Josh Newman's back in the Great Southern Billiard Tour headlines again. Having won three of 10 events in which he participated in 2010 and finishing among the top five in all but two of those 10, he recorded his first GSBT win of 2011, going undefeated at a stop on the weekend of March 12-13. The $1,500-added event drew 36 entrants to Classic Billiards in Conyers, GA.
From among the winners' side final four, he faced Jeff Jordan, as Chris Niksch faced Jordan's older brother, Randy. A brother vs. brother hot seat match was avoided when Newman sent Jeff to the one-loss side 9-4. Randy, however, defeated Niksch 9-2 to face Newman. Newman got into the hot seat with a 9-6 victory over the elder Jordan, who'd come back to face him in the finals.
Over on the one-loss side, Justin Bergman was on a six-win streak that would pit him against Jordan in the semifinals. He got by James Eberhart 10-2 and Jesse Middlebrook 10-3 to pick up Niksch. The younger Jordan brother drew Chuck Dorsett, who'd defeated Jeff Hooks 9-6 and Chris Holt 10-1 to reach him. Jordan and Bergman gave up only two racks between them, versus Dorsett (7-1) and Niksch (10-1), respectively, to face each other in the quarterfinals.
Bergman was the only obstacle standing between a brother vs. brother semifinal, which, like the hot seat match, was avoided; this time by Bergman's 10-6, double hill victory in the quarterfinals. The elder Jordan then ended Bergman's west side streak of victories with a 9-8 win that gave him a second chance versus Newman.
The opening set of the true double elimination final went to double hill. Newman sunk the last 9-ball to take the event title.
