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8th Annual 2008 Predator 10-Ball Championship
12 - 17 May 2008
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Raj Hundal Puts India on the Map: Historic Wins Against Archer and Appleton
India's Raj Hundal made history with his 10-7 win over 4x World Champion and 10x Player of the Year Johnny Archer of the USA at the 8th Annual Predator International 10-Ball Championship. Hundal had controlled the match from start to end and never trailed to USA's #1 ranked player. Hundal had became ill earlier in the day and was concerned if he could finish the match.
"There's a stomach virus going around and I became very ill today." said Hundal, resident of London,UK and New Dehli,India."But I've never beaten Johnny before and I was up for the challenge. Fortunately I didn't have to use the bathroom during the match!"
On his next match, Hundal faced Great Britain's World English Pool Champion Darren Appleton. Appleton had earlier in the week defeated USA' Scott Frost in a $7500 challenge match and was in deadly form. Hundal managed to take Darren out in a 10-7 decision.
Hundal moved India into the final 16 players of the event. 80 players from 22 countries have been already eliminated.
Raj eventually succumbed to USA's Jeremy Jones in the last stage of the event, but ended in a respectable 9th place finish for himself and India. A historic achievement in this star studded, and super challenging field.
See Below for More news of Championship
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Tornado Tony Triumphant!
Marcus Chamat SWE faced a red hot Tony Drago MLT for the rights to move into the finals of the Predator International 10-Ball Championship. Chamat had already eliminated heavy hitters such as Immonen, Niels Feijen, and Defending Champion Shane Van Boening. Drago the night before kncoked out in thrilling 11-10 fashion Alex Pagulayan who was looking to do a trifecta this week.
The first game Chamat made a terrific carom kick shot one rail on the 10-ball. Dragon came back the next. Chamat eventually took control at 7-4. But Drago's persistance was overwhelming and his lightning fast game continued to shell shock the Swede as he took the next 7 games in a row to win 11-7.
In the next semi-finals match, USA's lone hope Jeremy Jones faced the dangerous Francisco Bustamante of Philippines. Jones made several unforced errors while Bustamante looked at ease running out. The more methotical Jones seemed out of sync with the 30 sec shot clock and was soon overwhelmed with the barrage of offense from Francisco. Jones would succumb 11-3 .
Sunday, May 18, 2008 Predator International 10-Ball Championship: The Final Four!
"I wish I would have had a TV match earlier this week. This table plays completely different than the others. A lot slower. I couln't place my cue ball properly," commented Jones after the match.
The final match was then set with Europe vs Asia as Drago takes on Bustamante.
Tony Drago of Malta, probably the fastest pool player in the world, found himself in the biggest finals of his life against probably the world's most dangerous player, Filipino nightmare Francisco Bustamante. Drago had won one pool event, a 16 man invitational called the World Pool Masters 5 years ago, but this event, The Predator International 10-Ball Championship with a field of 96 world class pros, was on a different scale.
The first few games the nerves were showing on both players as many chances were given to each. Drgao kept the upper hand throughout to maintain a small lead early on.
Bustamante never looked comfortable, as he has been cursed over the years as bridesmaid to many events including 2nd at the World 9-Ball Championships. Francisco was not controlling the cue ball properly, had missed kicks, and missed shots way before the middle of the finals.
Drago , despite some mistakes, was still maintaing some great run outs.
Bustamante had chances to tie and take leads as he trailed 7-5, 7-6, 8-7, then tied at 8-8. Drago regained lead at 9-8, 10-8, 11-8, and then Bustamante halted the run at 11-9. Drago took the game to get on the hill at 12-9 and made two razor thin cut shots down the rail at the speed of light it seemed, knowing victory was just seconds away.
A final fist pump after receiving shape on the 10-ball, Bustamante threw in the towel before Drago could shoot the 10-ball and the two combatants embraced.
"I'm sorry to my fans for playing bad. But Drago shot well, but he's crazy! He shoots so fast...crazy! But thanks to the sponsors and Drago Promotions for this event." said the good natured Francisco.
"The money is great, but really this trophy is really what means the world to me. Beating a player like Francisco to win, that's very meaningful. I have to give myself some credit, I played well and hard to win this and beat players of this magnitude" said Drago after the match. "This is one of the most organized and well run events I've ever played in. Dragon Promotions has done a class job, and I'm happy to be playing in an event like this. I'm definitely going to be playing alot more events!"
