The Virginia State 8 Ball Bar Table Championships was held on July 10, 2014 at The Clubhouse in Lynchburg, Virginia. Turnout was low, 19 players, since the event was held during the week. The final four on the winner’s side had Danny Mastermaker playing Billy Walkerand Greg Taylor playing Daniel Adams. Walker beat Mastermaker 5-2 and Taylor beat Adams 5-1. One the one loss side, Mastermaker had to play his brother, Joey, whom he dispatched 5-1 as Adams eliminated Darren Musser 5-4.
While Mastermaker and Adams matched up to see who would finish 4th, Taylor played Billy Walker for the winner of the hot seat. Each match went to the hill with Mastermaker and Taylor each winning 5-4. After a quick break, Walker and Mastermaker played to see if Walker would get a second chance at Taylor. Mastermaker would prove to spoil Walker’s chance and also extract some revenge for his loss in the tournament earlier to Walker. In the finals, race to 7, Taylor surged to an early lead of 5-3 when Mastermaker got a roll. Taylor had a difficult shot where his last ball was close to the eight ball. He hit the shot so well he made them both and lost the game. Mastermaker managed to tie the set at 5 before Taylor dug deep and was able to close the set out.
1st - $750 – Greg Taylor
2nd -$450 – Danny Mastermaker
3rd - $250 – Billy Walker
4th - $150 – Daniel Adams
The Virginia State 9 Ball Bar Table Championships was held 2 days later and drew a crowd of 27. Many of the same players from the 8 Ball event returned and there were a few other additions from Richmond. From the beginning, it appeared that Mastermaker was set to defend his title which he won in 2012. In his first 4 matches he won a combined score of 28-11. Waiting for him in the winner’s side final was Larry Kressel. Kressel had an as impressive track record winning his first 4 matches by a combined score of 28-13. It was a tight match but Kressel won by a score of 7-5.
Mastermaker would end up playing his long time friend Chris Bruner to see who would go to the final to challenge Kressel in the finals. With the race on the one loss side shortened to 5, it would be anyone’s match. Bruner won the first 3 racks and one miss in rack 4 would be fatal. Mastermaker took advantage of the miss and through good play and solid safety play won the match 5-3; earning a rematch with Kressel in the finals. Kressel jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the match before Mastermaker would get his first game on the board. They would soon exchange games until the score was 7-7. Mastermaker would be the first player to reach the hill. With a solid break, he would make 2 balls and proceed to run out. Suddenly, the four ball hung in the corner pocket. This would allow Kressel to close out the rack and set up a hill-hill final. Kressel would break dry and give Mastermaker one more opportunity to defend his title. One more opportunity would be all he needed as he proceeded to run the rack out and defend his Virginia State 9 Ball Bar Table Championship.
1st - $1000 – Danny Mastermaker
2nd - $500 – Larry Kressel
3rd - $300 – Chris Bruner
4th $200 – Mike Haygood
5th $100 – Greg Taylor
6th $100 – Paul Oh
Photo Credit to: RobertEarlMarshall.com Photography.
