool. The 2011 Women's World 9-ball Championship is being sponsored by Chevrolet Automakers. Star  is the official pool table, while Andy is the official table cloth. The event is sanctioned by the WPA  and the Chinese Billiard and Snooker Association, (CBSA).

Readers favor Van Boening over Pagulayan in 100-game winner-take-all match

The race-to-100 challenge match between Shane Van Boening and Alex Pagulayan gets underway this weekend in Las Vegas. Each of the players has put up $10,000. First place pays $20,000. Second place pays zilch.

An informal poll I conducted today on the Pool History Facebook Page finds Shane favored by a more than 8 to 1 margin, or by nearly 90 percent of all respondents. One bold pool fan even predicted Shane wins by 37 games.  The average margin of victory for Shane, among those predicting he ultimately prevails, was 17.24 games. The average margin of victory for Alex, among those calling the three-day challenge for him, was 10.33 games.

I think that folks may be taking Alex too lightly. The young Filipino has won just about everything there is to win. He is a dangerous competitor. Shane also was beaten rather soundly at 10-ball by Earl Strickland, in a similar challenge match last March.

That said, I did watch Shane beat Alex during three consecutive nights in the Derby City action room, back in 2008. Shane also rolled over Mika Immonen in a separate challenge match held last year in New York.

These great challenge matches are sponsored by Justin Collett and theactionreport.com.

-- R.A. Dyer

KNOCKOUT STAGES BEGIN AT THE WOMEN'S WORLD 9-BALL CHAMPIONSHIP

32 Players Remain in China tournament

BY TED LERNER
Photos by Alison Chang
(Courtesy World Pool-Billiard Association)

Japan’s top player, Chichiro Kawahara.

SHENYANG, CHINA -- For some pool players, like defending champion Fu Xiaofang of China, Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan, and Korea’s Ga Young Kim, the only satisfaction to be found in Shenyang this week at the 2011 Women’s World 9-ball Championship will be inside the winner’s circle on Sunday. For others, like the Netherland’s Tamara Peeters-Rademakers, or Belgium’s 15 year old Kamila Khodjaeva,  just getting through to the knockout stage in a world championship might be considered victory in itself.

Which is why even though perhaps no more than 15 players in the field of 64 can be considered serious contenders for the title, there was still plenty of emotions and nervy drama on display inside the Liaoning Hunnan Sports Training Arena on day 2 of the 2011 Women’s World 9-ball Championship on Friday. It was the Day of Reckoning as the field was reduced to 32 players and the knockout stages were set to begin.    

Fu Xiaofang of China

The second day in Shenyang began with players on the winners’ side of each group going head to head for a spot in the final 32. World number one and defending champion Fu Xiaofang locked horns with the USA’s Monica Webb before prevailing 7-5. China’s 2009 World 9-ball champion Lui ShaSha and compatriot Chen Siming, who’s just 17 years old, both looked in solid form as they cruised to convincing wins. And China’s First Lady of 9-ball, Pan Xiaoting, made it through to the knockout stage with a stingy 7-6 win over Korea’s Lim Yun Mi.

In other action: the Philippines top female player, Rubilen Amit, stomped Venezuela’s Carly Sanchez, 7-2; and Canada’s Brittany Bryant (who admits she hasn’t played her best)  beat China’s Zheng Xiaochun 7-5 for two straight and  a spot on the big stage.

Not everything went according to the script, however, as several of pool’s  stars unexpectedly found themselves on the verge of elimination. Korea’s two big names Ga Young Kim and Yu Ram Cha both dropped to the losers side with 7-6 defeats. Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan also lost in the morning session and was sent to left side of her bracket for one last chance. 

The 2011 Women’s World 9-ball Championship now moves onto the 32 player single elimination knockout stages, which begin Friday evening, where the field will be reduced to the final 16.  

The total prize fund for the 2011 Women’s World 9-Ball Championship is $150,000 with $30,000 going to the winner on Sunday.

The WPA will be providing full coverage of all the action at the 2011 Women’s World 9-ball Championship. Fans around the world can follow matches as they happen via our live scoring platform. The live scoring button can be seen on the front page of the WPA’s website, www.wpa-pool.com . There you can also see the brackets icon which will give you updated standings from each group and the knockout stage.

In addition,  the WPA  will be providing insights and analysis with articles posted several times daily on the WPA home page. Fans can also follow the action via the WPA Twitter page, providing fans with instant updates, insights and scores  as they happen. The WPA’s  Twitter user name is @poolwpa. You can go directly to our Twitter page at, http://twitter.com/poolwpa.

