The WPA World Junior Championships is an international billiards event that is part of the World Pool Association (WPA) and this year hosted 48 players from 18 countries. Team USA’s representation of seven players was the most represented country. The field for the boy’s division was 32, and the girls division had 16 players. Going into the tournament, American players, Anna Kostanian and Justin Bergman, were seeded third. Anna behind second seeded Hsiao-Wen of Taiwan and first seeded Kristina Schagan of Germany. Justin behind second seeded Johannes Kauhanen of Finland and defending champion Yu-Lun Wu of Taiwan.

Tough Draws for the Boys
On the boy’s bracket, Justin Bergman in his last attempt for a Junior World title faced defeat right from the start. First round opponent, Taiwan’s Tsung-Yu Huang proved to be a well-experienced billiard player and forced Justin to the one-loss side of the bracket. In round two Justin faced Jason Fischer of Australia for another loss that knocked him out of the competition.

Daniel Rakin had a strong start and won his first match of the tournament by defeating Ben Getaj of Australia with a score of 8-4. Although Daniel lost his second match, he made up for it with an easy win against Kui-Ming Lin of Taiwan to advance to the semi-finals. Daniel had a strong start in the semi-finals and was leading by several points, but it was just not to be Daniel’s year after a 2 point loss to Jason Fischer of Australia.

Austin Murphy won his first match against Norio Ogawa of Japan to advance to the second round against Bartlomej Czapla of Poland only to lose 5-9. Austin made a come back in round three by defeating Dae-Lin of Korea. Austin was still in stride to capture his next win against Tim Puto of New Zealand, but his success was short lived, as he lost the final round of the day against Yeugen Novosad of the Ukraine.

Ryan Dunn in his first Junior World Championship event was defeated in both of his matches. In the first match by Yeugen Novosad of the Ukraine and in the second match against Yusuke Shibata.

Girls on the Podium
Fourteen year old Liz Lovely made her first appearance at the Junior World competition, but Hsiao-Wen Wu of Taiwan proved to be too strong a player and easily defeated Liz with a score of 1-7 to send her to the one loss side of the bracket. Liz faced Amy Claire-King of South Africa in the second match and put on her game face to easily defeat her opponent 6-0 to advance to the next round. Liz continued her determination against Kristina Schagan of Germany and was ahead by several points at the beginning of the round that helped her secure another win of 7-3. Liz faced Taiwan’s Keng-Chun Lin in her fourth and final round, and third match of the day, where she was edged out of the semi-finals by 1 point.

Anna Kostanian faced her first opponent of the competition Keng-Chun Lin of Taiwan, but was forced to the one loss side by 1 point. Anna made a strong comeback in her second round by defeating Jennifer Fleckenstein of Switzerland with a score of 7-0 to advance in the bracket to round three. The third round against Hsiao-Wen Wu was another easy defeat with a score of 7-2 to advance Anna to the semi-finals. Anna faced China’s Zhu-Quing Bi for yet another win that advanced her to the finals. Once in the finals Anna faced fellow Team USA member Mary Rakin, whom she beat at the BCA Junior National Championships that were held in Tucson, AZ in July. Mary proved to be a challenge for Anna, and after a close match Anna lost by only 1 point.

The second day of competition Mary Rakin, won her first match with a score of 7-5 against You-Ram Cha of Korea to advance to the second round. Mary had a successful round two by easily defeating Denise Wilkinson of New Zealand 7-2, which moved her to round three. Claiming victory yet again, Mary continued her winning streak with a score of 7-2 against Canada’s Marina Linguerri to secure a spot in the semi-finals. Once in the semi-finals, Mary proved to be unstoppable and easily defeated Hsiao-Wen Wu of Taiwan by unexpectedly pocketing the 9-ball for a win of 7-4 that advanced her to the finals. Number 7 proved to be Mary’s lucky number as she faced fellow Team USA member, Anna Kostanian. Anna turned up the heat, but Mary held on to win the Junior World title and the gold medal by 1 point with a final score of 7-6. Final standings in the girls division: Mary Rakin of Team USA made history by coming in 1st place and bringing home the gold medal; Anna Kostanian of Team USA came in 2nd place to take home the silver medal; and Zhu-Quing Bi of China came in 3rd place and received the bronze medal.

Final standings in the boys division: Chinese Taipei’s Yu lun Wu defending his title with a 3rd consecutive win and the gold medal; Pin Yi Ko of Chinese Taipei came in 2nd with the silver medal; and Gerald Lopez of Nicaragua came in 3rd place to take home the bronze medal.

