The weekend of September 5-6 saw the Allen Hopkins Presents: Tiger Products and Team DMIRO Nationwide 10 Ball Tour making its way to Breaker's Billiards and Lounge, of Pittsburgh, PA, for stop number two on the schedule. A tough field of 35 players was on hand for the $2000 added event, with 26 players fielding the Amateur bracket and 9 players competing in the Open/Pro bracket.
The first day of play saw Dennis Hatch quickly advancing to the finals, from the Open/Pro bracket, with a first round victory of 7-2 over Jordan Haydnak and a second round victory of 7-5 over Manny Chau.
Competing in the Amateur bracket, Rob Krull made his way into the finals with victories over Sam Quinzi 7-1, Alan Landy 7-3, Ron Beard 7-4, and local favorite, Bill McCullim 7-5.
The finals, played on Sunday, would see the top 4 Amateurs, from their respective bracket, and the top 4 Open/Pros, from their respective bracket, combined in an 8 person bracket, still maintaining the double elimination format.
To kickoff the finals, Dennis Hatch matched up against Alex Olinger, while Rob Krull faced Dave Grau. Hatch went on to win with a victory of 7-2, while Krull sent a buzz throughout the room with an upset win over Grau 7-2.
During the hot-seat match, Krull played at a very high level and pulled off some thrilling shots to upset Hatch with a victory of 7-4.
On the one-loss side, Hatch would defeat Olinger, who had just knocked off Grau for 3rd place.
In the final set, a single race to 9, Dennis Hatch “Had a flashback” of their prior match-up and took command, leaving Rob Krull with very few opportunities at the table. Hatch secured the 1st place prize of $1,485, with a victory of 9-0.
Team DMIRO would like to thank Breaker's Billiards and Lounge, for hosting the event, as well as tour sponsors: Tiger Products, McDermott Cues, OB Cues, and Delta 13 Racks, for making this tour possible.
The next tour stop will be a $1000 added tournament at Diamond Billiards, in Midlothian, VA. September 19-20.
