Day one of the Turning Stone Classic XXVI is complete, and matches went mostly as expected.
Three time Turning Stone winner Jayson Shaw looked like he might have a challenge on his hands in his first round match with Korean Champion Kang Lee. Lee came out strong and led the match 2-1 early. Eight racks later, Shaw was putting his cue away after another lopsided match win.
Joss Tour regular Willie Oney made his bid for "comeback win of the day", as he trailed Jerome Rockwell 7-2 and 8-5 before coming back to win the match 9-8.
Kevin Guimond was well on his way to notching the tournament's first big upset as he led Rodney Morris through most of their match. Morris did hold a brief lead at 4-2, but Guimond controlled the majority of the match and took the hill at 8-7. Guimond would be unable to close out the match though, and Morris stayed undefeated with the 9-8 win.
The fans were treated to Canadian battle on the TV table as Erik Hjorliefson faced off against Martin Daigle. It was looking good for Hjorliefson, as he led early at 3-0. Daigle would then win nine of the next ten games for a 9-4 win.
The final round of play on Thursday night held multiple tight matches. Shaun Wilkie won a 9-6 battle with Jorge Rodriguez, and Tom D'Alfonso sent Brandon Shuff to the one loss side with the same 9-6 score.
The ladies were well represented on day one with wins scored by Jennifer Barretta, Dawn Fox and Karen Corr. Corr's win was no "gimme" though. She trailed Sean Morgan 5-1, but came back to score a hill-hill win to close out the night.
Friday play begins at 10am EST, and will run until roughly midnight. Our free video stream will kick off at noon, and fans can follow all of the action with our real time scoring and online brackets at http://www.azbilliards.com/tours_and_events/1-joss-northeast-9-ball-tour/7292-turning-stone-classic-xxvi/live/
