Jim Shovak Wins the Carom Café “B” Tournament

Forty-two players came to Flushing, NY to participate in the 2010 USBA TOUR “B” Tournament at Carom Café Billiards, owned by Michael Kang. Dan Kolacz drove 8 hours from Buffalo, NY. Jose Lizarraga, Rigoberto Cuevas and Allen Castillo flew in from Northern California. Eric Hughes came in from Washington, DC. Dave Van Lokeren drove in from Rhode Island. Ellis Lawrence drove in from Massachusetts. Robert Raiford flew in from Florida, and several players came from New Jersey.

The first place prize was $2,200 + $150 credit into any Open Tournament. The competition was fierce. The players were divided into 7 groups with 6 players each, round robin to 20 points. The top 2 finishers of each group would advance to the next round along with one lottery and one auction winner.

Preliminaries:

Flight A: Rigoberto Cuevas wins the group at 4-1 and Jose Lizarraga comes in 2nd going 4-1. Their trip from California seems worthwhile. Dan Kolacz just misses out, going 3-2, despite his grand average of .804.

Flight B: Lloyd Wallace goes 5-0 with a .855 grand average. He is certainly one of the favorites in this tournament. Jim Shovak squeaks in with a 3-2 record, 83 total points scored and a.748 grand average. Ira Lee just misses going 3-2 with 75 total points scored and Nayiv Ramirez also goes 3-2 with 73 total points scored.

Flight C: Man Young Kim goes 5-0 with a .641 grand average. Jim Watson squeezes in with a 3-2 record, 88 total points scored and a .727 grand average. Martin Abreu just misses going 3-2 with 80 total points scored.

Flight D: Arturo Herrera, winner of a “B” tournament earlier this year, wins the group going 4-1 with a .646 grand average. Edwar Gomez, the most recent winner of the USBA Junior’s National Tournament comes in 2nd, going 3-2 with 86 total points scored and a grand average of .723. Kwang Ok just misses out going 3-2 with 81 total points scored.

Flight E: Young Ha Choi surprises as he wins the group 5-0 with a .746 grand average. Armando Rodriguez comes in 2nd, going 3-2 with a strong .835 grand average. John Kim, the most recent “B” Championship Tournament winner just misses out going 2-3 with a .672 grand average.

Flight F: Jae Cheon Seong wins the group at 4-1 with a .845 grand average. Won Sik Kang comes in 2nd going 3-2 with 93 total points scored and a .738 grand average. Seong Youn Seo, the winner of last week’s Carom Café “C+” tournament just misses out, going 3-2 with 83 total points scored.

Flight G: Min Soo An goes 4-1 with a .779 grand average. Rich Vitzthum comes in 2nd, going 3-2 with a .609 grand average. Jae Sun Pang comes in 4th place in his group, despite averaging .874!!!

Preliminary Highlights: Jim Watson had a 12 inning game for an average of 1.667. Jim Shovak, Lloyd Wallace, Dan Kolacz, Joseph Hwang and Martin Abreu all had 13 inning games for an average of 1.538. Jim Shovak had the high run of 9.

The winner of the lottery was Dan Kolacz and John Kim paid $925 in the auction for a spot in the next round. The 14 preliminary round winners + the auction and lottery winner (16 players altogether) were then ranked from 1 to 16 based on order of finish, wins/losses, total points scored and total points against. The players were then placed into 4 groups of 4 players each to properly balance each group. The matches were played to 25 points. The top 2 finishers of each 4-player group would advance to the next round.

Semi-Final Groups:

Group A: Jose Lizarraga wins the group going 2-1 with 72 total points scored and a .828 grand average. Lloyd Wallace comes in 2nd going 2-1 with 69 total points scored and a .734 grand average. Won Sik Kang just misses out going 2-1 with 66 total points scored despite a phenomenal 1.048 grand average!

Group B: Young Ha Choi goes 3-0 with a .815 grand average. Dan Kolacz goes 2-1 with a .872 grand average.

