Babineau's Billiards in Raleigh, North Carolina hosted the 11th stop on the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour June 7-8. A field of 25 players came out for the $1000 guaranteed added Main Event. Hot as a firecracker, “Rocket” Rodney Morris defeated Raj “The Hitman” Hundal in the final match, earning $1000 for first place plus entry into the 2008 Carolina Open, courtesy of Fast Eddie's in Goldsboro, NC. The 2008 Carolina Open is set for October 7-12 at Fast Eddie's and will immediately follow the season finale of the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour on October 4-5.
To kick things off, an Early Bird Tournament was held on Friday night. Room owner Paul Babineau offered a $50 bonus to any player who could break and run five straight racks but there were no 5-packs to be had. David Baranski defeated Rodney Morris (7-6) in the final match. Results for this event were: 1st David Baranski $200; 2nd Raj Hundal $100; 3rd Rodney Morris $60; 4th Younger Chapman $40; and 5th/6th John Mawyin and Randy Wilson, $20 each.
In the Junior Tournament on Sunday, first place went to Palmer Richardson. Richardson is one of nine junior players on the Jacoby Tour who have qualified for the 2008 Junior Nationals, set for July 8-13 in Tucson, AZ.
Also on Sunday, a Second Chance Tournament was won by Cary Dunn who defeated Palmer Richardson (7-1) to take the first place prize of $100.
In the Main Event, Hundal sped through his first two opponents Sidney Champion (7-2) and Leroy Bryant (7-1). He was then slowed, but not stopped, by Cary Dunn (7-5) and Robert Ray (7-4) before taking the hotseat by sending Rodney Morris to the one-loss side (7-6).
Morris, meanwhile, defeated Robin Kelly (7-2) and Russ Beck (7-2) before winning a tough match against Wade Crane (7-5). Morris then had a surprisingly easy time of it against Michael Fuller (7-1) before his loss to Hundal (7-6). Another win over Crane (7-3) set up a rematch against Hundal in the final.
The final match – a single race to 9 – was close at first with neither player gaining more than a one game advantage until Morris went on a streak at the end. In the first rack, Morris kicked two rails to pocket the 3-ball, but gave Hundal ball-in-hand after scratching on the 6-ball. Hundal ran out but missed late in the next rack and the match was even at one game apiece.
Morris came up empty on the break in the third rack but Hundal missed the 1-ball and Morris ran out. Hundal tied the score at 2-2 after Morris missed a long bank in the fourth rack.
A break-and-run put Hundal back on top, but in the sixth rack, he came up short on a safety attempt and watched as Morris banked the 6-ball to get out.
Morris missed the 1-ball in the seventh rack and Hundal ran out. Then, in the eighth rack, Hundal scratched on the break and Morris ran out to tie the score at 4-4.
The players showed some defensive skills in the ninth rack that produced ball-in-hand and a run-out for Morris. He cleaned the table in the tenth rack after Hundal missed the 2-ball and followed that with a break-and-run to stretch his lead to 7-4.
After capitalizing on another miss by Hundal in the twelfth rack, Morris made four balls on the next break. Morris was forced to shoot safe and, although Hundal made a good hit, Morris returned to the table for an easy run-out to win the match by the score of 9-4.
By Sunday, the cash incentive for a 5-pack had grown to $200 and, even with three pros in the room, the feat was still not accomplished.
Congratulations to Ian Eager who was the lucky winner of a Limited Edition $750 cue raffle from Jacoby Custom Cues.
Rock City Promotions wishes to extend special thanks to the staff and ownership of Babineau's Billiards and to OB-1 Cues for supporting the Jacoby Tour.
The next stop on the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour will be July 12-13 at Break Time Billiards in Wilmington, NC. The event will guarantee $1000 added with $1000 for 1st place plus entry into the 2008 Carolina Open, courtesy of Fast Eddie's.
