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The 2010 US National 3-Cushion Championship was held February 17-21 at the Tacoma Elks Lodge. Play was on five heated Verhoeven tables covered with super-fast Simonis 300 cloth and Aramith Pro tournament balls. The Lodge was an outstanding host for the event and provided bleacher seating for spectators, staff to clean the equipment after each match, scorekeepers, ticket-takers, lunch and dinner buffets, and free practice time for all participants. Charles Brown, USBA Director from New York, did his usual accurate and efficient job as Tournament Director and Master of Ceremonies. Tiger Products provided gloves and cue wraps for all the players through their player representative Mazin Shooni.

As a special treat, Tacoma member Tom "Huf" Hofstedt was on hand to draw caricatures of all the players. Tom also produced an excellent program booklet for the event.

The 35 entrants were mostly players who had won qualifiers around the country, but also included the four top finishers from 2009 and a few open entrants who had played in qualifiers but had not won. They were grouped into five groups of seven players for round-robins with 25-point matches. One top finisher from 2009 was seeded into each group.

The prelims produced one major surprise as defending champion Hugo Patino failed to advance. He lost matches to 2005 champion Sonny Cho and to Min Jae Pak, who had put in a top-notch performance at the USBA Tour stop in August at Carom Cafe in New York with a 1.3 average.

In another group, last year's runner-up Pedro Piedrabuena was totally dominant as he didn't let any of his 6 opponents get to 10 points. Jae Hyung Cho ran a 7 against Pedro to tie at 7 points, but then Pedro shifted gears to win 25-9 in only 10 innings.

Two players from each group advanced to the 10-player final round-robin, which had matches to 40 points. Besides Piedrabuena, Sonny Cho and Miguel Torres had been undefeated in their prelim groups, while Carlos Hallon, Michael Kang, Mazin Shooni, Min Jae Pak, George Ashby, and Jae Hyung Cho advanced with 5-1 records. John Jacobson advanced from a 3-way tie for second in his group based on a most-points tie-breaker. Of the 10 finalists, six were former US Champions.

Live streaming to the Internet of the finals was provided by OTBnTV.com, allowing hundreds of fans to keep up with the action and scores. Commentary for each match helped anyone new to the game to catch up on the intricacies of shots including position play and safeties.

Tom "Dr. Cue" Rossman was on hand to give one of his excellent trick shot shows between rounds. Along with USBA Directors Bruce Warner and Henry Ugartechea, Tom manned the microphones for the commentary during the live streaming.

Going into the final round of five matches, Piedrabuena and Jae Hyung Cho both had 8-1 records, while all the other players had at least two losses. This meant that the rematch between Pedro and Jae would determine the new champion. (In round-robin play, it's possible for equal win-loss records to happen, in which case a play-off would have been necessary to determine first and second places.)

In getting to the championship match, Jae Hyung Cho turned in the best game of the final rounds with 40 points in 21 innings against 2006 champ Mazin Shooni. Mazin had an excellent 1.600 average in that game, so he just caught Cho at the wrong time. Cho's sole loss was to Miguel Torres. For his part, Piedrabuena got to the finals with the highest grand average and a 1.739 game against 3-time former champ George Ashby. Pedro's only loss had been to Shooni.

Cho led through most of the final match. Piedrabuena rallied at the end, scoring 10 points while Cho was at 39, but an 18-point deficit proved insurmountable. Jae Hyung Cho became the 2010 US Champion with a 40-32 score.

The total prize fund was $18,900 including $100 for best average (Piedrabuena, 1.232), $100 for best game (Cho) and $100 for high run (11, Piedrabuena and Kang). Final standings, win-loss and averages were: 1. Jae Hyung Cho 8-1 1.201, 2. Pedro Piedrabuena 7-2 1.232, 3. Miguel Torres 7-2 1.180, 4. Sonny Cho 6-3 1.062, 5. Mazin Shooni 5-4 1.060, 6. Michael Kang 3-6 0.960, 7. Carlos Hallon 3-6 0.942, 8. Min Jae Pak 3-6 0.923, 9. George Ashby 3-6 0.853, 10. John Jacobson 0-9 0.578. The grand average of all players in the finals was 0.987.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53954051@N00/sets/72157623397080997/

A message from Don Akerlow, who live-streamed the USBA Nationals in February:

"We have just published the USBA National Championship results, article and photos. You can find all 3 magazines at www.onthebreaknews.com
(Click the March 2010 issue)

www.thebreakmagazine.com: covering the Western United States (Click the March 2010 issue)

www.rackemmag.com covering the Midwest (Click the March 2010 issue)

www.strokemagazine.net covering the Eastern Time Zone (Click the March 2010 issue)

National coverage of your event

Thank you for allowing OTBnTV to Live Stream

Respectfully,
Don Akerlow
Publisher"

Click Here for UStream Metrics of Nationals Live-Stream Coverage

More pics from Mr. Akerlow:

http://www.pbase.com/otbntv/usba

35 Players Maximum

Qualifications:
5 groups of 7 players Round Robin
Points per match undetermined
2 from each group advance based on
W/L, Total Points, Head to Head, Points Against

The top 5 finishers from last years nationals will be seeded into the groups

105 Matches
21 Rounds
9 rounds on Wednesday (45 matches)
9 rounds on Thursday (45 matches)
3 rounds on Friday (15 matches)

Finals:
10 Player Round Robin
Points per match undetermined
Ranking based on W/L, Average (then Total Points, Head to Head, etc.
same as above but average is usually the final determining factor)

If two or more players have the same W/L record for first place then there
will be a playoff match between the two players with the highest averages.

