Jae Hyung Cho wins the College Billiards International Open

Jae Hyung Cho from Colorado, former Korean Champion

If you witnessed this event in person, then you were given quite a treat. The field consisted of 5 past United States Champions, 4 Mexican Champions and a Korean Champion. This tournament had a stronger field than the USBA Nationals and might as well have been a PanAmerican Championship Tournament.

The format was as follows: 41 players were divided into 5 groups. Four groups had 8 players each and one group had 9 players. Matches were just 25 points. There were only 3 days in which to play. Six beautiful Verhoeven tables freshly covered with Granito cloth were used for the event. Each day’s schedule lasted from 9:00am until almost midnight. The top 2 players in each group would advance to the Semi-Finals. Also, a lottery and auction was held to add 2 more players to the semi-finals, making it a total of 12 players in the semi-finals.

The semi-finals were divided into 2 groups of 6 players each, round-robin, 30 point matches. The first place finishers of each group would then play one final 35 point match to determine first and second place. The two 2nd place finishers in each group would play a final match to determine 3rd and 4th place, and so on.

The Preliminaries:
(Click each flight to see results in PDF format)

Flight A: 3-Time US Champion Pedro Piedrabuena wins the flight going 7-0. 2003 US Champion Hugo Patino comes in 2nd at 6-1.

Flight B: Mexican and CPB Champion Guillermo Sosa wins the flight at 7-0 and Los Angeles player and USBA Nationals Finalist Salvadore Diaz comes in 2nd at 5-2.

Flight C: 2006 US Champion Mazin Shooni wins the flight at 7-0 and California player Gary Cohen comes in 2nd at 5-2.

Flight D: Mexican and CPB Champion Rodolfo Covarrubias wins the flight at 7-0 and many-time Mexican and CPB Champion Luis Avila comes in 2nd at 6-1.

Flight E: The surprise of the group, local player from Los Angeles, Mike Kim wins the flight at 6-2 and Korean Champion Jae Hyung Cho from Colorado comes in 2nd also at 6-2.

Both Salvador Diaz and Roberto Rojas both had runs of 15 in the preliminaries. Ironically, Jae Hyung Cho also had a run of 11 during his match with Roberto Rojas when Roberto had his run of 15.

2005 US Champion Sonny Cho won the auction into the semi-finals. This turned out to be a great move since he finished in fourth place. Soon Hong, a local player from Los Angeles won the lottery into the semi-finals.

After wins and losses, total points scored was used as the first tie-breaker, then head-to-head and finally points against. In the case of Flight E having 9 players instead of 8, the tie-breakers needed to be averaged if necessary. For instance, the average number of points scored per match or the average number of points against. A 6-2 record beats a 5-2 record and a 7-1 record loses to a 7-0 record.

Semi-Finals:

Player Rankings for Semi-Finals

Flight F: Jae Hyung Cho wins the flight at 4-1. Guillermo Sosa comes in 2nd at 3-2.
Flight G: Luis Avila wins the flight at 4-1 and Sonny Cho comes in 2nd, also 4-1.

Scorekeepers were used during the semi-finals. After wins and losses, grand average was used as the first tie-breaker, then total points scored, then head-to-head and finally points against. Please look at the scoresheets of the flights to see all results of all players.

Final Matches:

1st and 2nd Place - Jae Hyung Cho defeats Luis Avila to win the Tournament. Cho comes in 1st place and Avila finishes in 2nd place.

3rd and 4th Place - Guillermo Sosa defeats Sonny Cho. Sosa gets 3rd place and Sonny Cho gets 4th place.

5th and 6th Place - Pedro Piedrabuena defeats Salvador Diaz. Piedrabuena gets 5th place and Diaz gets 6th.

7th and 8th Place - Hugo Patino beats Covarrubias. Patino gets 7th place and Covarrubias gets 8th place.

9th and 10th Place - Mazin Shooni defeats Mike Kim. Shooni gets 9th place and Kim gets 10th place.

11th and 12th Place - Soon Hong beats Gary Cohen. Hong gets 11th place and Cohen gets 12th place.

Final Rankings

Donated cues from Schuler and Competition Sports were raffled off as well as a beautiful cue case donated by Hector Rosas.

All of the players and spectators seemed to be absolutely thrilled with the high level of play and competition throughout this tournament. It really might as well have been an International Championship event.

We wish to thank the following:

Luis Castro for all his hard work and dedication helping to run the tournament. Without you, we were in big trouble.

Pedro Piedrabuena and Timoteo Moreno, room owners, for their generosity and professionalism. You made us all feel very welcome.

