Welcome to the official first day of Tournament 2016 action. As you all well know by now, there are three cues and 33 teams, compared to two cues with 32 teams last year. This was done in an effort to incorporate all equipment. With the change in player enrollment (132 versus 128 last year), we return to a two-tiered format, and as we did in previous tiered years, we will begin with the lower tier. For any rules updates, please see the Rules page on the website. Also, I have officially nailed down the format for the Finals, which will not be a round-robin. The Finals will be conducted in a ladder system. This will work by taking the three finalists for each event and re-ranking them first through third by their record in the event. Should a tie arise, qualifier seeds will be the tiebreaker. The first match in a Finals set is the 2 v. 3 seeds, with the winner of the series advancing to oppose the 1 seed for the title. This setup rewards players for dominating throughout the bracket rather than just skating by, and also offers a definitive top-three ranking. Additionally, it preserves the integrity of all teams facing a roughly equal number of series losses (whereas a round-robin could see teams suffer two losses per finalist). With that all taken care of, the tournament begins in the lower tier. There are a total of ten players that will not play in this tier due to qualifying placing all of their bids in the A-level. The Tournament gets underway at...
Coca-Cola Field Exhibition Center, Boston: Patches v. Crystal. The first series of the year is in 12-ball between a pair of southeastern regional rivals. Patches of Boston got the first game, weathering a late storm from Queens' Crystal by beating her to the bottom side for the final ball, taking a 1-0 series lead in the narrow win. The players are still working to shake off their early season rust. The Swifts' Patches took a 2-0 lead after game 2, working from behind after the Flames' Crystal worked a hot start, eventually inducing a missed contact play to take her final ball to the bottom right after using it for defense. Crystal salvaged game 3, winning after a four-ball run-out after surrendering a wild card ball to Patches, which made it 2-1 for the series. The #124 ranked 12-ball player Patches advances to the bracket quarterfinals against Taylor Swift of the Eastside Sharks.
Coca-Cola Field Exhibition Center, Boston: Patches v. Shadow. In 15-ball this time, Boston's Patches continues her assault on the Solid Core club, going for a doubleheader that features Web City Spiders captain Shadow. The Spiders' Shadow struck first, tapping the 15 in at the end of the game for 1-0 lead, after playing a pretty tight and even game with the Swifts' Patches throughout game 1. Patches tied the series at 1 in game 2, getting the bulk of late possession to top Shadow, and ending on a three-rail hit-and-hope shot on the 15 that found the top side to give her the game. Shadow took the series 2-1 on a tap-in of the 15 to the top right after a miss by Patches, a narrow ending to a very competitive series. Shadow is ranked #127 for 15-ball, and will travel to face Diamond Gems rookie Pedey in the bracket quarterfinals.
Capital City SuperCenter, Capital City: Chris v. Nicole. After two series with the red cue, the blue cue makes its debut in Rotation. Southern's Nicole held off a strong start by Capital City's Chris, dominating the game late to eventually win 8-5 on a three-ball run-out, with the win staking out a 1-0 series lead. Nicole made a bigger late run in game 2, shooting a six-ball run-out for her 8-2 victory in the game, as the Monarchs' supposed weak link topped the Sharpshooters captain Chris to clinch the series at 2-0. Nicole swept the series 3-0 in game 3, winning 8-7 in a very close game that went back and forth at the end before she finally took the last bit of possession to get the win. Nicole, ranked #114, is into the bracket quarterfinals against Dominic of the Atlantic Pirates.
Honda Driftwood Coliseum, Pearl: Watermelon v. Kiwi. The blue cue is up for 8-ball between twin sisters from the Youth Movement club. Terrace City's Kiwi took game 1 on a four-ball opening run and three-ball run-out, answering Watermelon of Pearl's three-ball run early on for the win, the first ever in Terrace City Knights franchise history, for a 1-0 lead. Watermelon evened things at 1 with a game 2 win for the Surfers, keeping pace with a hot-shooting Kiwi of the Knights to take the win with a modest two-ball run-out after a rough miss from Kiwi. Game 3 left no doubt for Watermelon, who dominated throughout over Kiwi for the win, taking the series 2-1. Ranked #123 in 8-ball, Watermelon will oppose Swordpoint Blades captain Snowball in the bracket quarterfinals.
Apple Center, Todavía: Leonardo v. Pounce. The blue cue gets another series with 9-ball between two western teams. Pounce, the new Oceanside Wave, struck big in game 1, using a five-ball run-out to make Todavía's third-year player Leonardo look very weak, as Pounce pulled to a 1-0 series lead. Pounce went up 2-0 with a game 2 win, another five-ball run-out on four shots, as he double-potted the 4 and 5 to the bottom side and top right, respectively, as the opening shot to stun the Stills' Leonardo after a rough start to the game. Pounce iced the series at 3-0, running six balls from the break and owning possession throughout to top Leonardo again in a bit of a lopsided series. The #114 ranked 9-ball player, Pounce will face Dreamy of the Swordpoint Blades in the bracket quarterfinals.
Amazon Field Exhibition Hall, Golden: Dusty v. Watermelon. The game of 15-ball is back with the officially-sanctioned debut of the silver cue as a full-time stick in the southeast. Pearl's Watermelon took game 1, answering a three-ball run from Golden's Dusty by potting the 14 and 15 sharply for a 1-0 series lead in a game that Dusty had the better of play in. The Pilots' Dusty answered back in an even game 2, running out the final three balls after a scratch from the Surfers' Watermelon, which made it a very easy finish to knot the series at 1. Watermelon took game 3 on a kicking carom off the 3 to pot the 15 into the bottom right, stunning Dusty after two failed attempts at the 15 for a 2-1 series win. Ranked #113, Watermelon opposes Graham of the Eastside Sharks in the bracket quarterfinals round.
Kraft Forum, Royal: Frosty v. Delila. Another set of 12-ball is up, with the silver cue getting another nod. Frosty of Royal dominated game 1, running five balls from the break before applying a patient approach to the final ball, which came to her easily a few shots later after a modest attempt at a comeback from Atlantic's Delila fell short to make it 1-0 in the series. Frosty of the Crowns took a much closer game 2 with a late run of strong form to topple the Pirates' Delila again for a 2-0 series lead. Frosty returned to dominance in game 3, wasting little time in ripping off a four-ball run to bury Delila early before making her final shot to make it an official 3-0 series win. Frosty, ranked #123 in 12-ball, will face Leandra of the Tysini Hummingbirds in the bracket quarterfinals.
Cisco Arena, Tysini: Charli XCX v. Chris. The game is once again 9-ball, with the blue cue again at the table, as Charli XCX makes her official debut in front of her home Tysini crowd. Capital City's Chris drew first blood though, as the Hummingbirds rookie Charli illegally potted the 9 to the bottom left, giving Chris a 1-0 series lead. Chris took game 2 himself, as the Sharpshooters captain cashed in on a lack of accuracy from Charli to have better form late in the game, earning a 2-0 lead in the series as well. Charli avoided the sweep, winning game 3 after Chris left the 9 short at the bottom right, making it a 2-1 final for the series. The #117 ranked 9-ball player, Chris, will oppose Cubby of the Maplewood Lumberjacks in the bracket quarterfinals.
Cisco Arena, Tysini: Leandra v. Frosty. On the other side of a locational doubleheader, we have the first ever competitive game of Accuracy, using the blue cue. Tysini's Leandra had a strong debut with her new team, winning 2-3 early in overtime of game 1, as Royal's Frosty blew a one-miss lead late and completed the collapse to go down 1-0 in the series in overtime. The Crowns' Frosty shot back with a big win in game 2, taking the game 3-4 after a late miss from the Hummingbirds' Leandra sealed the deal, making it a 1-1 series. Leandra took game 3 by a score of 2-3, weathering a late attempt from Frosty to secure the game in regulation and take the series 2-1. Ranked #111, Leandra opposes Todavía Stills captain Easter in the bracket quarterfinals.
Samsung Arena, Whitewater: Twinkie III v. Fluffina. The final series of the day is 15-ball with the silver cue, coming from the northern urban core. Maplewood's Fluffina had a highlight, using the 2 to attack the 8 and 12, which saw them go to the bottom left and top side, respectively, on the double-pot. Twinkie III of Whitewater took the game though, winning game 1 with a five-ball run-out that epitomizes peaking at the right time. In game 2, things were even until about halfway, where the Shores' Twinkie III took over with a four-ball run, and dominant play throughout the second half, capitalizing at the end when the Lumberjacks' Fluffina scratched while potting the 14 to create a tap-in on the 15 to make it a 2-0 series for Twinkie III. Fluffina salvaged a game with a win in game 3, making it 2-1 in the series after pulling off a four-ball run-out. The #111 ranked Twinkie III continues her 15-ball campaign against Oceanside Waves captain Snuggle in the bracket quarterfinals.
I hope you enjoyed the first of many Tournament 2016 game days, even if it was a tad short with only 30 games. There's much more to come in the next three weeks, and then sporadically for months after that. Additionally, I expect the UPCL 2015-2016 Cricket season to begin in about three to four weeks, which will help fill the void during the long breaks from pool. We'll be back tomorrow for more games.
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