The January Loopalalooza had the best participation from the highest rated players to date.
8 players over 2100 (10 were scheduled but 2 cancelled last minute),
the top 20 players averaging 2043. Very tough group.
It used to be that if you were 1800+ you were almost guaranteed to play in the Championship
Division of the Open event. Now we had 1900 level players in class C.
We have a good turnout for the Saturday rating events & the Sunday Open is always sold out
weeks in advance. For this reason we are raising the Open minimum rating to 1700,
in an effort to keep it as competetive as possible, & keep the event attractive to higher level
players. There is still lots of opportunity for the under 1700 crowd on saturday.
While many of these players may "feel" they are competetive at higher levels,
the truth is they are not. While you may push a top player & make them play hard,
maybe even win a game or 2, winning is what counts. You don't get points for making someone sweat.
All are welcome to prove their worth on saturday, raise their rating & enter the Open next time.
Winner of multiple events: Brad Chandra with 3 1st place & 1 2nd place finish.
Players to watch in the future: Khoa Vu, Gene Dovganyuk & Halston Lim.
Players conspicuously absent: Georgia players over 2000. Fear can be a great motivator.
We have the competition, we have the prize money.
It's obvious we have the kahonies too.
Saturday Events
U1400 RR
2 groups of 4 advanced the top 2 from each group to Single Elimination.
Semi Finals
1332 Joshua Burris over 1289 Thomas King 3-1
1149 Chris Saade over 1231 James Wang 3-0.
Final
Buris over Saade 7,3,7.
(trophies for both)
U1700 RR
5 groups of 4 advanced top 2 from each group to Single Elimination.
Upsets
1149 Chris Saade over 1334 Pavel Dovganyuk 3-1
1332 Joshua Burris over 1557 William Cruz 3-0 & 1432 David England 3-1
1121 Gene Dovganyuk over 1332 Burris 3-2 & 1432 England 3-1
1468 Christian Amidi over 1548 Israel Dumbuya 3-2
1231 James Wang over 1538 Monellie Sturm 3-0
Semi Finals
1677 Tim Hoagland over 1431 Joel Mitchell 3-2
1653 Brad Chandra over 1121 Gene Dovganyuk 3-0
Final
Chandra over Hoagland 5,7,9.
$60/1st $30/2nd
U2000 RR
8 groups of 4 advanced top 2 players from each group to Single Elimination.
Upsets
1689 Khoa Vu over 1960 Jermaine Bennett 3-2
1677 Brad Chandra over 1745 Elvis Lopez 3-0 & 1750 Elias Gomez 3-1
1750 Elias Gomez over 1895 Stan Gee 3-1
1393 Mike Stroupe over 1557 William Cruz 3-0
1414 Willie Chen over 1548 Israel Dumbuya 3-0
1793 Justin Roper over 1888 Chi Tran 3-2 & 1960 Jermaine Bennett 3-1
Semi Finals
1890 Jude Lam over 1793 Justin Roper 3-1
1953 Rodrigo Merida over 1872 Colton Carter 3-1
Final
Merida over Lam 6,-7,7,9.
Lam was a great sport during this match & allowed Merida a short break to recover
from leg cramps. No losers here.
1st/$100 2nd/$60
u3000 Doubles
Final
John Pahl/Chris Saade (2842) over Brad Chandra/Joshua Burris (2985) 8,-9,7,-9,14.
The score indicates the match was closer than it was;
the winners were never in any real danger. (trophies for both)
U3600 Doubles
Final
Amir Amidi/Brad Chandra (3594) over Zhicong Chen/Willie Chen (3519) 3-2.
Smooth/pips + smooth/pips (blocker/chopper) vs father & son team of
penhold pips + smooth looper. Interesting game, but I think not even the
players knew what spin was on that ball sometimes.
Sunday Events
Open RR
8 groups of 4 RR dvanced the top 2 players to Class A/B 4 groups of 4 RR.
The results of the 2nd 4 groups of 4 RR sent the top 2 to Championship SE,
& the bottom 2 to Class B SE.
3rd place in preliminary RR advanced to Class C: 2 groups of 4 RR + Winners final.
4th place in preliminary RR advanced to Class D: 2 groups of 4 RR + winners final.
Upsets
1844 Ling Fan over 2198 Alex Hohl 3-1 & 1941 Nikhil Garge 3-1
1941 Amir Amidi over 2181 Gregg Robertshaw 3-0
1708 Tom Miller over 1941 Amir Amidi 3-2
1809 Ha Trinh over 2147 DJ Settle 3-2
1979 Guido Schnabel over 2143 Usher Huang 3-1
1793 Justin Roper over 1986 Le Ly 3-1
Semi Finals
2452 Joseph Cruz over 2147 DJ Settle 3-0
2297 Sandeep Sharma over 1941 Amir Amidi 3-0
Finals
Cruz over Sharma 7,5,-7,8.
The top 2 seeds were expected to meet in the final.
Sharma played well & kept in the match with good serves & solid playing.
When Cruz turned on his higher gear, it became apparent who was 150 points higher & why.
Some great points & very entertaining match.
It's just as well the big boys from Atlanta were not here,
it's a long drive home; even longer if you've just been spanked.
1st/$300 2nd/$150 3rd/$80
(3rd & 4th) Settle over Amidi 3-1.
U4000 Doubles
Alex Hohl/Brad Chandra (3851) over Pablo Perez/Ling Fan (3956) 3-2
1st/$100 2nd/$60
See you in Feb.
