World Straight Pool Final Sixteen

Phase two is complete at the Predator World Straight Pool Championship and the field has now been narrowed to just sixteen players.

The rest of the event is single elimination and all prior losses have been forgiven.

At the time of this writing, Oliver Ortmann had already defeated Thomas Engert 200-42 and was comfortably awaiting the winner between Mika Immonen and Jasmin Ouschan.

Other matches for today are Huidji See vs Corey Deuel, Danny Harriman vs Francisco Bustamante, Ignacio Chavez vs Niels Feijen, John Schmidt vs Mike Dechaine, Ralf Souquet vs Thorsten Hohmann and Nick Van Den Berg vs Dominic Jentsch.

World Straight Pool Stage 2; Immonen, Hohmann and Deuel advance

We reported that the top four players from each group advanced into a single elimination thirty two player board. The correct progression is for the top four from each group to advance into a double elimination thirty two player board and the final sixteen players from that group will advance into a sixteen player single elimination board.

The thirty two player board will be complete by Thursday evening and Mika Immonen, Thorsten Hohmann and Corey Deuel have already advanced into the final sixteen. Marquee matches underway on the winners side at the time of this report included Dominic Jentsch vs Thomas Engert, Danny Harriman vs Francisco Bustamante and Oliver Ortmann vs Mike Dechaine.

Top players with their hopes still alive on the one loss side include Jasmin Ouschan, Danny Barouty, Mike Sigel, Ralf Souquet, Allen Hopkins and John Schmidt.

World 14.1 Enters Knock-Out Phase

Finishing off round-robin play in dominating fashion, Mika Immonen earned the top seed in the knock-out stage of the Predator World 14.1 Championship — held through Saturday at the Hilton Hotel in East Brunswick, N.J.

Going 7-0 in the group stage, Immonen ended with a combined score of 700-210 — averaging an astounding 70-point margin of victory.

Three other players also went unbeaten through the first three days of play. Nick Van den Berg of the Netherlands secured the second seed in the 32-player bracket, while countryman Niels Feijen took the No. 3 spot. Johnny Archer finished fourth overall among the 64 players by going undefeated in his group.

Straight-pool legend Mike Sigel survived what turned out to be the "group of death." Five players tied with 5-2 records in Group 2, including Thorsten Hohmann and Charlie Williams. Jonathan Fulcher was the unlucky man out, eliminated by virtue of a tiebreaker based on total points.

The World Championship will now be single-elimination until a winner is crowned on Saturday evening.

Interesting matchups in the round of 32 include Mika Immonen against Jasmin Ouschan, who advanced despite struggling to a 3-4 record in group play; rising star Mike Dechaine facing Bobby Hunter, the last American to win the world title in 1990; and Hohmann taking on Williams, who has had a number of top finishes in recent months.

2008 Predator World 14.1 Championship Group Pairings

East Brunswick, New Jersey-  Dragon Promotions announces the official group pairings for the 2008 Predator World Straight Pool Championship. The round robin stage will be held Aug 25-27, with the field narrowed to 32 in the double elimination stage races to 150 on Aug 28, and the last sixteen playing race to 200 points on Aug 29-30.

There may be last minute changes and substitutions in the schedule and the event if a player is not able to attend.
Official Group Pairings of the 2008 Predator World 14.1 Championship. Round Robin Races to 100 Points.

Group 1

Oliver Ortmann  GER
Allen Hopkins USA
Yu Ram Cha KOR
Mike Dechaine USA
Bernie Pettipiece USA
Bob Chamberlain USA
Bill Maropolous USA
Peter Burrows USA

Group 2

Thorsten Hohmann  GER
Mike Sigel USA
Jonathan Fulcher  SCO 
Charlie Williams USA
Stevie Moore USA
Jim Gottier USA
Devon Cataldi USA
Allan Cornia USA

Group 3

Huidji See NED
John Schmidt USA 
Dominic Jentsch GER
Shaun Wilkie USA
Mark Vidal SPN
Jimmy Mendoza  USA
Dan Heidrich USA USA
David Daya USA

Group 4

Danny Harriman USA
Niels Feijen  NED
Danny Barouty USA
Gerda Hofstatter AUT
Bob Maidhof USA
Chris Lynch USA
Mark Snodgrass USA
Stefan Cohen FRA

Group 5

Martin Kempter AUT
Ralf Souquet GER
Tony Robles USA
Francisco Bustamante PHI
Vincent Facquet FRA
Dan Wallace USA
Dennis Hatch USA
Jonathan Smith USA

Group 6

Thomas Engert GER
Raj Hundal  IND
Corey Deuel USA
Nick Van Denberg NED
Sebastian Staab GER
Liz Ford USA
Tom Parisian USA
Shin Young Park KOR

Group 7

Mika Immonen FIN
Bobby Hunter USA
Konstantin Stepanov RUS
Mike Davis USA
Ed Deska USA
Mark Ritter USA
Michael Yednak USA
Bob M. Cozzolino USA

Group 8

Johnny Archer USA
Jasmin Ouschan AUT
Radoslaw Babica POL
Tony Rodriguez  USA 
Calvin Coker USA
Mohammed Hakim NED 
Steve Lipsky USA
Steve Lillis USA

Fans and players can still reserve rooms at Hilton East Brunswick at 1-732-828-2000. The room code for the event is "POL"    There are still limited amount of rooms available. Tickets can be purchased in advanced at www.dragonpromotions.com or in person at the event, or at Amsterdam Billiards in NYC or Comet Billiards in NJ.

