USBA Officers Wins 4th Consecutive President USBA National Championship Jim Shovak By USBA Staff East Islip, NY his year’s USBA Nationals was held at Paris Bida (Bida means Billiards in Vietnamese) 516-238-6193 in Houston, Texas. We were welcomed to the room and treated very well throughout Tthe tournament. The tournament was played on 8 Gabriels tables covered with New Secretary Simonis cloth and played with Aramith balls. Tom Paley Preliminaries started with six groups of seven players each, playing round robin format of 25- Fenton, MO point games. The top three from each group advanced and the two best fourth-place finishers 636-861-3437 moved on as well. Twenty players were then put into four Treasurer groups of five and the top two from each group Merrill Hughes advanced to the final eight. These games were Huntington Station, NY 30-point games. 631-338-9698 The final eight consisted of three players from New York: Sonny Cho, Miguel Torres Steve Andersen and Hugo Patino; the first female in a Nation- Wyoming, MI als, Mercedes Gonzales from Florida; Pedro 616-530-8665 Piedrabuena from San Diego; from Boston; Jae Cho from Colorado and the Ricardo Carranco hometown favorite and regular at Paris Bida, Los Angeles, CA Duc Dao. 323-490-8075 The finals were 40-point games watched by many on Saturday and Sunday. Pedro Piedrabuena came into the tournament with 3 consecutive National titles under his belt and Victor Cuzzi three previous titles. Sonny Cho, Miguel Torres, Mazin Shooni Hugo Patino and Jae Cho all Miami, FL have previously been National Champions. With Mercedes Gonzales playing well and in her 786-366-7293 first Final Eight as well as the local player, Duc Dao, it made for a very interesting final two days. Pedro went on to win his 4th consecutive National Championship (7th overall) as he de- Pedro Piedrabuena feated Hugo Patino in the final game 40 – 29. Hugo finishes 2nd and Sonny Cho third. Pedro San Diego, CA also had the tournament high run of 14 and best game of 40-points in 8-innings. 213-458-3950 A big thank you to Paul (Professor-Q-Ball) for all his time and hard work setting up the tour- nament; Charles Brown and Merrill Hughes, the tournament directors who put in many hours; Mazin Shooni Yura Ra for setting up the tables and Paris Bida and their staff for being excellent hosts. Also, to Nashua, NH all the scorekeepers who volunteered their time in the finals. 248-910-4466 It was a great 5 days of billiards and the USBA would like to thank all involved for helping to make this a successful 2014 National Tournament. James Watson Final match was recorded and can be seen at Professor-Q-Ball’s website at www.profes- Bronx, NY sorqball.com as well as www.usba.net 347 255-4330 The Total Prize Fund is $18,750. 1st Place=$4000 2nd Place=$3000 3rd Place=$2000 4th Place=$1750 5th Place=$1500 6th Place=$1300 7th Place=$1100 8th Place=$1000 9th-12th=$325 each

26 PQB June/July President’s Desk: 13th-16th=$225 each 17th-20th=$125 each The 2014 High Run = $200 Best Game = $200 Nationals Complete results & charts for the prelims, semi-finals and final rounds can be found at the was a huge USBA website at www.usba.net success. The USBA wishes to thank all of our sponsors without whose generous support successful Players in Houston events like this would not be possible: were thrilled Gabriels - Official Table Sponsor Simonis - Official Cloth Sponsor to have the Aramith - Official Sponsor Tiger Products - Official Cues and Tips Sponsor top players in the country Professor-Q-Ball - Paul Frankel, Proprietor Bob Jewett-David Levine converge at Paris Bida for the Congratulations to all the players and to our repeat champion Pedro Piedrabuena. ultimate competition of the year. Our table sponsor, Gabriels, was thrilled to see the Nationals being played on 8 Gabriels tables covered with Simonis 300 rapide billiard cloth donated by Simonis along with brand new Super Aramith Pro Cup billiard balls. Tiger also did its part by do- nating 2 beautiful high end Tiger Cues and lots of extra goodies such as tips and shaft cleaners. Our sponsors came through big time. Thank you! Piedrabuena once again showed why he has been the Champion for the past 4 years, averaging almost 1.900 in the finals with an 8 inning game of 40 points, shattering records with a 5.000 average. He may very well be the next who won the Na- tionals 12 years in a row from 1990-2001. Will the other top players step up their game and break his string? That remains to be seen. There are 4 big events coming up. First, in July, right before the big event at Carom Café, celebrating the 10th an- niversary of Sang Lee’s passing, is a clinic and small tourna- ment at Amazin Billiards in Malden, MA featuring World Champion . Then the big Sang Lee event. Right after that, Million Dollar Bil- liards in North Hollywood, CA is having a tournament featuring World Champion Frederic Caudron. In August, a USBA Open TOUR Event in Houston at US Billiards. Keep up-to-date by visiting Left to right Charles Brown (Tournament Director), Pedro Piedrabuena (Cham- the USBA website often: pion), Hugo Patino, Mercedes Gonzales, Duc Dao, Sonny Cho, Mazin Shooni, www.USBA.net Miguel Torres, Jae Cho and Merrill Hughes USBA Treasurer. June/July PQB 27 USBA National Higlights Believe It Or Not – A 3-Cushion

