Action Abounds on the Viking Tour
Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour / Marietta, GA
by Rick Davis
The April 14-15 weekend brought a frenzy of action to The Pool Room in Marietta, GA, where the Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour drew in a total of 88 players between their open, amateur, and junior divisions.
In the open division, the 35-player field quickly wound down as Leil Gay and Sam Tush met in the hot seat match. After a strong 9-5 win Gay headed to the finals while Tush headed west. On the one-loss side Mike Newsome drilled Joe Murphy 7-2 to reach the quarterfinals while David Treft kept pace by eliminating John Salter 7-4. Treft was firmly in gear and proceeded to knock out Newsome 7-2 in the quarterfinals and then Tush 7-5 in the semifinals. Treft reached the finals after an impressive one-loss side comeback and, after getting out to a 3-0, lead he was looking good. Gay, though, had something to say about that and quickly tied the set at 3-all then powered his way to a 9-5 finish, defeating Treft and claiming the top spot.
On the other half of The Pool Room, the amateur event was taking shape as action wound down to the last handful of rounds. On the winners’ side Adam Powery skipped past Mike Kearns 6-4 in the hot seat match to reach the finals. On the one-loss side Bernardo Steven slipped past Casey Joyner double-hill while Todd Rousey eliminated Bob Buckley 5-2. With Rousey and Steven advancing to the quarterfinals, all eyes were on the see-saw battle as neither player gave up an inch. Finally, at double-hill, Rousey slipped past to advance and face Kearns next as he came from the winners’ side. Nearly as close as the previous round, the semifinals reached 5-3 before Kearns eliminated Rousey and got another crack at Powery. With his newfound momentum, Kearns drilled Powery 6-2 in the first set, but Powery quickly regrouped and turned the tables to defeat Kearns 5-2 in the second set to win the match and claim the event.
Along with these two events, the junior participants played out in a private VIP room that The Pool Room offered. In the 14- through 19-year-old division, Robert West defeated Matt Stafford double-hill in the hot seat match while Joseph Cole eliminated Mike Rudd 4-2 in the quarterfinals on the one-loss side. Cole advanced to face the incoming Stafford but didn’t get far, as Stafford knocked him out 4-2. In the finals, Stafford managed the claim the first set double-hill but was shut out in the second by Left 4-0.
The other junior division, 14 years and under, wrapped up quickly with some very strong play. Josh Newman blew through Benjamin Thompson 4-1 in the hot seat match while Dylan Vall did the same to Josh Miller in the quarterfinal round. Thompson slipped past Vall in the semifinals double-hill but after returning to face Newman for the second time had no better luck as Newman drilled him 4-1 again, this time to end the event and walk away with the title.
Across the junior events, the top player in each division, along with the top female, Breana Curry, received an entry into the nationals, while West and Newman also received a Viking cue for their hard work. Second place finishers also received qualifiers the the BEF JR Nationals.
Throughout the weekend The Pool Room was packed with spectators, players, and friends as the 40-table room was filled throughout the weekend. In addition, everyone was treated to a trick shot exhibition by Okinawa Slim that was sponsored by The Pool Room.
The Viking Tour would also like to notify players that their next event has been rescheduled. The April 21-22 trio of events that was scheduled to take place at Sportys in North Carolina will now take place at Play to Win Billiards in Raleigh, NC.
Open Results:
1st Leil Gay
2nd David Treft
3rd Sam Tush
4th Mike Newsome
5th John Salter
Joe Murphy
Amateur Results:
1st Adam Powery
2nd Mike Kearns
3rd Todd Rousey
4th Bernardo Steven
5th Casey Joyner
Bob Buckley
Junior 14 and Under Results:
1st Josh Newman
2nd Benjamin Thompson
3rd Dylan Vall
4th Josh Miller
Junior 14 to 19 Results:
1st Robert West
2nd Matt Stafford
3rd Joseph Cole
4th Mike Rudd
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