 Steven Page |
Hosting the 14th stop on the 2006-2007 Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour was Sharks-N-Shooters in Rocky Mount, NC. In addition to the players who traveled from near and far, several locals took part, including room owner James Gray. Two local favorites, Steven Page and Phillip Richardson, thrilled the hometown crowd by meeting in the final match.
Paul Mullins gave Page an early scare before losing a hill-hill match (7-6). Page had an easier time the rest of the way to the hotseat with wins over Russell Sasser (7-2), Ashley Cartwright (7-4) and Trey Sprye (7-1).
Meanwhile, Richardson took a longer route to the final match. After a quick win over Ty Bissett (7-1), he lost a hill-hill match to Cartwright (7-6) and was sent to the one-loss side. Richardson proceeded to plow through Ronnie Greer (7-4), Sasser (7-3), Buddy Fisher (7-0), Sidney Champion (7-5) and Sprye (7-3).
Winning the lag to break first in the final match, Richardson took the first game and then broke and ran for a 2-0 lead. After an empty break, Page shot safe and was rewarded with ball-in-hand. Page quickly ran the table to trail 2-1.
Page didn't make a ball on the next break and a safe battle ensued. Each player had 5 innings before the first ball was pocketed. Page played a carom and ran out, tying the score at two games apiece.
At that point, the match really began to go Page's way. Making the 9 on the break, then breaking and running two racks, Page capitalized on a mistake by Richardson in the eighth rack to take a commanding 6-2 lead.
Another empty break by Page left a run-out for Richardson, who broke and ran the next rack to trail 6-4.
Early in the eleventh rack, Richardson missed and left Page out. Now leading 7-4, Page again failed to pocket a ball on the break. However, alternating safeties, then misses, finally gave control of the table to Page, who took the hill, 8-4.
With a break-and-run, Page took the championship, 9-4.
The next stop on the Jacoby Tour will be at New York Billiards on August 18th in Raleigh, NC. In addition to the cash purse, players will be competing for a free entry ($100 value) into the Carolina Open, to be held October 2-7 at Fast Eddie's Sports Bar and Grill in Goldsboro, NC.
