Javier Teran Wins at College Billiards

Javier Teran

There were 40 players from different states across the country as well as from Mexico and Ecuador. In all, there were at least 15 players that have established averages of at least 1.000 and only 10 players would be able to qualify into the finals. That’s how tough the field was. There were also some upsets which changed the outcome dramatically.

The tournament was played on 6 beautiful Verhoeven tables with brand new Simonis 300 rapide cloth. With the players split up into 5 groups of 8 players each, only 2 players from each group would qualify into the finals along with one auction and one lottery winner. The prize fund from the entry fees alone was $ 10,000.00 ($ 250.00 times 40 players). Between College Billiards and the USBA Tour sponsors, another $ 6,000.00 was added. The auction brought in $ 1,600.00 and the lottery brought in $ 1,900.00 raising the total prize fund payout to $ 19,500.00.

Click on the flight name to see PDF chart:

Flight A: Javier Teran from Ecuador, Jae Hyung Cho from Colorado and Sonny Cho from New York were the favorites, but only 2 could advance. Javier Teran finished 7-0 to win the flight. Sonny Cho lost 2 matches, one to Teran and one to Jae Hyung Cho but had only 8 and 9 points respectively in his 2 losses. Jae Hyung Cho lost his match with Teran but was upset twice, first by Arturo Velasquez (“Carnitas”, as he is affectionately called) from Mexico and then by Alfredo Reyes from Huntington Park, California, giving Jae Hyung Cho three losses altogether. Because of points, the winner of the match between Arturo Velasquez and Alfredo Reyes would advance to the finals and “Carnitas” defeated Reyes 25-20 to earn the 2nd spot.

Flight B: Miguel Torres from New York, Rodolfo Covarrubias from Mexico and Michael Kang from New York were the favorites, however Lupe Cruz from Iowa upset some apple carts, first by defeating Miguel Torres 25-19 and then beating Michael Kang 25-21. Covarrubias wins the flight at 6-1 and a three-way tie for 2nd place between Miguel Torres, Michael Kang and Lupe Cruz is decided by points in favor of Miguel Torres. Lupe Cruz finished 3rd and Kang in 4th.

Flight C: This was a very tough flight as well with Mazin Shooni from Massachusetts, Miguel Almaraz from Mexico and Guillermo Sosa, also from Mexico as the favorites. The flight also had some strong players such as Carlos Alvarez from West Covina, California, Ivan Rosales from Mexico and Sean Park from Los Angeles. Shooni lost 3 matches, one to Almaraz, one to Sosa and an upset to Sean Park. Guillermo Sosa lost to Almaraz and was upset by Carlos Alvarez. Almaraz wins the flight going 6-1 with his only loss being an upset to Carlos Alvarez who finished 2nd, also at 6-1. Sosa finished in 3rd and Shooni finished in 4th.

Flight D: Carlos Francisco Palafox from Los Angeles wins the flight going 6-1 and Hugo Patino from New York finishes in 2nd, also at 6-1.

Flight E: This was also a very difficult flight with Pedro Piedrabuena from San Diego (College Billiards owner), Luis Avila from Mexico, Roberto Rojas from Mexico, Salvador Diaz from Los Angeles and Juan Delgadillo from Hayward, California. Roberto Rojas defeated Piedrabuena 25-10 in just 7 innings, but Rojas lost a match to Delgadillo. Avila wins the flight at 6-1 with Piedrabuena finishing 2nd, also at 6-1.

Finals:

With the 10 players already decided for the finals, there was an auction and a lottery held for the 2 additional positions in the finals. The auction was won by Sonny Cho who paid $1,600.00 to play in the finals. Then there was a lottery where tickets were sold for just $20.00 apiece and there was no limit to the amount of tickets you could purchase. The lottery brought in an additional $ 1,900.00 for the prize fund. A local patron won the lottery (not a player) so the patron decided to have us auction his winning ticket. Michael Kang won that auction, paying the man $ 1,450.00.

The 12 finalists were then divided into 2 groups of 6 players each (Flights F and G). The flights were determined exclusively by the players’ performance in the preliminaries, meaning “Wins and Losses”, “Total Points Scored” and “Total Points Against”.

Click here to see rankings after the Preminaries.

Click on the flight name to see PDF chart:

Flight F: Javier Teran, Pedro Piedrabuena, Miguel Almaraz, Rodolfo Covarrubias, Sonny Cho and Miguel Torres. Wow! I wouldn’t want to be in THIS flight! After 3 rounds of play, Javier Teran, Miguel Almaraz and Pedro Piedrabuena were all averaging over 1.500!!! Javier Teran wins the flight going 5-0 and averaging 1.579. Pedro Piedrabuena finishes 2nd going 3-2 and averaging 1.545. Miguel Almaraz finishes 3rd going 3-2 and averaging 1.320. Rodolfo Covarrubias finishes 4th going 2-3 and averaging 1.245. Sonny Cho finishes 5th going 2-3 and averaging 1.042. Miguel Torres finishes 6th going 0-5 and averaging .970. The average for the entire flight was an amazing 1.267!!!

