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BCA 9-Ball: To the Elite 8
Jun 10, 2008, 10:55 AM

At the GenerationPool.com 9-Ball Championships in Charlotte, N.C., both the men's and women's events will be down to just eight players on each side by the end of play on Tuesday.

Held at the Charlotte Convention Center, the BCA-sponsored tournaments will switch format to single-elimination at the quarterfinal stage.

On the women's side, things have progressed as expected with Allison Fisher, Karen Corr, Gerda Hofstatter and Ga Young Kim advancing unbeaten into the final eight. On the one-loss side, Kelly Fisher, Xiaoting Pan and Jasmin Ouschan are just one win away from quarterfinal berths.

The men's tournament, which began with a field of 32, has had a number of surprises. Shane Van Boening, who finished second at last year's event (called the EnjoyPool.com 9-Ball Championship), has been bounced from the tournamant. Van Boening dropped his first-round match against Raj Hundal, 11-9, then lost to Robb Saez, 11-6. Corey Deuel also went two-and-out, getting beaten by Charlie Bryant and Luc Salvas.

Eight players remain on the winners' side. The next round will see four men nab spots in the single-elimination quarterfinals.

Gabe Owen posted a pair of 11-10 thrillers over Thorsten Hohmann and Rodney Morris. He will face good friend Jeremy Jones, who has been in top form after finishing third at the Predator International 10-Ball Championship in May. Jones beat Matt Krah, 11-5, and Mika Immonen, 11-9, on Monday.

Atop the bracket, Johnny Archer escaped a first-round scare against Steve Lillis, barely advancing by an 11-10 score. The Scorpion then coasted past Filipino Ramil Gallego, 11-6.

Both men's and women's quarterfinals are scheduled for Wednesday at 12 p.m. in the Convention Center Ballroom. The semifinals will be at 7 p.m. that evening, with the final matches scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday.