The #4 seed Phoenix Fire took on the #12 seed Atlanta Scorpions in the first match of the second round of the World Professional Billiard League’s Championship Playoffs. The match was the first of the day’s double header which took place at the WPBL Arena in Las Vegas, NV.
Dennis Hatch defeated Scott Frost 7-0 in a captain's choice shoot-out, lifting the Atlanta Scorpions to a 7-6 victory. Frost missed a very difficult cut of a purple ball into the side pocket after the break, helping Atlanta advance to the third round of the tourney despite being the lowest seeded team in the playoffs.
The Scorpions had a chance to win the match prior to the captain's choice, but was only able to win the final game of regulation in a shoot-out that tied the match at 6-6 after an uncharacteristic miss on the orange ball by Johnny Archer.
The match was tied at 3 before Archer gave Atlanta a 5-3 lead by defeating Frost in singles 30-12, but Phoenix would score the next three match points to take a 6-5 lead thanks in part to the shooting of Tommy Kennedy. The 1991 US Open champion picked up a regulation win over Shannon Daulton that gave Phoenix its first lead of the day at 6-5. But after Atlanta picked up the shoot-out point in 3 on 3 to wrap up regulation play, Hatch finished off the match in the captain's choice.
Atlanta will next play on Wednesday February 12th at 6:30pm PT taking on the winner of the New York/Las Vegas match that will be played Monday February 10th.
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