Charlton Eases Into First in Roanoke
Great Southern Billiard Tour/ Roanoke, VA
by Lea Andrews
Eric “Easy E” Charlton took no prisoners on his way to the finals of the Great Southern Billiard Tour’s amateur event, held July 11-12 in Roanoke, VA. The $1,000-added A-B event drew 36 hopefuls to Guys and Dolls, but only Charlton remained undefeated to the end.
Following a strong 7-3 victory over A-ranked Danny Mastermaker, B-ranked Charlton moved on to the hot seat match, where he met Bobby Chamberlain, an A-ranked player on the cusp of being AA. Chamberlain, who’d just knocked B-ranked Tony Williams west 9-4, managed only six games against Charlton, and when Charlton dropped the final 9, Chamberlain’s work was cut out for him.
On the one-loss side, B-ranked Brad Shearer was dominating his matches, finishing off B-players Phil Muller and Stanley Smallwood 7-2 and 7-1, respectively, before coming upon Danny Mastermaker. Though the end score was tied 7-7, it was a win for Shearer in the handicapped format, and it earned him the right to meet Williams in the quarterfinals. Williams had come out on top of their last match-up—the finals of the June 13-14 event—but he managed just three games this time, and Shearer went on to meet Chamberlain, who was more than ready for him.
With a 9-4 victory over Shearer, Chamberlain went on to his rematch with Charlton. Needing both sets of the true double-elimination finals to claim first, Chamberlain started off strong, reaching his hill of eight games while Charlton, at four games, still needed three to win. In the alternate-break format, Chamberlain broke open the thirteenth rack but missed the 1 ball, leaving Charlton out. Charlton took the next with a 1-9 kick combination to put the match at hill-hill. Chamberlain, left without a shot on the 1 ball following his break in the final rack, chose to kick safe, but Charlton nailed a jump/bank shot to get out of it, though it left him without a makeable shot on the 2 ball. Playing safe, he left Chamberlain no choice but to kick, and when the balls stopped rolling, a tournament-winning 2-9 combination was waiting for Charlton.
Eric “Easy E” Charlton took no prisoners on his way to the finals of the Great Southern Billiard Tour’s amateur event, held July 11-12 in Roanoke, VA.
Results:
1st Eric Charlton $1,000
2nd Bobby Chamberlain $500
3rd Brad Shearer $300
4th Tony Williams $200
5th Brent Hensley $125
Danny Mastermaker
7th Chuck Cuneo $85
Stanley Smallwood