Morra Reigns Again

May 13, 2015

The 8th installment of the 2014/15 ‘404’ 9 Ball season was held on the weekend of March 28/ 29, 2015 at the Shooters Snooker and Sports Club. Attendance remains strong for this long running series with 93 players ready to test their skills against both their amateur peers and the professionals. From 108 actual registrations the field was capped at 96 with 3 late withdrawals.
As a result of the size of the field, Saturday was a long day for many players. On the ‘A’ side, Mike Leigh, Peter Linkletter, Jody Johnson, Erik Hjorleifson, Tom Polsinelli, Norberto de Carlos, Steve Spencer and John Morra emerged undefeated. Surviving the ‘B’ side were Shane Gummerson, K.C. Nguyen, Rob Gray, Alan Ada, Marc Dumoulin, Rodel Puruganan, Jehlar Fernandez and Rob Hall who fought through their Saturday matches to make a Sunday appearance on little sleep.
In the ‘A’ side final John Morra defeated Mike Leigh sending Leigh to the ‘B’ side and Morra to the hot seat. On the ‘B’ side, Erik Hjorleifson was waiting for Leigh but Leigh was on a roll and defeated Hjorleifson in the ‘B’ final setting up a rematch with Morra for the tournament title. In the tournament final John Morra again had his way defeating Mike Leigh to claim his 2nd ‘404’ title in this 2014/15 season.

Congratulations to John Morra on his tournament win. John is currently Canada’s best 9 Ball player and the ease with which he soundly defeated his opponents in this ‘404’ event is a testament to his continually improving skills and never ending practice. As mentioned previously in this space the ‘404’ handicap system was changed this year in an effort to increase the pool of potential winners. And as a result of the handicap change, it was this correspondent’s opinion that it would be very difficult for a professional to win the tournament undefeated on the ‘A’ side. John has proved this assumption wrong as he steam rolled through the field to his tournament win.
The next ‘404’ event will take place on May 30/31, 2015 at Shooters. This will be final event of the 2014/15 season.
Many thanks again to those who participated. Please note that players must notify the tournament organizer of cancellations in sufficient time to permit others to participate. This is the primary reason the tournament begins unnecessarily late time after time.
** 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.**



Place
Player
Rank
Prize Money
Calcutta


1st
John Morra
12
$1,000
$1,700


2nd
Mike Leigh
7
$680
$1,150


3rd
Erik Hjorleifson
11
$480
$580


4th
Jody Johnson
5
$320
$380


5-6th
Tom Polsinelli
7
$200
$225


5-6th
Norberto de Carlos
6
$200
$225


7th -8th
Peter Linkletter
4
$130
$150


7th-8th
Steve Spencer
6
$130
$150


9th -12th
Marc Dumoulin
8
$80



9th -12th
Rob Gray
7
$80



9th -12th
Shane Gummerson
7
$80



9th -12th
Jehlar Fernandez
5
$80



13th-16th
K.C. Nguyen
6
$50



13th-16th
Alan Ada
6
$50



13th-16th
Rob Hall
10
$50



13th-16th
Rodel Puruganan
8
$50