While the place to be for every pool fan in America will be Norfolk Virginia from October 16th – 22nd, the place to be on October 14th – 15th will be 45 miles south of Norfolk at Colonial Cues in Elizabeth City North Carolina for the Great Dismal Swamp 9-Ball Classic.
This will be the second running of the event, which will feature some of the most talents 9-ball players in America competing for $10,000 in guaranteed prize money.
Last year, Shane Van Boening came out on top of a sold out field of 17 players from 6 countries. Due to overwhelming response from players, the owners have decided to expand the field to 32 players and make it a 2 day event. While the prize money has doubled, the entry fee of $250 is the same as last year. This year, Joe Blackburn will also be on site doing cue repairs. The players list for this event is already full of top talent including Shane Van Boening, Oscar Dominguez, Tommy Kennedy, Justin Bergman, Skyler Woodward, Vilmos Foldes, Gabe Owen, Mario He and Josh Brothers.
If that isn't enough to bring the fans out, Colonial Cues will be serving some of the best North Carolina BBQ all weekend long.
Players interested in competing in this event can contact Ashley Cartwright at 252-455-2129 to sign up.
In one of the most star-studded events of the year, "Rocket" Rodney Morris came from the loss side to meet and defeat Alex "The Lion" Pagulayan in the finals of the 1st Don Coates Memorial, held on the weekend of April 8-10 in Raleigh, NC. Held in conjunction with a $2,000-added One Pocket event, which finished up on Friday, April 8 (see separate story), the Mosconi Cup-qualifying, $8,000-added 9-Ball event drew 128 of the country's top competitors to Brass Tap Billiards in Raleigh.
By the time Morris and Pagulayan met in the finals, somewhere in the vicinity of 4 a.m, on Monday, April 11, a lot of names that one might have considered to be favorites in the field had already been eliminated, including three former US Open 9-Ball Champions. Gone were Shane Van Boening, Johnny Archer, Stevie Moore, and Mike Delawder, all finishing in the tie for the 17th place. Joining them were Taylor Anderson, Brad Shearer, Keith Bennett, and cue-maker Daniel Heidrich. The tie for 13th place was shared by Tommy Kennedy, Josh Roberts, Jason Brown and Shannon Fitch. Another measure of the event's field strength could be found in the players who failed to 'cash' in the event, including, though not necessarily limited to, Jeremy Sossei, Brandon Shuff, Shaun Wilkie, Hunter Lombardo, Tony Chohan and Robb Saez.
Meanwhile, Pagulayan advanced to a winners' side semifinal against Mike Dechaine. In the other winners' side semifinal, Shane McMinn faced Justin Bergman, who had just sent Morris on his loss-side journey. Pagulayan sent Dechaine over 9-3, while McMinn was busy sending Bergman to the left bracket 9-4, no doubt prompting fans of players in the Midwest to cheer for one of their own. Pagulayan silenced that crowd with a 9-3 victory over McMinn that left Pagulayan in the hot seat.
On the loss side, Dechaine picked up Morris, two matches into his loss-side journey, that saw him defeat Jason Klatt 9-6 and Mike Davis 9-5. Bergman drew Corey Deuel, who'd sent Norris Brady (9-5) and John Morra (9-4) home. It could be argued that any of the matches played at this juncture and beyond featured potential finalists in the event. As it turned out, Morris downed Dechaine 9-6 to earn a quarterfinal matchup versus Deuel, who'd eliminated Bergman 9-3.
Morris downed Deuel 9-5 in those quarterfinals and finished up his loss-side campaign with a commanding 9-2 win over McMinn in the semifinals. The race-to-13 final match was a predictable close battle that came within a game of double hill. Morris closed it out at 13-11 to claim the Don Coates Memorial title.
The event's tour director, David Brown, thanked Brass Tap and Billiards' owner, Tony Coates (son to Don Coates, who passed away last fall and in whose name the event was held). Brown also acknowledged sponsor Beasley Custom Cues, Ray Hansen's PoolActionTV crew for their live-streaming efforts, and Joe Blackburn, for his on-site cue repair work.
As with the previous report on the One Pocket event, this report was compiled thanks to the assistance of Herman Parker, tour director of the Q City 9-Ball Tour, and his wife, Angela, both of whom competed in the event; Angela was the One Pocket tournament's only female.
It took five hours to play the match that decided the $2,000-added Don Coates Memorial One Pocket event, held from Wednesday, April 6 to Friday, April 8. Alex Pagulayan defeated Justin Bergman twice, including that final match, to finish undefeated in the event that drew 41 entrants to Brass Tap & Billiards in Raleigh, NC.