Rarity!!During a game between Hugo Patino and Luis Castillo in the Semi-Finals a rare occurrence happened. Hugo a 2009 U.S. Na- tional Champion had all 3 carom balls frozen after his shot. This has never occurred before in the history of the USBA 3- Cushion Nationals.

Pedro Piedrabuena in

USBAIn 2006, recordMazin Shooni books played a 35 point match in 9 innings for a 3.889 average. It was the Nationals Record for best game. In the same game, he had a high run of 18 which still holds till Left to right- Score Keeper Carlos Villegas – Hugo this day as the high run for a USBA Nationals. Patino – Luis Castillo On Saturday, April 12th, 2014 Pedro Piedrabuena etched his name once again into the USBA record books by playing a world-class 40 points in just 8 innings with runs of 14, 13, and went 10 and out averaging a 5.000. Ironically, his opponent was none-other than Mazin Shooni. Pedro joins a very exclusive club of world-class players who have achieved a 5.000 average in a match lasting longer than the 15-point sets that have been predominant around the world for so many years. Congratulations to Pedro once again for achieving such a monumental milestone!

First time a woman player qualified for the2008 finals USBA Woman’s Champion Mercedes Gonzales entered the tournament as an open entry and stunned everyone with her performance as she moved from the prelims through the Pedro Piedrabuena semi-finals all the way to the finals where she placed seventh. Great job Mercedes!

2008 USBA Woman’s Champion Mercedes Gonzales

28 PQB June/July JanUSBA 25: Carom National Café, Flushing, Qualifier NY: Qualified: Results Chris Bartzos & Young Gull Lee Feb 9: Miami, FL: Qualified: Victor Cuzzi & Sergio Hernandez Feb 22: , IL: Qualified: Felipe Razon Mar 8-9: US Billiards, Houston, TX: Qualified: Joel Rivera & Cong Nguyen Mar 14-16: Marshalltown, IA: Qualified: John Jacobson Mar 22: Snookers, Livonia, MI: Qualified: Bassel Elshaar

FebOther 28-Mar USBA 2: Ken HigginsTournament Memorial, Allenmore Results Elks, Tacoma, WA, “A” Level: Neal Olson (1st), Mark Sullivan (2nd), Tim Poole (3rd), John Teerink (4th), “B” Level: Dave Ehlers (1st), Ralph Weiss (2nd) Mar 22-23: Carom Café “C” Tournament, Flushing, NY, Hank Buchanan (1st), Leo Chaparro (2nd), Kelly Woodward (3rd) Mar 29-30: Carom Café “C+” Tournament, Flushing, NY, Johnny Alejandro (1st), Johnny Kim (2nd), Luis Miguel Valdovinos (3rd), Rodrigo Gonzalez (4th) Apr 19-20: Carom Café “B” Tourn., Flushing, NY, Christhian Portilla (1st), Hector Ruiz (2nd), Daniel Jeong (3rd), Mike Chen (4th) Apr 26-27: Carom Café “B+” Tourn., Flushing, NY, Mark An (1st), Jim Watson (2nd), Nayiv Ramirez (3rd), Jim Shovak (4th) Apr 25-27: Mike Kelley Memorial, Marshalltown, IA, George Ashby (1st), Fred Lamers (2nd), John Jacobson (3rd), Joel Jiminez (4th) May 3-4: Carom Café “A” Tourn., Flushing, NY, Song Lim (1st), Sang Jin Lee (2nd), Tae Kyu Lee (3rd), Jae Cheon Seong (4th) May 9-11: Parker Hess Memorial Endorsed Tournament, Ashland Elks, OR “B” Tournament: Jesus Quinonez (1st), Raye Raskin (2nd), Tom Rossi (3rd) “C+” Tournament: Bob Hilton (1st), Alfred Wenzl (2nd), Galen Lee (3rd) “C” Tournament: Ron Hopkins (1st), Dave Ehlers (2nd), Harold Reid (3rd)

