 Mike Davis |
Side Pockets in Laurel, MD was the host for stop #8 of the Tiger Pool Tour on the weekend of July 7th/8th. Most of the top players were present and ready to take their shot at the $2000 added money. The gracious staff of Side Pockets not only took care of our event but also joined the APA in hosting a special visit from trick shot entertainer Mike Massey.
Saturday action kicked off with 60 players in the Open division event. Brandon Shuff started the day off right with a victory over last event's winner Danny Mulhollen III. Shuff continued his impressive play with wins over pro player Mike Davis 9-6 and tour regulars Brett Stottlemyer 9-8 and Loye Bolyard 9-4. The bottom half of the bracket looked firmly in the control of Shaun Wilkie who gave up just 12 games in his first 4 matches. Joining Shuff and Wilkie in the final four undefeated going into Sunday were Virginia's finest Matt Clatterbuck and Larry Kressel. Eight players remained on the 1-loss side.
On Sunday, Shuff gave himself a birthday present in the form of a hard fought win over Clatterbuck. Wilkie also had his hands full with Kressel but advanced with a 9-7 score. Wilkie continued into the hot seat with a 9-5 win over Shuff.
The story in the elimination bracket was Mike Davis sending one player after another home. After sending 4 players to the sidelines on Saturday, Davis continued his run by eliminating several strong players. Brian Deska, Joe Russo and Kressel fell before Davis met up with Clatterbuck. Davis advanced 7-2 placing Clatterbuck into 4th place. Another 7-2 win by Davis ended Shuff's day. This set up the single race to 11 final between Davis and Wilkie. Davis won this one 11-7 for his first win on tour this year. 1st was worth $1100 with $750 for 2nd.
A field of 15 ladies came out to play on Sunday. Points' leader My-Hanh Lac came out all business defeating her first two opponents 7-0. She followed this up with a 7-3 win over Falon Farleigh to reach the hot seat match. Tour regular Malea Haacke also rolled with wins over Cheryl Squire, Kim Smith and Sharon O'Hanlon with little problem The match between Lac and Haacke went to Lac 7-3.
Simon Hospedales traveled all the way from Trinidad in the Caribbean on an extended pool playing vacation. She suffered a second round loss 7-6 to Farleigh but came back with 3 wins in the elimination bracket. Another Hospedales win sent Sherry Pouncey home in 4th place. A see-saw battle with Haacke was won 5-4 by Hospedales putting her in the single set final with Lac. Hospedales quickly found herself down 3-1 to Lac in the race to 9. She fought back taking advantage of several Lac mistakes to tie the score at 7-7. A couple games later and Hospedales came away with a 9-7 score to win her first Tiger Pool Tour event! 1st was worth $350 with $250 for 2nd.
Sunday afternoon provided additional excitement as the APA and Side Pockets brought in Mike Massey to entertain with trick shots and challenge matches. A good size crowd gathered to take in the show. Tour regular Kim Smith was invited to join Massey at the table for a two player trick shot which worked out just as planned. The outspoken young gun Chris Bruner signed up for a challenge match with Massey. To the delight of the crowd, Chris predicted his 8 ball break and run while racking and jokingly trash-talked his way through the rack to the 8 ball. Chris took a quick timeout to assess the straight in shot while Massey meticulously brushed the table giving the 8 a lint-free path to the pocket. Chris calmly sank the 8 to complete the thrilling run-out!