The One Pocket event, combined with an $8,000-added, Mosconi Cup-qualifying, Open 9-Ball event that began on Friday, drew the top names in the business, including Pagulayan and Bergman. Also on-hand as the field narrowed to its final 12 were Shane Van Boening, Corey Deuel, Josh Roberts, and Brandon Shuff.
Pagulayan and Bergman advanced to their first meeting following their appearance in the two winners' side semifinals; Pagulayan versus Deuel and Bergman against Brian White. Racing to 3, both of the semifinals went double hill, with Pagulayan and Bergman advancing to the hot seat match. A third double hill match (of eight among the final 14 matches) ensued with Bergman moving to the loss side for the semifinals.
On the loss side, Deuel and White ran into Tony Chohan and Jason Brown, respectively. Chohan had ended Brandon Shuff and Ron Park's day, both 3-1, to reach Deuel. Brown had shut out Jeff Abernathy, and survived a double hill match against Josh Roberts (who'd just eliminated Van Boening, double hill) to draw White. Advancement to the quarterfinals entailed two more double hill matches, which advanced White and Deuel.
White took the quarterfinal match 3-1 over Deuel, but was then himself eliminated 3-1, by Bergman in the semifinals. In the five-hour, race-to-5 final, Bergman took a commanding lead, and was on the hill at 4-1. The Lion came back to win four straight and claim the first Don Coates Memorial One Pocket title.
The event's tour director, David Brown, thanked Brass Tap and Billiards' owner, Tony Coates (son to Don Coates, who passed away last fall and in whose name the event is being held. Brown also acknowledged sponsor Beasley Custom Cues, as well as Ray Hansen's PoolActionTV crew for their live-streaming efforts, and Joe Blackburn, for his on-site cue repair work.
The author gratefully acknowledges the support of and information exchange with Herman Parker, Tour Director of the Q City 9-Ball Tour, without whom this report would not have been possible. Parker will participate in the 9-Ball event. His wife, Angela, who went two-and-through, was the only woman to enter the One Pocket event. She had the misfortune of drawing Bergman in her opening round, and after moving to the loss side, was defeated in her next match by Randy Hatten.
Pete's Corner Pocket of Bristol TN hosted a high quality one pocket event on November 8 – good tables, good players, good purse, good fun. Spectators saw Brian White march to the hot seat in a most convincing fashion only to face an inspired performance by Scott Lewis who took first place with 3-2 and 3-1 wins. Favorites such as house cue repair technician Joe Blackburn and locals Mike Adams and Scott Howard fell by the wayside. Finishing third was Shane Hatley and fourth was Brandon Kidwell.
The next one pocket event will be January 10 on these same Gold Crowns, while on the alternating second Saturdays will be the nine ball event.
On the weekend of May 17-18, Joe Blackburn, 69, became the oldest player to ever win a stop on the Great Southern Billiard Tour. He came from the loss side to do it, defeating Corey Morphew in the finals. The $1,000-added event drew 39 entrants to Borderline Billiards in Bristol, TN.
Blackburn and Morphew met first in a winners' side semifinal, as Corey Sykes met up with Jerry Vernado in the other. The two Coreys advanced to the hot seat match; Sykes 9-5 over Vernado and Morphew surviving a double hill battle. Morphew then defeated Sykes 9-6 and waited on Blackburn.
On the loss side, Blackburn picked up Jay Miller, who'd defeated Daniel Autry 4-3 and Scott Howard 4-4; Howard racing to 7. Vernado drew Brian Bagwell, who'd eliminated Borderline Billiards owner Janet Atwell and James Miracle, both 7-4. Once Blackburn had eliminated Miller 7-2 and Vernado had downed Bagwell 6-3, they faced each other in the quarterfinals.
Blackburn and Vernado locked up in a hill-hill quarterfinal that eventually advanced Blackburn to face Sykes in the semifinals. Another hill-hill victory, over Sykes, gave Blackburn a second shot against Morphew.
Morphew failed to chalk up a single rack in the opening set of a true double elimination final. He rallied in the second set, but racing to 9, fell a game short of forcing a deciding game against Blackburn, who completed his loss-side run with a second win (7-7) to claim the event title.
Tour director Shannon Daulton thanked Janet Atwell and her staff at Borderline Billiards, as well as sponsors Nick Varner Cues & Cases, Delta-13, Ozone Billiards, Tiger Products, Andy Gilbert Custom Cues, Lomax Cues, and Universe Clothing. The next stop on the GSBT, scheduled for the weekend of June 21-22, will be hosted by Legends Billiards in Inman, SC.
