And the pressure continues at the 14th annual U.S. Amateur Champion at Mr. Cues II in Atlanta, GA. By the end of day two, the 128 men were down to 24 and the 25 women were down to 12. Last year's men's champ Jason Richko and last year's runner-up Betty Sessions both remain undefeated. Richko narrowly escaped a hill-hill encounter with Eddie Little of Salisbury, NC. Richko will face Chris Walls from High Springs, FL in the morning.
Former champ, Henry Brodt was not so fortunate in his hill-hill match against Robert Hall of Huntsville, AL. Hall will meet up with North Carolina's Charles Ritchie. The other two A-side matches are Texas's Travis Gunn versus New York's Alex Platanov, and South Carolina's Carl Gay versus New York's Richard Hourihan.
On the women's A-side, Sessions will face New Jersey's Rhio Anne Flores, while North Carolina's Melissa Goss and Georgia's Amy Chen meet up beside them. Last year's title holder Tina Larsen took a surprising quick exit after losing her second match to Trinh Lu of California.
Play continues with 9:30a.m. matches. Visit USAmateurChampionship.com for more information, online tournament brackets, and photos.
