Strickland is lovin his first World Tournament of 14.1 experience!
Queens, New York- The first timers in the Predator World Tournament of 14.1 are making the most of their initiation. Efren Reyes, Earl Strickland, and Darren Appleton have yet to taste defeat in the round robin stage of the event. All three players have won their matches soundly and look like the favorites to win their respective groups.
Earl Strickland won his first three matches with landslide victories. He finished each match in an impressive 2 innings, taking down Danny Barouty 100 to 18, Jeff Molh 100 to 11, and last year World 14.1 Bronze Medalist Charlie Williams 100 to 38 in a 3 inning match.
"This is a great game. This is how all tournaments should be played. I love the equipment and just like to see longer races. Straight pool is the way to go and I'd love to see more events like this", said Strickland. "Honestly, even if I lose, I won't take back what I said. We need to play more straight pool."
On the TV stream table, Reyes and Deuel played a see saw match which saw Reyes lead, Deuel lead, and Reyes lead and with a final comeback charge from Deuel. Deuel put together a 50 ball run but gave the table upto Efren, who in turn came back and took the lead needing only 11 balls, but came on a tough breakout shot and played safe. Corey gave a safety back and a defensive battle ensured. Corey would win the defensive battle against Reyes when he opted for a 4 ball combination in the stack. Deuel judged it right and went onto catch up to Reyes 89-79 before missing and giving Efren the win.
Defending champion Thorsten Hohmann looks smooth sailing with 3 wins so far. Huidji See of NED also is coasting undefeated. But notable names that are in danger of not qualifying include last year's finalist Mike Davis who is now winless in three matches. Bronze medalist and host Charlie Williams is 1 win and 2 losses and is facing do or die matches tomorrow.
The 2012 Predator World Tournament takes place July 29th - August 3rd. The event is produced by Dragon Promotions & Dr.Michael Fedak and proudly co-sponsored by Championship Cloth, Olhausen Tables, Amsterdam Billiards, Aramith Balls, Pool & Billiard Magazine, Championship Tour Edition Chalk, and straight pool aficionados Dr.Louis Pannullo of NYC, Stu Mattana of NYC, Ralph Rubin of MD, and Tom Gleich of NC. Co-contributors Dr.James Heller, Drew Thomas, and Charles Eames.
July 31st Day 3 TV stream schedule is: http://worldstraightpool.com/livestream.html
1030am Ralph Eckert GER vs Chris Lynch USA
12:00pm Efren Reyes PHL vs Joey Kong KOR
130pm Thorsten Hohmann GER vs Peter Burrows USA
430pm Johnny Archer USA vs Huidji See NED
6pm John Schmidt USA vs Cleiton Rocha BRZ
730pm Mika Immonen FIN vs Mike Dechaine USA
The 2nd Annual Straight Pool Hall of Fame Dinner will be inducting Danny Diliberto and Jack Colavita. Fans can buy tickets in advance by going to http://worldstraightpool.com/tickets.html
Get the latest news by following http://www.facebook.com/Worldstraightpool and www.twitter.com/Dragonpromoter
Reserve your tickets for the main events and the exhibitions at: caromcafe.qrickets.com Pay per view streaming available (14.1 and 3c): www.worldstraightpool.com
