Magoo's Billiards in Tulsa, Oklahoma, provided not only a great atmosphere but an all around fantastic opportunity to players in not just the region, but from several other states afar to compete on both the international level and national level with its $2000 added event this weekend (August 23-24, 2008).
The venue opened its doors to a total field of twenty players paying a $60 entry to qualify for the upcoming WPA World 10 Ball Championship in Manila, Philippines, and also threw in two Reno Open entries to sweeten the pot. Some of the top names in attendance included Joey Gray, Shane McMinn, Jeff Melton, Mark Garza, and Glenn Atwell.
As the field narrowed down to few, the hot-seat match pitted the two players that would ultimately be left standing at the end of the day Sunday – Washington's Glenn Atwell and Texas player Mark Garza. Garza held on as long as he could in the winner's bracket battle prior to suffering a hill-hill loss to Atwell. Dustin Gunia would eventually be Garza's opponent in the semi-final round after a close 9-7 victory over Chip Compton in the quarters.
In the semis, Garza pushed past Gunia for another chance at the WPA World 10 Ball Championship qualifier spot with an ending score of 9-5. In the true double elimination final between Atwell and Garza, Atwell started out the set by quickly jumping ahead in the match 3-0. After an error, he surrendered the table to Garza who eventually tied up the set 3-3. From then forward, the set went back and forth until Atwell was ahead 6-5. At that point, Garza had little control of the set and in the final rack, Atwell served up a break and run to finish out the weekend – final 9-6.
Congratulations to all that attended and best wishes to Glenn Atwell in the Philippines; and Mark Garza and Dustin Gunia at the Reno Open which is scheduled for December 9th-13th (venue: Sands Regency Hotel).
Special thanks to Magoo's Billiards for hosting the qualifier and to Tournament Director Evelyn Dysart (of the Midwest 9-Ball Tour) for all of her hard work.
