The holiday season is officially underway! Although the weekend following Thanksgiving is generally all about travel, a field of thirty-two players decided to go against the grain and stop into Breakers Sports Bar and Grill in Knoxville, Tennessee for the latest $1500 added Great Southern Billiard Tour stop.
The list of entrants included recent Qlympics U.S. Open Bank Pool Champion John Brumback, Shannon Daulton, Jonathan Hennessee, Claude Marrier, Dallas Roach, and Diamond Billiard Club room owners Bill Bailey and Dave Crockett.
At the end of Saturday's tough competition, the brackets had narrowed down to the final sixteen players to bring back on Sunday. The initial matches on Sunday shaped up to include on the winners side Billy Bailey v. Eddie Little; Shannon Daulton v. Jonathan Hennesse; John Brumback v. Dave Crockett; and Claude Marrier v. Jason Turner. The one-loss side held Matt Braden v. Chris Crawford; Mike Templeton v. Daniel Autrey; Dallas Roach v. Jason Parton; and Brandon White v. Scott Hafley.
When the first Sunday round was complete, Bailey (9-6), Daulton (9-4), Brumback (9-3), and Marrier (9-4) moved on to represent the winner's side of the bracket. While, Braden (9-4), Templeton (9-1), Parton (9-7), and Hafley (9-6) eliminated their opponents to remain alive on the one-loss side.
During the next round, the one-loss side became much leaner with only four players moving on. Hennessee (defeated Braden 9-2), Templeton (defeated Little 9-1), Parton (defeated Turner 9-3), and Hafley (defeated Crockett 9-2) all pulled off substantial wins over their opponents.
The winner's side matches proved to be quite similar in the outcomes. John Brumback bested Claude Marrier 9-2 and Bill Bailey was victorious over Shannon Daulton 9-4. This set-up the hot seat between Brumback and Bailey, but Brumback conquered Bailey 9-6 to remain undefeated.
This left the one-loss side players grinding out their matches to reach Brumback and the final round. With that said, the match-ups included Hennessee eliminating Templeton 9-2 and Hafley sending home Parton 9-6. Hennessee was stopped by Daulton while attempting to continue his run – the match was tightly played but ended with a final score of 9-8, leaving Bill Bailey and Shannon Daulton to round out the semi-final match. Daulton moved on in the brackets after his win over Bailey of 9-6.
Although the final round of play is a true double elimination, this weekend it only took one set. The play between Daulton and Brumback was very competitive. At one time in the set, the score was tied at 5-5, but Brumback eventually pulled away and jumped on the hill first 8-7. Daulton followed shortly behind keeping the match spectators on the edge of their seats. With the score sitting at 8-8, Daulton had the break but came up dry. Brumback took the smart approach and played a safe on the one ball, which caused Daulton to take out his jump cue. After jumping the ball and scratching, Daulton saw his chances at the title disappear and a victorious Brumback take down the rack.
Thanks to Bob Moore and his staff at Breakers Sports Bar and Grill for their southern hospitality. A reminder for you road warriors - the weekend of December 1st and 2nd will see the tour drop into Sporty's Nightlife & Sports Bar in Greenville, South Carolina.