Drago Whirlwinds Past Foes: Highlights of Day 2,3 & 4.
The top three pool powerhouse continents are still in business in the final four players of the Predator International 10-Ball Championship. Europe, Asia, and USA. From 33 Americans, 22 Europeans, and 19 Asians it has been dwindled down to the Final 16 with 5 USA, 5 Europeans, 4 Asia, 1 Canadian and 1 Mexico. That has been shaved down to the Final Four consisting of Jeremy Jones USA, Francisco Bustamante PHI, Tony Drago of Malta, and Marcus Chamat SWE.
Tony Drago #2 seed Bustamante is the only seeded player left in the event and only Filipino out of the strong contingent of seven Filipinos to survive. The European and North American forces outflanked the strong Filipinos, who had been very dominant the past year in 2007, but having a slow start in 2008.
USA's last hope resides on the shoulders of Texan Jeremy Jones. Jones, a very experienced pro with a US Open title under his belt, has been off and on the last few years in the pool circuit. He was unseeded in the event so took the long journey out to the final four. His wins included a 10-9 win over Charlie Bryant, then he defeated Louis Ulrich, Tomoki Mekari JPN, before losing to Dominguez MEX. He bounced back into the final 16 with a dominating win against Stan Tourangeau CAN. In the final 16 he faced red hot Raj Hundal of India, and then he defeated the last Canadian standing Tyler Edey. Jones will be tested in the semi-finals against the dangerous Bustamante of the Philippines next.
Tony Drago of Malta, known as the Tornado, has made a dramatic entrance into his first major international pool championship. Thus far he has gone undefeated all the way into the semi-finals and is only 2 matches away from being crowned Predator International 10-Ball Champion.
Drago started with a 10-8 win over Salvas CAN, the took out last year's runner up Cliff Joyner USA, Gareth Esprit DOM, and then Tyler Edey CAN to get into the final 16.
Once in the last 16 players of the event, the format changed to race to 11. First Drago defeated Darren Appleton GBR then he made an amazing match of former World 9-Ball Champion Alex Pagulayan PHI . Losing 10-9, Drago made a great kick shot off a Pagulayan safety and then a nice safety exchange before running the rack and then won the last game 11-10 to the cheers of his new USA fans.
"This is a class event. It's one of the most well run and well organized events I've ever played in. I've deeply enjoyed myself thus far." said Drago.
"I can't how tough this field is and how many strong players are here. And the event looks great, by far this is the best event I've seen Dragon Promotions produce in the US." said Corey Deuel.
Also keeping Europe alive is Marcus Chamat of Sweden. Chamat has had an impressive run in the event knocking out World 9-Ball Champion Mika Immonen FIN and World 10-Ball Champion Shane Van Boening. He also included Filipino pro Ramil Gallego and Derby City 9-Ball Champ Niels Feijen on his belt. This would be a great win for the Swede as his last title came in 2005 at The World Summit of Pool in New York City.
For full coverage and brackets and latest pictures goto www.predator10ball.com
Allison Fisher Defeat's Spanish #1 Alcaide: Hofstatter Crushes Tony Crosby Allison Fisher is keeping the women alive with her 10-9 win against David Alcaide of Spain. The match began with Alcaide jumping to a 2-0 lead and later 4-1 as he capitalized on Fisher's unforced errors. Slowly Fisher kept the pressure on and came back to 4-3. From there the match see sawed back and forth until Alcaide led 9-8. Both players had tremendous problems making a ball on the break.
A mistake by David allowed Fisher to run out to tie 9-9. Finally Fisher made a ball on the break and was left with the cueball almost frozen to the rail with a long off angle shot on the 2 ball. Fisher took aim in her famous snooker form and sent the 2 ball into the hole and proceeded to run the rest of the rack.
Gerda Hofstatter and close friend Kristi Carter could be seen celebrating and beating the tables like drums in triumph for Allison. "I finally made a ball on the break!" exclaimed Fisher after the match.
"Allison has as much poise and composure as any player I've ever seen. Man or woman." commented Jay Helfert.
