Corey Deuel
The closest Corey Deuel had come to winning a major event this year was back in May, when he placed second behind Rodney Morris on a Seminole Pro Tour stop in Hollywood, CA. On the weekend of August 13-15, he faced Morris again in a Seminole final, winning five on the one-loss side to do it, and in the end, winning it for his first 2010 Seminole Tour victory. The $7,000-added event drew 47 entrants to Diamond Billiards in Cape Coral, FL.
“It's been a while, yeah,” said Deuel. “I played really well for some reason. I was breaking awful for most of the tournament, but did break well in the finals (against Morris).
“I had tough draws the whole time,” he added, “and Shane (Van Boening) was probably the toughest opponent.”
Deuel and Van Boening hooked up twice in the tournament, battling to double hill both times. In their first meeting among the winners' side final eight, it was Van Boening who came out on top, advancing to meet Mike Davis among the winners' side final four. Morris, in the meantime, with four wins at his back, faced Tommy Kennedy, who, at that point, had allowed four opponents (Bob McCulley, Stevie Moore, Neil Fujiwara and Mike Delawder) only nine racks, total. Morris sent Kennedy west 8-3 as Van Boening and Davis battled to double hill, before Van Boening prevailed. The hot seat match was another double hill struggle, which ended with Morris in the hot seat and Van Boening off to a semifinal re-match against Deuel.
Over on the one-loss side, Kennedy picked up Deuel, who'd defeated Hunter Lombardo 8-5 and shutout Dustin Morris. Davis drew Jerry Calderon, who'd defeated Delawder 8-6 and Mario Cruz 8-4. Davis and Calderon fought to double hill before Davis advanced, as Deuel ended Kennedy's tournament bid 8-5. Deuel dominated the quarterfinals versus Davis 8-1 and got his shot at semifinal revenge against Van Boening.
In their second matchup of the tournament, the two battled a second time to double hill. Only this time, it was Deuel advancing to take on Morris, as Van Boening settled into third place. Going into the tournament final, Corey Deuel was ranked third among the tour's professionals; tied with Johnny Archer behind Stevie Moore. Moore, having already finished in the tie for 9th place, seemed destined to drop in those rankings, leaving the top spot open for Deuel (Archer did not compete). Deuel defeated Morris 9-2, making him the current leader. It was Deuel's first major tournament win since July of 2009.
