 Dennis Hatch |
The 2nd annual Bob Stocks Memorial 9 ball event was held July 21/22 at Bob's favorite hangout First Break Café in Sterling, VA. The 9 ball competition this weekend wrapped up this two part event complementing the 1-pocket tournament from two weeks ago. The host room, tour and several of Bob's friends combined to make this a $2000 added event to top their $1500 1-pocket weekend.
61 players signed up to join the competition including a strong group of visiting players from the Northeast led by Dennis Hatch and Chuck Altomare. Most of the regular Tiger Tour players were also ready to go as this was a regular points' event. Matt Clatterbuck had a strong Saturday with convincing wins over Larry Kressel, Joe Russo and Danny Mulhollen III. The year-long points' leader Shaun Wilkie also had no problems knocking down Alvin Thomas, Ryan McCreesh and Tommy Kay. Joining these 2 in the final 8 winner side were tour regulars Mike Davis and Andy Lincoln as well as Manuel Chau, Jeremy Sossei, Altomare and Hatch.
Sunday started out with Altomare and Lincoln upsetting Hatch and Davis respectively by identical 9-5 scores. Wilkie and Clatterbuck slipped past their opponents Chau and Sossei both in hill-hill matches. These two advanced again as Wilkie defeated Lincoln and Clatterbuck downed Altomare. This set up the final between top Marylander Wilkie and Virginia's finest Clatterbuck. Clatterbuck was the victor here with a 9-6 win.
In the elimination bracket, Hatch won a few matches to meet up with Altomare. The rematch for Hatch was favorable as he walked away with a 7-5 score placing Altomare into 4th place. A quick 7-3 win over Wilkie put Hatch into the single race to 11 final. Clatterbuck raced out to a 7-2 lead and by 10-5 looked firmly in control. A couple of missed opportunities put Hatch back into the race and a 10-10 score. Hatch emerged the victor 11-10 to take home the 1st place prize of $1200. Clatterbuck settled for $800.
Another winner in this event was the American Heart Association. A portion of each entry fee from both the 1-pocket and 9-ball events as well as a percentage of the player auctions went to the charity. A total of $1070 was raised for a great cause.
File photo courtesy of Diana Hoppe - Pool Pics by Hoppe
