Brandon Shuff
Brandon Shuff and Mike Davis have a bit of history, much of it unrecorded, one would suspect. They met in the finals of a stop on the Action Pool Tour in March of 2013; Davis won. In April, of that year, Davis took the hot seat away from Shuff in the VA State 8-Ball Championship. Shuff did not return from the semifinals of that event. Davis won again when they met in the finals of another APT stop in August. It hasn't always gone Davis' way. Shuff's won a few stops on the APT in which Davis finished fourth (March, 2012, and November, 2011, for example).
On Labor Day weekend, Shuff took command of their long-standing rivalry and defeated Davis twice to capture the 3rd Annual Labor Day Bar Box Championships in Cambridge, MD. The $500-added event drew 41 entrants to Great Slates Billiard Cafe in Cambridge.
They met first in the hot seat match. Shuff had defeated Jeff Crawford 7-2, as Davis was busy sending Joe Wright to the losers' bracket 7-3. Shuff took the first of his two against Davis 7-3 and waited in the hot seat for him to return.
Crawford and Wright moved to the losers' bracket and got right back to work, against Steve Fleming and Kevin West. Fleming had defeated Brian Abrams and Brett Stottlemeyer, both 7-5 to meet Crawford. West had gotten by John Moody, Jr. 7-1 and Roland Freolo 7-4 to draw Wright. Crawford downed Fleming 7-3, as Wright was eliminating West 7-2.
Crawford took the quarterfinal match against Wright 7-3, and then, by the same score, was eliminated by Davis in the semifinals. Shuff completed his undefeated run with a 9-6 victory over Davis in the finals to claim the event title.
Tour Director Danny Bell thanked room owner John Moody, Sr. and his staff at Great Slates Billiard Cafe for their hospitality.