Though Gerda Hofstatter had been beaten out of the event earlier by France's Stefan Choen, she did put another noch in her belt before she left. Gerda was trailing USA's Top 16 Pro Tony "Sniper " Crosby 3-0 when she made a dramatic momentum swing and won 10 of the next 11 games for a 10-4 victory.
"I wish I had played better in my last match against Cohen, but I did play really well against Tony." said Hofstatter.
Fisher remained the sole woman left of the six entered and defeated Dominican Champion Gareth Esprit before bowing to USA's young gun Michael Dechaine,20 years old. Fisher ended the event finishing at 25th place tie out of 96 participants.
Las Vegas, Nevada- Fans wait no longer, it is officially launched! Goto http://www.predator10ball.com/ and see all the information on event and live scoring of the matches during the 8th Annual Predator International 10-Ball Championship. Fans can also view the brackets and results of matches as well as pictures from the event and info on all the players participating.
Kozoom.com will also be live streaming the matches daily. Every round of the event will feature a TV match-up. Schedule daily will be PST 10:30am, 12:30pm, 2:30pm, 5:30 pm, 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm.
The live scoring and live stream on Kozoom.com will lead into Saturday May 17,2008 filming of the final four players for EUROSPORT.
The 8th Annual Predator International 10-Ball Championship is produced by Dragon Promotions. The event is hosted by the BCA Pool Leagues at the Riviera Hotel & Casino May 13-17,2008 and sponsored by The Predator Group, Seyberts.com, Diamond Billiard Products, Simonis Cloth, Aramith Balls, Delta-13 Rack, and Extreme Focus Sports Drink. The event matches will be covered daily by Kozoom.com
Dragon Silences the Lion: Van Boening & Reyes Fall!
Las Vegas, Nevada- Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan has had the hot hand all week in Las Vegas. First he won the World Pool Masters and $20,000 1st Place. Then he won another cool $10,000 in The Action Report Challenge against Shane Van Boening. The Filipino sensation continued onto the Predator International 10-Ball Championship as the #5 seed getting a bye and then man handled French Champion Stefan Cohen 10-5. The Lion was looking unstoppable until USA's Charlie Williams got in his way.
This is the fourth encounter Williams and Pagulayan have had professionally, with Williams winning all four times.
"G$! damn he shot good against me! He always plays good when I play him. He's got my number because I've never beaten him. Him and Souquet! Oh well, I'm still happy cause I've won alot already this week!" said the good natured Pagulayan.
" I joked to Alex after he beat Shane in the race to 100 that now he was in trouble because he had to play me again. For some reason I always play great when I play him. Perhaps because I know I have to in order to win." said Williams, who is also Co-Owner of Dragon Promotions which is producing the event. "I controlled the cueball well and didn't miss any easy shots, and the Predator Air Jump Cue saved my butt alot. But honestly Alex is the definite better player. He has impressed me so much over the years and he really lives up to his namesake, heart of a "lion". And he is just a fun and good person as well as sportsman. But I wouldn't want to play him a race to 100!"
#1 seed Shane Van Boening, the hottest cuesman in North America, looked on his way to defend his title as he was shooting the winning 10-Ball as he was up 9-7 against Mexico's Ernesto Dominguez. Unbelievably Shane missed! Dominguez then won that game and ran out the remaining two racks to seal Van Boening's doom.
"I was stunned when I saw the kid miss!" said Robin Bell, Hall of Famer and 2x Women's World Champion. She had come to support Ernesto who resides near her home in Los Angeles. "He (Van Boening) had a routine shot on the 10-ball and no one expected a miss. I don't know much about him, but someone told me he's a great player. It was an amazing match."
"I think that loss to Alex the other night has rattled Shane's cage a little. Losing when your up 23 games is pretty hard to handle for anyone I think. He's human." said one top pro.
In another anticipated match up, #22 seed John "Mr.400" Schmidt of the USA had to find a way to out mystify Filipino King of Pool, Efren "The Magician" Reyes, who was seeded #11. Previously they had only played once before with Reyes coming out on top.
Reyes took the early lead at 4-1 before giving Schmidt an opening. Schmidt then ran out and broke and ran 4 consecutive racks to lead 6-4. The games then went back and forth but Schmidt came with superb offensive shots and clever safety duels with Reyes to maintain the lead. The Kozoom.com team was filming the match and the Predator TV arena was packed, with the crowds gasping and cheering with Schmidt's gutsy shots. John eventually won the match at 10-7.