9 rounds total
2 rounds on Friday
4 rounds on Saturday
3 rounds on Sunday plus Closing Ceremony and
Awards Presentation (and time for a playoff match if needed)

5) Mazin Shooni:                    Moody Gardens, Galveston, TX Qualifier
6) Cong Nguyen:                    Moody Gardens, Galveston, TX Qualifier
7) Bruce Warner:                   Burbank, CA, Elks Club Qualifier
8) Lupe Cruz:                          Marshalltown, IA Qualifier
9) John Jacobson:                 Marshalltown, IA Qualifier
10) Fred Lamers :                 Marshalltown, IA Qualifier
(Replaced by James Richards)

11) George Ashby:               Marshalltown, IA Qualifier
12) Neal Olson:                     Tacoma, WA, Elks Club Qualifier
13) Mark Hansen:                 Tacoma, WA, Elks Club Qualifier
14) Jae Hyung Cho:             Hall of Fame, Warren, MI Qualifier
15) Felipe Razon:                 Hall of Fame, Warren, MI Qualifier
16) Min Jae Pak:                   Carom Café, Flushing, NY Qualifier
17) Douglas Lee:                  Carom Café, Flushing, NY Qualifier
(Replaced by Sonny Cho)

18) Juan Elizalde Sauz:       US Billiards, Houston, TX Qualifier
19) Dan Kolacz:                     Pendennis Club, Louisville, KY Qualifier
20) Max Fisher:                     Pendennis Club, Louisville, KY Qualifier
21) Jim Shovak:                    Pendennis Club, Louisville, KY Qualifier
(Replaced by Tom Rossman)

22) Brian Haff:                      Pendennis Club, Louisville, KY Qualifier
23) Jim Watson:                   World Class Billiards, Peabody, MA Qualifier
24) Carlos Hallon:                New Wave Billiards, Miami, FL Qualifier

25) Gary Cohen
26) Harvey Wixman
27) Young Gull Lee
28) Al Speidel
29) Charles Brown
30) Tommy Thomsen
31) Bill Bulpin
32) Jamil Isreal
33) Mike Bengels
34) Gary Elias
35) Dave Van Lokeren

There are no more remaining Qualifiers. We are only accepting 35 players. As of right now, the players who are numbered up to # 35 are guaranteed to play.

1. From the Seattle-Tacoma Airport you can get the Capital Airport Shuttle to and from the airport for $30 each way directly to your lodging or to the Tacoma Elks. The Tacoma Elks is at 1965 S. Union Ave. Tacoma, WA. Phone number 253-272-1117. The shuttle runs from the south end of baggage claim (door 00) from 6:40Am to 11:59PM.

2. The recommended lodging is Motel 6 at 1811 S. 76th Tacoma phone number 253-473-7100; prices are subject to change but are now; single bed Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Sunday $43.99 and $49.99 for Friday & Saturday; double bed is 49.99 and $55.99 for the same days listed under single.

Extended Stay America at 2120 S. 48th Tacoma phone number 253-475-6565; Prices for single bed units are 49.99 per night if staying a minimum of 7 nights and $64.99 per night if less than 7 nights; double bed units are $64.99 per night if staying a minimum of 7 nights and $77.99 per night if staying less than 7 nights. These are like apartments if you are not familiar with Extended Stay America.

3. All lodging in Tacoma is between 2 and 3 miles from the Tacoma
Elks Lodge as are those recommended.

5. Several players in the past have rented cars and between local player transportation you can usually get back and forth without using a Taxi.

There is no charge for practice before the tournament or in the evening after the tournament play concludes.

The Lodge opens at 9AM practice day Tuesday. Monday we are closed but we have a way to get you in thru our athletic program so call me, Darrel Stutesman 253-584-3994, if you want to practice on Monday.

Welcome to the Tacoma Elks Lodge. As our guests you are granted the full use of our athletic facilities. For your use and enjoyment we have exercise equipment, handball courts, steam room, sauna, swimming pool ( bring your own suit), tennis courts, out door running track and showers.

Just tell the attendant, down stairs, your name and that you are with the tournament and he will take care of you.

For the tournament, there will be a no host bar and buffet in the tournament area. The buffet will be open from about 11:30AM to 2PM.

The full service dining room will be open for lunch and dinner except Monday and Sunday evenings. On Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings there are live bands.

We also have an 18-hole golf course that is open to the public, across the street on the east side of the Lodge building.

There is room for at least 8 vendors to display and promote their products at no charge. If they do very well, they will be encouraged to make a donation to the Tacoma billiard program.

I wish you enjoyment in the tournament and hope you enjoy your time at the Tacoma Elks Lodge.

The USBA has a contract with Choice Hotels International. If you would like to receive at least a 15% discount at Choice Hotel locations, please refer to your Membership Package for details or you can access the USBA Forum "Members Only" area. To become a USBA Member, click "Join" at the top or the upper left side of this page and follow the instructions to pay by credit/debit card through PayPal. You do NOT need a PayPal account to use PayPal. You can also mail in membership dues by check.

USBA Members also receive between 5-10% discount from the following car rental companies, if they service the area: