5 Years Ago
As the world tried to come to grips with the COVID-19 lockdown, pool players turned to social media to stay sharp — and sane — while poolrooms were shut down everywhere.
Players from around the world connected on social media to match up remotely, broadcasting their matches for pool fans to enjoy. Some matches were races against “the ghost,” who became the pandemic’s most active competitor. Others, like American pros Chris Robinson and Tyler Styer, staged multi-day remote long-race matches. Roy Francisco’s Virginia home/arena, Roy’s Basement, hosted the stranded Josh and Pia Filler and Filipino James Aranas, who also matched up in streaming contests.
10 Years Ago
Offended by being tabbed a 50-1 longshot to win the 2015 Amway Cup, Yuan-Chun Lin quieted the doubters by topping the stellar international field and winning the prestigious event. Lin stopped world champion Rubilen Amit of the Philippines in the title match, 11-9.
Incredibly, the final 24 at the 2015 Amway Cup featured an astonishing 11 reigning and former world champions, including Lin (2008 World 9-Ball Champion) and Brits Kelly and Allison Fisher and Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan, the top contenders from the West. Lin would not be denied in Taipei, reeling off wins over Ya-Ting Chan, Kelly Fisher, junior champion Yuchen Liu and Amit, breaking a 9-9 tie in the final to win the final two games.
15 Years Ago
Former Women’s World 9-Ball Champion and many times Women’s Professional Billiard Association champion Gerda Hofstatter, who captured the WPBA Classic Tour’s very first title in 1993 (San Francisco Classic), rumbled through a 64-player field at the 2010 San Diego Classic in Alpine, Calif., to win her first title in a decade.
The 39-year-old native of Austria had last won a women’s pro even in 2000, capturing the women’s division at the Billiard Congress of America Open 9-Ball Championships. In Alpine, Hofstatter was barely tested during a seven-match run to the finals, including a 7-3 decision over Taiwan’s Shu-Han Chang in the title match.
