Team USA Going Strong at Turning Stone
Turning Stone Classic XIV / Verona, NY
by InsidePOOL Staff
The massive 128-player field that came to play for the $25,000-added prize purse at the Turning Stone Classic XIV has been winnowed to a mere 6 contenders as of December 20. The event began December 17 and is being hosted by the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, NY.
Interestingly, all six of the remaining players have all been members of Team USA at Matchroom Sport’s Mosconi Cup event at one time or another. This year’s MVP, Dennis “The Hatchetman” Hatch, is one of two players who are undefeated as yet. His most recent victories have come over fellow 2009 Mosconi Cup teammates Johnny Archer 9-6 and Oscar Dominguez 9-4.
Meeting Hatch in the hot seat match will be “Rocket” Rodney Morris (pictured), another Mosconi Cup favorite when he is on the team. In his last two rounds he has sent Dave Grau west after their hill-hill match and then faced Charlie Williams, whom he had an easier time with and defeated 9-4.
The massive 128-player field that came to play for the $25,000-added prize purse at the Turning Stone Classic XIV has been winnowed to a mere 6 contenders as of December 20.
View the Turning Stone tournament brackets (will be updated regularly)
Now on the one-loss side, Williams will face off against Archer to see who ties for fifth place and who advances. After Archer’s loss to Hatch, he ousted Steve Moore 9-4 and then Sweden’s Marcus Chamat 9-4. In the other fifth-place match, Kim Davenport will meet “The Big O.” Davenport suffered a second-round loss to Chamat and has worked his way through the west side of the chart to this point, eliminating players such as Marc “Spain” Vidal and 2009 Mosconi Cup teammates Corey Deuel and Shane Van Boening.
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