Matt Clatterbuck
Playing from the loss side in any discipline is not easy. Playing from the loss side in One Pocket events is tougher. In addition to shared aspects of loss-side life in the worlds of 8-, 9- and 10-ball competition (extra matches to play and the fact that another loss sends you home), One Pocket has the added issue of being something of a ‘grind’ to begin with, on either side of a bracket, requiring quantities of patience, stamina and mental gymnastics that are certainly a part of the other games, just not as often, in such concentrated and intense quantities.
In races to 3, Larry Kressel went undefeated through five matches to get into the hot seat at this past weekend’s (Oct. 7-8) VA State One Pocket Championships that drew 32 entrants to Q Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA. When Matt Clatterbuck chalked up his win in the semifinals, he’d won eight matches in all, seven of them on the loss side. He arrived to compete against Kressel in the finals, having played three more matches than he had, which in One Pocket is a lot of extra matches. Clatterbuck had enough left in the tank to finish it, defeating Kressel in those finals to claim the VA State One Pocket title.
Clatterbuck, a long-standing veteran of the mid-Atlantic, pool-community ‘wars,’ and frequent participant in a number of VA State Championships (in those other games), won his opening match, against Brandon Duriez, shutting him out. He was then defeated by another mid-Atlantic vet with a few VA State Championship appearances on his resume, Eric Moore 3-1 to begin his long, arduous trip on the loss side.
Kressel, in the meantime, yet another long-standing, familiar opponent in the mid-Atlantic pool region with his own list of appearances in other VA State Championships, opened with a double-hill win over Michael “Shaft” McCall and followed up with victories over Troy Miller (1), and David Hunt (0) to arrive at a winners’ side semifinal against Bo Newport. In the meantime, Ilir Jaho, currently in the midst of his best (recorded) earnings year at the tables, won his first match, by shutout, against David Brown, and gave up a single rack to Mexican John, which put him in the other winners’ side semifinal, against Mark Dudley.
Kressel defeated Newport and Jaho got by Dudley, both 3-1. By that same score, Kressel claimed the hot seat over Jaho.
Clatterbuck took out his first two loss-side opponents 3-1, Michael “JR” Conway and Elias Katogiritis before locking up in a double-hill battle versus David Hunt. He survived it to shut out Nilbert Lim and draw Dudley, coming over from the winners’ side semifinal. Newport picked up David Brown, who’d followed his loss to Jaho in the opening round with five straight wins that had recently eliminated Eric Moore, double hill, and Eric Fountain 3-1.
Two shutouts sent Clatterbuck and Brown to the quarterfinals, where loss-side win #6 sent Clatterbuck into the semifinals against Jaho. Clatterbuck finished his loss-side voyage to the finals with a double-hill win over Jaho, completing the trip winning 21 of his 28 loss-side games of One Pocket. It’s tiring just to write about.
Didn’t deter Clatterbuck, though. In fact, the momentum of it all arguably helped him in the final race to 4 against Kressel. He took four of the final’s five games and claimed the VA State One Pocket Championship title.
The VA State One Pocket Championships is an annual event, held alternately in the Sister Cities of Richmond (at Diamond Billiards) and Virginia Beach (at Q Master Billiards). The event’s tour director, Steven Freeman and fellow promoter Raymond “Rayman” Walters thanked this year’s host, Q Master Billiards, ownership and staff, for their hospitality, along with sponsors Rhoad & Co. (Real Estate Brokerage), Diamond Billiards, Rayman’s Pro Shop and Free Money Promotion$. The 2024 VA State One Pocket Championships will begin on January 6 at Q Master Billiards, brought to you by Freeman and Free Money Promotion$.
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