The first of two semi-final matches in the World Professional Billiard League’s Championship Playoffs were played at the WPBL Arena in Las Vegas, NV. The #1 seed New York Pride took on the #12 seed Atlanta Scorpions on Wednesday February 12, 2014.
The lowest seeded team in the WPBL will be moving on to the championship match after defeating the top seeded team in the semi-finals. The Scorpions will play in Saturday's final after a 7-2 victory over the Pride. Atlanta will face-off in the title match against either the Minnesota Outlaws or the Pittsburgh Poison.
The Wednesday semi-final was decided in the seventh game, when Earl Strickland's comeback effort fell 6 points short to Shannon Daulton 25-20, giving Atlanta that game and the match. The night was dominated by shoot-outs, with only 1 of the seven games decided in regulation. Dennis Hatch defeated Larry Nevel 30-15 in the second singles game of the night, giving Atlanta a 6-2 lead and setting up Daulton's match-clinching victory over Strickland.
The first four games of the match all went to shoot-outs, and the string started with each team earning a point in the first game that ended in a 22-22 tie. Atlanta followed by winning two of the next three doubles games, but could only manage one point shoot-out wins as they squandered numerous opportunities to win in regulation. Perhaps their best opportunity was blown when Dennis Hatch and Daulton were leading Strickland and Larry Nevel 24-0, only to fall 28-26 in a shoot-out that tied the match at 2-2.
Atlanta bounced back in the next doubles game when Johnny Archer and Daulton paired up to edge Strickland and Warren Kiamco 26-25 to give Atlanta a 3-2 intermission lead that they never relinquished.
Archer gave his Scorpions another point to open singles play when he knocked off Warren Kiamco 27-26 putting Atlanta up 4-2.
Atlanta's win leaves the possibility of the two lowest seeds in the league vying for the championship title, as #11 seed Pittsburgh faces Thorsten Hohmann's Minnesota Outlaws in the second semi-final match Thursday February 13, 2014 at 6:30 PST.
Saturday's final is set for 1 p.m. PST, with the tournament taking a break on Friday for the WPBL's All-Star Charity Challenge. The challenge will feature Filipino stars Dennis Orcullo, Carlo Biado, and Kiamco against Darren Appleton, John Morra, and Hohmann, pay-per-view proceeds will go toward the typhoon relief effort in the Philippines and will be donated to the Rising Asian Pacific Americans Coalition for Diversity (501c3) in Las Vegas. That match can be purchased at: www.wpbltv.com/subscription, while the remaining playoff matches can be seen at the WPBL website or on ESPN3.
ESPN3 has live coverage of the remaining two playoff matches, however subscribers to the entire WPBL playoff package will still receive all archived matches from the tournament.
To purchase the WPBL All Star Charity Billiards Challenge or the entire Championship Package, please
visit: www.WPBLtv.com. Follow the WPBL as the playoffs continue, additional announcements and updates will be made frequently. For a complete listing of broadcast matches, standings, merchandise and more visit the WPBL website.
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