The latest edition of the Great Southern Billiard Tour season - $1500 added Knoxville Open III Bar Table Tournament and $250 added second chance event - took place this weekend (May 17th-18th) with the likes of tour regulars and top names as John Brumback, Jonathan Hennessee, Larry Nevel, Shannon Daulton, Randy Vaughn, Russ Edwards, Marcus Pendley, Adam Pendley, and WPBA touring professional Janet Atwell. Including these top notch attendees, the event at Breakers Sports Bar and Grill (www.breakerssportsbar.com) in Knoxville, Tennessee brought in a total field of forty players.
This weekend has read similar to many in the past few months – it was once again the Larry Nevel show from start to finish. Nevel ran through the field undefeated and into the Sunday final sixteen, where he continued his dominance by running through Scott Eller 9-6, then pushed past a determined Randy Vaughn 9-8, and snapped off the hot-seat match win from Shannon Daulton 9-5 only to wait for his next opponent in the finals arena.
Early in the day on Sunday, the winners side saw Randy Vaughn overcome Jonathan Hennessee in a close match 9-7, Daulton ended Janet Atwell's run 9-3, and Robert Green bested Wes Covington 9-3 – Daulton sent Green to the one-loss side shortly thereafter by a score of 9-3. First rounds on the one-loss side saw Tony Smith (d. Ricky Bingham 9-3), John Brumback (d. Russ Edwards 9-2), Curtis Blevins (d. Jeremy Hart 9-3), and Ricky Patterson (d. Jeff Baumgarner 9-4) move on to the next rounds.
The one-loss side continued to display the competitive spirit throughout the day with John Brumback sending home Tony Smith 9-5 and Randy Vaughn 9-8, before being stopped in the quarter-finals by Hennessee 9-3. Hennessee had already stopped Curtis Blevins 9-3, and Robert Green 9-3 in their tracks before meeting up with Brumback.
Once in the semis, Hennessee pushed past Daulton in a close set 9-6 to seal his chances at the final rounds. Hennessee met with Nevel and held firm throughout the true double elimination match. Although the event win was within his grasps, Nevel stopped him just short by winning on the hill. Great play by both men, congratulations to Nevel for another tour win and title for the season.
In addition to the main event and without skipping a beat, the second chance event got underway Sunday as well and saw a tough field of sixteen players return. The final results for that event were as follows: 1st place goes to Russ Edwards, 2nd Jerry Grooms, and 3rd Jeremy Hart.
Special thanks to the management and staff at Breakers Sports Bar and Grill and to the tour sponsors for their continued support: Nick Varner Cues & Cases, Jimmy Reeves Custom Cues & Repairs, Break N Run Sportswear, and AZBilliards.com. The tour will take a breather over the Memorial Day weekend, but will return to play at Palace Billiards in Greenville, South Carolina, May 31st-June 1st. For more information on the tour or its upcoming events, contact Shannon Daulton directly at (865) 850-4572.
