Hugo Patino is the 2009 USBA National Champion!!!

2009 USBA National Champion: Hugo Patino

The USBA 2009 National 3-Cushion Championship was underway with a field of 42 players from all over the country at Carom Café Billiards in Flushing, NY from February 18-22, 2009.
The tournament was played on 10 Verhoeven billiard tables, all outfitted for the tournament with fresh 300 Rapide billiard cloth, generously donated by Iwan Simonis, Inc. Also, Saluc, the manufacturer of Aramith Billiard Balls, donated 15 sets of Super Aramith Pro-Cup Carom Billiard Balls featuring spots on each of the yellow and white cue balls, allowing the spectators to more easily see the spin on the balls as the top 3-cushion players in the United States demonstrated their ability to make the balls dance wondrously at times.

Defending National Champion Miguel Torres, 2008 runner-up Pedro Piedrabuena along with Mazin Shooni, Sonny Cho, Hugo Patino and Michael Kang were the six seeded players. Format in the Preliminaries was six flights with 7 players each, race to 25, with the 3 top players from each flight advancing to the semi-finals along with the best two 4th place finishers. The semi-finals, 20 players in all, was divided into 4 flights with 5 players each, 35 point matches, with the top 2 finishers of each flight advancing to an 8-player round robin finals, 50 point matches. The 3rd place finishers of the semi-finals then played 50 point single elimination matches to determine 9th through 12th place overall.

Nationals List of Players:
1) Miguel Torres
2) Pedro Piedrabuena
3) Mazin Shooni
4) Sonny Cho
5) Jim Shovak
6) Andrew Janquitto
7) Tom Rossman
8) Dave Van Lokeren
9) Joe DeAmato
10) Gilbert Najm
11) Leonard Collibee (Von Duprin)
12) Young Gull Lee
13) Michael Kang
14) Min Jae Pak
15) Eric Hughes
16) Spencer Winston
17) Bob Page
18) Walt Scott
19) Darrel Stutesman
20) Jamil Isreal
21) Mike Bengels
22) Antonio Rivera
23) Armando Wong
24) Bassel Elshaar
25) Felipe Razon
26) Hugo Patino
27) George Ashby
28) Dan Kolacz
29) Paul Frankel
30) Bill Johnson
31) Gary Elias
32) John Cristiano
33) George Theobald
34) Charles Brown
35) Jim Watson
36) Robert Raiford
37) Don Sperber
38) Juan Elizalde Sauz
39) John C. Park
40) Francisco Loaiza
41) Mark Jarvis
42) Gary Eake

After 2 days of sterling play in the preliminaries, 20 players made it to the semi-final rounds. Event highlights from the qualification rounds revealed 6 players with perfect 6-0 records: Pedro Piedrabuena, Mazin Shooni, Michael Kang, Felipe Razon, Sonny Cho and defending champion Miguel Torres. The balance of the semi-final field demonstrated great resolve on the road to the championship finals.

The semi final matches started right on schedule with each match presenting the finest in 3-cushion poise and skill being demonstrated. In one of the semi-final brackets, Young Gull Lee posted a perfect 4-0 record, playing brilliantly as he defeated Pedro Piedrabuena, who otherwise demonstrated top form in each match of the tournament previously. Hugo Patino, Michael Kang, and Felipe Razon also went 4-0 in their respective brackets.

Rounding out the field of the 8 top players that matched up in the final round robin group were Pedro Piedrabuena, Sonny Cho, Mazin Shooni, and the 2008 defending champion Miguel Torres. Each of these determined competitors finished the semi-finals with win-loss records of 3-1.

Top 8 finalists: Mazin Shooni, Miguel Torres, Pedro Piedrabuena, Sonny Cho, Felipe Razon, Hugo Patino, Michael Kang and Young Gull Lee.

The 3rd place finishers in each bracket played in a single elimination shootout to determine the 9th thru 12th payout and ranking places. These players were George Ashby, Min Jae Pak, Jim Watson, and Bob Page. Other players from the semi-finals were Mark Jarvis, Antonio Rivera, Mike Bengels, Darrel Stutesman, Gilbert Najm, Juan Elizalde Sauz, Charles Brown and Tom Rossman.

The 1st day of the finals created quite a flurry of excitement among both the players and the fans. Brilliant play and intricate adjustments to each shot tested each veteran in their resolve, focus, and patience with the 50 point goal of each game. Patino and Piedrabuena completed their first 4 matches in stellar fashion with perfect 4-0 win-loss records. Michael Kang held a 3-1 win-loss record and Sonny Cho held a 2-2 win-loss record. The Nationals were also live-streamed on the internet for the whole world to see at CaromTV.com. A special thanks to Jan Carl for setting up the webcam and audio as well.

