The weekend of August 4th and 5th was a busy one for tournament players down in Fort Myers, Florida, the Mr. 9-Ball Open 2007 was being played at Miscue Lounge as they were having a special tournament of their own - The Bob Martin Memorial. In total, there was a very tough field of thirty-eight players that played their hearts out in this event, with such notable names as Corey Deuel, Tommy Kennedy, Troy Frank, Richard Broumpton, Nathan Rose, and Tony Crosby along with top local talent in attendance.
In addition to the $1000 added event, the room offered a fun side show with an added $100 cash prize for the person that would make the most nine balls on the break. When the smoke cleared, it ended up being a three way split between soft-breaker Corey Deuel, George Johnson, and Tommy Kennedy – each of which made two nine balls on the break out of the total fourteen made overall.
The big news came when Sunday rolled around, there would be twelve players returning including winners side players: Corey Deuel, Troy Frank, Tony Crosby, Shaun Jones, Justin Hall, Paul Bramwell, Bryan Davalos, and Jeremy Bauerte. On the one-loss side: Josh Lewis, Donnie Mills, Nathan Rose, and Eric Gouder.
Some of the more notable match-ups on Sunday included Corey Deuel against Troy Frank – Frank was shooting a great game at 7-5 against Deuel, but ultimately it would be Deuel that was able to finish the set with a 9-7 win; in the same bracket, Justin Hall was taking on Bryan Davalos and lost 9-3 (Davalos would ultimately become the star of the show with the railbirds in the semi-finals); Davalos then had to take on Deuel who took no time in sending him to the one-loss side 9-3; on the one-loss side Donnie Mills defeating Troy Frank 9-7; Tony Crosby crushed Justin Hall 9-2 and after a hard fought match also defeated Donnie Mills 9-7.
This set-up a semi-finals round that would delight all that looked on – Tony Crosby and Bryan Davalos played lights out by exchanging consecutive racks, including a seven rack run making it 8-0 by Crosby, only to get to the hill, but Davalos (even after staying up the entire night) gets nine straight racks in a row for the defeat and to send Crosby home. The crowd erupted in appreciation for the superb play between the two gentlemen.
In the finals, it appeared that Davalos finally ran out of gas and unfortunate for him Deuel tightened up his game because Deuel handily passed down a 12-3 defeat to prevail as the winner.
Many thanks go out to Miscue Lounge for providing a great place to shoot a few in southwest Florida – the room boasts its family run, clean and authentic atmosphere that hasn't changed in forty-one years, and nine-foot Simonis clothed T.E. Robertson tables. Also, not to forget a very important element at this tournament, thanks also go to the local spectators for supporting the event.
In short, this was a great event in loving memory of Bob Martin, even though it was a bit bitter sweet for the family (mom Carol Martin and brothers Bobby Martin and Rick Martin) only one month ago they lost another family member, brother Brad Martin.
If you travel through Fort Myers, stop in and say hello to the family – you will be glad you did. If you have a room and are interested in hosting a Mr. 9-Ball Open event, please contact Jeri (J.R.) Radtke at (239) 895-4145 directly for details.
