The mood was tense coming into Saturday's One Pocket set at the Action All Around 2 presented by OB Cues. All of the heat was on John Schmidt who had lost the Day 1 Straight Pool event 400 to 255 to current Action All Around Champion Danny Harriman. John faced the fact that if he lost Saturday's One Pocket Race 10 he would have no shot to win any money in the All Around. The Action All Around format features a stipulation that if the players split the first 2 events then they will play the final 10 Ball Race to 30 for the entire $20,000 prize fund. John had to pull out the One Pocket to have any shot at prize money.
The One Pocket Race to 10 started out with John jumping out to a 5 to 2 lead over Danny. Harriman then caught a gear and won 4 games in a row to take the lead at 6 to 5. From that point on the match was a dogfight. Danny played some fantastic bank shots on his way to the Hill. John fought back and showed tremendous heart and determination to tie the set at 9 to 9.
In the final game of this magnificent set Danny jumped out to a 5 to -1 lead over John. At this point in the crucial final game a situation came up which saw the players trading intricate safeties and taking several intentional fouls to try and gain advantage. After the exchange the score stood Danny 3 and John -2. Danny made an error on a safety shot and allowed John an open look at the table. John proceeded to run 9 balls to get to the hill at 7 balls.
The players traded safeties for several innings before Danny left John a look at at a 2 rail bank. John composed himself and shot the 2 railer, as the bank was headed toward Johns pocket to force a $20,000 final 10 Ball Race to 30, John seemed to think it may not go in. The ball rolled slowly and inevitably into the heart of the pocket and the room erupted in cheers for one of the most amazing One Pocket sets many have ever witnessed.
In the post match interview John said with a smile and laugh "I am going to find a job because this is just to tough a way to make a living." The final 10 Ball Race to 30 for the entire $20,000 prize fund will take place Sunday May 4 at 6PM Central time. The match is available to watch LIVE on streaming Pay Per View on www.theactionreport.com. There will be a free pre match show on www.theactionreport.com beginning at 4 PM Central with player interviews and commentator reviews and opinions of the match so far.
TheActionReport would like to thank all of the fantastic sponsors who made this event possible. OB Cues, BCA Pool Leagues and Diamond Billiard Products. These companies are in the forefront of promoting and supporting the game of pool and it's players. We at TheActionReport are proud to be associated with these fine companies and thank them for all of their support. The venue of this great spectacle is Side Pockets in Kansas City, MO. owned by James Doran. The whole Side Pockets staff has went above and beyond the call to support this event and we would like to thank them all for the outstanding effort. Thank you.
For more information please visit www.theactionreport.com
File photo courtesy of Diana Hoppe - Pool Pics by Hoppe
