Derby City Classic Banks Finish With a Bang

Derby City Classic Banks Finish With a Bang
By Mike Fieldhammer, InsidePOOL Staff
Larry Price reclaimed the title of Derby City Classic bank pool champion in a rapid-fire final match against Texan Sylver Ochoa. Price, the 2002 DCC bank pool winner, gained entry to the final match via a bye when Ochoa and Shawn “Big Bubba” Putnam were the last three bank pool players in the tournament.
Ochoa beat Putnam in the semifinals three games to two in a safety-filled match. Each player, knowing the importance of the match, took care in playing two-way shots and leaving the cue ball safely against the head rail or foot rail, whichever didn’t offer position to shoot a cross-side bank. In the fifth game Putnam got a double-kiss on a 2 ball, which left Ochoa an excellent chance to make the 2 cross-corner. Ochoa then finished with a flurry. He ripped the 3 ball straight back for the 3-2 victory and chance to play Price again.
Price had been the only player to defeat Ochoa in a match in the tenth round when 14 players remained. The match between Price and Ochoa took on a different flavor than the defensive semifinals. Ochoa, only 22 years of age, relished the wide-open offense of the final match. Price, 56 years old next Sunday, may be older and wiser, but he displayed vigorous offense in the intense finals.
In the fourth game, with Price ahead two games to one, a cluster of three balls near a corner pocket forced each player to duck. After a quick series of safeties, where each player barely stepped away from the table until Price plopped one of the balls into the corner pocket, Ochoa missed a cross-side bank on one of the remaining balls near the corner pocket. Price then crossed the ball on the spot in the side pocket and cleaned up the 6 ball cross-corner for the title and $10,000. Putnam finished third, and Tony “Fargo” Ferguson, Michael Surber, and Neal Jacobs all tied for fourth place
Round two of the one-pocket division is in progress. Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news on the Tenth Annual Derby City Classic.