Bolahood Bags Amateur Win

Oct 15, 2015

The 2nd installment of the 2015/16 Shooters Amateur 9 Ball Event was held this past weekend (October 10, 2015) at the Shooters Snooker and Sports Club in North York. This amateur tournament is held approximately every 4 weeks. Owing to the Thanksgiving holiday it was decided that this tournament would be restricted to one day. Consequently the entries were capped at 48 players for this always popular event.
As a result of the reduced field and the holiday weekend the majority of the players were GTA regulars with a few new players introducing themselves to the mix. Combined with the ‘404’ series of events and the special event tournaments being held at Shooters, there have been over 400 players who have tried their hand at competitive handicapped tournament pool in the past 12 months at Shooters. Despite the strong interest and almost always full fields, there is a no more contentious and passionate topic in local pool than player handicaps. However, if the broad player turnout is any indication, then the majority of players view the current handicaps and the existing handicap system as fair. The system will never be perfect but if the high majority of players feel that they can be competitive at their current handicap then the system is working.
Once the preliminary’ rounds had been completed on Saturday it was Darlene Gardiner, Colin Beaulieu, Romeo Zulueta and Russ Cormier who were undefeated on the ‘A’ side. The one loss ‘B’ side of the draw had Jeremiah Bolahood, Alan Ada, Teen Yan and Ronald Giron trying to work their way through their matches while avoiding a 2nd loss which would eliminate them from the tournament.
As play progressed throughout the day it was Colin Beaulieu and Russ Cormier who faced off in the ‘A’ side final with the veteran Cormier decisively coming out on top. This result sent Cormier to the ‘hot seat’ and Beaulieu to the ‘B’ side. Over on the one loss side the ‘B’ side semi-final saw Jeremiah Bolahood roll over Romeo Zulueta to claim a place in the ‘B’ side final for a match against Beaulieu. In what was probably the most exciting match of the tournament Bolahood prevailed in a tight hill/hill match against Beaulieu setting up a tournament final against Cormier.
It was a remarkable final for the players who would meet for the tournament title. Cormier had just returned to tournament pool after a 3 month ‘sabbatical’ while Bolahood had lost his first match of the tournament and then ‘caught a gear’ to work his way through the ‘B’ side winning 9 straight matches to make an appearance in the championship match. Bolahood continued his momentum in the final by overcoming Cormier to emerge as the tournament winner.
Congratulations to Jeremy Bolahood on his tournament win. This was Jeremy’s first Shooters tournament win and it will be memorable for his successful path through the ‘B’ side. Congratulations are also in order for the veteran Cormier for his strongest tournament finish in recent memory. Russ didn’t say anything about practicing during his self imposed absence!
Many thanks to those who participated and apologies to those who were unable to play due to the high demand for entry into this event.

PLEASE NOTE: Upcoming tournaments at Shooters include the new ‘3-6’ tournament this weekend which is restricted to those with handicaps from 3 to 6. There is a ‘gaggle’ of players with handicaps in the 3-6 range so this event should prove to be very, very competitive. Also on the near horizon is a 2nd iteration of the immensely popular ‘4-7’ Extravaganza on November 14, 2015. This is also a restricted handicap tournament for those with handicaps from 4 to 7 eligible to play. This event was first held in June 2015 and drew a staggering 110 participants with prize money over $25,000 including both the prize monies and the Calcutta.
The next Shooters Amateur 9 Ball Event will be held November 7th and 8th. Please check the Shooters Snookerclub Facebook page and www.thepoolscene.com for dates and details for all upcoming tournaments.
 



Place
Player
Rank
Prize Money
Calcutta


1st
Jeremy Bolahood
8
$650
$700


2nd
Russ Cormier
7
$400
$450


3rd
Colin Beaulieu
7
$280
$270


4th
Romeo Zulueta
6
$180
$160


5-6th
Ronald Giron
7
$100
$90


5-6th
Darlene Gardiner
4
$100
$90


7th -8th
Teen Yan
5
$60



7th-8th
Alan Ada
6
$60