Corey Morphew went undefeated to capture his first major title, on the Great Southern Billiard Tour's 9-Ball event on the weekend of June 18-19. In a concurrently-run Banks Tournament, Jim Griffith withstood a fierce, one-loss side challenge by Ike Reynolds to win the second set of the true double elimination final in that event. The $1,500-added 9-ball event drew 60 entrants to Michael's Billiards in Fairfield, OH. The $500-added Banks Tournament drew 47 entrants.
From among the winners' side final four in the 9-Ball tournament, Morphew faced and defeated Chris Lawson 7-5 to get into the hot seat match. He faced Kenny Tran, who'd sent Grooms west 7-7. Morphew gained the hot seat with a double hill victory over Tran, and awaited Grooms' return.
Grooms moved over to face Shannon Murphy, who'd defeated J.J. Chadwell 10-2, and Jordan Grubb 10-5. Lawson picked up Mike Brown (who would end up in third place in the Banks event), who'd gotten by Robert Frost 9-8 and survived a double hill battle against Brandon Thomas. It was Grooms and Lawson advancing to the quarterfinals; Grooms, having defeated Murphy 9-7, and Lawson downing Brown 7-7. Grooms advanced to the semifinals versus Tran with a 9-5 victory over Lawson.
Grooms chalked up a second straight 9-5 victory and his second versus Tran in the semifinals, which gave him a crack at Morphew. Not to be denied, Morphew completed his undefeated weekend with a commanding 7-2 victory.
In the Banks Tournament, Griffith advanced to the hot seat, defeating Mike Brown 3-0 in the last winners' side match to claim it. Brown moved over to face Ike Reynolds, who'd been on the one-loss side since the second round of play, and was in the midst of a seven-match winning streak. Reynolds made it eight in a row with a 2-0 victory over Brown in the semifinals and then, won his ninth in a row with a double hill victory in the opening set of the true double elimination final. Like Morphew, though, Griffith was not to be denied. The second set came down to a last game and a last banked ball, sunk by Griffith to claim the Banks title.
9-Ball Payouts | Banks Payouts
