Super News 360º Video (2 of 3) - 2009 US Open 9-Ball Championships

The US Open 9-Ball Championships is the largest and most prestigious professional tournament in the USA. Fans of the US Open event will quickly boast about the rich history, the professionalism of the venue and tournament staff, or the many cool traditions. The annual pro pool tournament takes place in Chesapeake Virginia, and brings the the strongest players around to world to converge at the Chesapeake Conference Center.

In it’s 34th consecutive year, founder Barry Behrman rolled out the carpet for everyone who came out to event… including vendors, players and fans. In 2009, the US Open attracted 216 players from 26 different countries all coming with one goal in mind… to become a US Open 9-Ball Champion.

While pool is one of the most recognizable and played games throughout the world, the general public hasn’t yet learned to understand and appreciate the game at it’s highest level. This video breaks things down in a fast-moving and entertaining way in an effort to help create a greater connection between the event, its players, and their fans.

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Mika Immonen Makes History at the 2009 US Open 9-ball Championships

Story & photos by NYC Grind Contributor, Alison M. Fischer

Pool fans from across the country gathered at the final day of the US Open 9-ball Championships in Chesapeake, VA, as they watched the showdown of the final four players, out of a field that started with 216.

And these fans did in fact get to see history in the making, as Mika Immonen was crowned US Open 9-ball Champion for the second consecutive time.  This had only been done once before, by Nick Varner nearly twenty years ago, with his back-to-back wins in 1989 and 1990.

Everyone had all but written off Mika Immonen as a contender in this event, with an early loss to Chris Bartram in only the second round.  After this loss, Mika had a long grind through the one-loss side, winning twelve matches to make it to the finals.

Read on for more details on the final day of this historical event.  Click here to view the photo gallery from Day 7 at the US Open.

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New Video: The BCA Hall of Fame Inducts Allison Fisher & Johnny Archer

NYC Grind is proud to present our video from the recent induction of Allison Fisher and Johnny Archer into the BCA Hall of Fame. The induction banquet was a wonderful tribute to two of the most groundbreaking players and leaders in the sport of pool.  Johnny & Allison have been honorable representatives of the sport worldwide for over nearly two decades, and continue to inspire greatness in players of all levels.

Read the story to watch the video, which features Allison Fisher’s acceptance speech, as well as tributes from a number of Johnny and Allison’s colleagues and friends who joined them to celebrate their achievements.

Read the BCA 2009 Hall of Fame Induction Story

View the BCA 2009 Hall of Fame Induction Photo Gallery (Photos by Alison M. Fischer)

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Allison Fisher and Johnny Archer are Honored as the 2009 Inductees into the BCA Hall of Fame

Written by NYC Grind Contributor, Geoff Conway & Photos by Alison M. Fischer

What a thrill it was to be in attendance at the BCA Hall of Fame Induction ceremony on the evening of Thursday, October 22, at the Marriot Hotel in Chesapeake, VA, for the induction ceremony for Allison Fisher and Johnny Archer.

Both Allison and Johnny are worthy recipients of this award, having won many championships and world titles between them, and more importantly, have been fantastic representatives for the sport of pool.

The banquet hall af the Marriott was packed to the gills with friends, family, and colleagues of these two legendary champions gathered to celebrate their accomplishments, and both received wonderful tributes from their friends.  Additionally, Matchroom Sports founder, Barry Hearn was “virtually present” as he honored both players in a recorded video, which gave the ceremony a truly international feel.

Click Here to view the photo gallery from the BCA Hall of Fame Induction Banquet.

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The Final Day of the US Open 9-ball Championships: Only 4 Players Remain

Only four players now remain in the US Open 9-ball Championships here in Chesapeake, VA, in a field that started out with 216 from 26 countries.  Two players, Donnie Mills of Clearwater, FL and former US Open Champion and former World Champion, Ralf Souquet of Germany.

Souquet and underdog Mills will be playing for the “hot seat” position, guaranteeing the undefeated spot in the finals.  Ralf Souquet and Donnie Mills ran through seven race to 11 matches over the course of 6 days to make it this far, and are in the heat of battle in their match which began at 1:00 pm EST.  Watch it live on Accu-Stats.com.

Donnie Mills, who finished in the top 16 at the 2008 US Open, had highlight wins over Frankie Hernandez (11-10), Darren Appleton (11-5), Tommy Kennedy (11-9) and a final late-night win over Rodney Morris (11-10).

A very familiar face in the finals of major events, Ralf Souquet has stayed on-point in his game at the Open, taking down Huidjee See of the Netherlands and Lee Van Corteza along the way.

Read on to see who which players have made it through the one loss bracket to make it to the final day.  Click Here to view our photo galleries from Day 6 at the US Open 9-ball Championships.
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Earl Does It Again! The 16 Undefeated Players are Now Competing to Move on to the Final 8

At the start of Day 5 here at the US Open 9-ball Championships, only 16 players remained in the winner’s bracket, and to get there, these top players had to grind through four days of play to make it to the final four in each of the four brackets.

