Canadian Cue Sport Association 2nd Annual British Columbia 8-Ball Championships

Feb 12, 2007

New Champions From New Places
The "CCS 2007 British Columbia 8-Ball Championships" held in Langley February 1-4th were everything hoped for and more. The Tables came early (a huge relief to Bill Unwin, the CCS Director and Tournament Organizer), a bigger Turnout, a great setting, a great Tournament Crew headed by Chris Kelly, and a great Referee Crew headed by Jeff Phythian – it was the way it was supposed to be; a whole lot of pool and a whole lot of fun.
With a beefed up Player Ranking System coupled with a Tournament Qualifying Format, the competition was intense and fun to watch in all Divisions of all Events. Congratulations and ‘good luck’ to the new Champions, all of whom have won either CCS sponsored Paid Trips and/or Entries to compete in the upcoming 2007 Western Championships April 25-29th in Calgary AB.

The Mens A Advanced Singles Finals featured 3 former National Champions – Stan Tourangeau from Vancouver BC – 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, Larry Wilson from Victoria BC – 2002, and Dave Martin from Calgary AB – 2005, Finalist 2004 and 2006. Definitely the time to bring your ‘A’ game! While Stan from Vancouver BC did snag 3rd over Dwayne Bjornstad of Calgary AB, when the dust settled it was Nick Kruger - 2004 Westerns Finalist - from Penticton BC who’s the new 2007 BC Champion. Nick went A Side all the way to win in a double set Final over Jeremy Smith - 2006 Westerns Finalist - from Calgary AB. The B Open Singles was won by Gary Burke Port Coquitlam BC over Bob Leonard Calgary AB and the C Standard Singles was won by Ian Coombs Calgary AB over John Wiebe Port Alberni BC.
The Womens A Advanced Singles was a two-peat by MaryAnn McConnell - 2006 Western Champ - of Port Alberni BC who won out over perennial rival Andrea Wilson – 2005 Western and 2005 National Champion - from Victoria BC. Kara Leonard - 2006 BC ‘B Open’ Champ – from Calgary AB finished 3rd. Susan Kottke of Vancouver BC is the new B Open Champ who won out over Tania Kozan from Mission BC.
The A Advanced Mens Team Finals featured 2 Teams from Calgary AB – Goodfellas (Barry Hooey, Danny Gilbert, Josh Silva, Chris Harms, Matt Woolstencroft) and Team Spain OLA (Mike Burton, Jeremy Smith, Kevin Beavis, Dwayne Bjornstad, Pete Sky). In their local League, it was Team Spain OLA – former VNEA Vegas and VNEA Westerns Masters Team Champions - who won the paid trip over the Goodfellas to go to the BC Championships. Not to worry. The Goodfellas paid their way and got their revenge by going A side all the way starting with wins over the Dragons Victoria BC, Team Canada Eh! Calgary AB, Team Spain OLA and Team Spain OLA again in the Finals. This rivalry is sure to be continued at the Westerns in April. Team Canada Eh! from Calgary AB hung on to finish 3rd over the Blind Assassins from Victoria BC. The B Open was won by the Usual Suspects (Doug Lowe, Gerry Lawson, Roman Santos, Ron Palma, Colin Sheil, Ed Person) from Maple Ridge BC and the C Standard was won by the West Coast Pirates (Mike Krull, Neil Ufnal, Lenny Beston, Grant Homenick, Ed Kazmir, Darryl Pratt) also from Maple Ridge BC.
In the A Advanced Womens Team Finals, Vancouver Island came through again with a two-peat win by the Killer ‘B’s (MaryAnn McConnell, Andrea Wilson, Janice Stromar, Michelle Gamble) from Nanaimo over a very strong Team from Calgary AB called Good To Go (Mary Rayner, Kara Leonard, Marilee Watson, Aurora Burdeyney). Finishing 3rd was Barry’s Babes #1 from Maple Ridge BC. The B Open was won by R.U.E.Z. (Kristin Prior, Heather Hawkins, Robina Thomas, Tracy Dales, Alexis Mills) from Victoria BC, coming back from the B side of the chart in a real nail biter over the Fallen Angels (Sandi Lortie, Bonnie Caskey, Darlene Snider, Kay Thorne). Kristin Prior under great pressure pulled off her 3rd hill-hill win for the R.U.E.Z team.
In the Scotch Doubles, it was the team of Kara Leonard and Bryce Powell from Calgary AB who took the top cash and the Falcon cues in the Finals over Jocelynn Gardner and Clinton Holmes from Calgary AB.
Special thanks to the Cascades Casino - Coast Hotel & Convention Centre for hosting us, plus all the Vendors and Sponsors who help make an Event like this possible – Falcon Cues, Q’s 4 Less, Tips Pro Shop, Axis Custom Embroidery, Massages by Connie Miller, West Coast Extraction Systems, U-Can-Cover, Anything Audio, Jill Unwin Photography, Classic Games & Billiards and the Royal Canadian Legion #7 for the Flags.
The CCS would also like to thank all the Leagues and Players whose support helped make this 2nd Championship even better. We look forward to seeing everyone again next year and of course also at the 2007 Westerns in Calgary for those who can make it.