The photo above shows the past and present U.S. Champions who are still living. This elite group of cueing artists with the respective years they championed the game are from left to right: George Ashby (1976, 1981, 1984); Pedro Piedrabuena (2002, 2004, 2007); Hugo Patino (2003, 2009); Sonny Cho (2005); Mazin Shooni (2006) and Miguel Torres (2008).

Last day of the finals: Hugo Patino ran a very impressive “14″ in his early morning match against Sonny Cho. Sonny made a valiant comeback with 2 great runs to make things close. The final score was Patino 50 to Cho 44 in 40 innings!!

Going into the final match it was Pedro and Hugo. Pedro was undefeated and Hugo had one loss. Hugo needed to win their 50-point match in order to stay alive. Hugo played brilliantly and won the match 50 to 49. This forced a playoff match between Hugo and Pedro, also 50 points. The winner would be the Champion. Once again, Hugo played brilliantly and won the playoff match 50 to 48 and became the 2009 USBA National Champion. Congratulations to Hugo Patino!!!

Pedro Piedrabuena (2nd) and Miguel Torres (3rd)

Tournament Charts in PDF Format

Payouts:
1st: Hugo Patino $ 4,000.00
2nd: Pedro Piedrabuena $ 3,000.00
3rd: Miguel Torres $ 2,400.00
4th: Michael Kang $ 2,100.00
5th: Mazin Shooni $ 1,900.00
6th: Sonny Cho $ 1,700.00
7th: Felipe Razon $ 1,500.00
8th: Young Gull Lee $ 1,200.00
9th: Min Jae Pak $ 1,000.00
10th: George Ashby $ 900.00
11th: Bob Page $ 800.00
12th: Jim Watson $ 700.00
Hi-Run: Hugo Patino (14) $ 100.00
Best Game: Miguel Torres (1.852) $ 100.00

2009 Nationals Sponsors:

A special thanks to Kilby Cues and Schuler Cues for donating beautiful cues for the raffle. Jim Shovak won the Schuler Cue and Najiv Ramirez won the Kilby.

The Nationals wouldn't have been possible without the following sponsors: Carom Café, Bob Jewett, David Levine, Jim Shovak, Bruce Warner, Aramith Balls (Saluc),
Iwan Simonis Cloth, Choice Hotels International, Kilby Cues and Schuler Cues.

And last, but certainly not least, thanks to Charles Brown and Min Jae Pak who ran the show from start to finish. Photos by Professor-Q-Ball. As usual, thanks again guys!!!

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Reminder: Every player MUST provide a valid
Birth Certificate, U.S. Passport or Green Card.

FULL DRESS CODE REQUIRED:
Black Pants, Collar Shirt, Tie and Vest, Black Shoes

For Hotel Information, click here.

2009 USBA National Championship and Regional Qualifiers

The USBA is proud to announce the 2009 National 3-Cushion Championships to be held February 18-22, 2009 at Carom Café Billiards in Flushing, NY.

Defending National Champion – Miguel Torres
2008 Runner-up – Pedro Piedrabuena

Carom Café Billiards
34-02 Linden Pl
Flushing NY, 11354
Phone: 718-358-8585

The field will be limited to 48 players. Regional Qualifier tournaments are being organized now. Visit www.USBA.net for locations then click “Tournaments-Calendar” on the left side menu. Or you can click here.

The top 4 finishers from 2008 are automatically given first priority, leaving 44 available spots.

These spots will be filled by winners of qualifying tournaments first, and then will be made available to USBA Members in the following order of priority:

1) Members who have played in a Qualifier ($ 300.00 entry fee) on a first paid/first served basis.

2) Members who have played in a USBA Tournament in 2008 ($ 500.00 entry fee) on a first paid/first served basis.

3) All other members ($ 500.00 entry fee) on a first paid/first served basis.

All players who qualify through their Regional Qualifier will receive $ 200.00 expense money when they arrive to play at the National Championship Tournament.

Entry fees are now being accepted. Payment will put your name on the waiting list. You will be notified shortly after February 1, 2009 on availability. The Players List and Waiting List will be available online as the list begins to populate.

There will not be a Juniors or Women's event due to lack of participation.

All questions and entry fees should be sent to the USBA Secretary. All checks and money orders should be made out to “USBA”.

Mail to: Jim Shovak/USBA Secretary
58 Hawthorne Avenue
East Islip, NY 11730
JimShovak@USBA.net
516-238-6193

For room owners: USBA National Championship Regional Qualifiers

This is a formal announcement to all room owners and tournament directors regarding qualifiers for the USBA National Championship in February of 2009.

If you desire to hold a qualifier, you will need to obtain permission/approval from the Secretary. All qualifiers must be finished by February 1, 2009, since the Nationals will begin 2 weeks afterwards.