Upcoming USBA Tournaments “ USBA Membership” June 20-22: The Dubuque Contact Mark Williams: 541- To become a USBA member and receive the PQB publication for free, fill out and return this form. Open, Masonic Lodge, 941-1291 Dubuque, IA USBA Membership • Dues $50 Contact Robert Byrne: July 25-26: Open Tournament New Member ______Renewal ______563-557-8970 with Frederic Caudron PRINT PLEASE Million Dollar Billiards, North Name: ______July 13-14: Clinic & Mini- Hollywood, CA Tournament with Dick Jaspers , Contact Ricardo Carranco: Address: ______Amazin Billiards, Malden, MA 323-490-8075 Contact Mazin Shooni: August 8-10: Mike Fahey Me- City, ______State ____ Zip: ______248-910-4466 morial Home Phone: ______Elks Allenmore Events Center, July 15-20: Verhoeven Tacoma, WA Cell Phone: ______Open/Sang Lee 10yr Anniver- Contact Ed Brasfield: 253-468- E-Mail Address: ______sary, Carom Café Billiards, 9839 Flushing, NY August: USBA TOUR Open Referred by ______Contact Mike Kang: at US Billiards, Houston, TX, Send completed form and check or money order payable to USBA to 917-204-6070 or Charles Dates not yet official. Contact Jim Shovak/USBA Secretary Brown: 646-528-3238 Tim Nguyen: 713-545-9451 58 Hawthorne Ave. • East Islip, NY 11730. September: USBA TOUR July 25-27: USBA Tour “B” Open at College Billiards, San and “C” Tournaments Diego, CA,Dates not yet official. Marti Tracy Memorial, Ashland Contact Pedro Piedrabuena: Elks Lodge, Ashland, OR 213-458-3950

June/July PQB 29 Professor-Q-Ball’s 3-Cushion Shot Contest “The quickest way to get new players to play the game of 3-Cushion Is to reach out to players.” he , in Memphis, TN held their 4th annual 3- for 3rd place. Cushion Shot contest. A $20 entry fee secured your Joshua Alan Byars was scorekeeper and did a great job tally- Tchance to win $250 and included lunch & free table ing up the points as the players were finishing their shots at time . It was played on a Gabriel table with Simonis cloth. the table. Thanks to Josh Gilmore for bringing in his video Room owner Jerry Ramey added $300 based on 12 players, but equipment and helping run the event.Special thanks goes out due to poor weather conditions, only nine players arrived. to Jerry & Mona Ramey, owners of The Rack, for hosting this Jerry added $300 anyway. All diagram shots were placed on great event. Also Anthony Short, Paul Frankel & Jerry Ramey the Racks bulletin board for several weeks to give the players a for adding to the prize fund. chance to practice the shots, giving the room an opportunity for extra table time. Paul Frankel, tournament director, went over the rules of the Contest and thanked all contestants for accepting the Challenge. Each player was given a 3-Cushion Billiards “World’s Best Game” decal, along with a full color, Diamond System Diagram. Contest Format: There were 8 diagram shots. Each player shoots each 3 times (24 shots total). Each shot is worth 2 points (48 pts), total number of points wins. Three small round dots (stick-ons) are placed on the table, which repre- sented the exact placement of the diagrammed shots. All players had the same shot and same placement of the 3 balls. Then the dots are removed and replaced for the next shot se- lection. Special Note: After each shot a player takes a Josh, Jeremy, Jerry carom shot as the balls come to rest. If they make it, it is worth 1 point and added to their pre- vious scores. This means that the maximum possible score will be 72 points if they made every shot. Half way through the event the shots were tallied so the players knew their score. At the end Jeremy Mercello and Josh Gilmore tied with 37 points each. The tie-breaker was a simple lag to see who can get closer to the other end of the table. The lag is the most im- portant shot in the game. That was worth $250 to Jeremy Mer- cello, the proud winner. Josh Gilmore took home $175 for 2nd and Jerry Ramey took $100

30 PQB June/July