Flight G: Luis Avila, Hugo Patino, Michael Kang, Carlos Palafox, Aruro Velasquez (“Carnitas”) and Carlos Alvarez. Arturo Velasquez defeats Avila 30-21. Hugo Patino wins the flight going 4-1 with a 1.333 average. Luis Avila finishes in 2nd also going 4-1 with a 1.306 average. Grand average was the tie-breaker if there was a tie in Wins and Losses. Avila just misses winning the flight by 3 additional points or 3 less innings. Michael Kang finishes 3rd going 3-2 with a 1.198 average. Carlos Palafox finishes 4th going 2-3 with a .763 average. Arturo Velasquez finishes 5th going 1-4 with a .793 average and Carlos Alvarez finishes 5th going 1-4 with a .739 average.

The last matches were then played to determine the final placement of all 12 finalists. Javier Teran who won the “F” flight would play a 35 point match against Hugo Patino who won the “G” flight. The winner would come in 1st place and the loser would come in 2nd place overall. Pedro Piedrabuena who finished 2nd in the “F” flight would play a 35 point match against Luis Avila who finished 2nd in the “G” flight, and so on down the line for all 12 finalists.

Miguel Torres (11th place) defeats Carlos Alvarez (12th place) 35-25.
Arturo Velasquez (9th place) defeats Sonny Cho (10th place) 35-34.
Rodolfo Covarrubias (7th place) defeats Carlos Palafox (8th place) 35-30.
Michael Kang (5th place) defeats Miguel Almaraz (6th place) 35-18.
Pedro Piedrabuena (3rd place) defeats Luis Miguel Avila (4th place) 35-34.
Javier Teran (1st place) defeats Hugo Patino (2nd place) 35-33.

Pedro Piedrabuena had the tournament high run of 13.

Javier Teran and Miguel Almaraz both had the best game of the tournament:
30 points in 14 innings (2.143 average)

Click here to view results of the Final Matches

Click here to see the Final Rankings

Hugo Patino (2nd), Pedro Piedrabuena (3rd) and Javier Teran (1st)

Congratulations to Javier Teran and all that participated in this fabulous tournament!

Right after the award ceremony, a raffle was held where Raye Raskin won a cue case and a local patron won a donated cue. Then the crowd was treated to a dazzling display of trick-shot wizardry by World Champion trick-shot artist, Roberto Rojas.

Next month, the USBA Tour swings into Peabody, Massachusetts for a “B” player event at World Class Billiards on July 10-12. Only players with an average below .800 can participate. Click here for more info.

We would like to thank the following:

-Pedro Piedrabuena and Timoteo Moreno, owners of College Billiards for putting up their room, for adding money to the prize fund and overall making it a fun time for all.

-Luis Castro who practically ran the whole tournament, cleaned tables and did whatever was necessary. Great job, Luis.

-Those that were score keepers for the finals. 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, 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
College Billiards International Open

June 5-7, 2009

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 4th at 8:00pm
Entry Fee: $ 255.00
Estimated Prize Fund: At least $ 15,000.00
Estimated First Place Prize: At least $ 3,600.00
Estimated Number of Payouts: 12
Maximum number of players: 35
Prelims: 5 groups of 7 players each: round robin (25 point matches)
Top 5 USBA Ranked “A” Players will be seeded into Prelim flights
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 semi-final group play for 1st and 2nd place
2nd place finishers of each semi-final group play for 3rd and 4th place, etc.
Rules: All official USBA tournament rules will apply.
Other Requirements: All players will also be required to be a scorekeeper according to the tournament schedule. Shot-clock will be used with 2 extensions per match. Full tournament attire: tie, vest, black pants, black shoes. This is a USBA event. Must be or become a USBA Member. $ 5.00 sanction fee per player already included in entry fee.

Hotel and Rental Car Discounts:

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

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, see your membership package or login to "MY USBA" on the top of the www.USBA.net home page, go to the Forum and see "Member Benefits" section.

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, see your membership package or login to "MY USBA" on the top of the www.USBA.net home page, go to the Forum and see "Member Benefits" section.

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, see your membership package or login to "MY USBA" on the top of the www.USBA.net home page, go to the Forum and see "Member Benefits" section.

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

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.

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

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.