Masters 10-ball Chesapeake.

Before going to the Masters I had a let-down in Fujairah, the world 8-ball championships. I had just finished two great matches VS Muratore and defending champ Boyes, running 15 racks of 8-ball in a row between the end of the 1st one and out of the gate in the next. Yet in the final 16's match against Engert I just could not get started. I felt like it ended abrubtly. I had more to prove. I wanted a title badly. So I just had to brush the defeat off and stick to my guns.

I knew I was doing something right. My break had improved. Specially in 8-ball and 10-ball the preferred break is from the "box", which is anywhere from the middle inside the first diamonds' width. Now i just had to fade the jet-lag from UAE and start preparing for VA.

I stayed focused. And I stayed on the winners side. In the later rounds of the Masters my toughest match was against Strickland. I managed to squeak away with a 8-7 win. Then I just played two dominating games back to back against Ralf Souquet and Mike Davis in the hot seat match. 8-3 and 8-1. So going into the finals (Against Ralf again) I rather just wanted to be well rested. It worked and I was able to pull away slowly. I made some tough runs and beat Ralf in the safety battles. I won the match 10-4, respectively.

There is something magical about the Chesapeake Conference Center for me. For the last 4 majors I won three and finished 3rd in the one I didn't win. I guess ever since 2008 I was able to abolish the ghosts of the loss in the 2001 US OPEN final I have been able to bring it.

It's been a while since I felt this good. Although it was only a 60-player field it was packed with strong talent. It's definitely a nice beginning of the year and good to be in form since there are so many majors coming up.

I hope to share some more good news soon,

Yours truly,

-ICEMAN-

PS. Check out my new website and let me know what you think? www.mikaimmonen.com

Also, check out the related article in NYC Grind: http://nycgrind.com/?p=14136