PoolSynergy22: Ten Important Dead Guys

George Jansco, left, and brother Paulie, right, seen here with 1993 Hall of Fame inductee Eddie Taylor. Why aren't George and Paulie in the Hall of Fame?

The newest inductees into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame were announced last week by the United States Billiard Media Association. Kudos to Danny DiLiberto and Ralf Souquet. The official induction ceremony will be held Oct. 20, during the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship in Chesapeake.

Hall of Fame induction can mark the culmination of a grand career. Past winners include Johnny Archer, Alison Fisher, Willie Mosconi, Ralph Greenleaf and the great Willie Hoppe.  The most important promoters of the game, such as American Poolplayers Association founders Larry Hubbart and Terry Bell, have also gained entry. But several important personalities have been skipped over through the years — some because of BCA rules, others because they were active so long ago that they have been nearly forgotten.

For this edition of Pool Synergy, I've listed 10 dead guys who are not in the Hall of Fame but should be.  I've limited this list to the dearly departed, although there are plenty of folks among the living who deserve induction. I'd like to thank Mike Shamos, the great Billiards Digest historian, for help with the list. The players and promoters are listed in alphabetical order, not by order of importance.

1. Bennie Allen (1890-1953)

Allen was the U.S. 14.1 champion in 1913, 1914 and 1915. In 1950, he became he first U.S. National Snooker champion. Allen is the only three-time winner of the national 14.1 title who remains outside into the Hall of Fame.

2. Steve Cook (1946-2003)

Cook was the all-around champion in 1970 of the Las Vegas Stardust Open, then the richest tournament in pool.  Cook already has been inducted into the One-pocket Hall of Fame. However, he has been kept out of the BCA Hall of Fame because he has not won a BCA recognized world or national title, which is required for BCA induction.

3. Maurice Daly (1849-1932)

Daly was the U.S. 4-ball champion in 1873, the carom champion in 1873 and 1875 and the World cushion caroms champion in 1883.  Incredibly, he also was the teacher of Willie Hoppe and the author of Daly’s Billiard Book, which at one time was America's best-selling sports book. 

Rags: Best 1-Pocket Player Ever?

4. Johnny "Rags" Fitzpatrick (1918-1960)

One of my personal favorites, Fitzpatrick was best known as a 1-pocket player, but possessed great skill at the other games. Some believe Fitzpatrick to have been America's best-ever one-pocket players. He was inducted into the One-Pocket Hall of Fame in 2006.

5. Allen Gilbert (1939-2006)

Gilbert, who resided in Los Angeles, won the United States National 3-Cushion Billiard Championship on seven occasions. He was also the author of Systematic Billiards and a respected billiards instructor.

6. Thomas Hueston (Unknown-1940s)

Hueston won multiple championships in continuous pool (a precursor of straight pool), in straight pool and in three-cushion billiards. Hueston held both the pool and three-cushion titles at the same time.

7 & 8. George & Paulie Jansco (1915-1969, 1918-1997)

The Janscos created the famous Johnston City Tournaments, which helped transform pool into what it is today. They also created the Stardust Tournaments in Las Vegas. The Janscos were inducted into the One-Pocket Hall of Fame in 2007.

9. Jerome Keogh (1873-1953)

Keogh won the continuous pool championship many times over — but more importantly, he was the actual inventor of straight pool. How many people can make such a claim? It's incredible that Keogh has not yet been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

10. Don Willis (1909-1984)

Willis was remembered as one of America's finest hustlers and a great friend and road partner to Wimpy Lassiter. Willis was a great 9-ball player, but he always avoided tournaments.

About PoolSynergy
PoolSynergy is an online collaborative effort by pool and billiard bloggers, in which each agrees to write about a single theme. To read a list of the other fine contributions this month, check out Sam Diep Vidal's excellent Pool Tip Jar blog, which you can find here.  If you have a question or a suggested topic for the PoolSynergy project, please send it to R.A. Dyer, care of this email address. 

BCA: Souquet, DiLiberto inducted into HOF

(Press release from the Billiard Congress of America)

Broomfield, Colo., Aug. 12, 2011 — Versatility and longevity are the common threads that bind 2011 Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame inductees Ralf Souquet and Danny DiLiberto, who earned election into pool’s hallowed halls in voting conducted by the United States Billiard Media Association. Souquet, 42, and DiLiberto, 76, will be formally inducted into Greatest Player wing of the BCA Hall of Fame on Oct. 20 during ceremonies at the Chesapeake Marriott in Chesapeake, Va.

