The remainder of Sunday has seen quite a few fantastic match-ups in the Great Southern Billiard Tour main event. Although Jessie Middlebrooks seemed to be relentless with wins over Van Boening, Nevel, and then Pagulayan earlier in the day, it would be Sparky Ferrell that would send Middlebrooks to the one-loss side from the hot-seat match with a score of 11-5.
Ironically, the two gentlemen that Middlebrooks previously sent to the one-loss side ran into each other in a battle of their own. In the end, Larry Nevel defeated Alex Pagulayan by a score of 11-4 and moved on to eventually play Jonathan Hennessee to seal his spot in the semis. Hennessee posted an 11-8 win over Van Boening and then over Rafael Martinez 11-3 earlier in the day before he was bested by Nevel in a tight quarter-final race 11-9.
With the momentum apparently turned toward his opponent, Middlebrooks had a tough job to complete in the semi-final round against Larry Nevel. Unfortunately for Middlebrooks, Nevel was unstoppable by this time as he pushed forward into the final round by a final score of 11-7.
The final round was played to fifteen (win by two) between Nevel and hot-seat winner, Sparky Ferrell.
Ferrell had a fantastic tournament, but Nevel was in steamroller mode by this evening. Nevel finished out the season with a blow-out over Ferrell. The final score was 15-3, but to get to that score Nevel managed to get out from the break eleven times, including twice with nine balls on the snap along with amazing shots during the course of the set.
In addition to the championship win, Nevel received a beautiful plaque and crystal cup commemorating his accomplishments throughout the season as Player of the Year for the tour. Nevel snapped off numerous stops throughout the season and will surely be a threat in future events. Congratulations to Larry and to the tour for a wonderful season – this was a great way to cap it off!
The tour would like to thank Diamond Billiard Club for hosting this week's championships; Steve McDonald for his tournament director duties; and the sponsors that continue to support them: Nick Varner Cues & Cases, Jimmy Reeves Custom Cues & Repairs, and Break N Run Sportswear. The first stop of the new season will be held February 9-10, 2008 at Feb 9-10 at G Mans Family Entertainment in Lanett, Alabama.
Results (main event):
1st Larry Nevel $3000
2nd Sparky Ferrell $2000
3rd Jessie Middlebrooks 1250
4th Jonathan Hennessee $750
5th/6th Rafael Martinez/Alex Pagulayan $500
7th/8th Shane Van Boening/Chad Vilmont $400
9th/12th Danny Smith/Josh Roberts/Bill Young/Jonathan Teder $200
13th-16th Cliff Joyner/Gabe Owen/Bill Bailey/Randy Vaughn $100
Results (Ten-Ball Bank Ring Game):
1st Tony Fargo $5000
Results (Ten-Ball Ring Game):
1st Shane Van Boening $5000
2nd Johnny Archer $3500
3rd Stevie Moore $1500
