The NGB Amateur Billiards Tour 7 ball event was held February 6, 2010 at Mr. Cues II in Atlanta, Ga. There was a full 64 player field with some of the top amateurs in the South vying for the title.
At the end of a long gruel ling day, Jason Stemen worked his way through the B side to face an undefeated Paul Song in the finals. In match one of the two match series, Stemen and Song went back and forth exchanging wins in the alternate break format. Stemen persevered winning the hill-hill match to continue on to the final set.
Set 2 kept us all on the edge of our seats. Both players were close to flawless through the first half of the set. Stemen finally made an unforced error that Song jumped on winning the next 3 racks and arriving first to the hill. Stemen came back to win the next rack,leaving Song on the hill, Stemen 1 back and Song breaking. Song broke,sent two balls to the pocket, but the one ball rolled to the middle of the short rail and the cue to the far end of the table. After a careful study, Song played a nice push-out, just glancing the one ball and returning the cue to the far end. Now came the shot of the tournament. Stemen reviewed his options and played a brilliant safe leaving the one ball behind a small cluster near the corner pocket and sending the cue back up table and hidden behind the seven. Song, stuck without a viable kick or jump, and knowing he was giving up ball in hand, was forced to try and create a problem group. Song played the best shot he had, sending the three down next to the one. Stemen, ball in hand, lined up the one/three combo, pocketed the three in the corner and calmly ran the remaining balls taking the match to hill-hill. The final rack was almost anti-climatic in its perfection. Stemen broke, found his pattern and never lost shape as he ran out to win the tournament.
The NGB Amateur Billiards Tour is sponsored by Delta-13 Racks, Ozone Billiards and Cue-Tech College of Cueing Arts & Sciences.
The next event is March 13, 2010 - 10 Ball - Allstar Billiards - Winder, Georgia.
