FIRST USCA TOURNAMENT HELD SUCCESSFULLY AT A MAJOR
BILLIARDS EVENT!
USCA's demonstration and open doubles tournament at
the Super Billiards Expo 2 was a big success on all
levels. Many new people were introduced to the game,
a number of pool professionals took the time to
appreciate our skills, and the competition itself
generated amazement and respect. Past national
champion and organizer of the Expo, Alan Hopkins,
joined Ralf Soquet, one of the world's top pool
players, as they watched Sanjay Murthy and Shekhar
Challa show off their skills in one match,
generating frequent applause from Ralf. We're
definitely beginning to make an impression! Thanks
to the Super Billiards Expo for giving us a $2100
booth space, for FREE!
The tournament itself saw eight teams competing in
four rounds of SRR and a double-elimination knockout
from quarter-finals onwards. We decided to conduct
the entire tournament in one day due to the number
of entries and travel needs of some long-distance
participants. The team of Sanjay Murthy and Atul
Kharecha won out over Ravi Shankar and Mohan Begur
with Narayan Paranjape and Amol More taking third
and Sekhar Challa and Atul Bhave in fourth. "Second
runners-up" Madhusudana Rao and Suneel Rangnekar
came on top of the loser's bracket.
In keeping with most other sporting events, all
entry fees were redistributed as prize money. With
eight teams registered and each paying an $80 entry
fee, there was a prize payout of $320 for 1st place,
$160 for 2nd, and $80 for 3rd and 4th places.
Trophies were also distributed for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
places and for 2nd runner-up. We intend in the
future to have "cash added" to the prize money, as
is done with other game tournaments, so that our
purses begin to act as a real incentive for greater
participation.
Thanks in advance for the support of all dedicated
carrom players in helping to promote our game to a
wider audience. I appreciate the time and energy it
takes to come out for these events but I know you'll
find it worth the
trouble. Feel free to call any of the players who
have participated in these pool related events and I
think you'll find an enthusiastic booster for this
approach to carrom promotion.
Billy Stevens.
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