3-Cushion
NEW YORK - The 43-year old Pedro Piedrabuena took the American three-cushion title for the fifth time in a row and the eighth time overall. The billiard club owner from San Diego defeated Young Gull Lee in the final 40-27 in 27 innings. Miguel Torres was third after a victory against Sonny Cho (40-23 in 29).
The American championship, in the Carom Cafe in Flushing, New York, was somewhat overshadowed by the death of Jennifer Shim, who was shot by her boyfriend who then committed suicide. Jennifer played several times in the Open Verhoeven.
Piedrabuena, which was not among the best players in the preliminaries, where he lost against Chris Bartzos, was by far the best in the knockout stage. In the quarterfinals, he defeated the same Bartzos 40-21 in 22 (series 12), in the semifinals, he outplayed Miguel Torres 40-27 in 21 and in the finals Young Gull Lee in 29 innings.
Miguel Torres (1.438), Chris Bartzos (0.938), Sonny Cho (1.141) and Hugo Patino (1.265) were the group winners in the semi-final groups. Second in the groups finished Pedro Piedrabuena (1.226), Michael Kang (1.080), Young Gull Lee (0.869) and Jamil Isreal (0.754).
Young Gull Lee outplayed one of the contenders, Hugo Patino, in the quarterfinals (40-29 in 33). Michael Kang lost in the quarterfinals against Sonny Cho: 40-32 in 27.
In the semifinal, Piedrabuena defeated Torres and Young Gull Lee beat Sonny Cho (40-19 in 40).
The final result:
1 Pedro Piedrabuena
2 Young Gull Lee
3 Miguel Torres
4 Sonny Cho
5 Hugo Patino
6 Jamil Isreal
7 Michael Kang
8 Chris Bartzos
9-12: Sun Shin, Jae Cheon Seong, Ira Lee, Jae Hyung Cho.
13-16: John Cristiano, Tae Kyu Lee, Song Lim, Allen Castillo.
