Mike Davis
As anyone who’s ever competed in one can tell you, races to 3 can be tricky. One mistake can cost you in a manner that far outweighs the normal significance of a single game in any pool discipline. This is especially true when you’re up against the highest-ranking competitor in an event. So it was this past weekend (Sat., Aug. 24), as 32 entrants set out to win a $500-added, 8-ball event on The Pool Series, hosted by Irish Cue in Cornelius, NC.
About 40 miles north of Charlotte, Irish Cue is within walking distance of the state’s largest man-made lake, known as the “inland sea of NC.” Encompassing nearly 50 square miles of water, with over 500 miles of shoreline, the lake was created by Duke Energy’s construction of the Cowans Ford Dam back in the late 50s and early 60s. Nice place for a pool tournament, offering competitors an opportunity for a pleasant weekend on the shores of an inviting lake and a state park with a renowned mountain biking trail system. It’s also about 44 miles from Kings Mountain, NC, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Not that pool players would be squeezing in any swimming, boating or hiking between matches, but it’s a place at which competitors might choose to arrive early or possibly stay late. Just saying . . .
The aforementioned ‘highest-ranking competitor’ at The Pool Series’ stop in this idyllic setting was Mike Davis, Jr., who’d won The Pool Series’ One Pocket event earlier this month (Aug. 3) and finished third in July’s 9-ball event, won by Runal Bhatt (all at the same location). Davis competed twice this past weekend, hot seat match and finals, against the event’s second-highest ranked competitor, Hunter White, who’d won The Pool Series’ 9-Ball event in May (different location) and ahead of Davis, second, in July. Davis defeated him both times at this most recent event to claim the title. Their paths to the hot seat match were distinctly different, with Davis giving up only three racks over 11 games (four matches), as White was busy surviving two double-hill matches out of the four he played. White did, though, give up just one rack total to his other two opponents. All, of course, under the regimen of the aforementioned, unhandicapped races to 3.
Davis gave up a single rack to both Jeremy Perera and Runal Bhatt for starters, before shutting out Carnell Frink and drawing Javier Oliu in one of the winners’ side semifinals. White got underway with a shutout over James Jenkins and then, battled to double hill against Hank Powell. He survived that to give up a single rack to Larry Hughes and pick up Eddie Little in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Davis advanced to the hot seat match 3-1 over Oliu, as White engaged and won his second double-hill battle, versus Little. White lost his third, double-hill match, battling for the hot seat, claimed by Davis.
Oliu and Little arrived on the loss side of the bracket to draw Jason Blackwell and Jeff Abernathy, respectively. Blackwell had been shut out by Abernathy in the second round and won four straight to draw Oliu (two ‘bookend’ shutouts over Mallory Blackwell and Runal Bhatt, with a 3-1 win over Dan Mooney and double-hill win over Barry McDonald in the middle). Little picked up Abernathy, who’d lost his winners’ side quarterfinal, double hill, to Oliu and then eliminated Jacob Blake 3-1 and by shutout, Clayton Davis.
A shutout (Oliu over Blackwell) and double-hill match (Abernathy over Little) set up a rematch between Oliu and Abernathy in the quarterfinals. Oliu defeated him a second time, 3-1 and was then shut out by White in the semifinals.
The final match was an extended race to 5, offering its two combatants a little more room for error than the matches that had brought them there. It didn’t do White a lot of good as Davis allowed him only a single rack to claim the event title.
Tour director Justin Clark thanked the ownership and staff at Irish Cue for their hospitality and announced that the next stop on The Pool Series, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 7 will be a $500-added 9-ball tournament, hosted once again by Irish Cue in Cornelius, NC.
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