Matt Clatterbuck breezed through a field of 48 players during the Tiger Planet Pool Amateur 8-Ball 2006 season opener event at First Break, Sterling VA. Clatterback's closest scare came from Freddy Greenwell, who came within two games of giving him his only loss. Clatterbuck faced Buck Fisher in the final, defeating him 7-4. Fisher narrowly overcame Alan Duty in the semi-final after Duty had done the same to Freddy Greenwell earlier. 2005 points winner, Dave Hunt was also one of Fisher's earlier victims. Hunt himself lost his chance for a comeback from the one-loss side at the hands of Thuan Bui. Duty and Greenwell filled out third and fourth spots respectively.
In the women's event, Amanda Pasko showed some of the great form that won her two 9-ball events in 2004 to take the hotseat from Cheree Adams. Pasko had earlier disposed of 2005 points winner, Kathleen Lawless, and then last year's number three, Tina Meraglio. On the one-loss side, Meraglio then sent Lawless home before facing Adams in the semi-final. That match went all the way to the wire, but it was Adams who squeezed through for another chance at Pasko. In the final, it was Adams who took an early lead, going 3-0 ahead. But Pasko fought back fiercely to eventually tie the score hill-hill. The decider went back and forth, but Adams scratched to give Pasko an easy four-ball run-out. Meraglio and Lawless took third and forth.
This event was also the prize-giving ceremony for last year's points winners. Tiger Products supplied gift bags containing an assortment of their products and especially embroidered shirts for the top 12 players from 2005. Overall it was a great starter event for the Tiger Planet Pool Tour's second amateur 8-ball season. First Break Cafe had just newly covered all their tables with Z9 cloth, and everybody loved playing on it. Z9 is the tour's official cloth sponsor.
The next Tiger Planet Pool tournament will take place on Mar 4-5 at Bill & Billies CuesPort, Arnold, MD. It is a $2,500 added event and a WPBA qualifier for the ladies on Sunday.
