Dumoulin Dominates Amateur Finale

May 29, 2015

A very successful season of the Shooters Amateur 9 Ball Event wrapped up on the weekend of May 16th and 17th, 2015 at the Shooters Snooker and Sports Club in North York with the finale of this season long event. From a very humble yet optimistic goal of 32 players at the outset of this event to a high of 92 participants (with a waiting list) on December 27, this Amateurs only tournament exceeded all expectations for popularity within the southern Ontario pool playing community.
The tournament was always over subscribed throughout the year with the final event drawing 90 players who were ‘qualified’ to play in the final as a result of previously playing a minimum number of events. Almost 250 different players participated in one or more of the 8 regularly scheduled ‘Amateurs’. Tournament numbers were limited only by the number of available tables at Shooters and weekend time constraints.
Much of the credit for the high participation in this new event must go to the Shooters room owner Peter Chin for his active recruitment of players and very persistent follow-up. The handicapping system --- though it has its critics and detractors --- must also be viewed as fair by most players in order for 250 different players to take part.
With almost $11,000 in prize money available (including $3,530 in the player Calcutta) it was no surprise that this final event drew the strongest field of the year.
With 90 players, Saturday was a long day for many players. ‘B’ side play was especially exhausting as a result of the need to trim the field to the 8 ‘B’ side survivors who would return for Sunday play. From the ‘A’ side of the draw, Jeet Khandai, Sumon Sarkar, Marc Dumoulin, Dave Mills, Shane Gummerson, Brad Guthrie, Stefane Godinho and Ronald Giron emerged undefeated on Saturday to punch their ticket for Sunday. The grueling one loss ‘B’ side spawned Justin Zammit, Jeff Pollock, Isaac Ramos, Tony Hong, Marcel Debuck, Jeff Flewelling, Andy Mizan, and Raphael Balverde as participants who were able to win enough matches to qualify for Sunday play.
Sunday proved to be another long day. In the ‘A’ side final, Shane Gummerson defeated Marc Dumoulin in a tense hill/hill match sending Dumoulin to the ‘B’ side and Gummerson to the hot seat. Waiting on the ‘B’ side was Jeet Khandai who had defeated Brad Guthrie for the right to play Dumoulin. Dumoulin continued his flair for the dramatic by winning another thrilling hill/hill match over Khandai relegating Khandai to a very respectable 3rd place. Dumoulin’s ‘B’ side win set up a rematch with Gummerson for bragging rights and the tournament title in this Amateur finale. In the final match Marc Dumoulin extracted his revenge on Shane Gummerson by coming away with a convincing victory to claim the tournament title.
Congratulations to Marc Dumoulin on his hard fought tournament win. Marc has played well all year and there was certain inevitability about an imminent tournament win. Marc saved his best for last, however, by winning this season ending event and the large winner’s payout.

A huge thank-you goes out to all the players who made this new series such a resounding success. The support this tournament received was very encouraging and the event promises to be even better next year with planned changes to make the experience more efficient and enjoyable. The one obvious area that needs to be addressed is late cancellations which in turn contribute to a delayed start of the player Calcutta and the tournament itself to a time much later than advertised.



Finish
Player
Rank
Prize Money
Calcutta


1st
Marc Dumoulin
8
$2,500
$1,500


2nd
Shane Gummerson
7
$1,500
$825


3rd
Jeet Khandai
7
$900
$465


4th
Brad Guthrie
7
$520
$260


5-6th
Sumon Sarkar
7
$350
$150


5-6th
Stefane Godinho
8
$350
$150


7th -8th
Isaac Ramos
8
$200
$90


7th-8th
Raphael Balverde
7
$200
$90


9th -12th
Justin Zammit
7
$120



9th -12th
Dave Mills
7
$120



9th -12th
Marcel Debuck
5
$120



9th -12th
Ronald Giron
7
$120



13th – 16th
Jeff Flewelling
6
$75



13th – 16th
Andy Mizan
7
$75



13th – 16th
Jeff Pollock
8
$75



13th – 16th
Tony Hong
6
$75