UMB/CEB World Cup
Istanbul, Turkey,
November 6-12, 2006

UMB World Championship
St. Wendell, Germany,
September 20-24, 2006

UMB/CEB World Cup
Hurgada, Egypt,
September 4-9, 2006

UMB/USBA INT'L OPEN
New York, USA,
August 12-20, 2006

UMB/CEB World Cup
Volos, Greece,
June 12- 20, 2006

The tournament capacity was full four weeks before the tournament date. Many players from around the world tried to join the field without luck. Players from fifteen different countries filled the forty-four spots. Even though many of the participants reside in the United States, they are listed according to their place of birth.

The tournament featured many world-class players of international recognition who traveled all the way from Europe to measure up against the top players in the American Continent. Dion Nelin from Denmark who is considered one of the top ten players in the World. Nelin was the 2005 defending champion and managed to retain the title for another year. He finished third in the world when the World Cup Association first signed him in 1997. He was only 21 years old. Another remarkable accomplishment on his record is 2nd Place in the UMB World Championship in 2002.

Nelin went undefeated winning his first twenty games until his last match with runner up Pedro Piedrabuena who defeated him 30-21. According to the rules of the tournament, since there was a tie for first place, Nelin 10 wins and 1 loss and Piedrabuena with a similar record, they went into a playoff match to 15 points. Nelin rushed to fifteen in only six innings to defeat Piedrabuena 15-6 with an average of 2.500

Pedro Piedrabuena, born in Uruguay and currently living in Los Angeles, California. Pedro has an impressive international record and has been USA Champion twice. This is his fourth appearance at the New Wave International. After defeating Nelin and tying the tournament record of 11 wins and 1 loss, went into a playoff match to 15 points. Nelin quickly scored the fifteen billiard to retain the title. Pedro finished second with a record of 11 wins and 1 loss against Carlos Hallon who defeated him on the first day of the preliminaries in the one hole 30-29.

Hugo Patino, born in Colombia and currently living in New York City. Previous Colombian National Champion (twice) and one time USA National Champion. Finished third with a record of 7 wins and 4 losses. This was his fourth consecutive appearance at the Annual New Wave International Tournament. Patino won the High Run prize for his run of 13 against Mazin Shooni. He had four additional runs over ten. He ran 11 against Roberto Arana who had taken the lead by 13 points. Patino won the match 30-29 leaving Arana sitting on the hill. This was a very important match for both competitors and gave Patino the advantage to stand by himself in the third position.

Carlos Hallon, born in Ecuador and currently living in the Miami area. Former three time USA National Champion and third in the world in 1982. Hallon was the winner of this event in 2002. This year he finished in fourth place with a record of 7 win and 4 losses. Hallon had a great tournament and had high expectations to finish third. Roberto Arana who was also shooting for third or fourth place defeated Carlos 30-21. This was Carlo’s fourth loss of the tournament. Since he had already loss to Patino, according to the tournament rules even if he won his remaining matches he could only finished fourth.

Francisco Taylor, Nicaraguan National Champion and former Pan American Champion lost his first match against Roberto Arana 30-29. While losing 20-19 Arana ran a 9 missing the out shot by going thru an impossible hole. Taylor managed to run 6 and 4 to tie the score 29-29. Taylor missed and Arana made a close to impossible shot to break Taylor’s safety and win the match. Arana had runs of 6-6-7 and 9 in the match, while Taylor ran 6-5-6-6 and 4. Taylor caught up with Arana 3 times in the game but couldn’t survive the rain. It was actually pouring billiards. Taylor’s got his revenge by demolishing Carlos Hallon 30-17. Miguel Torres didn’t have much time to react as Taylor ran out quickly winning 30-22. The victory against Torres and a loss suffered by Arana in the hands of the Mexican player Jesus Gallegos made him the top contender for the 5th position.

