2009 USBA TOUR
Dion Nelin From Denmark Wins the
Carom Café International Open

Dion Nelin

Dates: August 17-23, 2009
Location: Carom Café Billiards in Flushing, NY
Tables: 10 Heated Verhoevens with new Simonis 300 Rapide Cloth
Players: 40

Preliminaries: 5 groups of 8 players each/round robin/25 points
Top 4 from each group advance to the semi-finals (20 players)
2 auction & 2 lottery winners = 24 players

Semi-Finals: 3 groups of 8 players each/round robin/30 points
Top 4 from each group advance to Finals (12 players)

Finals: 2 groups of 6 players each/round robin/40 points
Top 2 finishers from each group advance to the final matches: single elimination to 40 points to determine 1st through 4th place.

Preliminaries:

Flight A: Min Jae Pak wins the group, Young Gull Lee is 2nd, Miguel Torres is 3rd and Francisco Parra is 4th.

Flight B: Hugo Patino wins the group, Bert Van Manen is 2nd, Allen Jensen is 3rd and Don Sperber is 4th.

Flight C: Sonny Cho wins the group, Felipe Razon is 2nd, Joel Switala is 3rd and Kim Staarup is 4th.

Flight D: Dion Nelin wins the group, Michael Kang is 2nd, Jeong Hwan Kim is 3rd and Min Gu Kang is 4th. Highlight: Dave Van Lokeren loses to Jim Shovak 25-24 knocking Dave out of the semi-finals. Ironically, Dave wins the lottery and gets back in!!!

Flight E: Jacob Haack-Sorensen wins the group, Mazin Shooni is 2nd, Hyuk Yoon is 3rd and Jorge Rubio is 4th.

Auctions: Jim Shovak paid $ 550.00 and Jim Watson paid $ 650.00 to enter the semi-finals.

Lotteries: Dave Van Lokeren and Sang Jin Lee won the lotteries.

Semi-Finals:

Group A: Mazin Shooni wins the group, Jacob Haack-Sorensen is 2nd, Min Gu Kang is 3rd and Jeong Hwan Kim is 4th.

Group B: Young Gull Lee wins the group, Sonny Cho is 2nd, Miguel Torres is 3rd and Min Jae Pak is 4th.

Group C: Dion Nelin wins the group, Michael Kang is 2nd, Hugo Patino is 3rd and Francisco Parra is 4th.

Top 15: Dion Nelin, Min Jae Pak, Miguel Torres, Jacob Haack-Sorensen, Hugo Patino, Michael Kang, Sonny Cho, Francisco Parra, Jeong Hwan Kim, Min Gu Kang, Young Gull Lee, Bert Van Manen, Hyuk Yoon, Jim Watson. Not pictured: Mazin Shooni.

Finals:

Group A: Dion Nelin wins the group, Jacob Sorensen is 2nd, Hugo Patino is 3rd, Sonny Cho is 4th, Francisco Parra is 5th and Min Gu Kang is 6th.

Group B: Min Jae Pak wins the group, Miguel Torres is 2nd, Michael Kang is 3rd, Mazin Shooni is 4th, Jeong Hwan Kim is 5th, Young Gull Lee is 6th.

Final Matches:

Min Gu Kang (11th place) defeats Young Gull Lee (12th place)
Francisco Parra (9th place) defeats Jeong Hwan Kim (10th place)
Sonny Cho (7th place) defeats Mazin Shooni (8th place)
Hugo Patino (5th place) defeats Michael Kang (6th place)

Top 4 player semi-finals:
Dion Nelin defeats Miguel Torres
Min Jae Pak defeats Jacob Haack-Sorensen

Top 4 player finals:
Miguel Torres (3rd place) defeats Jacob Haack-Sorensen (4th place)
Dion Nelin (1st place) defeats Min Jae Pak (2nd place)

Highlight: Dion Nelin runs 14-and-out to win the tournament.

Min Jae Pak (2nd), Dion Nelin (1st) and Miguel Torres (3rd)

To see PDF file of all tournament charts, click here.

