![]() ![]() “For many years, I didn’t think the people from the BCA knew who I was. “It has been a long time to wait,” said Parica, when told of his election. Parica continued to rank among the game’s top players well into the 2000s, winning Derby City Classic titles in 2001, 20, including Master of the Table in 2002. The points title came down to the semifinals of the year’s final event, when Parica battled Buddy Hall in a match that determined which player would claim the POY award. ![]() His consistent play throughout the year also earned him the $50,000 Player of the Year (POY) bonus award to the tour’s top points earner. He won his first pro tour title in 1986, at the Clyde Childress Open.Īfter a sabbatical from the game (1992-1996), Parica returned to the Camel Pro Billiard Series with a vengeance, winning a pair of tour titles. Election is confirmed with a 50 percent approval from the Voting Members of the Hall of Fame.) Following a distinguished career in the Philippines, where he gained a reputation as the pool-crazy island’s money-game king, Parica arrived in the U.S. Players recommended by the Veterans Committee are put on the final ballot. (The Veterans Committee considers players who failed to be elected through general voting prior to turning 60. Parica becomes the second player elected to the Greatest Player wing of the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame through recommendation of the Veterans Committee. I wasn’t in a big rush to be recognized as an old geezer, but it’s nice to be in the Hall of Fame at 41.” “It’s a timeline, and the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame was on that list. “When I was younger, I had dreams and goals,” he added. But you never really believe it until it’s real.” After last year (in which Immonen lost to Jeanette Lee in a special Hall of Fame run-off]), I knew I had a chance. “I’m a little beside myself right now, with goose bumps. “This is really amazing,” Immonen said, when the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame call interrupted a practice session at Amsterdam Billiard Club in Manhattan. He has also played as a member of Team Europe in the Mosconi Cup 14 times, and was named MVP in 2008. Immonen has added a handful of major titles since 2010, including the World Cup of Pool doubles crown in 2012. Billiards Digest named Immonen “Player of the Decade” in 2010. He added his second world title when he won the 2009 World 10-Ball Championship. Open 9-Ball Championships crowns (2008, 2009). Immonen was a dominant player throughout the 2000s, winning 10 pro titles in the U.S., including back-to-back U.S. A year later, he won the World Pool Championship in Cardiff, Wales, topping a star-studded 128-player international field and grabbing what was then pool’s richest top prize – $65,000. Four years after capturing his first major international title – the 1996 Peace Cup in Taiwan -Immonen settled in New York City. Immonen, born in London, but raised in Finland, was the European 9-Ball Tour’s No. 17, at the Chesapeake Convention Center in Chesapeake, Va. The pair will be inducted during ceremonies on Oct. Immonen, 42, and Parica, 65, will become the 63rd and 64th members of the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame. The United States Billiard Media Association today announced that two-time world pool champion Mika Immonen and Jose Parica, the leader of pool’s “Philippine Invasion” in the 1980s, have earned induction into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame in the Greatest Players category. Aug– The Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame proudly celebrates and welcomes two of pool’s most dominate players in 2014.
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