October 2nd, 2005 had Planet 9-Ball in Tampa, Florida full with the action of the KBP Fury Amateur 9-Ball tour competing next door to the Patriot Cup event presented by LTLUniverse.com.
Fifty players contested for first and as the field narrowed down, only four were left in the winner's bracket. Justin Hall was set to face Adam Wheeler and Brian Davalos was matched up with Robert Noon. Davalos took his match hill-hill and Hall won 7-5 matching them up for the hot seat. The hot seat match was over before it started with Hall taking an insurmountable lead, capitalizing on any mistakes by Davalos and taking the opportunity to run out at every turn. Hall closed out the match 7-1, sending Davalos left to the semis.
On the B-side, all the players left were recently deposited from the winner's side with the exception of Elvis Rodriguez who had made a comeback after losing his first match of the day. Rodriguez's 5-2 win over Robert Noon marked his 8th win in a row, putting him into 4th place. Rodriguez moved on to face Wheeler and nearly had the final game but a mistake let Wheeler back in to win 5-4. Wheeler advanced to the semis to match up with Davalos and with two break-and-runs and three outs following Davalos' break, Wheeler took the match 5-0.
The finals marked a rematch between Hall and Wheeler who are competing for the most wins on tour as the final tournaments of the season are approaching. Hall was in focus for the finals and with his ability to make a run-out from anywhere, he has proved to be one of the toughest draws of the tournament. A few minutes after the finals had begun, Hall was already off to a 3-0 lead. A 9 on the snap put Wheeler back in the match trailing 3-1. Hall had the next rack secured but an uncharacteristic miss on the 8 ball gave Wheeler the game 3-2. Hall got back in gear and snapped off the next two games with run-outs to lead 5-2 in the race to 9. Wheeler began his comeback, taking three of the next four games to trail by only one at 6-5. Hall didn't let him back in though and took the next two games to get on the hill leading 8-5. It looked like the end as Hall got down to shoot the 7-ball but a scratch led to an 8-6 score. Hall had the next break but failed to pocket a ball and Wheeler ran out to hang on at 8-7. After a safety battle over the 2 in the next rack Wheeler got the run out to tie 8-8 for an even race. It was Hall's break and the player's again played safe over the 2-ball. Hall was the first to go for a shot and went for the bank but scratched. Wheeler took ball in hand but missed shape on the 4-ball and tried a bank, repositioning the 9 near the pocket. Hall considered his options and chose to draw the cue off the 4 to cut the 9 in for a successful carom and a 9-8 win.
Results:
1st Justin Hall $510
2nd Adam Wheeler $290
3rd Brian Davalos $160
4th Elvis Rodriguez $100
5th/6th Robert Noon, Louis Altes $80
7th/8th Mike Caron, Bill Bloom $60
9th-12th Frank Zummo, Cal McGann, Danny Sheldon, Jim Oddy $40