Group C: Jim Shovak wins the group going 2-1 with 63 total points scored. Armando Rodriguez comes in 2nd, going 2-1 with 62 total points scored. Arturo Herrera just misses out, losing 25-24 to Jim Shovak in one of the most exciting matches of the tournament.

Group D: Jim Watson wins the group going 2-1 with 68 total points scored and a .731 grand average. Edwar Gomez also finishes 2-1 with 60 total points scored and an amazing .938 grand average. Edwar also had the tournament high run of 10. Jae Cheon Seong just misses out, losing to Jim Watson 25-22. He averaged .773 in this round.

The 8 finalists were then ranked 1 through 8 based on order of finish, wins/losses, total points scored and total points against. Number 1 would play number 8, number 2 would play number 7, number 3 would play number 6 and number 4 would play number 5. This round would be a Single Elimination Round to 30 points.

Single Elimination Quarterfinals:

Young Ha Choi defeats Edwar Gomez 30-25.
Jim Shovak defeats Lloyd Wallace 30-22.
Jim Watson defeats Dan Kolacz 30-26.
Jose Lizarraga defeats Armando Rodriguez 30-23.

Single Elimination Semifinals:

Jim Shovak defeats Young Ha Choi 30-19 in just 33 innings (.909 grand average).
Jim Watson defeats Jose Lizarraga 30-16 in just 22 innings (1.364 grand average). Jim also had a high run of 9 in this match.

Single Elimination Finals:

Young Ha Choi defeats Jose Lizarraga 30-29.
Young Ha Choi finishes in 3rd place overall. Jose Lizarraga finishes in 4th place.

Jim Shovak defeats Jim Watson 35-28. Shovak had a run of 7.
Jim Shovak wins the tournament and Jim Watson finishes in 2nd place.

Click here to view PDF file of tournament charts

A special thank you to Charles Brown and Min Jae Pak for running the tournament.

Sponsors:

-Iwan Simonis
-Aramith
-Schuler Cues by Noel Mendoza

2010 USBA Tour Financial Sponsors:

David Levine, Jim Shovak, Bob Jewett, Professor-Q-Ball (Paul Frankel), Creative Billiard Shirts, Marty Isserlis, Bruce Warner, Pedro Piedrabuena, Tommy Thomsen, Mike Walo, Bob Watson, Tom Resk, Mark Van Liere, Alan Dukar, Tim King, George Allee, Ron Sakahara, Howard Kennedy, Julian Levy, Richard Lewis, John Constantine, Steve Andersen.

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“B” Tournament (.800 Avg. or Less)

Date: Oct 29th-31st (Fri -Sat-Sun)
Entry Fee: $230 ($200 if paid by Oct 22nd)
Players Meeting: Oct 28th, 8 pm (Thursday)

Prize Fund ($9,000)
(based on 36 players)

Preliminary Format:
6 Groups of 6 Players (Round Robin 20 points)
Top 2 From Each Flight Advance, Plus 1 Lotto and 1 Auction
(Places Based on W/L, Points and Head to Head)

Finals Format
To Be Announced
1st Place = $2,000
(+$150 entry fee credit)
2nd Place = $1,300
(+$150 entry fee credit)
3rd Place = $800
4th Place = $800
5th through 8th Place = $450
9th through 16th Place = $250

Please contact Tournament Directors
Charles Brown (646) 528-3238 or Min Jae Pak (917) 407-3620

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

Local Hotels, Motels and Rental Car Discounts:

Lexington Marco Hotel (formerly the Wingate Hotel)
Special Tournament Rate: $ 125.00 + tax per night
$129/night includes Buffet Breakfast
Call 2 weeks before the tournament in order to secure the discounted rate.
Ask for the Carom Billiards Rate when you call to reserve your room.
137-07 Northern Boulevard, Flushing, NY 11354
Walking distance from Carom Cafe
Beautiful hotel. 718-445-3300
A 5 minute walk (2 blocks) from Carom Cafe & a great hotel.

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.

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.

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