The 2008 Predator World Straight Pool Championship is proudly sponsored by Dr.Michael Fedak of NYC, Joel Schapiro of NYC, The Predator Group, Diamond Billiard Products, Aramith Balls, and Simonis Cloth. For more information on player registration, sponsorship, or if you would like to submit a comment, please email, worldstraightpoolchampionships@gmail.com or contact Dragon Promotions at 1-407-782-4978.

European Champions Emerging

The European Championships is now in mid-stride and some of the disciplines have had their champions recognized.  The Men’s 8-Ball division was won by Marcus Chamat. Chamat gave the fans a family moment when he hung his gold medal around the neck of his young son. Chamat claimed the gold by defeating Serbian Zoran Svilar 8-3.  Thorsten Hohmann was the bronze medalist in this division. It appears that the schedule of play may be somewhat tiring from the remarks of Ralf Souquet who, after his loss to Darren Appleton earlier in the day, said: “I did not even have the power anymore to be nervous; I was just finished."

The ladies 8-Ball Champion for 2008 is Sylvia Buschhueter. Ms. Buschhueter defeated Brigitte Ganze 5-2 to own her gold after a very tough final road that found her having to get past a determined Pla Vahasoyrinki which she did 5-3 to gain her berth in the finals. Her opponent there, Brigitte Ganze, had to force Birgit Reimann to settle for Bronze (5-2) in order to earn the honor of the final match.

The new Senior 8-Ball Champion is Holger Gries.  This popular German bested Manuel Pereira of Portugal 7-3 to find his gold.  Finally, Jasmin Ouschan has continued her fine play by taking, almost as expected, the gold medal in the Women’s 8-Ball division. She dusted Line Kjorsvik 7-2 in the final. We must admit to some confusion here. The European Championships has 8-Ball divisions tiled “Girls”, “Ladies”, and “Women”. What is the difference between a lady and a woman? We are not sure but for now will venture the guess that ladies are amateurs and women are pros. We will clue you in as soon as we know for sure.

Hohmann's Big Run Lands Lucasi Hybrid 14.1 Title

Thorsten "Hitman" Hohmann went undefeated through a field of all-star players at the inaugural Lucasi Hybrid Invitational Classic 14.1 Championship on Friday at Bankshot Billiards in Jacksonville, Fla.

Hohmann handily defeated his last four opponents, including Steve Moore, 150-85; then 14.1 hotshot John “Mr. 400” Schmidt, 150-51; and then dark horse Dave Grossman, 150-26.

Straight-pool devotee Mika Immonen was blazing his own trail to the final with a 99-and-out run against Charlie Williams, 150-42. He then manhandled Johnny Archer, 150-63, and destroyed Dennis Orcollo, 150-49.

The final with Hohmann was a barnburner with Immonen coming out with a 100-plus run to lead 112-3. Then Hohmann turned up the heat with an amazing 169-ball run to turn the tide, 172-112. Then both players showed some nerves under the intense pressure with a few misses. Suddenly, it was anyone's ballgame with only a few racks required for victory.

Immonen, who already had posted three runs in the event over 100, only needed 44 balls and took a swing at a dead ball in the stack. It missed. Hohmann needed only 8 balls for the win, and he sank the octet for the 200-156 final score.

Hohmann Crowned Lucasi Hybrid Straight Pool Champion

It was a European finale. Two “Men” advanced to the finals. #2 seed, Mika “The Iceman” Immonen defeated Dennis Orcollo 150 to 49, while #1 seed, Thorsten “The Hitman” Hohmann took down Jacksonville’s own Dave Grossman 150 to 26, including a high run of 123 balls. While the first round of the 10-Ball event was kicked off around them, the two athletes would now play a single set race to 200 balls for the glory.

Hohmann lost the lag and broke the opening rack. 52 balls later, Hohmann was at the table again. Attempting to hold the cue ball for the break shot, his object ball came short of the pocket after a brief run of only 3. Immonen ran 60 more balls to make it 112 to 3.

Then, Immonen over-stroked a break shot and found himself staring at table-length cut on the 14 ball. This would be his first miss. He didn’t realize how many balls it would cost him. Hohmann strung together textbook racks after racks. At 81 balls, we saw the first display of emotion from Hohmann. After bumping a ball out, he was faced with safety or a cross-side bank on the 6 ball. He took a few laps around the table and fired in the 6 and continued his run. At 113 to 112, he would find himself ahead in the match for the first time.

Topping the high run for the tournament with 167 balls, while shooting number 168, Hohmann force followed the 9 ball and tragically, the cue ball also forced through the rack and straight into the corner pocket. Immonen ran another 23 balls and both players were beginning to look a little fatigued. After some routine safety play from both players and back and forth intentional fouls, Immonen would let Hohmann return to the table one last time to pocket the 8 final balls to victory. Final score 200 to 156.

Hohmann wins Lucasi 14.1 Event

Thorsten Hohmann has won the Lucasi Hybrid Invitational Classic 14.1 event.

Hohmann was relatively untested in the early stages of the event and cleared his first three matches with a bye followed by dominating wins over David Broxson and Tommy Najar. Those three wins earned him his spot in the final sixteen redraw.

A 150-85 win over Stevie Moore was followed by a 150-51 win over John Schmidt. David Grossman was next to fall to Hohmann, by the score of 150-26.

Hohmann's opponent in the finals, was a man not unfamilar with the game of straight pool, Mika Immonen.

The final race to 200 match saw Immonen come out of the gate strong and put together two 50 ball runs on his way to an early 112-3 lead. But 14.1 is all about long runs, and Hohmann took control with a 167 ball run of his own.

Both players tightened up a little as they neared the finish line, but in the end it was Hohmann with a 200-156 win and first place in the event.

Hohmann earned $2500 for first place, while Immonen settled for $1250. Dennis Orcollo and David Grossman tied for 3rd and pocketed $800 each.