Sponsorship:

Mueller Products/Granito (Gorina) cloth
Aramith
Schuler Cues
Competition Sports
Hector Rosas
Bob Jewett
Marty Isserlis
Paul Frankel
David Levine
Jim Shovak
Robert Byrne
Andy Janquitto

Next up:

Cue and Cushion Billiards Open in Hooksett, NH. Only 14 players allowed. Call Mazin Shooni at: 248-910-4466 or 603-623-5330.

$ 125,000.00 Sang Lee International Open at Carom Café in Flushing, NY on June 20-27, 2008. The best players in the whole world will be there. There are a few spots left. Please call Charles Brown or Min Jae Pak at 718-358-8585. Charles is usually there Thursday, Friday and Saturday during the daytime. Min Jae can usually be reached at nighttime except Wednesdays.

Make sure to check out the USBA Calendar of Tournaments for more events.

www.USBA.net

Click “Tournaments-Calendar” on the left side of the page and then click the event you want.

Additional Hotel Option for College Billiards Tournament:

Travelodge - El Cajon, CA
425 W. Main St
El Cajon, CA 92020
619-441-8250
8.5 miles East of Freeway 8.
Rates are as follows:
King Bed - $54.99 + tax
2 Queen Beds - $59.99 +tax

College Billiards and Café
5303 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego , CA 92115
619-582-4550

Contact: Pedro Piedrabuena or Timoteo Moreno

Player's Meeting : Thursday, June 19th at 8:00pm

Maximum number of players: 35

Prelims : 5 groups of 7 players each: round robin (25 point matches)

Top 2 from each flight advance to semi-finals = 10 players

One lottery and one auction = 12 players in semi-finals

Semi-Finals : 2 groups of 6 players each: round robin (30 point matches)

Final Matches : (35 points)

1st place finishers of each group play for 1st and 2nd place

2nd place finishers of each group play for 3rd and 4th place

3rd place finishers of each group play for 5th and 6th place

4th place finishers of each group play for 7th and 8th place

5th place finishers of each group play for 9th and 10th place

6th place finishers of each group play for 11th and 12th place

This is a USBA event. Must be or become a 2008 USBA Member.
$ 5.00 sanction fee per player already included in entry fee.

Make check or money order out to: “ Billiard Tour ”

Mailing Address:

Billiard Tour
c/o Jim Shovak
58 Hawthorne Avenue
East Islip , NY 11730

Players Must Dress Properly and Be on Time

All players will be required to wear a dress shirt of any color, black slacks, black shoes, formal-wear tie and vest. Moreover, all players must arrive on time for their matches. Both rules will be strictly enforced without exceptions, as follows:

• Any player without the proper attire will forfeit the match.
• Players who arrive 0-10 minutes late will not be allowed to practice.
• Players who arrive more than 10 minutes late will forfeit their match.

Hotel Info

The USBA has a contract with Choice Hotels International. If you would like to receive at least a 15% discount at Choice Hotel locations, please refer to your Membership Package for details. To become a USBA Member, click "Join" at the top or the upper left side of this page and follow the instructions to pay by credit/debit card through PayPal. You do NOT need a PayPal account to use PayPal. You can also mail in payment by check.

USBA Members also receive between 5-10% discount from the following car rental companies, if they service the area:

Be advised that we have not reserved a block of rooms anywhere, and so availability is not guaranteed. Our aim has been to offer a wide range of choice with regard to type of room, exact location and price. Since availability is not guaranteed, we recommend that you make your reservation as soon as you know the dates you will be attending the Tournament. You may want to inquire if your hotel will offer a small discount if paid in cash upon your arrival (these policies may differ with each hotel).

All players must make their own hotel/car rental reservations. If you need a room that's closer to the pool hall, please check online at Travelocity, Orbitz or Hotels.com.

Econo Lodge
7458 Broadway
Lemon Grove, CA
619-462-7022
About 3 1/2 miles from the room
USBA Member Discounted Rate: from $ 59.49 - $ 72.24 per night
To receive discounted rate, contact the Secretary.

Quality Inn
5399 Adobe Falls Rd
San Diego, CA
619-287-8730
About 4 miles from the room
USBA Member Discounted Rate: from $ 67.99 - $ 93.49 per night
To receive discounted rate, contact the Secretary.

Rodeway Inn
4210 Spring St
La Mesa, CA 619-589-7288
About 5 miles from the room
USBA Member Discounted Rate: from $ 76.49 - $ 84.99 per night
To receive discounted rate, contact the Secretary.

