POSTER Report #1 AUSTRALIAN 9-Ball CHAMP FALLS By Kirstin Pires Wednesday, July 12, 4:15 PM CST A visibly nervous Leon Hogg of South Australia was the first to fall today at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn. The 21-year old Australian 9-ball champ couldn't find his stroke against a cool and poker-faced Kun-Fang Lee. Lee, the 1998  champion, took the match 7-0. Lee proceeds to tomorrow's semi-final, awaiting the winner of the 7:00 Fabio Petroni vs. Oliver Ortmann match. Next up, Kunihiko Takahashi of Japan and Canada's Luc Salvas. Report #2 SEMI-FINALISTS READY FOR PRIME TIME By Kirstin Pires Wednesday, July 12, 11:21 PM CST "Machine Gun" Luc Salvas is skipping this year's Canadian 9-Ball Championships - the very tournament he won in 1999 to earn his spot here at the $50,000 winner-take-all Challenge of Champions  tournament. The Canadian Championships start tomorrow, but Salvas has other plans; he'll be playing Francisco Bustamante in the ESPN-taped semi-final round here at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn. Salvas became the second player to cheat sudden death in the single-elimination, eight-player tourney when he stopped a travel-battered Kunihiko Takahashi, 7-4. Salvas, who plays like he's late for dinner, didn't seem to be fazed by the shot clock. "I think the time clock is good for me," he said before the match. The time clock - and freshman jitters - were a little harder on Australian newcomer Leon Hogg from South Australia. The 21-year old opal trader opened up against '98 Challenge winner Kun-Fang Lee of Taiwan and the two surprised fans by trading misses on the 9 in the first game. The calm and collected Lee finally sunk the recalcitrant money ball, and took command of the match. Although Hogg got to the table several times, the tall rangy Aussie scratched on the break in game two and ran afoul of the time clock in game four. Lee sent Hogg home scoreless, 7-0. In the later sets, Challenge veteran Oliver Ortmann of Germany held off Fabio Petroni of Italy. The young Petroni came back from a 3-0 Ortmann lead to threaten at 5-5, but Ortmann won 7-5. Finishing up the night's card, defending champ Francisco Bustamante played fearlessly, dazzling the crowd with his stylish combo shots. Johnny Archer, the lone American in the tournament, took the first two games, but would win only one more set as Bustamante combo-ed his way to a 7-3 final and a date with Salvas tomorrow. "I had to play the combination, " he said. "If I play safe, Johnny will win." First Round Lee def. Hogg 7-0 Salvas def. 7-4 Ortmann def. Petroni 7-5 Bustamante def. Archer 7-3 Semi-Finals: Lee vs. Ortmann Bustamante vs. Salvas Report #3 ORTMANN IN FAMILIAR TERRITORY By Kirstin Pires Wednesday, July 13, 7:44 PM CST Oliver Ortmann has done his part to set the stage for a rematch of the 1999 Challenge of Champions, where he lost in a heartbreaker to Francisco Bustamante. Ortmann defeated Kun-Kang Lee of Taiwan 5-4, 5-4 in the first semi-final of the 2000 version of the $50,000 winner-take-all Challenge of Champions at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn. Ortmann now proceeds to the finals and awaits the winner of the second semi-final, which will get underway within the hour. If defending champ Francisco Bustamante can defeat Canadian speedster Luc Salvas in semi-final number two, he'll meet Ortmann at 8:00 p.m. Kun-Fang Lee ended up on the wrong side of the see-saw match with Ortmann. Report #4 BUSTAMANTE UBER ALLES by Kirstin Pires Thursday, July 13, 7:35 PM CST Capitalizing on a Bustamante break gone bad, Oliver Ortmann sunk a neat billiard shot on the 2 - 9 to win the $50,000 Challenge of Champions in a one-game sudden death finale. Ortmann took the first of two race-to-five sets 5-4, then Bustamante came back to win set two, 5-4, forcing the tie. After winning the new lag by a hair, Bustamante attempted a soft break, cautious after 3 scratches on the break. The balls moved out sluggishly, and Ortmann took the table first sliding the 1 up the rail, and then delighting a standing-room-only crowd with the billiard on the 2 into the 9. Bustamante's attempt to outsmart the rack handed the tie-breaker to Ortmann. Ortmann now is now the first two time champion, and avenges last year's loss at the hands of Bustamante. Oh, and he takes home the $50,000 check. About this Tournament The 10th version of the $50,000 International Challenge of Champions got underway Wednesday at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn. The annual ESPN-broadcast 9-ball contest will test the nerves of eight players from around the world, among them three previous Challenge winners. Making the trip to the Indian casino tucked in the forested hills of coastal Connecticut are defending Champion Francisco Bustamante, Kiel, German; '98 Challenge winner Kun-Fang Lee, Taipei, Taiwan; '97 Challenge winner and '99 runner-up Oliver Ortmann, Oberhaching, Germany; Canadian ace Luc Salvas, Valleyfield, Quebec; dark horses Fabio Petroni, Rome, Italy and Leon Hogg, Croyden Park, Australia; and two world-class players who, along with Ortmann, hold the dubious distinction of finishing second at this unforgiving event: '92 runner-up Johnny Archer, Marietta, Ga., and '98 runner-up Kunihiko Takahashi, Toyama, Japan. But in the winner-take-all Challenge of Champions, second place leaves with the same payday as last place. The short-race, single-elimination format leaves no room for error, and with alternating breaks, called 9 ball and a 30-second shot clock, the players are under tremendous pressure to perform flawlessly. The entire field will be travel-weary, as all but Lee (who traveled from Taiwan) competed in the Cardiff, Wales World Championship completed Sunday. The first round of play is a race to 7; semi and final matches will be two races to five, with a sudden death one-game tie-breaker.  The modified rules include alternating break, 30-second shot clock, 9 ball called, 9-on-the-break is spotted. [Ed. Note: Calling the 9-ball & spotting the pocketed 9-ball are not world-standardized rules.  The World Pool-Billiard Assn. permitted a requested waiver from the promoter in light of the short format used.  This event is the only WPA-sanctioned event whereby the requirements of "calling the 9-ball" and "repotting a pocketed 9-ball" are allowed).  It is not necessary to call the 9-ball or "respot a pocketed 9-ball under the normal world-standardized rules of play.]