So Close for Mr Smooth
Feb 3, 2014
Diamond Billiard Products has put together yet another successful billiard event at the Horseshoe Hotel in Southern Indiana. The $100,000 added Derby City Classic is one of the most prestigious events of the year. With 9-Ball, 10-Ball, Bank Pool, One Pocket and Straight Pool, there is no other tournament which draws such a wide variety of top players from all over the world.
One of the first events was the $16,000 added "Big Foot" 10-Ball tournament played on a 10 foot Diamond table. This 16 player single knockout event had a hefty $1,000 entry fee. Shane Van Boening had wins over Dennis Orcollo, John Morra (Mr. Smooth), Francisco Bustamante and Niels Feijen to take the first place prize:
10-Ball Results
1st
Shane Van Boening
$1,600
2nd
Niels Feijen
$8,000
3rd
Francisco Bustamante
$4,000
4th
Ralf Souquet
$4,000
It was Dennis Orcollo who banked his way through 361 players to capture the Bank Pool title. Dennis went through 14 rounds of play with wins over John Smith, Konstantin Stepanov, Michael Muhlbradt, Jamie Farrell, Alex Olinger, Billy Thorpe, Danny Smith, Lee Vann Corteza, Shane VanBoening, Wang Can, Justin Bergman and Francisco Bustamante. The top finishers were:
Bank Pool
1st
Dennis Orcollo
$10,000
2nd
Francisco Bustamante
$5,000
3rd
Earl Strickland
$1,900
4th
Shannon Murphy
$1,200
4th
David Grossman
$1,200
4th
Justin Bergman
$1,200
In the one pocket event, Efren Reyes, who was rumoured to have retired, dominated the event which had 298 players. Reyes "The Magician" demonstrated his magical skills, remaining undefeated throughout this event. Reyes had wins over Robb Saez, Mark Haddad, Jason Chance, Bob Herchik, Ellis Kane, Rafael Martinez, Louis DeMarco, Corey Deuel, Dee Adkins, Josh Roberts, Dennis Orcollo and Shannon Daulton. Here are the top finishers:
One Pocket
1st
Efren Reyes
$12,000
2nd
Shannon Daulton
$6,000
3rd
Scott Frost
$3,355
4th
Francisco Bustamante
$2,200
4th
Dennis Orcollo
$2,200
6th
Justin Hall
$1,400
6th
Josh Roberts
$1,400
The 9-ball event had 264 players who were hanging their hats on this last opportunity to shine at the 2014 Derby City. At this point, most players were well adjusted after being in the room for nearly a week. The level of play seemed to escalate. Canada watched as Jason Klatt and John Morra stormed through the star-studded field. These two names are possibly the most recognized names in pool rooms across the country. With only three players remaining, Shane Van Boening caught the free pass into the finals. This meant Jason and John would have to square off against each other in an all Canadian semi-final battle. Jason Klatt came out of the gate quickly with a 3-1 lead. John won the next 4 racks to go ahead 5-3. The players exchanged racks until the score was locked up at 8 each. It was John Morra who took the last rack in the case game to secure his spot in the finals against Shane Van Boening.
Shane and John have a habit of meeting up at this event. Odds are, if you keep winning, you will likely have to face one of these guys sooner or later. John played excellent throughout the entire tournament and managed to reach the hill first at 8-7. However, an unfortunate roll put Shane back at the table with a winning opportunity. With the pressure on, Shane got the job done winning his third Derby City 9-ball event. Although it was a heartbreaking loss for John Morra, it was another impressive tournament in the books for "Mr. Smooth". Chalk it up as experience and we hope to see you at the next one.
9-Ball
1st
Shane Van Boening
$16,000
2nd
John Morra
$8,000
3rd
Jason Klatt
$4,000
4th
Ruslan Chinahov
$2,850
4th
Dennis Orcollo
$2,850
6th
Carlo Biado
$1,750
6th
Mike Dechaine
$1,750
6th
Niels Feijen
$1,750
6th
Efren Reyes
$1,750