As several of the WPBA Sponsors looked on with the capacity crowd at the Blue Chip Casino, Kelly Fisher and Jasmin Ouschan stepped up for the lag in the finals of the 2009 WPBA Great Lakes Classic. Both had won events last year, and were looking to win their first title of the new season. If Kelly won this event, she would vault back into the #1 position by herself. If she came in second, she would be tied for 1st place with Ga Young Kim. If Jasmin were to win, she'd tie for 2nd along with Xiaoting Pan and Monica Webb.

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From the new Stardust Convention Center at the Blue Chip Casino, day two began with a web match featuring rookie Kathleen Moon and P&B's own Ewa Laurance. Ewa showed no mercy and defeated the young qualifier 9-0...

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Germany's Thorsten Hohmann went undefeated through an international field to capture the China 9-Ball Open and a hefty $40,000 purse. Defeating Xian-Li Bo and Toru Kuribayashi in the group stages, Hohmann progressed to the final 16 single elimination with wins over Vegas Kristiansen, Jian-Bo Fu and Kuribayashi and Hui-chan Lu.

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The Philippines can now claim to be a force in women's pool as well as men's: Filipina Rubilen Amit has captured the JBETpoker.net Women's World 10-Ball Championship!

The first semi-final featured Amit vs. Japan's Akimi Kajitani. The match was scheduled live for TV at 2 pm, but the arena at SM Mall North Edsa was already packed with every seat filled three hours before the start time. Kajitani was the more experienced player, placing 3rd in two world championships and has been a top women's player in Asia for a decade.

Kajitani's first shot of the match was a low percentage long five ball with the cue ball near frozen to the rail and she fired it in and forced followed for position to come back up table for a runout. Kajitani won the next game and built a 2-0 lead, but missed a seven ball to make it 3-0. This was the air Amit needed, quickly tying the match at 3-3. With the crowd behind her, Amit was solid enough to win the match 9-6 and make it to her second world championship finals appearance.

Anthony Suntay, one of Asia's top TV sportscasters, said, "This event has been amazing. The stands were already packed and every seat taken as soon as the mall opened at 10 am. They have been waiting here for hours. I've never seen this at even the men's world championships."

The second semi-finals featured Austria's Jasmin Ouschan up against Taiwan's 2x world champ, Shin Mei Liu. Ouschan came out strong with a 2-0 lead. but gave Liu a chance to keep it close, which she did. In a match filled opportunities for both players, the score see-sawed until 6-6. Liu took the lead 7-6, and then unbelievably, Jasmin missed with ball in hand after a Liu foul. The normally stoic and stone faced Ouschan looked like she was on the verge of tears as she watched Liu run out for a 8-6 lead. Liu finished off the final rack with a 9-6 win.

The Philippines couldn't ask for a better finals match-up. Taiwan versus the Philippines, the biggest rivals in all of Asia. Rubilen Amit, the shy, soft spoken short Filipina looking for her first big win. And on the other side Shin Mei Liu, the most dominating woman's player in all Asia with two world championships already under her belt.

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Bucheon, Korea - The 3rd Annual Korea vs World Team took place again at La Festa Shopping Mall featuring some of the brightest stars of billiards today. Making her debut appearance in Korea, Allison Fisher made a huge impact on this year's outcome. The World Team consisted of Captain George Breedlove (USA), Allison Fisher (ENG), Shanelle Loraine (GUAM), and newbie Zarah Delrosario (PHL).

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The 9th Annual Predator International 10-Ball Championship, presented by Ozone Billiards, ended when Filipino Dennis Orcullo defeated German Ralf Souquet in the final battle for $20,000. Orcullo is the first Filipino to win the title in its nine year history. 

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Down to the final four in the Predator World 10 Ball Championships and no Americans left to root for. P&B columnist Charlie Williams, after decisive wins over Gomez 11-5 and Alcaide 11-8, was handed his final loss at the hands of Dennis Orcullo 11-6. That left Johnny Archer as the sole hope for the U.S.A. Johnny defeated fellow American Shawn Putnam 11-7, but then fell to German champ and multiple world title holder Ralf Souquet 11-3.

The final four match-ups are Dennis Orcullo vs. Warren Kiamco and Ralf Souquet vs. Alex Pagulayan. Stay tuned for a new champion to be crowned!

For more info on The Predator International 10-Ball Championships, including live scoring and full match results, go to www.predator10ball.com. Presenting sponsor Ozone Billiards is also joined by www.Jbetpoker.net, Simonis Cloth, Diamond Tables, Aramith Balls, Laser Rack, Uni-Loc, and the event host BCA Pool Leagues in this Dragon Promotions production.

Title sponsor Predator Group, an international billiards industry leader, is focused on bringing constant innovation and game-improving equipment to billiards players worldwide. For more information regarding Predator Group's products, visit www.predatorgroup.com.

The big news in the final 32 facing single elmination in the Predator World 10-Ball Championships is the performance of the top women players, beginning with the biggest news of all: WPBA's 2008 Most Improved Player, Yu Ram Cha.

Cha, coached by veteran top pro and P&B instructional columnist Charie Williams, first made headlines when she became the face of an international beauty/spa company. Now she'll be known for her game, not just her name. After defeating The Black Widow Jeanette Lee, Cha was left to face the formidable former world 10-ball champ Shane Van Boening to secure her final 32 spot. Down 8-4 in the race to ten, it wasn't looking great.

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Magoo's Restaurant and Billiards in Tulsa, Oklahoma hosted this weekend's Viking Cue 9-Ball Tours events on May 3-4, 2008. Magoo's has been a family run establishment since 1994, owned and operated by avid players Jim and Laura McDermott. The Open Division featured some exciting matches and several upsets. Early in the event Buddy Hall unexpectidly forfeited his match to Brian Jones when Hall was leading the race to 11 set by a score of 7-3. Hall stated the reason for his forfeit was that he misunderstood a ruling by the director. Hall was fined a fee of $130 which he promptly paid along with his apologies.

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Primetime Sports hosted the J.Peachauer North East Women's Tour April 19-20, adding $1500 toward the prize fund, which included a paid qualifier spot for the Generation Pool.com WPBA event in Charlotte this June. The event started with 28 women.

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