Shaun Wilkie, Shorty Davis
The Action Pool Tour (APT) held its 1st event of the new 2012-2013 Session at Diamond Billiards in Midlothian, VA on the weekend of October 19-20, 2012. This event was the annual US Open 9-Ball Warm-Up which is held each year at Diamond Billiards on the Friday night and Saturday just before the start of the US Open 9-Ball Championships. The event drew an impressive field of 53 players which included the likes of Shaun “Get Some” Wilkie, Brett Stottlemyer, Brian Deska, Danny Green, and Larry Kressel just to name a few.
Play began at approximately 9:00pm on Friday night, October 19th and continued until approximately 1:30am with no significant upsets. The tournament resumed on Saturday at 11:00am and by approximately 6:00pm, there were only twelve players remaining; four on the winners’ side and eight on the one-loss side. The winners’ side final four consisted of Dominic Noe, Brian Deska, Shorty Davis and Shaun Wilkie while the one-loss side included Carey Dunn, Paul Oh, Dan Madden, Ozzy Reynolds, Brett Stottlemyer, Dave Hunt, Larry Kressel and Danny Mastermaker.
Both matches on the winners’ side were considered upsets as Noe edged out Deska 9-8 while Davis defeated Wilkie soundly 9-5 which set up a surprising hot seat match of Noe vs. Davis. Although Noe was having a great tournament, Davis proved to be too much and sailed past Noe 9-4 to earn a place in the finals. Meanwhile on the one-loss side, Dunn eliminated Oh 7-5, Reynolds squeaked by Madden 7-6, Stottlemyer edged Hunt by the same score and Kressel dominated Mastermaker 7-3. Dunn then moved on the easily defeat Reynolds 7-3 while Kressel eliminated Stottlemyer 7-5. Dunn’s run was soon ended with a 7-5 loss to Deska while Kressel’s chances has also run out with a 7-4 defeat at the hands of Wilkie. This set up Deska and Wilkie for the right to face Noe at the end of the one-loss side. The match lived up to its billing as Wilkie escaped with a 7-6 win. Wilkie’s next match would not be as difficult as he plowed through Noe 7-3 and earned the right to face Davis in the finals.
Wilkie would have to defeat Davis twice in the true double elimination format. The first set was relatively close with Wilkie holding a slight lead the entire way. In the end, Wilkie prevailed with a 9-6 victory to force a second and deciding race to 7. Building on his earlier momentum, Wilkie seemed to be in dead stroke and cruised through rack after rack with nearly flawless play. In the end, he defeated Davis by a score of 7-1 and claimed the 53-player tournament victory.
Other notable results of the event include the top female finisher and the Break & Run contest. Eight (8) females: Shanna Lewis, Cheryl Sporleder, Tonya Schetrompf, Nicole Vincent, Wendy Pyle, Rebecca Kaplan, Debbie Davis and Meredith Lynch competed in the event in which the top placing female would earn a $100 cash prize. In the end, Shanna Lewis prevailed to take home top female honors and the $100 cash prize.
The Break & Run contest, which had a payout of $50 per ball, was conducted on Friday night. Marc Saldana had the winning ticket but elected to have Dave Hunt shoot on his behalf. Everyone crowded the table as Hunt plowed the 10-ball rack and pocketed a ball. However, he was left with a very thin cut on the 1-ball down the short rail. Hunt attempted the long thin cut but it did not fall. The total purse will progressively roll into the next event with a total payout of $65 per ball.
The Action Pool Tour would like to thank all of the players who came out to participate. A very special thanks goes out to Diamond Biliards owner, Thomas Dorsey, and his staff for hosting this event once again this year and for providing a terrific venue, awesome environment, and fantastic food for our players all weekend. We look forward to returning to this room many more times in the future for more great Action! Thanks also to our sponsors: Lambros Cues, Magic Ball Rack (CSI), AzBilliards.com, PoolActionTV, and Steve Lingafelter.
The next stop for The Action Pool Tour is November 3-4, 2012 at First Break Café in Sterling, VA for the 7th Annual Bob Stocks Memorial 9-Ball Open!
The Action Pool Tour is continually looking for sponsors. If anyone is interested in placing an ad during our live stream, on our website, or any other sponsorship arrangement, please contact Tour Director Ozzy Reynolds at admin@actionpooltour.com.