Rakin breaks through for US
The USA garnered the first ever WPA Junior Girls World Billiards title and gold and silver medals thanks respectively to grand performances by Mary Rakin and Anna Kostanian. Mary was seeded 12th going into the competition, below fellow-teammate Anna Kostanian, who was seeded 3rd. Mary was ecstatic after her win and very surprised that she beat Anna, whom she competed against and came in 2nd place to at the BCA Junior National Championship that was held in Tucson, AZ in July of this year.

The Team USA girls were the stars of the competition by making history and claiming victory. Each was focused and determined and in the end it showed. The team leader for Team USA, Tanya Holmes said, “I am absolutely thrilled that the USA won the World title and the gold medal thanks to Mary Rakin, and the silver medal from Anna Kostanian. The girls played so well in this tournament, and it shows the World that our girls are a force to be reckoned with. They have proved that they have what it takes to make it to the top.” The location and dates for next year’s tournament have yet to be determined.

Team USA, L-R: Justin Bergman, Austin Murphy, Kevin Peterson, Landon Shuffett, Chelsea Hardwick, Anna Kostanian. Photo: Tracy Hart. Click on image for larger view.

The World Youth Championships is an international billiards event, as part of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) that hosted players from 19 countries. Team USA’s representation of six players was the second most represented country, behind Germany. The field for the boy’s division was 32 and the girls seeded up to 16.

Going into the tournament, Justin Bergman was seeded third behind defending champion Yu-Lun Wu and second seeded local Albin Ouschan.

In that bracket, Justin had a tough road to the quarterfinals. In the first round, he defeated Austria’s Michael Woschitz to advance and face Poland’s Hubert Lopotko, who proved to be another very strong player. In the third round, Justin defeated Denmark’s Bahram Lotfy with ease, but it was about to get more difficult. In the single elimination quarterfinals. Kai-Lun Hsu was too tough of a match-up for Justin, who finished in a tie for fifth overall.

The Rest of the Field
As for the other Team USA boys, Kevin Peterson finished in a tie for 17th after moving to the one-loss side following his first match, then winning his second and being eliminated in his third against Poland's Hubert Lopatko. As the second youngest player in the tournament, Austin Murphy proved his cue ability at an international level with a tie for 13th finish. After winning his first match of the tournament over Germany’s Dominic Jentsch, round two showed a little tougher competition as Austin faced Canadian player Jason Klatt and fell short towards the end to move to the one-loss side of the bracket. Austin defeated his third opponent, Russian player Dimitri Volodin, and was then eliminated by defending champion Yu-Lun Wu. The youngest player to compete at the event, Landon Shuffett had tough competition all the way through the event. First round opponent, Germany’s Marco Schmidt, proved to be a well-experienced billiard player and forced Landon to the one-loss side of the bracket. After a walk over in the second round, Landon faced Japan’s Hayato Hijikata for his third and final match and tied with his teammate Kevin for 17th position. [ view boys brackets ]

Up and Coming Young Women
In only the second year of girls competition at the World Junior level, Anna Kostanian made her way to the semi-finals with a win over Austria’s Sabrina Tatzl to line up for a match against recent World Games Champion Jasmin Ouschan. But Jasmin proved to be too strong, and sent Anna to the one-loss side of the bracket. Anna then defeated Austria’s Sandra Baumgartner to advance and face Canada’s Jessica MacInnis where she won 7-1 to go into the single-elimination semi-final. Once again facing Ouschan, Anna came up short in the match, but finished third in the tournament, to earn a bronze medal for herself and Team USA. Chelsea Hardwick lost to Germany’s Nadine Gionnotti to move to the one-loss side of the bracket, then was defeated in her third match against Canadian Jessica MacInnis, to finish tied for 9th overall. [ view girls brackets ]

Awards Ceremony
After a long and eventful week in Austria, the awards ceremony proved to be well worth the trip. Not only did Anna Kostanian bring home a bronze medal for Team USA, Landon Shuffett was recognized as well. Not for his place and finish, but for his manners and professionalism. Tournament Director, Jorgen Sandman, who is also President of the World Confederation of Billiard Sports (WCBS), awarded Landon the “Fair Play” trophy for his “professionalism, manners, ability and common respect for the sport of billiards”. Landon received the award and was happy to be recognized as a fair player at the event.

“Although Team USA did not win the World Youth Championships, every Team USA representative was a winner in their own way," said Team Leader Tracy Hart. "Each player came out of the event with more respect for the game, a better understanding of international competition, many new friends and a drive to qualify for next year’s event. These kids did great and I am so proud of everyone that competed to represent the US”. [ see WPA 2005 event coverage ]