Chau and Shea Make Strong Closings
Tiger Pool Tour / Rockville, MD
by Skip Maloney
Billiard player Manuel Chau started strong and finished strong in an undefeated romp at the Tiger Pool Tour stop on the weekend of May 3-4. The $1,250-added event drew 64 entrants to Orange Ball Billiards in Rockville, MD.
Chau started on Saturday with a decisive 9-2 victory in the tournament’s opening round, only to struggle through his next three match-ups. By the time he reached the final four on the winners’ side on Sunday, he’d lost 18 of 45 games in his middle three matches. His opponent in that final four, Joey Ryan, had lost 24 of his 54. By contrast, the other two opponents in the winners’ side final four, Shaun Wilkie and Brian Deska, had lost only 26 games combined. Both Deska and Wilkie had each shut out one of their opponents on their trip to the winners’ side final four.
As Wilkie and Deska struggled to a 9-6 Deska victory, Chau embarked on a closing run that saw him lose only 6 of his next 33 games. He defeated Ryan and then Deska 9-2 to move into the hot seat.
Over on the one-loss side of the bracket, Ryan McCreesh, Brandon Shuff, Eric Moore and Shane Jackson met in the final four match-ups there, with McCreesh and Moore advancing. McCreesh tallied his eighth victory on the one-loss side, defeating Moore before turning to Brian Deska in the semifinal match. Deska, having just lost to Chau, turned the 9-2 scoring in that match upside down, defeating McCreesh 9-3 to move back into the finals against Chau. The turnaround didn’t last long, as Chau closed out an undefeated weekend with his third 9-2 victory in a row to capture the first place prize.
In the women’s event, it was Linda Shea who emerged as the winner from a field of 14 entrants. Shea had been knocked to the one-loss side of the bracket by Ming Ng in the winner’s side round of eight and worked her way back through five opponents, losing only 10 games to meet and defeat Ng 9-6 in the final. She defeated Cheryl Squire in the quarterfinal match and Sharon O’Hanlon in the semifinal.
Open Results:
1st Manuel Chau
2nd Brian Deska
3rd Ryan McCreesh
4th Eric Moore
5th Joey Ryan
Shaun Wilkie
7th Brandon Shuff
Shane Jackson
9th Kevin Tsui
Andy Lincoln
Matt Clatterbuck
Women’s Results:
1st Linda Shea
2nd Ming Ng
3rd Sharon O’Hanlon
4th Cheryl Squire
5th Ji-Hyun Park
My-Hanh Lac
7th Spring Helligrath
Ceci Strain
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