The 2003 Patriot Cup kicked off on Friday night with a charity event at Planet 9-Ball in Tampa, FL to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Florida.
The night got underway with a Sponsor/Pro event that featured sponsors including Terry Gabriel of Gabriels Tables, Scott Taylor of Fury Cues, Rocky McElroy from Capones in Florida, Angie Chafin from Pro Billiards in Florida and Bryce Eschelman from Worldpool Video. Each of the sponsors was teamed up with a pro from one of the teams in the Patriot Cup for a double tournament. Rocky McElroy and Nick Varner were the eventual winners of this event.
The next event was a series of exhibition matches between members of the teams from the North and South. These matches would not count towards the Patriot Cup competiion though. The first match was bank-pool where Tommy Kennedy from the South defeated Allen Hopkins from the North. 8-Ball was next, and Rodney Morris defeated Johnny Archer in this match. Buddy Hall won the 9-ball match over Tony Robles and the matches ended with the North team winning a 4-on-4 Scotch Doubles match. After all four matches were over, the score was tied at 2-2. Definitely a good sign for the fans who will witness the matches on Saturday and Sunday.
The evening ended with fans being able to pay to challenge their favorite pro and if they were able to defeat the pro, would be entered into a tournament to win nice prizes. Chris Camalo from Planet 9-Ball defeated Tony Robles to get into this tournament, where he took home a new Fury cue and case signed by all of the players, for taking first place.
Matches on Saturday get underway at noon and we will have complete coverage all weekend long from Planet 9-Ball.
Photo courtesy of Diana Hoppe - Pool Pics by Hoppe
