Billiard Congress of America    [day 1] [day 2] [day 3] [day 4]  Open 9-BAll Championships -   [day 5] [day 6 - Final Results] Las Vegas, Nevada

Hosted by: Riviera Hotel and Casino
Produced by:  World Class Event Management

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  (photos attached)

Las Vegas, Nevada - The BCA Open 9-Ball Championships being held in Las Vegas, Nevada continued today with 40 players in each division remaining in the competition for the $160,000 in prize money.  The day saw some favorites suffer upsets that sent them to one-loss bracket while 28 players were eliminated from the double elimination tournament.

The biggest surprise wins came in the men's division where two of the fan's favorites were defeated by skilled and talented players.  In day sessions Earl Strickland was defeated by Canadian Resident, Filipino Alex Pagulayan.  Earl had a disappointing match with limited time at the table and several times in which he left Pagulayan with ball-in-hand for position.  Alex, a talented player in his own right, seized each opportunity to his advantage and kept a very frustrated Strickland in his seat for most of the match. (Photo#14)

In other day session matches, Hsin Huang of Taiwan def. fellow Taiwanese contender Ying-Ya Lin, Hall of Fame Buddy Hall defeated fast rising star Troy Frank and later defeated Japan's Takeshi Okumura; while Germany's Ralf Souquet defeated Sweden's Marcus Chamat.

Day Session Match Results:

Men's Division
Okumura def. Daulton 11-9
Hall def. Frank 11-5
Pagulayan def. Garrahan 11-2
Strickland def. Salvas 11-9
Kennedy def. Brienza 11-5
Souquet def. Chamat 11-7
Potier def. Archer 11-9
Martinez def. Feijen 11-6
Martel def. Varner 11-
Deuel def. Boon 11-
Medina def. Hopkins 11-
Immonen def. Ashford 11-5
Souquet def. Kennedy 11-8
Martinez def. Potier 11-6
Hall def. Okumura 11-10
Pagulayan def. Strickland 11-6

Women's Division
Barnes def. Mancini 9-5
Hurst def. Weis 9-6
Hopkins def. Crimi 9-5
MacDonald vs. Minor 9-0
Chen def. Seaver 9-4
Nakagawa def. McWorter 9-6
Villarreal def. Mason 9-6
Hofstatter def. Stauch 9-1
Rim def. Gray 9-5
Webb def. Stinson 9-7
M. Smith def. Nelson 9-4
Huang def. Lin 9-5
Chen def Nakagawa 9-1
Villarreal def. Hofstatter 9-6
Barnes def. Hurst 9-5
Hopkins def. MacDonald 9-5

The second surprise defeat came in the evening sessions when the talented Filipino, Efren Reyes, also known as "The Magician" fell to Jose Parica.  Efren will be returning in day five of competition to continue to battle for the top prize from the one-loss bracket.  Other evening matches saw Austria's Gerda Hofstatter defeated by Vivian Villarreal; and England's Ellerby defeated by Ireland's Julie Kelly.

One of the surprise victors in the women's division has been Melissa Little of Colorado who is a relative newcomer to the women's pro tour circuit.  She remains in the winner's bracket after strong matches in which she has defeated European champions Norway's Lena Kjorsvik and Germany's Karin Mayet among others.

After four days of intense competition, four players in each division remain undefeated going into Thursday's competition.  In the women's division England's Allison Fisher, Melissa Little, Sweden's Helena Thornfeldt (Photo #15) and Ireland's Karen Corr.  In the men's division Filipino Rodolfo Luat, Kim Davenport, Frank Hernandez, and Filipino Jose Parica

Men's Division
Rempe def. Kang 11-9
Ignacio def. LeBron 11-2
Deuel def. Martel 11-5
Immonen def. Medina 11-4
Luat def. Toshikawa 11-5
Davenport def. Kucharo 11-7
Hernandez def. Morra 11-10
Parica def. Reyes 11-6
Souquet def. Paez 11-9
Wiseman def. Martinez 11-9
Hall def. Jones 11-8
Pagulayan def. Horsfall 11-6

Women's Division
Kelly def. Ellerby 9-8
L. Smith def. Ng 9-5
Webb def. Rim 9-2
M. Smith def. Huang 9-8
Fisher def. Dodson 9-3
Little def. Kjorsvik 9-7
Thornfeldt def. L.J. Jones 9-8
Corr def. Laurance 9-5
Chen def. Campos 9-3
Villarreal def. Kajitani 9-2
Benish def. Hurst 9-6
Hopkins def. White