Benefits of holding a qualifier: If you wish to change your billiard table cloth, Simonis will provide a significant discount. In addition the USBA will reimburse you half the cost of the cloth, providing that there are 6 players for each table at the qualifier. In other words, if you have 6 players at the qualifier, the USBA will reimburse you half the cost of one cloth. If you have 12 players and at least 2 newly recovered tables, the USBA will reimburse you half the cost of 2 cloths. If you have 10 newly recovered tables and 60 players in the qualifier, you get half the cost of 10 cloths.

Your Qualifier announcement and results will appear in Professor-Q-Ball publication and also on the USBA website. The USBA will send emails to everyone on their extensive email list for both the announcement and the results.

For complete information and guidelines on holding Regional Qualifiers, go to www.USBA.net and click “Running Tournaments and Regional Qualifiers” at the end of the left side menu. Or you can click here.

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Hotel Info:

Special Tournament Rate: Wingate Hotel
137-07 Northern Boulevard, Flushing, NY 11354
Walking distance from Carom Cafe
Includes breakfast. Double or single same price.
Beautiful hotel. 718-445-3300
A 5 minute walk (2 blocks) from Carom Cafe & a great hotel.
$109/night plus tax. Ask for John Carlo Caruso and mention the Billiards Tournament for February at Carom Cafe. There are only 10 double bed rooms available.

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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.

Comfort Inn
133-43 37th Avenue
Flushing, NY 11354
Tel: 718-939-5000 Fax: 718-939-4000
Web: http://www.comfortinn.com/flushing (then type “Flushing” in the “City” field)
A 10-minute walk from Carom Café, this hotel is a slight upgrade compared to the Imperial. Continental breakfast is included in the price and the hotel offers free Wi-Fi connections. 17 of 50 rooms have two beds.
15% USBA DISCOUNT AVAILABLE. SEE YOUR MEMBERSHIP PACKAGE.

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).

Farrington Hotel
3353 Farrington Street
Flushing, NY 11354
718-939-1212
Right around the corner from Carom Cafe.
Most rooms have one queen bed.
About $ 70.00/night for a single.
Small rooms w/Ethernet Port/TV.

Flushing International Hotel
134-32 35th Avenue
Flushing, NY 11354
Tel: 718-358-4515
A 3-minute walk from Carom Café, this hotel is the closest and least expensive option. However, it also has the fewest amenities. There is no food service of any kind in the hotel – it doesn’t even have vending machines. 12 of the 50 rooms have two beds.

Howard Johnson Hotel
135-33 38th Avenue
Flushing, NY 11354
Tel: 718-461-3888 Fax: 718-461-5879
Web: http://www.imperialhotelny.com
A 10-minute walk from Carom Café, the hotel is nicer than both the Flushing Inter-national (above) and the Flushing Grand (below). There is complimentary coffee, tea, cake and cookies in the morning. However, only 4 of the 32 rooms have two beds and, thus, room availability will be limited except for couples and singles.

Flushing Grand Hotel
36-38 Main Street
Flushing, NY 11354
Tel: 718-888-8668 Fax: 718-888-8768
Web: http://flushinggrand.com/
A 5-minute walk from Carom Café, this hotel represents an upgrade compared to the Flushing International. The accommodations are a bit nicer and complimentary doughnuts and coffee in the morning is included in the price. 17 of 46 rooms have two beds.

Extended Stay America
18-30 Whitestone Expressway
Whitestone, NY 11357
Tel: 718-357-3661 Fax: 718-357-3644
Web: http://www.extendedstayamerica.com/
Located 1.3 miles from Carom Café, the walk takes about 25 minutes and will be too long for most people, but the drive is very short. This hotel is ideal for those who have cars and wish to stay in a place where they can prepare their own food. The rooms are large and have kitchen appliances and a small dining area. Also, there is a shopping mall adjacent to the hotel.

Best Western Queens Court
133-51 39th Avenue
Flushing, NY 11354
Tel: 718-888-1900
Web: http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/productInfo.do?propertyCode=33111
A 12-minute walk from Carom Café, the rooms are quite nice and 37 of 59 rooms have two beds. However, the hotel has few amenities. For example, it has a fitness room but no food service. One would expect more from a hotel in this price range.

Sheraton Hotel La Guardia East
135-20 39th Avenue
Flushing, NY 11354
Tel: 718-460-6666 Fax: 718-445-2655
Web: www.sheratonlaguardia.com
A 10-minute walk from Carom Café, this is the best hotel in the area and 116 of 173 rooms have two beds. There is a restaurant and bar, a fitness center, the rooms are spacious, etc. It is located near many stores and restaurants and a 1-minute walk from the #7 train to Manhattan. The hotel was not willing to offer special rates (and there are no weekly rates) but told us that the best rates are generally available online. They recommended their own website – i.e., www.starwoodhotels.com (type in “Flushing” in the city field and “New York” in the state field). However, we have sometimes been able to find better rates at the major online services like Orbitz, Expedia or Travelocity. So, hunt around before reserving.