USBA 3-CUSHION BILLIARDS
INTERNATIONAL OPEN TOURNAMENT

A most remarkable event in February 2008 was the first International Open Tournament at Thanh Tam Billiards in Garden Grove, California, a Vietnamese establishment, owned by Paul Pham.

Paul Pham (room owner), Chuck, Pedro (the new champion) and Rick.

Twenty-eight of the best 3-cushion players around the country played some exciting games
which pleased all the billiards lovers who attended.

The players were divided into four groups of 7 players each, round robin, 30 point matches.
Tthe top 2 players from each group who advanced to the finals were:

The 8 finalists: Jimmy Nhien, David Nguyen, Geum Yi, Carlos Palafox,
Mike Kim, Pedro Piedrabuena, Vicky Pineda and John Lee

Group A : John Lee 5-1 record
Carlos Palafox 5-1 record

Group B: David Nguyen 5-1 record
Jimmy Nhien 4-2 record

Group C: Mike Kim 5-1 record
Geum Yi 5-1 record

Group D: Pedro Piedrabuena 6-0 record
Vicky Pineda 5-1 record

David Nguyen and Geum Yi

The final round:

At the start of the final round, the superior players clearly are Pedro, Palafox and Geum Yi. The other five players all have a chance to get in the top 5, with John Lee and Vicky Pineda the favorites.

David Nguyen

As expected, the final match was between Pedro and Palafox. The winner would become the champion of the tournament. But the match between David Nguyen and Vicky was really the most exciting game of all the matches in the final round. Vicky was more seasoned, more experienced under pressure in big tournaments, and he is one of the leading Mexican players in Southern California. David Nguyen is an excellent billiard player among Vietnamese abroad. He was the champion of the Thanh Tam tournament in 2007 and he just became a brand new USBA member in 2008. In their final match, after 24 innings, it was David 26 and Vicky 20. But Vicky fought back with a beautifully executed 7 points, a good chance to end the match with an impressive, come-from-behind victory.

When all of David's fans in attendance felt anxious for him and hopeless, under big pressure, even though facing a very embarrassing situation, David tried to be calm. He carefully made calculated shot after calculated shot, being careful not to “sell-out” if he missed. Thanks to all the billiard technique and skill that he has, he ended the game with a run of 4! What a great finish!

The last match of the 3 day event was the decisive match for the new championship, of course between the two seeded players. Up until this game, Pedro remains undefeated after 12 matches. Palafox, with impressive victories in the prelims and 6 wins so far in the finals, was the only obstacle to Pedro's perfect tournament.

But from the start of this final match, it was not to be the exciting match that people had hoped for. The match was totally controlled by Pedro. With a great demonstration of his billiard skills, he dominated his opponent for the whole game to affirm his Number One position in this 3-Cushion billiards tournament.

Gaining the respect of all who attended, Pedro ended the game with the score of 30-3, a most decisive and impressive victory. The victory meant that he was undefeated for the entire event. Six wins in the prelims and 7 wins in the finals. Congratulations to Pedro !!!

Carlos Palafox (2nd place)

Geum Yi (3rd Place)

Results in the final:  

Pedro Piedrabuena     1st          7-0 record          total points=210

Carlos Palafox           2nd          6-1 record         total points=183

Geum Yi                   3rd          4-3 record          total points=175

John Lee                 4th           4-3 record          total points=173

David Nguyen           5th           3-4 record          total points=176

Mike Kim                  6th           2-5 record          total points=166

Vicky Pineda            7th           2-5 record           total points=165

Jimmy Nhien             8th           0-7 record          total points=127

Hi - Run : David Nguyen, Pedro, John Lee (11).

David and Pedro gave the prize to John Lee (a Cue Case worth $ 200.00)

For helping to run a most successful tournament, we'd like to say thanks to Mr. George Aronek, Mr. Chuck Young for his time and effort despite his health, Mr. Ba Nguyen, Mr. Rich for their help during the event and to all the players who played a very important part in this exciting tournament. Once again, thank you to all - see you next time.

Charts:

Flight A PDF
Flight B PDF
Flight C PDF
Flight D PDF
Finals PDF

THANH TAM BILLIARDS PRESENTS:

USBA 3-CUSHION BILLIARDS
INTERNATIONAL OPEN TOURNAMENT

PRIZE FUND OF $ 11,000.00

DATES FEB 8-10, 2008

Entry Fee: $ 250.00

Must be or become a USBA Member ($ 36.00)


Players Meeting: FEB 8 at 10:00 AM- First round starts ASAP

First 32 paid players will be selected for the tournament

Format:
32 Players- Random Draw
preliminary round 4 groups of 8 players
round robin-25 point matches
Top 2 players from each group advance to Finals

Tie-breakers: 1) Win-Loss Record 2) Total Points Scored
3) Head to Head 4) Points Against

Finals: 8 Player Single Elimination Format
35 or 40 point matches

Cash Prizes:
1. $ 3,200.00
2. $ 2,300.00
3. $ 1,700.00
4. $ 1,300.00
5. $ 1,000.00
6. $ 750.00
7. $ 500.00
8. $ 250.00
Hi-Run: 1 Cue case worth $ 200.00

Six 5x10 Heated Tables: 2 Gabriels, 2 Chevillottes, 2 Soren Sogaards

Please contact Owner:
Paul Pham- Tel: 714-855-0580

Thanh Tam Entertainment Billiards & Games
10902 Westminster Ave
Garden Grove, Ca 92843

- To all Billiards Players:
It will be our great honor to have your present at the tournament. We strongly believe that this tournament will become the Premier Billiard Tournament in the state of California in the coming years.

-Sanctioned by United States Billiard Association, Inc. (USBA)