The Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour's event at Quentin Corner Pocket in Palatine, IL drew a large field of 70 players, but that was still not enough to keep Viking Tour regular Larry Nevel from winning his first Viking event of the season.
Nevel, the winner of last years tour finale, was undefeated but he was put to the test by a couple players. Nevel had to make it through a hill-hill thriller over Mark Jarvis to get to the match for the hot-seat, and he quickly fell behind 5-0 to Tom Spencer in that match. A win in game 6 and three strung racks got Nevel back into the match, which he won 7-6.
Spencer then lost to Jamie Baraks (Wilson) in the semi-final match to set up the finals between Baraks and Nevel.
The finals started out with Nevel in control, as he raced to a 5-2 lead. In game eight, Baraks hooked Nevel on the 7-ball and looked to be in great shape as Nevel's only shot was a three rail kick shot to avoid giving up ball-in-hand. Nevel not only hit the 7-ball three rails, but made the ball with perfect shape on the 8 to win that rack. Baraks would get the next two games, but in the end it was Nevel scoring the 7-4 victory.
Nevel collected $1800 for first, while Baraks pocketed $1125 for second. Tom Spencer and Henry Brodt filled out the top four spots.
One of the newest WPBA touring pros, Sarah Rousey, competed in this event and finished in 17th, one spot out of the money. Rousey scored a couple big wins, including a win over Tom Karabatsos in this event.
Photo courtesy of Diana Hoppe - Pool Pics by Hoppe
Complete Payouts:
1 Larry Nevel $800
2 Jamie Baraks (Wilson) $1125
3 Tom Spencer $690
4 Henry Brodt $475
5-6 Mark Jarvis, Tim Horne $250
7-8 Mike Moran, Ed Flatt $80
9-12 Gil Hernandez, Chris Conrad, Dave Ciancanelli, Noy Vichiesoen $60
13-16 Neil Jacobs, Jesse Bowman, Dan Anderson, Josh Kalkbrenner $40
