APA Members Pocket Nearly $700,000 at Poolplayer Championships in Las Vegas
May 18, 2017
LAKE SAINT LOUIS, MO (May 17, 2017) —Thousands of APA members made their way to the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino to compete for nearly $700,000 in cash and prizes at the APA Poolplayer Championships. The Poolplayer Championships consisted of both the 8-Ball Classic and 9-Ball Shootout, as well as the 8-Ball and 9-Ball Doubles Championships and the Wheelchair Championship.
The final round of the 9-Ball Shootout featured three championship matches, one for each Skill Level Tier, with two shooters in each tier competing for $10,000 in cash and prizes. In the Green Tier, Michelle Templeton of Carbondale, Ill., defeated Robin Hicks of Terry, Miss. In the White Tier, Rene’ Maurice of Sudbury, Ont., defeated Mark Lyons of Central Islip, N.Y. In the Black Tier, John Pasquarella of San Diego, Calif., defeated Matthew Walling of Ruffin, S.C. Mary Nicholas of Woodstock, Ala., received the Sportsmanship Award in the 9-Ball Shootout.
Each of the three Champions received a prize package worth $10,000. Runners-Up in each tier took home a prize package worth $5,000. More than 4,000 poolplayers made it to the Regional Level of the 9-Ball Shootout before the field was whittled down to the 370 who advanced to Las Vegas.
Nearly 6,000 players throughout North America qualified for Regional competition in the 8-Ball Classic, with 582 of them advancing to the championships.
In the finals of the 8-Ball Classic, five champions each took home a prize package worth $15,000 for their performances. In the Blue Tier, Taplia Renfrow of Atlanta, Ill., defeated Jared Bellino of Lake Charles, La. In the Yellow Tier, Benjamin Almazan of Chicago, Ill., defeated Matthew Soderlund of Westerville, Ohio. In the Red Tier, Jimmy James of Baltimore, Md., defeated Mark Cable of Somerville, N.J. In the Orange Tier, Kevin Grimes of Yorba Linda, Calif., defeated Wayne Galloway of Yazoo City, Miss. In the Purple Tier, Daniel McKenney of Petal, Miss., defeated William Gallagher, Jr. of Atco, N.J. Herlinda Moss of Whitewright, Texas, won the Sportsmanship Award in the 8-Ball Classic.
First Place winners received cash and prizes worth $15,000. Each Runner-Up received cash and prizes worth $9,000.
In the 8-Ball Doubles Championship, What the Baby Gonna Do 2 – Bobby Harvision and Tyshawn Foster – of Memphis, Tenn., defeated Newlyweds – Kyle Guo and Natalie Montoya – of San Gabriel, Calif. The victory earned them a $5,000 payday. As Runners-Up, Newlyweds took home $3,000.
In the 9-Ball Doubles Championship, Last Minute Decision – Chris Whitlow and Adam Wray– of Woburn, Mass., defeated Droppin Nines – Jacqueline Wargo and Matt Kornfeld – of Ft. Washington, Pa. The victory earned them a $3,500 payday. As Runners-Up, Droppin Nines took home $2,300.
In the finals of the Wheelchair Championship, Sonja Bennett of Kankakee, Ill., defeated Marland Redfield of Marshall, Mich., to take home $2,000 in prize money. Redfield received $1,200 as the Runner-Up.
The APA, based in Lake Saint Louis, Mo., sanctions the world’s largest amateur pool league, known as the APA Pool League throughout the United States, and as the Canadian Pool League in Canada. Nearly 250,000 members compete in weekly 8-Ball and 9‑Ball League play. The APA is generally recognized as the Governing Body of Amateur Pool, having established the official rules, championships, formats and handicap systems for the sport of amateur billiards.
The APA produces three major tournaments each year—the APA World Pool Championships, the APA Poolplayer Championships and the U.S. Amateur Championship—that, together, pay out nearly $2 Million in cash and prizes annually!
The APA and its championships are sponsored by Aramith, Action Cues and PoolDawg.
For more information on the American Poolplayers Association, visit www.poolplayers.com.