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Jordan, Middlebrooks go undefeated during Memorial Day double stop on Shark Billiard Tour

It was technically stops # 7 and #8 on the Shark Billiard Tour, or as tour representative Kristen Bennington put it, "or 7 and 7A." Whichever. It was a double stop on Memorial Day weekend at Zingale's in Tallahassee, FL; a $1,000-added event that drew 48 on Saturday, May 23, and a $500-added event that drew 38. Jeff Jordan took the Saturday event. Jesse Middlebrooks was the runner-up and then went on to win the Sunday tournament, with Josh Lewis playing the runner-up role.
 
Five of the players among the final 12 on each day competed in both tournaments, all improving from Saturday to Sunday, except for Jeff Abernathy, who finished 4th on Saturday, and in the tie for 9/12 on Sunday. Josh Lewis went from 9/12 on Saturday to runner-up on Sunday. Chris Gentile improved from a 7/8 on Saturday to 4th on Sunday, and Benji Buckley advanced two slots from 9/12 to 5/6. And of course, Middlebrooks, who took second on Saturday and won Sunday.
 
With Middlebrooks already at work on the loss side, Saturday's event saw Jeff Jordan advance to the hot seat. He'd sent Doug Johnson to the loss side 8-4 in one winners' side semifinal, while Tour Director Nick Applebee sent Howie Gordon loss-side packing 8-5 in the other. Jordan gave up only one rack to Applebee and claimed the hot seat.
 
 
Middlebrooks, in the meantime, got by Jamie Chapman and Detroit Griffin 6-2, to draw Gordon. Johnson picked up Jeff Abernathy, on his way to a fourth place finish and fresh off victories over Josh Lewis 6-4 and Chris Gentile 6-3. Gordon and Johnson picked up their second straight losses; Gordon 6-2 to Middlebrooks and Johnson 6-3 to Abernathy. Middlebrooks took the quarterfinal match over Abernathy 6-4 and then battled to double hill against Applebee in the semifinals. Middlebrooks prevailed and then, in the finals, was defeated by Jeff Jordan 11-7.
 
Having spent time there on Saturday, Middlebrooks wanted no part of the loss side on Sunday. He advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Josh Lewis while Denny Singletary and Derek Fowler met in the other. It was Singletary 8-6 over Fowler and Middlebrooks  8-5 over Lewis. Middlebrooks claimed the hot seat 8-5 over Singletary, guaranteeing himself at least as high a finish as he'd chalked up on Saturday.
 
On the loss side, Benji Buckley advanced past Arthur Win 6-2 and survived a double hill battle against Randy Jordan, to draw Lewis. Fowler picked up Chris Gentile, recent double hill winner over Jeff Abernathy and 6-4 winner over Raymond Linares.  Lewis eliminated Buckley 6-2 and in the quarterfinals faced Gentile, who'd defeated Fowler 6-4. Lewis took the quarterfinal match against Gentile 6-4 and got a second shot at Middlebrooks with a commanding 6-1 victory over Singletary in the semifinals. 
 
Lewis carried that momentum into the finals, opening up a three-point lead (4-1) early. He would chalk up only two more racks in the next dozen games, as Middlebrook battled back to claim the event title 11-6.
 
Tour director Nick Applebee made note of $100 prize to the top junior player in Sunday's event, Bobby Bruce, Jr. He thanked Applebee thanked Mike Zingale and his staff for their hospitality, as well as Kristen Bennington and all the players who came out to support the tour. Stop # 8 on the Shark Billiard Tour, scheduled for Saturday, June 6, will be hosted by Anastasia Billiards in St. Augustine, FL.

Bulfin spoils loss-side bid by Marrier to take SE Open stop

Claude Marrier had won five straight on the loss side for the right to meet Matt Bulfin in the finals of the July 28-29 stop on the Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour. He also came back from an early 6-1 Bulfin lead in those finals to reach the hill, three games ahead. Bulfin, though, fought back to win the final four games, capturing the event title, and finishing undefeated to take his second straight victory on the SE Open 9-Ball Tour. The $1,000-added event drew 36 entrants to Pockets in Dothan, AL.

From among the winners’ side final four, Bulfin met up with David Hennessy, as tour director Tommy Kennedy squared off against Stoney Stone. Bulfin got into the hot seat match with a 9-7 win over Hennessy, as Stone battled to double hill, before prevailing over Kennedy. Stone fought Bulfin to double hill, as well, but Bulfin had the final say to sit in the hot seat awaiting Marrier’s return. 

Sent west by David Hennessy, from among the winners’ side final eight, Marrier got his five-match march back to the finals underway with a 7-4 victory over Arthur Huynh, and then shut out Mike Townsend, who had just completed a double hill win over his father, Scotty Townsend, in what Kennedy said was the first time the two had met on his tour. Marrier advanced to pick up Kennedy. Hennessy drew J.R. Rossman, who’d gotten by Tracie Majors 7-3 and picked up a forfeit win over Detroit Griffin. Rossman spoiled a potential Hennessy/Marrier rematch by defeating Hennessy, double hill, as Marrier survived his own double hill battle against Kennedy.

Marrier went on to defeat Rossman in the quarterfinals 9-4. He then spoiled Stone’s bid to get back to the finals for a re-match versus Bulfin with a 9-3 win in the semifinals.

Bulfin took a commanding 6-1 lead in the race-to-11 finals, but watched as Marrier won eight straight for a 9-6 lead of his own. Bulfin narrowed the margin by a single game, before Marrier came back to reach the hill first. Bulfin fought back, and at 10-9, Marrier made a kick shot on the 8-ball that hung in the hole. Bulfin made the shot, and though left tough on the 9-ball, completed the rack to knot things at double hill. Bulfin then broke and ran to snatch his victory from the proverbial jaws of defeat.