Justin Bergman, a native of St. Louis, MO, contends that he has only playing One Pocket for a year, having found it a necessity in his neck of the woods to play the game to be able to get action.
Bergman, who plays out of Hillsboro Billiards, Hillsboro, MO, told me he learned the game from the older guys in his area. When asked what he thought of his chances in this his first ever One Pocket Tournament, he said that he knew that he played well enough to win it, especially as it was only a race to three games. Mr. Begman certainly does not lack confidence.
Thursday afternoon saw the One Pocket drawing to its conclusion as we got down to the last six players standing.
Then:
Corey Deuel beat Mike Dechaine
Francisco Bustamante beat Niels Feijen
Justin Bergman beat Jonathan Pinegar
The One Pocket which started on Sunday June 23rd, was now down to three men standing - Corey Deuel VS Justin Bergman and Francisco Bustamante (who drew a bye). Bergman was the only player left with a re-buy and would have to buy back if beaten by Corey Deuel, but if he won he would play Bustamante, who would have to beat Bergman twice in the final!!!
The Thursday evening matches would be played in the Accu-Stats Simonis Arena. The first match saw Justin Bergman up against seasoned One Pocket Champion Corey Deuel, who surprisingly got beaten 3-2 by the new kid on the block.
The next match saw Justin up against another seasoned veteran Francisco Bustamante. In the first game Bergman looked to have the upper hand, but miscued whilst hitting over another ball during what looked like an easy run out (he miscued again later in the match executing a similar shot.)
The first set went 3-1 to Bustamante, but the young gun dug deep in the second set to take down the wily veteran with a 3-2 score line.
Congratulations to Justin Bergman on winning this coveted One Pocket Title, and all eyes will now be on him at the next Derby City Classic.