Local Motel within walking distance: No USBA discount
Travel Time Motel
5447 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115
619-583-5447
Mention College Billiards Tournament
$ 70.00 single, $ 80.00 double
Not the best quality, but very convenient

Taxes

If you are planning to enter the tournament you need only read the sections below that apply to you:

• For U.S. residents – only sections 1 and 5 apply;

• Most foreign residents need only read sections 2 and 5;

• However, if you live outside the United States but you have received or can obtain an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) you may be able to avoid withholding taxes. To learn more, read sections 3 and 4 (as well as 2 and 5).

Forms referred to below may be viewed/downloaded at http://www.irs.gov/formspubs

Section 1 – United States Residents

You can avoid withholding taxes on your prize money by filling out Form W-9. This tells us your name, address and Social Security number. (Form W-9 will be made available at the Tournament.) After the Tournament, Carom Café will report your winnings to the IRS, to New York State and to you, using Form 1099-MISC. (If you do not fill out Form W-9, we will be required to withhold 30% of your prize money!)

Section 2 – Foreign Residents: Most Will Be Subject to Withholding Taxes

For most (and, perhaps, all) foreign participants, the process is very simple: (1) You will be subject to 30% withholding taxes on your prize money; (2) at the Tournament, prize winners will have to supply their name and address; and (3) we will then provide the IRS with this information on Form 1042-S, two copies of which will be mailed to you. When it comes time for you to pay taxes in your own country, you will not only have a record of your winnings, but you will have documents that show that you paid substantial taxes to the U.S. Government. In many cases you will be able to get a tax credit for these payments. Be sure to check with your tax advisor in your home country.

Section 3 – Foreign Residents: A Few May Be Able to Avoid Withholding Taxes

For some non-U.S. residents, withholding taxes may be avoided provided (a) your country has a tax treaty with the United States, (b) you have an “Individual Taxpayer Identification Number” (ITIN) from the IRS and (c) your prize money does not exceed the maximum amount that is exempt from withholding under the treaty.

If you do not have an ITIN, we regret to inform you that rule changes in recent years have made them much more difficult to get. We will be unable to assist you in obtaining an ITIN but a tax adviser in your own country might be able to help you. However, if you received an ITIN at any time in the past, it is still valid.

In any event, if you have an ITIN and there is a tax treaty between your country and the United States and your prize does not exceed the amount allowed under the treaty you will be able to avoid withholding taxes by filling out Form 8233. We will be able to help you do this at the tournament.

One more thing: If you are eligible for zero withholding, we will have to temporarily withhold 100% of your prize money until 10 days after Form 8233 is mailed to the IRS. We expect to mail such Forms one or two days after the end of the tournament. The 10-day period is required by the IRS to give them time to verify your eligibility for avoiding withholding. Assuming there is no objection from the IRS (and there shouldn’t be as long as your ITIN is valid), we will mail you a check for the full amount of your prize approximately 12 days after the Tournament ends.

Section 4 – Foreign Residents: Information on Individual Countries

The table below summarizes the treaty situation for residents from 28 countries. We list the maximum dollar amount that you may earn without becoming subject to tax withholding. We also list the treaty article number that will have to be put on Form 8233. None of this is relevant to you unless you have or can obtain an ITIN. If there is no treaty with your country you will be subject to withholding even if you have an ITIN.

Argentina No treaty
Aruba No treaty
Austria $20,000 17
Belgium $ 3,000 14(2)(c)
Canada $15,000 16
Colombia No treaty
Czech Rep. $20,000 18
Denmark $20,000 17
Ecuador No treaty
Egypt $ 400/ day 17
France $10,000 17
Germany $20,000 17
Greece $10,000 X
Hungary No limit 13
Italy $12,000 17(1)
Japan $ 3,000 17
Korea $ 3,000 18
Luxembourg $10,000 18
Mexico $ 3,000 18
Netherlands $10,000 18
Peru No treaty
Portugal $10,000 19
Russia No limit
Spain $10,000 19
Sweden $ 6,000 18
Switzerland $10,000 17
Turkey $ 3,000 17
Vietnam No treaty

Section 5 – Two Additional Notes About Taxes

If you do not win a prize we will not need to collect any personal information from you. For U.S. residents, this means you will not have to fill out a W-9. For foreign residents, it means that neither will you have to fill out an 8233, nor will you have to provide us with the information we would need to fill out a 1042-S.

Section 6 - State of California Taxes:

All foreign players without an ITIN # are also subject to 7% withholding for the State of California.

Prize Money Break Down based on Number of Payouts - PDF