Mazin Shooni. Born in Iraq, has lived in the USA for more than 25 years. Current USA National Champion and current 12th place finalist in the UMB world Championship celebrated last month in Germany. Mazin wan the National Championship at new wave’s and was considered one of the top contenders. This was his fifth appearance at the New Wave International. On his first match he won over Jae Lee from Korea 30-7. His second match was another quick game defeating Billy Maloney 30-20. He managed to get away from Arana coming from behind and scoring 20 points in four innings to win the match. Nevertheless, he lost to Hallon, Patino and Miguel Torres. He also lost his two final matches against Nelin and Piedrabuena for a total of 6 wins and 5 losses. Roberto Arana won over Miguel Torres and had only one game left against weaker contender Billy Maloney. If Arana won that match, Shooni would have finished in 7th place after Arana. Fortunately for Shooni, Arana lost 30-29 against Maloney. Arana’s loss gave Shooni the 6th place of the tournament.

Miguel Torres. Born in Colombia and currently living in New York City. Former Colombian National Champion and USA National Champion Runner-Up. Has been one of the top USA players since he moved from his native country in 2001. This was his fourth appearance at the New Wave International. Torres started the tournament beating Jae Lee from Korea 30-18 and Humberto Gallegos from Mexico 30-21. On his third match of the first day lost to Carlos Hallon 30-13. Won his next match over Billy Maloney 30-9 and defeated Patino 30-26 and Shooni 30-22. At the end of the day he was 5 and 1 but still had to play four of the top players in the tournament. On the last day of the tournament, won his first game against Abel Calderon 30-17. This gave him a record of 6wins and only 1 loss. Francisco Taylor from Nicaragua ran out quickly 30-22 for his second loss of the tournament. Roberto Arana took away his hopes for the top positions defeating him 30-24. Piedrabuena defeated him 30-21 and Nelin provided him another loss 30-14 for a final record of 6 wins and 5 losses.

Roberto Arana. Born in Nicaragua and living in the Miami area since 1972. Former Nicaraguan Champion and previously seeded into the UMB World Championship (twice). Arana, along with Nelin and Hallon is also a previous winner of this event. Won his first match against his fellow countrymen and teammate in the Pan American Championships 30-29. Nelin provided him with his first loss 30-17. After keeping Patino at distance for the whole game, Patino managed to run 11 and score the last point to win 30-29. A win over Lee 30-23 gave him a record of 2 and 2. Won against Calderon 30-24 for a record of 3wins and 2 losses. Jesus Gallegos didn’t leave him a possible shot and defeated him 30-15. Arana finished the day with 3 win and 3 losses and had to win all his remaining matches to remain in contention for the 4th place. The loss against the Mexican player was very critical because Gallegos had lost all of his matches against Arana’s remaining contenders. On the next day Arana beat Miguel Torres 30-24 and Carlos Hallon 30-21. He had a record of 5 wins and 3 losses. At this time there were six players with the same record. With the exception of Nelin who was undefeated and Piedrabuena who was 7 and 1 but still had to play Arana and Nelin. Arana managed to keep the score at 18-19. Piedrabuena ran a 6 and a 5 and Arana was now 5wins and 5 losses. Shooni, Torres and Taylor had the same win and loss record. If Arana wins his last game against Maloney, Arana finishes 6th, Shooni 7th and Torres 8th. Maloney defeated Arana who tried to score his last point several times, allowing Maloney to win the game.

Jesus Gallegos from Mexico has participated in many World Cup tournaments and international events. This is his fourth appearance at the New Wave’s International and has qualified for the finals in three occasions. His final score was 4 wins and 7 losses and finished in 9th place. Gallegos lost five matches on the first day of the finals and was never in contention for the top spots. He won a close match against the Korean Jay Lee 30-29 and defeated Abel Calderon 30-24. Billy Maloney gave him a tough match but lost 30-26. His best game of the tournament was against Arana 30-15

Billy Maloney from Fort Lauderdale, Florida has been one of the best players in the Southeastern USA for over three decades. His final score was 3 wins and 8 losses. Maloney lost all his games on the first day of the finals and was also out of contention for the top spots. He won against J. Lee 30-24 and against Calderon 30-22. He managed to beat Arana in the one hole 30-29 in his last match of the finals.

Jae Lee. From Korea had a very difficult tournament loosing most of his games. Nevertheless, he surprised the crowd beating Hugo Patino 30-15. He defeated Abel Calderon 30-28 to get his second win of the finals. Finished in 11th place with a record of 2 wins and 9 losses.

Abel Calderon. Born in Colombia and now residing in Miami, Florida couldn’t win a match and finished in 12th place.