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5 - 15 February 2014
All photography courtesy of ©Mike Brown / WPBL
VICTORY FOR THE OUTLAWS
Written by: Steve Strain & Kim Spies
The World Professional League played their first league championship at the WPBL Arena in Las Vegas, NV Friday February 13, 2014 which was broadcast live in the US via ESPN3. The final match-up had the #2 seed Minnesota Outlaws facing off against the league’s #12 seed the Atlanta Scorpions.
The inaugural season’s first championship was not without some pomp and circumstance. Opening ceremonies included the singing of the National Anthem and displaying of the championship trophy that the winning team would take home. Johnny Archers’ Atlanta Scorpions who are not without superb talent, were league underdogs going into the match facing one of the most consistent teams throughout the season Thorsten Hohmann’s Minnesota Outlaws. In the end, the Outlaws proved too tough for the Scorpions as they held on to win the first WPBL Championship. The night capped off with the Championship trophy presentation and the Outlaws being presented with the $30,000 grand prize in cash.
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Jesse Engel's regulation win over Shannon Daulton in the final singles game of the match gave the Minnesota Outlaws the first ever World Professional Billiard League Championship. Daulton needed a win in either regulation or a shoot-out to give Atlanta a chance to tie or win the match in the final game, but he committed a critical scratch with time winding down that would be his last shot of the match, as Engel ran his score to 30 a short while later.
But the most devastating scratch of the day came a game earlier, when Dennis Hatch was on the verge of a 30-0 shut-out of Ralf Souquet. However, after sinking the bonus ball shot that would have given him a 30-0 win, the cue ball glanced off the rack and straight into a corner pocket for a scratch that wiped away his shut-out bid. The shut-out would have made the score 6-5, instead Hatch only picked up a single point in a shoot-out to make the score 6-3, forcing Daulton to win the final singles game to keep Atlanta alive.
Minnesota jumped out to a 3-0 lead by opening the match in 3 on 3 with a shoot-out win, then Thorsten Hohmann and Souquet handily defeated Archer and Hatch 30-3 in the first doubles game. Atlanta won the final two doubles games in shoot-outs to pull within 3-2 at intermission, setting up Hohmann's shut-out of Archer to open singles play, giving Minnesota a 6-2 lead.
The Outlaws took home one fourth of the $120,000 awarded to the twelve teams in the league that participated in the WPBL post season playoffs, where the final 3 matches were seen live on ESPN3.
Follow the WPBL as we move into our offseason we will still continue to make additional announcements and updates. For a complete listing of standings, statistics, merchandise and more visit the WPBL website.
WPBL ALL STAR CHARITY BILLIARDS CHALLENGE
All photography courtesy of ©Mike Brown / WPBL
On Behalf of Philippine Haiyan Relief
Written by: Steve Strain & Kim Spies
The World Professional Billiard League hosted the WPBL All Star Charity Billiards Challenge on Friday February 14, 2014. The event which was held at the WPBL Arena in Las Vegas, was held on behalf of Typhoon Haiyan relief in the Philippines.
Carlo Biado and Warren Kiamco registered back-to-back perfect games in singles, helping the Philippine All-Stars storm back for an 11-4 victory over a team of WPBL All-Stars. Biado broke and shot to a perfect score of 33 before missing a bonus ball attempt at a side pocket, in a game that saw opponent John Morra never make the table. Biado's win gave the Filipino All-Stars an 8-4 lead before Kiamco took advantage of a Thorsten Hohmann illegal break that set up a run of 30 straight, ending the match at 11-4.
The match opened in a 30-30 tie after a shootout, giving each team a point out of the gate. The only regulation win for the WPBL All Stars came in the next game when Darren Appleton and Morra teamed up to beat Dennis Orcullo and Biado, giving the WPBL team a 3-1 lead. Each team picked up a single point after another shoot-out tie in the third game, making the score 4-2. However, the WPBL All-Stars never scored another match point as the Filipino team outscored the WPBL All-Stars 9-0 the rest of the way.
Pay-per-view proceeds and other fundraising efforts inside the WPBL Arena will be donated to the Rising Asian Pacific American Coalition for Diversity (501c3) of Las Vegas, an organization involved in providing assistance to the disaster relief effort as a result of Typhoon Haiyan that devastated parts of the Philippines last November.
Saturday February 15th, the WPBL gets back to its championship playoff tournament with the finale, when Thorsten Hohmann's Minnesota Outlaws face Johnny Archer's Atlanta Scorpions at 1 p.m. PST.
The match can be seen live on ESPN3 in the United States, while viewers outside the U.S. can view the match by purchasing the stream at www.wpbltv.com/subscribe.
Follow the WPBL as the playoffs continue, additional announcements and updates will be made frequently. For a complete listing of broadcast matches, standings, merchandise and more visit the WPBL website.
