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REPORT

October 7, 2007
SEASON 3 - EVENT 1 - DAY 2

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Alex Pagulayan Captures Initial Canadian 9-Ball Event!

 Former World Champion Alex Pagulayan has bested a field of 94 players to claim the first stop of the 2007-2008 Canadian 9-Ball Tour, presented by Cineplex Entertainment, Indigo and Chapters Bookstores. He cruised through the event undefeated and was only threatened once the entire contest, when Jeff White managed to take him to the hill before Pagulayan could close the deal and remain on the right-hand side of the brackets.

 It was not as if he had an easy group to beat. Long-time sponsors Canada Bowling and Billiard, Dufferin Cues, Stan James Bookmakers, Aramith Billiard Balls and Simonis Cloth have been joined this year by presenting sponsors; Cineplex Entertainment, Indigo and Chapters Bookstores to increase the prize funds to $10,000 in added money at each stop, luring large fields swollen with international talent. Superstar Pagulayan wasn’t the only former World Champion in the field as Ralf Souquet made the trip from Germany to Newmarket along with his Mosconi Cup teammate Marcus Chamat of Sweden. Another World Champion, Thorsten Hohmann of Germany, had entered the event but was unable to attend at the last minute.

 In addition to the international talent, Canada’s best joined the fray. The list of players present included a plethora of Canadian National Champions and rising stars. Last years tour champion Edwin Montal led the Canadian effort along with Tyler Edey, Brady Gollan, Jeff White, Chris Orme, Jason Klatt, Erik Hjorliefson, Alain Martel, John Morra, Ron Wiseman and Mario Morra. But none could find enough power to overcome the precision of Pagulayan’s cue.

 The biggest surprise for the fans that packed Bigwigs Billiards was the early exits made by both Ralf Souquet and Marcus Chamat. Neither man made it out of the first day of play as Chamat was sent to the one-loss side early by Pagulayan (9-2) and then was dismissed in his first contest there (9-8) by Elio D’Andrea. Ralf Souquet was also feeling the effects of jet lag and was beaten first by Jason Klatt (9-8) and then was surprised (9-7) by Vito Puopolo to end his attempt at the title.

 Meanwhile, Pagulayan was putting on an incredible display that seemed to draw gasps from the audience at every turn. He won his first four matches by a combined score of 36-9 as no opponent could get more than four games on the wire before retiring in defeat. Jeff White ended that overwhelming dominant streak when he took advantage of any air Pagulayan would surrender to him and almost beat the diminutive cue master. White kept it close throughout their contest but Pagulayan turned up the heat another notch when White took the match to the hill. Pagulayan claimed the one-game decider to progress on and remain unbeaten.

 In the final match Tyler Edey found himself falling behind early and was never able to make up the gap. Pagulayan escaped one tough situation after another. The scene began to become evident in the second rack when Pagulayan was forced to kick at the two ball. He kicked off of the side rail, rebounded into the two ball and then caromed into the nearby nine ball, sinking it in the corner pocket for the win! If that took the wind out of Edey he never let it show. Tyler Edey has managed to bring both his game and his expectations to the highest levels and he never surrendered the field, fighting well and hard every trip to the table. But Pagulayan kept Edey in his chair for most of the contest and was able to dominate the score line and claim the victory by a score of 11-5.

Alex with Bigwigs owner Ken Botham

RESULTS

October 6, 2007
SEASON 3 - EVENT 1 - Day 1

The Canadian 9 Ball Tour began the season this weekend at Bigwigs Billiards in Newmarket, Ontario. The playlist includes many champions such as Ralf Souquet, Alex Pagulayan, Marcus Chamat, Tyler Edey, Alain Martel, Brady Gollan, Erik Hjorlefson and last year's tour champion Edwin Montal.  Mosconi Cup regulars Souquet and Chamat found the going tough as they both hit the one-loss side of the bracket early when Souquet fell to sharp-shooter Jason Klatt 9-8 and Chamat could find no daylight as he collapsed 9-2 before the guns of Alex Pagulayan. The two Europeans enjoyed no success in the rounds to follow and bowed out prior to the money stages.

With the $10,000 in added money at each stop this year, upsets were the order of day 1.  Along with Souquet and Chamat's departure, former Canadian Champions; Brady Gollan, Erik Hjorliefson and Chris Orme, all failed to reach day 2. Hot, muggy conditions and the heat generated from a sell-out crowd, made play challenging, even for some of the best.

Former World Champion, Ralf Souquet in action at the Canadian 9 Ball Tour

Sunday will find sixteen players still alive, eight of whom have not as yet tasted defeat.  Those A-side match-ups will feature Tyler Edey against Dan Doerner, Jason Klatt against Justin Kluznik, Alain Lessard against Alex Pagulayan and Jeff White against Eric Hildebrand.  Still kicking on the "one loss" side, are pre-event favourites; Edwin Montal, Alain Martel, Ron Wiseman, along with the father and son duo, Mario and John Morra.  Also alive are John Jorgensen, Mike Roberts and Vito Puopolo, conquerer of Ralf Souquet.

Special thanks to our sponosors; Chapters-Indigo Bookstores, Cineplex Entertainment, Canada Bowling and Billiards, Dufferin Billiards, Stan James Bookmakers, Simonis Cloth and Aramith Billiard Balls.

Play resumes Sunday morning at 10am EST.

-Canadian 9 Ball Tour Staff

Aleksandar RADOMSKI

Randy FAWCETT

Neil MILLS

Bruce FRASER

Bernie COLLINS

Shane DUNNING

Justin MORGAN

John TIMMERMANS

Andrew ATTARD

Chris ORME

Vince McINTYRE

Al PORTER

Kevin MURPHY

Tyler EDEY

Edwin MONTAL

Jeff WHITE

Wayne TATE

Marcus CHAMAT

Alex PAGULAYAN

Tom McGOURAN

John MORRA

John McKENZIE

Erik HJORLIEFSON

Brady GOLLAN

John JORGENSEN

Jyri KARI

Alain MARTEL

Jason KNIGHT

Ralf SOUQUET

Paul TYTLER

Ken BOTHAM

Rob BLAIR

Justin KLUZNIK

Alain LESSARD

Mike PATROWICZ

Elio D’ANDREA

Dan LEWIS

Ryan James EUGENIO

Tol KUY

Eric HILDEBRAND

Dennis RHODES

Norm GLOVER

Dan DOERNER

Ron WISEMAN

Jason KLATT

Mario MORRA

Jeff TRUDELLE

Chris LEE

Jarrett VIBERT

Jason WARREN

Louis FAZEKAS

Andrew AUPIN

Jeff LEASK

Al SMART

Mike ROBERTS

Pierre LAUZON

Al LOUGHEED

Tyler NEARING

Sam SIOLAS

Ryan SOLLEVELD

Tom CACIC

Ted GUERRIERI

BJ FOX

Scott MacDONALD

Don BROOS

Rob BRANDENBURG

Dave MacISAAC

John EVEREKIAN

DJ McGINLEY

Mike YOUNG

Rob HENRY

Dan HAMILTON

Grace NAKAMURA

Eddie CIRASELLA

Ray JANSEN

Josh RUNDLE

Jesse PIERCEY

Don RUDIN

George CORNELIUS

Shaun LEE

Paul CLUTTERBUCK

Phil FRASER

Marc BUCAIS

McEarl BUCAIS

Robin BASS

Jody MATHESON

Jim COYNE

Steve TULLY

Chris JENKINS

Glen LEE

Sheridan SINOPOLE

DJ WARD

Vito PUOPOLO

Jim NICHOLLS

Canadian 9 Ball Tour 2007-2008