Razon Wins Again!!!!

by Steve Andersen

20 players rounded out the field of 3-cushion players who took part in The Carom Club-Olhausen Handicapped tournament held at The Carom Club in Wyoming, Michigan on December 2-4. There were 2 round robin flights of 7 and one of 6 in the prelims where the top 2 finishers in each flight went on to play in the finals. Being a handicapped tournament equalized the field which included 2 national champions by the names of Mazin Shooni and Sonny Cho and a very good A player by the name of Felipe Razon. 3 local players Steve Andersen, Gary Scharf and Pat Sage competed hard but failed to make the finals. Pat Sage in his first 3-cushion tournament managed to beat the 2005 US National Champion Sonny Cho for Cho's only loss in the prelims.

Flight A

Flight B

Flight C

The finals proved to be more tumultuous with national champions Mazin Shooni winding up in 5th place with a record of 2 wins and 3 losses and Sonny Cho ending in 3rd place with a record of 3 wins and 2 losses. There were 4 players that ended with a record of 3 wins and 2 losses and their places were determined by percentages. When the dust settled Brian Haff had the highest percentage of .939 to Razon's .928. Since there was a tie between 1st and 2nd, this forced a playoff between Haff and Razon to determine the ultimate champion.

The first 19 innings was a mixture of safeties and nerves as only 10 points were scored between the two of them. Then Razon started to connect scoring one great shot after another adding 13 points in the next 3 innings. Razon continued to tally the points against Haff who was helpless in trying to find a way to stop this dynamo by the name of Razon who scored his 25th point in the 33rd inning securing 1st place with a prize of $1200. Haff who played great during the tournament brings home an envelope worth $960 for 2nd place. William Kim from Chicago received $50 (Donation from Cue2u.com) for high run out of the money with a run of 6.

Finals

Although the minimum contributions of $1000 was not met, we were so close to it that Mazin Shooni arranged so that 1 of the Tiger cues would be gifted to a contributor.

Those receiving a cue were:
1. Mike Donnelly Jr from Ida, MI
2. Tom Paley from Fenton MO
3 Stan Lombardo from Lawrence, KS

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Open Handicapped Tournament

4 Olhausen Billiard Tables
Simonis Rapide 300 cloth

At “The Carom Club” 4215 S. Division Avenue Wyoming, MI 49548

Contact Gary Scharf (616-805-0316) or email at garynmns@att.net

Entry Fee: $235*
USBA Members: $210

Handicaps: (levels determined by USBA Rankings Committee)

Preliminaries: 4 groups of 7 players. Top 2 from each group advance to Quarter-Finals (8 players).

Quarter Finals: 2 groups of 4 players – double elimination – top 2 from each group advance to Semi-Finals.

Semi-Finals: 1 group of 4 players – double elimination – top 2 advance to Finals.

Finals: Single Elimination

Prizes:

1st: $1500
2nd: $1000
3rd & 4th: $750
5th through 8th: $400

*Entry fee includes $25 non-member participation fee and $10 USBA sanction fee.

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