Dylan Ireland has Stamina

Jan 8, 2015

Wow! What a turnout! The holiday special of the Shooters Amateur Event brought out 92 players when the field size for this new tournament was opened beyond the typical limit of 64 players. The word ‘Amateur’ seems to have some ‘magic’ to it in attracting players. The original vision for the Amateur was for a field of 32 but high demand has significantly overridden that number. The 92 player field is the largest pool tournament turnout in Southern Ontario in several years. And with the large field and the competition being wide open with the winner not a foregone conclusion, the Calcutta generated a whopping $3700.
The 4th instalment of the Shooters Amateur 9 Ball Event took place between Christmas and New Year’s on December 27 and 28th. This event continues to attract new players with 165 different players having participated in the 4 events since the event’s inception in October 2014. In fact, registered players for the holiday event hit 105 but some had to be turned away due to concerns about completing the event in 2 days.
With 92 players, Saturday was a long day for many players. Because of the long day and the probability of going very late into Saturday night/Sunday morning, a decision was made to bring back more players on Sunday versus the typical 12 or 16. Even though 24 players returned for Sunday action, play did not wrap up Saturday night until about 1:00 a.m. From the undefeated ‘A’ side of the draw, Sumon Sarkar, Dylan Ireland, Ben Chang, John Everekian, Carlin Sanderson, Rob Johnson, Attilio Polsinelli, and Marcel Debuck returned for Sunday play. The one loss ‘B’ side of the draw saw Justin Zammit, Stuart MacTaggart, Richard Murray, Nikola Szarkezi, Al Porter, Brandyn Griffen, Kevin Lazaro, Jyri Kari, Isaac Ramos, Tol Kuy, Alan Ada, Cory Sherman, Chad Bishop, Rod Arsenault, Paul Duell and Peter Hetherington survive their Saturday matches to make a return appearance on Sunday.
Sunday proved to be another long day. In the ‘A’ side final, Attilio Polsinelli defeated Dylan Ireland sending Ireland to the ‘B’ side and Polsinelli to the hot seat. Ireland again prevailed over John Everekian to claim the ‘B’ side final setting up a rematch for the tournament title with Polsinelli. In the final match Dylan Ireland extracted his revenge on Attilio Polsinelli coming away with the tournament win.

Congratulations to Dylan Ireland on his tournament win. Dylan was a dark horse to win this event but it is a well deserved victory. Dylan has been practicing tirelessly for the past several months in order to improve his game. Practice and hard work have their rewards. And this is consecutive Amateur events where a Polsinelli has been runner-up in the tournament -- Polsinelli pere and now Polsinelli fils.
Thanks to all who participated in the holiday Amateur. The days were long. The open field is a one-time or once-per-year occurrence as the field will generally be capped at 64 players.
The next Shooter’s Amateur Event will be held on January 24/25, 2015.
Despite the success of the tournament and the very heavy subscription to this event, there were more complaints than usual. From prize payouts being too small, too many places paid out, long waits and of course, handicaps. All of these issues can be traced at least in part to the logistical challenges in organizing and managing a tournament of 92 players on 15 tables. There were no decisions made that could have possibly pleased everybody and I can assure players that no decisions were made without considerable thought. If fewer places were paid out, the Saturday matches would have gone much later (i.e., 3:00 – 5:00 a.m.) and it would have been these same players playing very late who would be asked to return at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday. The out-of-town players would not have been happy. Alternatively, some of the players required to return Sunday would not cash out if fewer places were paid. Neither of these options seemed desirable and in the best interests of everybody. Apparent low payouts are the result of lower entry fees versus the ‘404’ Tournament and a higher percentage of lower handicapped players who pay lower entry fees. The Amateur Event appeals to a wider range of players than the ‘404’ so the player contribution to the prize pool is less than a 404. We welcome player comments and encourage constructive suggestions on how to improve the tournament playing experience.
** If you have pre-registered for the event you must be present and your entry fee paid by 11:00 a.m. on the day of the tournament. Failure to do so may result in your place being forfeited to an individual on the waiting list.**



Finish
Player
Rank
Prize Money
Calcutta


1st
Dylan Ireland
5
$900
$1,185


2nd
Attilio Polsinelli
4
$550
$815


3rd
John Everekian
9
$350
$555


4th
Carlin Sanderson
7
$250
$370


5-6th
Justin Zammit
7
$170
$185


5-6th
Rob Johnson
7
$170
$185


7th -8th
Stuart MacTaggart
6
$115
$92


7th-8th
Ben Chang
8
$115
$92


9th -12th
Sumon Sarkar
7
$70
$55


9th -12th
Richard Murray
7
$70
$55


9th -12th
Nikola Szarkezi
5
$70
$55


9th -12th
Marcel Debuck
5
$70
$55


13th-16th
Al Porter
8
$45



13th-16th
Brandyn Griffen
5
$45



13th-16th
Kevin Lazaro
5
$45



13th-16th
Jyri Kari
6
$45



17th- 24th
Isaac Ramos
8
$30



17th- 24th
Tol Kuy
8
$30



17th- 24th
Alan Ada
6
$30



17th- 24th
Cory Sherman
7
$30



17th- 24th
Chad Bishop
6
$30



17th- 24th
Rod Arsenault
8
$30



17th- 24th
Paul Duell
8
$30



17th- 24th
Peter Hetherington
6
$30