With events running concurrently in Galveston, TX at the Galveston City Classic, which commenced on Saturday, September 12 and was hosted by the Moody Gardens Hotel and Convention Center, interim reports can take on epic proportions. By late Sunday night, the One-Pocket event, which had drawn 88 players, had advanced only four of them to the 8-player Final Bracket, which was drawing from two preliminary brackets.
Early on Sunday morning, Efrem Reyes moved into the hot seat match of the A Bracket, with a 3-2 win over Isaac Runnels. Reyes was scheduled to meet Jeffery Heath in that hot seat match (also the first match in the 8-player Final Bracket) on Monday afternoon (4 p.m.). A little later on Sunday, Shannon “The Cannon” Daulton moved into the hot seat match of the B Bracket with a shutout over Dave Faver. Daulton gained the B Bracket hot seat (also an opening match in the Final Bracket) with a shut out over.Brandon Shuff. Each of the two preliminary brackets will also produce two one-loss side competitors. Scheduled to compete for one of those two spots in the Final Eight Bracket were Warren Kiamco and Cliff Joyner (Monday, 10 a.m.). A match between Sylver Ochoa and Corey Deuel, also scheduled for 10 a.m. on Monday, will produce a winner, who would then face Faver for the second slot in that bracket. The winner of the Gabe Owen/John Schmidt match in the other bracket was to face Runnels for the last slot among the Final Eight.
At noon on Monday, Allison Fisher will take on Line Kjorsvik for the hot seat in the 30-entrant Women's 9-Ball Tournament. Fisher opened her tournament bid with a 9-1 win over Cristina Delagarza, followed it with a 9-7 victory over Yu Ram Cha and moved among the winners' side final four with a 9-2 win over Veronique Menard. Kjorsvik, in the meantime, got by Angelina Paglia and Janet Ritchey by identical 9-4 scores and moved among the final four winners with a 9-7 win over Megan Smith. Fisher defeated Miyuki Sakaki 9-1 to get into the hot seat match, as Kjorsvik sent Vivian Villareal west 9-6.
In the Men's 9-Ball Amateur event, which drew 152 entrants, two of the four preliminary brackets had produced a hot seat winner; Edwin Garcia advanced into the Final Eight Bracket with a hill-hill victory over David Laver. Shane Manaole defeated Joel Grey in another hill-hill battle to earn a second seat among the final eight. Early Monday matches between Gene Albrecht and John Macias and James Davis, Sr. and Justin Hall, will determine the hot seat winner in the other two brackets. Double sets of matches on the one-loss side, scheduled for later on Monday, will produce the remaining players in the Final Eight bracket.
The four preliminary brackets in the Men's 8-Ball Amateur event, with its 171 entrants, had not advanced past a winners' side final four as of late Sunday night. Scheduled to meet on Sunday night, were Joey Grey and Barry Strickland, as well as Josh O'Neal and Shane Winters. The winners were to advance to the hot seat match in that bracket on Monday night. In another of the preliminary brackets, Jeremy Seaman and Brent Thomas were scheduled for late Sunday night and would meet the winner of the Sean Black and Nick Tafoya match in that bracket's hot seat match Monday night. The remaining two preliminary brackets had not advanced past the final eight winners as of late Sunday night.
