2006 July | Billiard Coach - Mike Fieldhammer

International Pool Tour event report # 1

Posted on 31. Jul, 2006 by Mike Fieldhammer.

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I will be writing a series of tidbids from the IPT tournament that concluded yesterday in Las Vegas. Beginning with round 4, I felt like the break was going to be the determining factor. I examined many of the players’ breaks and will start the series with Corey Deuel. He was breaking the balls better than average. There is no doubt he is capable of running out almost any rack if he makes a ball on the break. In the photos you’ll notice he’s got his eyes shut. He did this every break I witnessed. This isn’t a fluke. I asked him after he was eliminated from the tournament if he was indeed breaking with his eyes closed. He said that he did break with his eyes closed and he felt that he was hitting the break better that way. Amazing. He did have his eyes open when he ran racks in this match. One of the toughest British players in attendance, Darren Appleton got ahead in the race to 8 by a 7-2 margin and then broke and didn’t pocket a ball. Corey ran that rack and then with his unusual breaking technique, broke and ran 4 racks to make it a 7-7 score. His last break made a couple of balls but the cueball scratched. After some thought, Darren chose to shoot a combination shot with 2 solids and looked in control. He had a wide open table with no real trouble and looked as though he’d win the set. However, on his last solid he needed to use the mechanical bridge and had an unusually bad roll and scratched in the side as shown in the diagram below. Understandably frustrated, Darren raked the balls and Genaro, the referee presiding over the match, called out forfeit and awarded the game and match to Corey Deuel.

Corey Deuel Breaking with his eyes closed 1

Corey Deuel Breaking with his eyes closed 2

I’ll put the diagram of Darren’s match ending scratch here shortly.

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IPT action in Las Vegas

Posted on 28. Jul, 2006 by Mike Fieldhammer.

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I’ll be posting some photos and observations on the IPT event happening at the Venetian in Las Vegas soon. The 5th round of 18 players has begun and aside from the usual suspects, I’m very impressed with Dave Matlock and Evgeny Stalev so far this round.