"I played really well, but man did Efren come with some ridiculous outs! I just happen to get a chance to get rolling early on and I put together those break and runs, and that's what gave me the edge till the end. It was just solid pool and a good match." said Schmidt, who earlier had dodged a bullet against Germany's young gun Nico Otterman 10-8.
Other notable matches included Mosconi Cup Brothers Marcus Chamat SWE and Mika Immonen FIN paired up. Mika drove 5-2 ahead and then saw Marcus comeback with 5 break and runs and at 8-5 Chamat's favor, Mika could not re-group.
"I'm up 5-2, next thing I know I'm at the table losing 8-5 with a tough shot. How do you deal with that?" a bewildered Immonen commented after the match.
Raj Hundal also went down in history as the first Indian poolplayer to topple a World Champion and US Open Champion as he dismantled #3 seed Johnny Archer 10-7.
Bar table legend Stan Tourangeau of Canada also stayed alive on the losers side defeating Spain's Diego Simon 10-9. USA's Gabe Owen took down #4 seed Ralf Souquet 10-7, and Niels Feijen NED won his match against Karl Boyes ENG.
Players are fighting to stay alive to the last 16 players where players will be re-seeded according to their records and then a new draw will set the final single elimination brackets on Friday night.
Complete brackets and live streaming at www.predator10ball.com
Las Vegas, Nevada- With 96 invited pros, not too many easy draws in the event. Top names already scattering the losers side include Thomas Engert GER, Ramil Gallega PHI, Warren Kiamco PHI, Christian Reimering GER, Mike Davis USA, Charlie Bryant USA, and more.
"This is one of the toughest fields I've ever seen. It's impossible to not face a top player by your second match. This might be a harder start than even the World 9-Ball Championship." said Raj Hundal, representing India for the first time in the USA.
The pro women also had a hard first day for 5 out of the 6 women playing in the Predator International 10-Ball Championships. The six women invited to play are Yu Ram Cha(Korea Champion), Yukiko Hamanishi(Japan Champion), Amalia Matas (Spanish Champion), Sarah Rousey(Top USA pro), Gerda Hofstatter(WPBA #2 from Austria), and the World's #1 Allison Fisher of Great Britain.
Sarah Rousey dropped a 10-5 match to Japan JBC #2 Goh Takami while Yu Ram Cha never got going against Aruba's Richard Wolffe 10-3. Haminishi was not enough for experienced Ernesto Dominguez of Mexico and Matas also failed in her first round attempt.
Not all was at a loss though for the women. Gerda Hofstatter might have had some extra motivation being sponsored in the event by Predator as she came back from behind 6-2 to win a close 10-8 against experienced, big time road player Chris Bartrum of the USA. Gerda moves on to face #27 seed Charlie Williams of the USA tomorrow morning. Williams and Hofstatter are both big advocates of Predator Cues.
" I respect Gerda's game. There are definitely some serious talent among the women nowadays. I won't take her lightly." says Charlie Williams, former BCA Open Champion.
Allison Fisher, being ranked #1 in the World, was the lone woman seeded in the event at #31 and received a bye. She faces Mexico's intimidating Rafael Martinez tomorrow and will be playing live on video stream on www.predator10ball.com. If she wins she will have yet a bigger challenge if Francisco Bustamante wins his match.
Finally, the match many fans and also pros been waiting for. Tony Drago versus Luc Salvas. The Tornado against The Machine Gun.
In a match that lasted only 44 minutes playing 18 games, each game averaged at 2 minutes 40 seconds per rack. In comparison, most of the other matches have taken 1.5 hours - 2 hours to play at 6-7 minutes per rack.
Salvas won the first game and then Drago went on a 6 game streak to lead 6-1. Salvas fought back hard to keep the match close but ended up succumbing 10-8 to Tony.
"I was upstairs in the Skybox practicing with Efren, and everytime we glanced down the scoreboard was changing it seemed every few moments! These guys were putting the balls and racks together so fast that you couldn't blink or you'd miss the game." said one pro.
In a moment of great sportsmanship, both players embraced each other after the match.
"It was a hard match because Luc is a great guy and we are friends." said Drago after the match. When asked if there was any additional pressure to play faster than normal to outdo the other fast shooter Dragon simply stated, "I always just play my game and speed regardless. Besides, how can I play any faster? If I played faster than this I'd miss the whole ball!"