The USBA Tour will continue on October 9-11, 2009 in Wyoming, Michigan at the Carom Club who will be hosting the Olhausen Open Tournament. Click here for details.

We would like to thank the following:

-Michael Kang, owner of Carom Cafe for putting up his room, for adding money to the prize fund and overall making it a fun time for all.

-Charles Brown for running the tournament smoothly as usual.

-Those that were score keepers for the finals and everyone else who helped. We really appreciate it.

Sponsors:
-Iwan Simonis
-Aramith (Saluc)
-Adam Cue Company

USBA Tour Sponsors:
David Levine, Jim Shovak, Bob Jewett, Professor-Q-Ball (Paul Frankel),
Creative Billiard Shirts, Marty Isserlis, Michael Kang, Andrew Janquitto,
Dean Harrell, Pedro Piedrabuena, Robert Byrne, Tom Resk, Sonny Cho,
Mazin Shooni, Dr.Cue Promotions (Tom Rossman), Bruce Warner, Mike Walo,
Jim Watson, Tommy Thomsen, Tom Haskin, Jamil Isreal, Bob Roach, Mike Melloy, Don Sperber, Norm Brust, Ed Friedman and Pat Young.

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2009 USBA Tour at Carom Café Billiards

Tournament Dates: August 17 – 23, 2009

Tournament Venue: Carom Café Billiards
34-02 Linden Place, Flushing, NY (718) 358-8585

Prize Fund: $40,000 with the top 18 finishers receiving prizes:

The $40,000 prize fund is based on a full field of 63 players. If there are less entrants in the qualifications the prize fund will be adjusted. Prizes for High Run and Best Game are for matches played in the Finals only.

Entry Fee: $350

Size of Field: 63 in the Qualifications
If more than 63 players want to participate we will accommodate them and adjust the format accordingly.

Format:

Qualifications: 63 players – 9 Groups of 7 players, round robin with the 2 top finishers from each Group advancing to the Semifinals

Semifinals: 24 players – 3 Groups of 8 players, round robin
The Semifinals include: 18 advancing from the Qualifications, 3 Seeds (Raymond Ceulemans plus two other players still to be determined), 2 auction winners, & 1 lotto winner
6 from each Semifinal Group advance to the Finals

Finals: Top 12 Semifinalists advance to the “A” Final (players finishing #1, #2, #3, & #4 in each Semifinal Group). The next 6 advance to the “B” final (players finishing #5, & #6 in each Semifinal Group)

“A” Finals: 2 Groups of 6 players, round robin
Top 2 players from each group advance to a 4 player single elimination for prizes 1 through 4. 3rd through 6th place finishers play one match for placement. (The two 3rd place finishers from each group play each other for fifth prize and sixth prize, the two 4th place finishers from each group play each other for seventh prize and eighth prize, etc.)
“B” Finals is a six-player round robin playing for prizes thirteen thru eighteen

Dress Code
All players will be required to wear a dress shirt of any color, black slacks, black shoes, formal-wear tie and vest. For sportswomen the same rules are applicable with the following exceptions: Sportswomen may wear a blouse of any color (or multi-colored) and can choose to wear a dress if so inclined. Vest and bow-tie are not compulsory for sportswomen.

Contact: Min Jae Pak 917 407 3620 minjaepak@yahoo.com
Charles Brown 646 528 3238 cbrown54@speakeasy.net

Hotels: All players must make their own hotel reservation.

Tournament Hotel – Lexington Marco La Guardia Hotel (formerly Wingate).
Say you are with the billiard tournament at Carom Café for the special tournament rate of $109/night

Lexington Marco La Guardia Hotel
137-07 Northern Boulevard
Flushing, NY 11354 US
Tel: 718-445-3300
Web: www.marcolaguardiahotel.com
A 2-minute walk from Carom Café, this is one of the best hotels in the area.

Other Hotels in the Area:

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 or you can access the USBA Forum "Members Only" area. 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 membership dues 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.

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
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.

Rental Car Discounts:

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