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Headstring News
Filipinos Fill Out Top Three at Derby City; Feijen Wins 9-Ball
Jan 15, 2007, 10:21 AM
Poor Rodolfo Luat.
The quiet Fillipino has taken second place in the Derby City Classic 9-Ball event for the past two years. Last year, German Ralf Souquet got the best of him. This year, Dutchman Neils Feijen had every advantage coming into the final match, holding on to his buy-back option after receiving two byes. Despite Fiejen's luck of the draw, Luat came agonizingly close, handing Feijen his first defeat and then tying the second set at hill-hill. In the case game, Luat fouled in a safety battle, granting Feijen ball in hand. With extreme care, Feijen sized up the 2-9 combo, and after what felt like an eon, pocketed it for the win and the $16,800 top prize. It wasn't all for naught for Luat, however, as he did manage to come in second for the all-around Master of the Table award, adding $3,000 to his $8,600 second-place prize.
Reyes took first place in the Master of the Table race, and pocketed $20,000. Francisco Bustamante took third and earned $2,000, rounding out an all-Filipino big three.
Earlier in the week, Bob Jewett facilitated a 14.1 straight pool high run competition, with four days of preliminaries. Final contenders were Mike Davis, who posted the highest run of the prelims with a 151, Ralf Souquet (137), Johnny Archer (129), Mika Immonen (127), John Schmidt (97), Dennis Orcollo (93), Danny Harriman (85), and Charlie Williams (85).
Each finalist had five attempts to reach their highest run, with a $1,000 bonus for anyone who pierced the 200 mark. It looked like Davis' 151 might stick, but Immonen's skillful pattern play earned him a 160 in his second try. He was unable to surpass his own watermark, but his closest rival was a mere 71, posted by Schmidt. Immonen won $2,200 for first place.
"I’m pretty proud that I could step up and beat the record, and that’s pretty good for me right now. It’s one of my best runs, I had to come with some tough shots," he said.
Schmidt took home $1,600, and Williams took third and $1,250 for his high run of 67.
Look for in-depth coverage of the Derby City Classic in the March issue of Billiards Digest.
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