Jesus Atencio and Fedor Gorst
For big table aficionados, all the action this weekend was at the Rack N Grill II in Augusta, GA for their 9 Ball Shootout. The format for this $4000 added event was true double elimination, winner breaks, rack your own with the nine on the spot & two in the back with the three ball break rule – races to 15 on the winners side & races to 11 on the one loss side.
Forty eight players ponied up their $200 entry fees including Russian stars Fedor Gorst & Evgeny Stalev, Josh Roberts, Roberto Gomez , Jeffrey de Luna, Brandon Shuff, Robb Saez, Johnathan Hennessee, Julio Burgos, BJ Ussery, Mike DeLawder, Scott Rabon, Mark Gregory, rising star Jesus Atencio and local straight shooter Mike Wise.
A players auction was held – between the tournament & auction payouts, the total purse was $40,000! Following that, the draw was done & the tournament began with one round on Friday night.
After starting at noon on Saturday & Sunday, the field was finally pared down to just four players – Gorst & Atencio on the winners side with Roberts & de Luna on the one loss side.
The hot seat was claimed by Gorst as he dispatched Atencio to await the results of the Roberts-de Luna match. Jeffrey defeated Josh leaving him in fourth place.
Atencio advanced to the finals after winning a nailbiter over de Luna leaving him with a third place finish.
Since this event was true double elimination, Jesus would have to defeat Fedor twice to win the tournament.
He shot out to a 3-0 over Fedor but before you knew it, he trailed 4-3. From there, it was neck & neck until Jesus pulled away to take the first set 15-10!
After a short break, the final race to eleven began.
Jesus again went several games ahead but towards the end of the match, Fedor had whittled that lead down to where he was only trailing by one game – 8-7. He then tied it up at eight apiece! And then again, 9-9! The pressure was on! Who would get on the hill first?!!!
Fedor broke & scratched – Jesus ran out! 10-9!
Jesus broke, made three balls on the break, ran a couple & hung up the five! Fedor knocked the remaining balls into the pockets.
One game for it all!
Fedor broke for the final game & methodically ran out the remaining balls for the win!!!
What a match!
Congratulations to Fedor for taking the title! This has to be a heartbreaker for Jesus – great tournament, young man!
Thanks to the Rack N Grill II’s owner Mike Newsome and his staff who went all out to treat players and fans to a fantastic weekend. Mike also tells us he’s opening a third location soon in Aiken, SC!
We’d also like to thank our commentators – Mary Kenniston, Larry Schwartz, Jeremy Jones, Scott Rabon & Eddie Brown! Great job, as usual!
And, last but not least, PoolActionTV.com would also like to thank our sponsors and fans for another fantastic event! We couldn’t do this without your support! Tour sponsors include Lomax Custom Cues, Hanshew Jump Cues, Durbin Custom Cues, Diamond Billiard Products, StraightPoolEye, Aramith, Simonis & Fort Worth Billiard Superstore of Fort Worth, TX.
Our next event is the Midwest Open Billiards Championship at Michael’s Billiards in Fairfield, OH – March 16th-21st! Hope to see you there!
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