 Trevor Jefferson (Owner of Shooters) Rafael Martinez and Shannon Fitch |
The Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour had yet another great weekend, this time at Shooters Pool & Billiards in Greensboro, North Carolina. The stop drew a field of forty (including eight free entries for women participants) to the $1000 added open division played on September 29th and 30th, and thirty two players for the $500 added amateur event held on September 30th.
The open division started the weekend with wonderful match-ups right off the mark. Sparky Ferrell took control of one of the early rounds against Rafael Martinez, sending Martinez to the one-loss side 9-4; Shannon Fitch threw together a seven pack to give Randy Hatten his first loss 9-0 (just prior defeating B.J. Ussery in a heated match ending 9-8); Ussery ended his event shortly thereafter by being defeated 7-3 by North Carolina's own Melissa Goss. Goss was the winner of the Viking Cue Ladies Tour event at Babineau's Billiards last June – it appears she is very much still on her game.
On Sunday, the action continued with the final four pairing off. Robert Ray matched up with Shannon Fitch. Ray (owner of Play-2-Win Billiards in Raleigh, North Carolina) attempted to hold on for the win in the hot seat, however, Fitch moved on by a score of 9-5. This sent Ray to the one-loss side to battle Rafael Martinez, who had managed to get past Sparky Ferrell in the quarter-finals 7-4.
Ray was no match for Martinez in the semi-finals as Martinez appeared to be on fire, immediately setting the pace of the match 4-0. In the end, Martinez destroyed Ray 7-1 and proceeded to the finals to meet Shannon Fitch. In the finals, Martinez won the first set 9-3, but could not hold off Fitch to secure the tournament finish – final score 7-2.
In the amateur tournament that began on Sunday, there were five free entries provided to the women and one junior player. The three top guns for this event were Richard Taylor, Arnold Hamlett, and Mike Preston.
Mike Preston pressed on through the field with wins over Joe Meskey 6-4; Billy Ophardt 6-5; Anthony Arney 6-5, but after a loss to Richard Taylor in the quarter-finals and another in the semi-finals from Hamlett, he finished in third place.
Hamlett's first loss came from Taylor 6-3 during his third round match, but all others that crossed his path were not successful in sending him home – final scores: Matt Karbowski 6-2; Pete Sawyers 6-1; Anthony Arney 5-3; and Mike Preston 5-2.
Taylor managed to run through the brackets undefeated with wins over Dee Wylie 6-2;Chris Cubbage 6-1; Arnold Hamlett 6-3; Mike Preston 6-2; and in the finals defeated Hamlett 6-2.
Many thanks to Eric and Trevor from Shooters for hosting the two-day event – they have truly made Shooters a room that welcomes pool players from everywhere and the tour wishes them continued success.
Click here for Open division payouts.
Click here for Amateur division payouts.
