nEWS
DuBuisson captures
Air-Table Hockey championships
The 1985 U.S. Air-Table-Hockey
Championship was held March 23-
24 in Houston, Texas , at Quiptar' s
game room, which was also a co-
sponsor. Fifty-nine players competed
in the event which awar!fed $5,000
in cash and prizes.
Other sponsors included Air-
Table-Hockey, manufacturer of the
tournament quality, coin-op table;
the U .S. Air-Table-Hockey Associa-
tion, Houston Chapter; KLOL Radio;
Barney's game room; Icy Hot
products, a division of Searle, Inc.;
Coors; Professional Air- Table-
Hockey (a local operator) ; Bee Jay's ;
RAG Printing; and Cinco Robles
restaurant.
The tournament saw two talented
players break into the elite circle of
Air Hockey's top five . Mike Schoppe
of Houston, in only his second
national , showed skill and determi-
ntion in placing fifth. Long-time
veteran Vince Schappell of Houston
continued his climb toward the top
by taking third. And Houston's Mike
14
Nelson achieved his highest finish
ever, grabbing sixth .
Meanwhile, 1984 national cham-
ion Mark Robbins of Boulder, Colo-
rado, dropped to seventh . Perennial
contender Phil Arnold of Houston
captured fourth, suffering another
loss to Boulder's Bob DuBuisson .
It was DuBuisson's fierce will-to-
win which gave him his third
national title . Vince Schappel had
DuBuisson down 3-1 , but willpower,
and a costly error by Shappell in the
sixth game, gave DuBuisson a 4-3
comeback victory. The pattern was
repeated in the finals as Robert Her-
nandez of Houston had DuBuisson
on the ropes 3-1 . DuBuisson came
up with a rarely used horizontal drift
which paralyzed Hernandez' defense
just enough to give DuBuisson the
next three games and the tourna-
ment victory. Hernandez was
national runner-up for the second
time .
Rounding out the top ten in the
Pro Classic: Don Bearden, Houston;
John Stucky, Longmont, Colorado ;
and Paul Marshall , Dallas .
In the women's division, Hous-
ton's Barbara Marquis was knocked
into the loser's bracket, victim of a
stunning upset by Boulder' s quick-
volleying Jenny Spencer. But like a
true champion , Marquis got serious
and fought her way back to the
finals, finally defeating runner-up
Patrice Nale of Houston . jenny
Spencer took third , with Maureen
Connelly of Boulder fourth. For
Marquis, it was her fifth consecutive
national women's title. Barbara also
became the first woman in the his-
tory of air-hockey to place in the top
16 in the country, taking 16th in the
main tournament.
In other divisions, Joel Godfrey
of St. Louis took the Pro-Am title;
Patrice Nale was top Expert; Geoff
Turner of Houston won Amateur
honors; and Sally Harrison of Hou-
ton won the Novice division .
The tournament was highlighted
by a two-minute TV news report on
Houston's Channel 13.
Air-Table-Hockey's Mark Robbins
reports that interest in Air-Hockey
has increased greatl y in the p ast
year, and this is reflected in earnings
on location. "At numerous
locations across the country, some
Air-Table-Hockeys pull in as much
as $350 to $400 per week ," says
Robbins . " Locations showing good
earnings include Malibu Grand Prix,
Fun and Games ,
Space Port,
ShowBiz Pizza, Six Flags Atlantis,
Disneyland , and others."
The next national tournament is
scheduled for September in Colo-
rado.
For information on tournaments,
promotions, and new tables ,
contact Air-Table-Hockey, P.O. Box
1024, Boulder, C080306. Telephone
303/ 444-9164.
•
PLAY METER. May 1 5, 1985