Ben Zimmer, Shannon Daulton, Tony Coates (owner of Brass Tap), & Sam Monday
The GSBT hosted the Tarheel Amateur Classic at Brass Tap &
Billiards in Raleigh, NC the weekend of March 28-29, 2009. The 50
player field may have been short compared to the previous events,
but it wasn't short of talent. Several top regional players turned out
for the $2,000 added guaranteed a/b amateur 9-ball event
including Danny Smith, Sam Monday, Mike Fuller, Ben Zimmer, and junior
champ Jackson Jeffries.
After a full day of play on Saturday, the tour brought back 8 players on the winners side and 8 players on the one-loss side.
Winners side:
Sam Monday vs Steve Page
Ben Zimmer vs Steve Murrill
One loss side:
Brad Shearer vs Tony Morrision
Mike Fuller vs Jackson Jeffries
Larry Faulk vs Danny Smith
Doug Jones vs Mike Basha
Sundays
winners were Wilson over Dearing (9-7), Monday over Page (11-7), Zimmer
over Murrill (11-5), and Kerekes over Williams (9-4).
On the one loss side, Shearer ended Morrision's hopes
(7-9). Junior champ, Jackson Jeffires, ousted regional champion Mike
Fuller by the same score. Smith ended Faulk's day (11-4), and Basha
over Jones (7-6).
The winners side final four ended with Wilson taking
the win over Monday (9-9), and Zimmer sending Kerekes to the losers
bracket (11-8). This set up a hot seat match between Zach Wilson and
Ben Zimmer. Zimmer won the match (11-7).
Meanwhile, Monday continued battling on the left side
of the chart trying to find his way to the finals. After polishing off
Shearer (11-3), Smith (11-7), and after getting his revenge against
Wilson (11-6) he went after Zimmer in the finals.
In the true double elimination finals, it looked as
though Zimmer was fairly comfortable with his game. With the score 3-0
in favor of Zimmer, Monday turned it on and took the first set
convincingly by a score of (11-5). In the second set, both players
played well running out on their break and chalking up games. After the
smoke cleared, Zimmer emerged as the victor by a score of (11-8).
The GSBT would like to thank Tony Coates (owner), and
Michelle Brown (manager), of Brass Tap & Billiards for hosting a
great event this past weekend.