Below are some great shots of the event courtesy of Inside Pool Magazine for full gallery go to www.insidepoolmag.com. The official photos of the entire event are at www.predator10ball.com
Eurosport To Air Predator International 10-Ball Championships!
Las Vegas, Nevada- Dragon Promotions, Kozoom.com, and The Predator Group are very pleased with the signing of EUROSPORT as the official TV network broadcasting the 8th Annual Predator International 10-Ball Championship. EUROSPORT, the #1 sports network in Europe, will be broadcasting the final three matches of the Predator Championship on Saturday May 17,2008 at the Riviera Hotel & Casino.
"This is exciting to work with such a respected network in Europe. EUROSPORT will definitely add more prestige to the event and give a larger stage that the players from around the world deserve." says Cindy Lee, CEO of Dragon Promotions. EUROSPORT will be added onto DP's impressive resume of TV network productions already including ESPN, MBC ESPN, XTM, XPORTS, and CJ Media.
Kozoom.com will be working closely with DP on TV production logistics for EUROSPORT. Kozoom.com has had extensive experience creating video and TV work for pocket and carom billiards. Kozoom.com also brought pool into the limelight in Europe bringing EUROSPORT to the Euro-Tour to further advance the growth of billiards in Europe.
"We are thrilled to be working on this project and being a part of this great team with DP and Predator. This event belongs on television and we are happy to give it a more international flair." says JP Parmentier, co-owner of Kozoom.com. Kozoom.com prior to May 17, will be airing matches live from May 13-16,2008.
The Predator Group, creators of Predator technology and the Poison Brand, will be the key sponsor and supporter of this TV project. Predator, despite the state of the US economy, has thrived and grown significantly each year, giving it the ability to invest back into the sport. Predator time and time again has proven to not only be the number one brand in cues, but one of the premiere leaders in promotions and growth in the sport.
"This is our flagship event. Dragon Promotions has raised this tournament from infancy to where we are now in Las Vegas at the biggest pool show on earth. And the field of pros attending is amazing. When we saw the opportunity to bring in EUROSPORT, we didn't hesitate. " said Karim Belhaj, CEO and Co-Owner of Predator Products.
Eurosport is the #1 Sports Network in Europe available in 54 countries and broadcasting in 20 different languages visit www.eurosport-tv.com
Skybox Seats available for the first time at Predator International 10-Ball Championship. Watch the pros play in style up high in the elite Skybox area seating. In the past, these seats were exclusive only to pro players,special guests and sponsors. This year the Skybox seating will host the pro players and sponsors as well as elite VIP ticket holders who specifically purchase tickets just for the skybox areas. Any remaining tickets can be purchased on site at the tickets sales counter near the pro arena. Buy now in advance at www.playbca.com.
The 8th Annual Predator International 10-Ball Championship is produced by Dragon Promotions. The event is hosted by the BCA Pool Leagues at the Riviera Hotel & Casino and sponsored by The Predator Group, Seyberts.com, Diamond Billiard Products, Simonis Cloth, Aramith Balls, Delta-13 Rack, and Extreme Focus Sports Drink. The event matches will be covered daily by Kozoom.com. For more info on event goto www.dragonpromotions.com
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The
match started with Williams winning the lag and jokingly said, "At least
I won the lag". The Korean Dragon then proceeded with a perfect break
squatting the cue ball in the center of the table and running out, and
then duplicating that feat again the next rack. A dry break in rack 3
gave Alex an opening to run out for a win and then a skid on the 1ball
in game 4 by Williams another win for Alex. Williams then pulled away at
3-3 and proceeded to play near perfect pool and coming with several
great jump shots recovering from Pagulayan's crafty safeties. Pagulayan
eventually succumbed to Williams barrage of offense and escapes 10-4. In
the final game Alex in joking manner tried to shark Williams and give
him the last remaining 2 balls, but Williams continued to shoot them in
ignoring Alex. Afterwards Charlie explained that if he allowed Alex to
concede Alex would have to start his next match minus 1 game as a
penalty under the rules of the International 10-Ball Championship. "Alex
is a friend and I know he missed the players meeting because he was
playing Shane, so I didn't want him to be penalized" said Williams.