The 10 pm matches have recently started, and you can click here to watch the live stream from the Predator Arena provided by Accu-Stats, and click here to view the live scoring on all matches, provided by AZbilliards… plus updated brackets are available here.  Right now the feature match is Stevie Moore vs Ralf Souquet.

One of the forerunners in this event is 5-time US Open winner and veteran of the game, Earl “The Pearl” Strickland.  Last night, Earl came back from behind in his match against Mexico’s Rafael Martinez, to break and run hill-hill.  Earl will next face rising star of the Philippines, Lee Van Corteza, who had an impressive finish in last year’s US Open.

Another legendary player, Kim Davenport, had a win tremendous win over Roberto Gomez.  Davenport was down 10-8 when he forged a comeback to go hill-hill.  In the tiebreaker, Gomez played a safe on the 2-ball, and Davenport played a long  2-rail kick to combo the 2-4 and run the table to win the match.

Click Here to view the photo gallery from Day 4, photos by Alison M. Fischer, and read on for the breakdown on the action.

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Introducing the Day 1 Edition of NYC Grind’s US Open 9-ball Championships Super News 360 Video

Throughout the week here at the US Open 9-ball Championships, we will be sharing with you exclusive video footage from the event and the breaking news in our “Super News 360″ segments.

This is our first edition of a 3 part series, which highlights some of the top performers at Day 1 of the US Open. This episode is hosted by NYC Grind’s Jerry T with a breakdown from NYC Grind contributor, Geoff Conway.

Click Read the Story to watch the video!

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Day 2 at the US Open: The Pinoys Stay On Point while Euro Champs Fall

By NYC Grind Contributor, Alison M. Fischer

Day 2 of the US Open 9-ball Championships has been completed, and it definitely brought some interesting surprises.  The top players in the sport had a long day of competition, beginning at 11:00 am yesterday and going through 2:00 am this morning.

Two European Champions, Mika Immonen and Thorsten Hohmann were shockingly knocked to the one-loss side early in the second round yesterday.  Both had close matches that ended 11-9, to U.S.A.’s Chris Bartram and Canada’s Jason Klatt, respectively, and were in the same bracket… if both Bartrum and Klatt players win their matches today, they will face each other in round four.

Meanwhile, the Filipino contingent has not yet been defiled.  Yesterday, the father-son team of Ernesto and Oscar Dominguez fell victim to two of the Pinoy clan’s deadly competitors, Marlon Manalo and Roberto Gomez.

Click Here to view our photo gallery from Day Two, and read on for more details on yesterday’s action.

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The US Open 9-ball Championships Continues Into Day 2 as International Titans Clash with American Favorites

With Day 1 of the 2009 US Open 9-ball Championships completed, the majority of the first round matches have been completed, and the remainder have continued today at 11am.  A total of 216 players were entered in the event, and although all still remain, by the end of the day, some will face the first round of eliminations.  Click Here to view our photo gallery from the Day 1 action.

This year, live score updates on current matches are being provided by AZbilliards.  Click Here to check out who’s in action right now, and click here to view the online brackets.

Two such matches first-round matches being played today are that of England’s Daryl Peach and Imran Majid, who just arrived after the Eurotour event in Portugal.  In fact, Peach and Majid made history at that event, in making it the first-ever Eurotour stop to feature two British players in the finals, as mentioned on CuesportNews.com, in a true battle that went hill-hill for Peach to win 9-8.

Another more unusual British invader is making an appearance for the first time at the US Open.  English snooker Pro, Chris Melling, who earlier defeated Steve Lillis 11-5 on the Accu-Stats live stream, will definitely be a player to watch at this event, as he is definitely one of the sharpest competitors in cue sports today.  You can check out live feature matches all week by visiting www.accu-stats.com.

Today’s feature web matches (EST):
3pm: Mika Immonen vs Chris Bartram (Current Score: Immonen 3, Bartram 7)
7pm: TBA
9pm: Jose Parica vs Tony Chohan
11pm: TBA

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NYC Grind Welcomes Simonis Cloth, CueSports International, Klickable.tv and ONErpm.com as sponsors of our 2009 US Open Coverage

NYC Grind is very proud to announce our sponsors for our coverage of the 2009 US Open 9-ball Championships.  The US Open is one of the most anticipated professional billiards events in the world, and we are very happy to have the support of Simonis Cloth, Cue Sports International (CSI), Klickable.tv and ONErpm.com to make this a memorable year at the US Open for both players and fans.

Throughout the week of the US Open, NYC Grind will be sharing our unique player perspective on this prestigious event in our 360-degree coverage.  This will include written coverage, photography, and a daily video breakdown of the tournament highlights, along with player interviews.

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