The Great Southern Billiard Tour and Breakers Sports Bar in Rock Hill, SC hosted the Mid-Carolina A/B amateur 9-ball tournament the weekend of April 4-5, 2009. All forty two players wanted their shot at the $1,000 first place prize. A few top guns in the running were Brian White, Jeff Abernathy, and Josh Roberts.
After playing down to the final 16 on Saturday, the tour would return with 8 players on the winners side and 8 players on the one loss side.
On the winners side, Josh Newman defeated Lay Thammavong, (7-4) Steve Cox over Paul Mullins, (7-4) Jeff Abernathy over Zeek Gomez, (11-0) & Dusty Norris won on the hill after a scratch on the nine ball by Wade Mascia..
The one-loss side would have Norris Brady and Brian White winning by forfeits over their opponents Clay Branham & Robert Ash. Josh Roberts would end Chris Steele's touranment hopes, (11-4) as well as Dale Phillips sending Rory Dover home early by a score of (7-5).
The next round on the one loss side would see Brady over Gomez after a double-hill battle, Roberts over Mascia, (11-5) Phillips over Thammavong, (7-3) and White over Mullins, (11-2).
This would bring the tournament to the final 8: On the winners side, Newman chalked up another win over Cox, (7-5) and Abernathy would send Norris to the left side of the chart by a score of (11-5). On the one-loss side,Roberts ended the road for Brady, (11-2) as well as Phillips sending White out in 7-8th place, (7-6).
Phillips and Cox would have to settle for a 5-6th finish while Roberts and Norris would go on to face each other.
The hot seat match would have 16 year old, Josh Newman facing off against veteran, Jeff
Abernathy. Newman was in full control of the match and took the win by a score of (11-5).
Battling for a chance to play Newman in the finals, Roberts dusted off Norris by a score of (11-1) and then sealed his seat in the finals after an exciting doulbe hiller against Abernathy.
The stage was set for a true double elimination finals. The two Josh's - Newman and Roberts really wanted this win. Roberts showed this in the first set by his aggressive play and shot making. He went on to win the first set (11-6).
In the second set, Newman would be too much for Roberts to handle. Some early mistakes in the match allowed Newman to gain control of the match and take the win by a score of (7-5). Newman would remain undefeated all weekend to claim his first win on the tour.
The Great Southern Billiard Tour would like to congratulate all the players on their awesome finishes. Also, a big thank you to Jeff and Amy Peele for being great hosts!!
The tour will be off this weekend and would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter! We will be back in action the weekend of April 18-19 at Chalk It Up Billiards in La Grange, GA.
