Shaun "Get Some" Wilkie won his final five matches to take first place and $2500 in the 9-ball division of the Carolina Open, held for the fifth straight year at Fast Eddie's Sports Bar and Grill in Goldsboro, NC. Early favorite Earl "The Pearl" Strickland suffered defeats at the hands of Mike Davis and local player Sparky Ferrell. Davis took top honors in the One-Pocket division earlier in the week.
Wilkie defeated Jared McGee, Russell Howard and Ferrell before being sent to the one-loss side by Davis (11-6). Wilkie then posted wins over Joey Grey, Brian Jones, Delton Howard, Tony Watson and Bill Bailey before holding off Brandon Ashcraft (15-10) in the final match. Brandon had taken the hotseat by defeating Sam Monday, Charles Jones, Larry Faulk, Bucky Braxton, Delton Howard and Bill Bailey. In the final game, Wilkie decided to play safe using the mechanical bridge. Not only did he leave Ashcraft completely sewn up, the two-ball rolled into position for an eventual ball-in-hand combination on the nine.
Wilkie is no stranger to the pressures of championship matches. He won the most recent 9-ball event on Tiger Planet Pool, where he holds third place in points. Also, Wilkie claimed 2nd place last week at an event in Maple Shade, NJ, on the Blaze Tour.
Year after year, the Carolina Open draws players of the highest caliber, many of whom, including both Wilkie and Ashcraft, will be playing in the U.S. Open next week. The owners and staff of Fast Eddie's deserve a lot of credit for the tremendous effort they go to in order to put on a first class event such as the Carolina Open.
Final Results:
1st Shaun Wilkie $2500
2nd Brandon Ashcraft $2000
3rd Bill Bailey $1200
4th Tony Watson $800
5th/6th Mike Davis, Delton Howard $500
7th/8th Sparky Ferrell, Brian Jones $300
9th/12th Robert Ray, Bucky Braxton, Joey Grey, Wade Crane $200
13th/16th Earl Strickland, Shane Winters, Chuck Ritchie, Wendell Thompkins
One Pocket Results:
1st Mike Davis $1800
2nd Sparky Ferrell $1300
3rd Brian Jones $1000
4th Sam Monday $800
5th/6th Wade Crane, Bill Bailey $500
7th/8th Brandon Shiral, Tom Wirth $300
9th/12th Sidney Champion, Keith Bennett, Kasey Kilian, Charlie Brinson $100