Souquet, born in Eschweiler, Germany, has been a dominant player in Europe for more than 25 years, having won more than 40 German titles and 34 European Championship medals. But his record is nearly as impressive in top U.S. and international events. “The Kaiser,” as Souquet is known, boasts world titles in both 9-ball (1996) and 8-ball (2004), a gold medal in 9-ball at the 2009 World Games, and is a four-time winner of the World Pool Masters. On American soil, Souquet owns a BCA U.S. Open 14.1 Championship crown (2000), a U.S. Open 9-Ball title (2002), a pair of BCA Open 9-Ball Championship titles, and has won the Derby City 9-ball crown three times.

“This is great news!” said Souquet, who had finished second in Hall of Fame voting to Francisco Bustamante in 2010. “It’s a great honor. When you talk about the greatest players, like Archer and Strickland and Varner, they’re all in the Hall of Fame. Being mentioned in the same list with those names is a great achievement.”

Souquet becomes the seventh foreign-born player inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame.

“I’m also proud to be the first European male player in the Hall of Fame,” Souquet added. “I think it’s probably harder for a foreign player to be voted in, but it’s nice that the American pool community believes that my overall game and approach to the sport has been positive. I must have done something right.”

Born in Buffalo, N.Y., DiLiberto chose billiards ahead of boxing, bowling and baseball, all sports at which the multi-talented athlete excelled. In fact, DiLiberto boxed professionally and was undefeated as a professional fighter. Under the tutelage of famed trainer Angelo Dundee, and boxing under the name Danny Toriani, DiLiberto posted a 14-0-2 record, with 12 knockouts in the late ’50s, until his oft-injured hands forced him to retire from the ring.

Boxing’s loss was billiards’ gain, as the colorful DiLiberto spent nearly 30 years near the top of the game. DiLiberto won numerous national-class tournaments in the ’60s, but was at his peak in the 1970s when 14.1 was the game of champions in the pool world. After falling in the title match of the prestigious BCA U.S. Open 14.1 championship in both 1968 (to Joe Balsis) and 1972 (to Steve Mizerak), DiLiberto won the straight pool division at the 1972 Johnston City World All-Around Championships. DiLiberto then went on to defeat 9-ball division champ Billy Incardona and one- pocket division winner Larry “Boston Shorty” Johnson in a three-man playoff to earn the Johnston City All-Around crown.

DiLiberto’s versatility at the table shown through in the ’80s when he defeated Nick Varner in the title match to win the 1981 BCA National 8-Ball Championship, then won the ’83 World One- Pocket title and the 1984 Classic Cup 9-Ball crown, giving him a major national title in the four major pool disciplines.

“I’m really choked up,” DiLiberto said after being informed of the honor. “I really thought the Hall of Fame would wait until I was dead to vote for me. It’s truly an honor. This makes my day, my month, my year!”

Voting was conducted by the USBMA Hall of Fame Board, which consists of USBMA members, elected At-Large members and living members of the BCA Hall of Fame. Induction in the Greatest Players category is awarded to the player named on the most ballots. A second player is elected if both players are named on more than 70 percent of the ballots. Souquet was named on 65 percent of the ballots. Karen Corr received votes on 56 percent of the ballots. No other eligible player was named on more than 25 percent of the ballots. To be eligible for consideration in the Greatest Player category, a player a) must be 40 years old by Jan. 1 of the year of their induction; b) must have a professional playing career of at least 10 years; and c) must have recorded significant achievements in U.S.-based events.

DiLiberto is the first player elected to the Greatest Player wing of the BCA Hall of Fame through recommendation of the Veterans Committee. The Veterans Committee, a committee elected by the USBMA, reviews the resumes of mid-20th century players unlikely to win election against contemporary stars, and players who failed to be elected through the general Greatest Players elections prior to turning 60 years of age. A player recommended by the Veterans Committee to the Hall of Fame Board must receive a simple majority of “Yes” votes from the board for election.

About Billiard Congress of America
Founded in 1948, the Billiard Congress of America is a non-profit trade organization dedicated to growing a united, prosperous and highly regarded billiard industry through BCA leadership. The BCA seeks to enhance the success of its members and promote the game of billiards though educational, marketing and promotional efforts, annual industry trade shows and other programs designed to encourage billiards as a lifestyle and make pool everybody’s game.