 Larry Nevel w/TD Shannon Daulton |
The Great Southern Billiard Tour and Sporty's Nightlife & Sports Bar in Greenville, South Carolina, hosted The Carolina Cup VI the weekend of December 1st and 2nd. The $1500 added tournament brought in a total field of thirty-two players including regional favorites Larry Nevel, Shannon Daulton, recent tour winner John Brumback, Brian White, Scott Rabon, Jared McGee, and Josh Roberts.
In addition, the stop brought in a total of four women participants (along with two military entrants) with Kim Kilgore taking home the $50 cash prize for her top finish. An added bonus of the weekend was a free entry that was raffled off to one lucky winner, Ray Benish.
The early round matches on Saturday saw local player Jose Tovar best Jared McGee 9-4 and then fall to Larry Nevel 9-2. Scott Rabon and Shannon Daulton faced off with Rabon taking Daulton to double hill and ultimately victorious in the set. Another great first round match was between Brian White and yet another fantastic local player Danny Turner – White pulled off the win over Turner 9-6.
When Sunday rolled around, the winner's side match-ups started with Jimmy Reeves (over Sammy Odom 9-5), John Brumback (over Scott Rabon 9-6), Brian White (over Terry Kennedy 9-4), and Josh Roberts (over Ray Benish 9-6) moving forward in the brackets. As the day continued, Brumback and White continued their winning ways sending Reeves and Roberts to the one-loss side. The hot-seat match between White and Brumback proved to be a tight race, but ended with White overcoming Brumback 9-7.
On the one-loss side, the day was action packed with Mike Basha defeating Justin Price 9-5; Shannon Daulton eliminated Antonio Tovar 9-0; Larry Nevel over Danny Turner 9-4; and Boyd Bauknight did away with Chris Marcus 9-2. The one-loss side continued to shrink with Rabon defeating Basha 9-3 before being knocked out of the tournament by Shannon Daulton. Daulton uninterrupted moved on through Odom 9-6; Rabon 9-8; Josh Roberts 9-8; and ultimately was taken down by Larry Nevel 9-6 in the quarter-finals. Prior to his win over Daulton, Nevel had already eliminated Benish 9-1; Bauknight 9-2; Reeves 9-2; and in the semi-finals Brumback 9-8, ensuring his spot in the final round.
The finals proved to be a demonstration of determination by Larry Nevel as he was required to beat Brian White twice in the true double elimination match. Nevel managed to pull together both sets with scores of 9-6 and then 9-3 for the double dipped win.
Special thanks to room owner Jimmy Hodges for another great tournament and to our continuous sponsors Nick Varner Cues & Cases, Jimmy Reeves Custom Cues & Repairs, Break N Run Sportswear, and AZBilliards.com. The next tour stop will be held December 8th and 9th at Karl's Korner & Tavern in Columbia, South Carolina.
