 Las Vegas, NV – With the audience
on the edge of their seats for most of the final round, Andy “The Magic Man” Segal
tied his own World Record of 241 out of 333 points, to win
the 2004 Las Vegas Artistic Pool Open.
The tournament was held at the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada,
in conjunction with the APA National Team Championships. Of the 24 player
field, 9 of the top 10 players were in attendance, making this one of the
toughest fields yet. Some new faces were welcomed by the audience and players,
including Jose Rivas from Wisconsin. Rivas, only 14 years old, captured the
hearts of many as he performed beautifully, and made 5 out of 5 shots in
the follow discipline, winning the gold medal for that category.
Round 1 started off with most of the usual faces on the leader board. Tom “Dr.
Cue” Rossman took the lead with an electrifying round, scoring 66 points,
and making 7 out of 7 wing shots, becoming the first player to ever accomplish
this feat.
Round 2 saw some shifting of the leader board, as Andy Segal passed Tom Rossman
for the tournament lead. Nick “Quick Nick” Nikolaidis, Steve “Stellar” Geller,
and Bruce “The Big Guy” Barthelette had great rounds, moving
them into 2nd, 3rd, and 5th place respectively. A new face appeared on the
leader board as Ben “Showtime” Hogan, in his second professional
tournament and scoring on 9 out of 10 shots, moved up from 12th to 8th place.
Round
3 ended with Andy Segal widening the gap to 3 shots over 2nd place
Steve Geller, with Tom Rossman, Mike Massey, and Stefano Pelinga all within
one shot of Geller. The final round always proves to be the most exciting
round of the tournament. It consists of 5 jump shots and 5 masse shots, the
most difficult in the shot program. The flight groupings are also reordered
based on score, with the lower scores shooting first and the leaders scheduled
last.
 The 3pm flight had Nick Nikolaidis, Lukasz Szywala and Ben Hogan, all
within reach of the 179 points that Andy Segal set after 3 rounds. Nikolaidis
started off strong, making 4 out of 5 jump shots, and scoring on 6 out of
10 shots for round 4. Szywala, fresh off his win at The Masters in Valley
Forge, also scored 6 out of 10, moving both of them above the 179 point mark.
The 4:30pm flight had three of the best players in the world. Mike Massey,
current world champion, Stefano Pelinga, current US Open and European champion,
and Charles Darling, current North American champion. All three had solid
rounds, but Massey set the mark with 198 points, putting him in the clubhouse
with the highest score so far. Massey also scored the first 4 jump shots
on his first attempt, giving him a chance at the “perfect discipline” award,
if he was to make the 5th and most difficult jump shot on his first attempt.
The entire room was silent as he lined up his 5th jump shot. While the attempt
was near perfect, the balls just barely missed the pocket.
The last flight of the evening was Tom Rossman, Steve Geller and
Andy Segal. Geller was a mere 2 points ahead of Rossman, which is
insignificant since
the lowest scoring shot in the final round is worth 6 points. All three made
the first jump shot, but Rossman was the only person to score on the second
jump shot, moving him ahead of Geller, and within 16 points of Segal. The
remaining jump and masse shots were worth between 8 and 11 points, making
Segal’s lead only about 1 _ shots. The three stayed together until
the last jump shot. This shot requires the cue ball to jump over an object
ball, skimming it along the way.
 Both balls go diagonally across the table into the corner pocket, cue ball
first. Tom Rossman made it on his second attempt, pulling within 8 points
of Andy Segal. Segal had 3 attempts to increase his lead back to where it
was. First attempt… miss. Second attempt… miss. Third attempt… the
cue ball jumped over the object ball and went straight into the pocket. The
object ball rolled to the corner pocket, caught the point, and hung for a
second… and dropped!!! Segal’s lead was back up to 1 _ shots
over Rossman. Once the three players entered the masse discipline, the scores
started separating a little. Geller made 2 masse shots out of 5, moving him
into 4th place. Rossman also made 2, passing Massey, the clubhouse leader,
and moving him into 2nd place. Coming down to the two final masse shots,
21 points were up for grabs, but only 16 points separated the two leaders.
Segal, the first to shoot, made the 4th masse shot on his third attempt to
secure the win, but the excitement wasn’t over. Segal had a total of
231 points, and had a chance to break his own world record of 241 points,
scored during the Northeastern Open at Shooter’s Billiards in Southington,
CT earlier this year. The last masse shot is worth 11 big points and only
a first attempt would break the record. This shot requires the player to
masse across the short length of the table, around a piece of chalk, and
down the long rail, making a hanging ball in the corner pocket. The crowd
was behind him, but the first attempt was missed. His second attempt was
successful, giving him 10 points, which not only tied the record, but also
edged out Bruce Barthelette for the gold medal in the masse discipline.
Artistic Pool competitions not only award the overall winner, but also the
individual discipline winners, and those were almost as exciting as the main
event. Most were close, with some needing tie breakers to determine the winner.
Veteran Tom Rossman and newcomer Ben Hogan stayed neck and neck for the “Trick & Fancy” discipline,
both scoring 35 out of 40 possible points, making all 5 shots. The tie breaker
resulted in the veteran Tom Rossman scraping out a narrow victory. The “Draw” discipline
had three champions tied for the lead. Andy Segal set the mark with 39 out
of 42 points, making all 5 shots. Stefano Pelinga and Nick Nikolaidis also
scored 39 points, but Segal won in the tie breaker. The “Follow” discipline
was won by newcomer Jose Rivas. Rivas, in his first professional tournament,
edged out Mike Massey with a score of 31 to Massey’s 30, giving him
the gold.
Before the award ceremony, the audience was treated to a free-for-all trick
shot show, where players came out and did 2 or 3 of their favorite shots.
This was highlighted by Rick “The Barber” Hawkinson doing his
famous candle and balloon act, and Charles “Spitball Charlie” Darling
shooting the cue ball 5 rails out of his mouth, knocking a ball off a beer
bottle and into a metal container on the floor.This event was produced by
IAPA and sanctioned by the WPA.
Thanks goes out to all of our sponsors for this event, including Brunswick,
Championship Cloth, Aramith, APA, Shooter’s Billiards, Gospel Trick
Shot Ministries Inc, WebTec Hosting, Mike Massey, and Dr. Cue Promotions.
Stay tuned for the next event, ESPN’s Trick Shot Magic, featuring the
following players:
Charles Darling (USA)
Sebastian Giumelli (Argentina)
Mike Massey (USA)
Nick Nikolaidis (Canada)
Stefano Pelinga (Italy)
Tom Rossman (USA)
Andy Segal (USA)
Lukasz Szywala (Poland)
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