Jim Watson Emerges Victorious at World Class Billiards

Jim Watson

15 Players came to Peabody, Massachusetts, just outside Boston, to participate in a "B" tournament held at World Class Billiards, owned by John Magulas and Joe DeAmato.

Flight A consisted of 8 players who played a round-robin to 25 points. Jim Shovak and Jim Watson were the two seeded players. The top top 3 finishers would advance to the final 6 player round robin to 30 points.

Flight B consisted of 7 players who also played a round-robin to 25 points with the top 3 finishers advancing to the finals.

Preliminaries:

Flight A: Jim Shovak wins the group going 6-1 along with Joe DeAmato finishing 2nd, also at 6-1. Jim Watson just barely makes the finals going 4-3 with newcomer Paul Ketalas (PJ) right behind him at 4-3.

Flight A PDF

Flight B: The players who made the finals were not determined until the very last round of matches which made it extremely exciting for all the spectators and players. Dan Kolacz, who won the previous "B" event held at World Class Billiards got off to a bad start with a loss to Ellis Lawrence, 25-12. Going into the final round, Dan Kolacz, Dave Van Lokeren, Bob Page and Tony Ferrara all had a chance to make the finals or get knocked out. There were many different scenarios but the situation was as follows:

Tony Ferrara needed to win his last match against Mike Elkin. If he lost, then he was automatically out of it. Bob Page needed to win against Eric Hughes and again, if he lost, he was out. Dan Kolacz played his last match against Dave Van Lokeren. Danny needed 23 points to make the finals, otherwise he was out of it. David Van Lokeren needed 18 points otherwise he was out of it. The twists and turns and possibilities were endless.

First, Tony Ferrara won his match. Then we all watched Dan and David's game with great interest as both players were obviously playing tight and tense and Tony Ferrara was on the sidelines, rooting for either player to knock out the other. Dan Kolacz was winning 21-17 and then Dave Van Lokeren finally scored his 18th point, guaranteeing him a spot in the finals. Then Kolacz completed the match, winning the game 25-18. Both Kolacz and Van Lokeren made the finals. Tony Ferrara's only hope at that point was if Eric Hughes could upset Bob Page. The game was close throughout and then Bob Page finally started scoring, winning the match 25-17 and earning the last finals spot. Tony Ferrara settled for 4th place in the group while averaging .675, the 2nd highest average in the preliminaries.

Flight B PDF

Finals:

Jim Watson and Dave Van Lokeren finished the 6-player round robin tied with a record of 4-1. A playoff match to 30 points would determine the winner. Starting that match at 9:30pm on Sunday night, the match was finally over at about 11:15pm. Jim Watson outlasted David by a score of 30-27.

Finals PDF

Prizes:

1) Jim Watson $1400
2) Dave Van Lokeren $900
3) Joe DeAmato $650
4) Dan Kolacz $550
5) Bob Page $450
6) Jim Shovak $350

High Run in Finals: Dave Van Lokeren (9): $50

Bill Smith was gracious to donate his book and DVD, "The Concise Book of Position Play". A separate raffle was held for $5 per ticket and Danny Kolacz was the lucky winner. The amount received, $100, was given to Dave Van Lokeren for his Finals best game of 1.111.

Budweiser also donated some prizes to the event. Free shirts and hats for everyone along with a pair of "Stadium Seats" which was won by Tony Ferrara for his high average out of the money (.675). A pair of Red Sox tickets were split between Tony Ferrara and Paul Ketalas for their 7th and 8th place finishes. A Budweiser folding chair was to be given to the high run out of the money, but there were 4 or 5 players who all had a run of 5, so the room kept the folding chair.

Noel Mendoza of Schuler Cues also donated a beautiful Schuler Cue to the event.

A special thank you to Josh, a local player, who worked very hard cleaning the tables and the balls throughout.

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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2010 USBA Tour
World Class Billiards “B” Tournament

August 20-22, 2010

World Class Billiards
82 Newbury St
Peabody MA, 01960
Phone: 978-535-7000
Contact: John Magulas or Joe DeAmato

Player’s Meeting: Thursday, August 19th at 8:00pm
Entry Fee: $ 155.00
Estimated Prize Fund: $ 5,250.00
Estimated First Place Prize: $ 1,600.00
Estimated Number of Payouts: 6
Maximum number of players: 21
Prelims: 3 groups of 7 players each: round robin (20 point matches).
Top 3 USBA Ranked “B” Players will be seeded into Prelim flights
Top 2 from each flight advance to finals = 6 players
Final Matches: (25 points-Round Robin)
Rules: All official USBA tournament rules will apply.
Full tournament attire will be enforced : 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.

Tournament Hotel: HAMPTON INN BOSTON NORTH SHORE
59 Newbury Street Peabody MA 01960
(978) 536.2020 (978) 535.6530
They have agreed to a $99 rate for those nights covering tournament stay.
People must mention World Class Billiards tournament.
Nights blocked are from Thursday (8/19) thru Sun (8/22).

Extended Stay America
102 Newbury Street
Danvers, MA 01923
978-762-7414
Refrigerator/Microwave/Kitchen
Studio Suites start at $79.99/night.

Hotel and Rental Car Discounts:

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: