Final Twelve at Great Southern Billiard Tour Championship

Final Twelve at Great Southern Billiard Tour Championship
By Michael Basha
Shane Van Boening was meticulously counting the bracket spaces on the tournament board, counting aloud to add up how many matches he would have to win to snap off the tournament. Van Boening defeated a tough string of opponents Saturday, including an 11-4 win over Steve Moore, an 11-2 victory over Louis “The Wolf” Ulrich, and an 11-9 grudge match over Cliff Joyner. Van Boening will meet up with Danny Smith tomorrow in the afternoon.
On the winners’ side of the bracket, Jesse Middlebrook has continued to amaze, defeating Larry “The Truth” Nevel 11-5 and then Josh Roberts 11-7 to earn a spot Sunday against Alex “The Lion” Pagulayan, who survived a hill-hill bout with Bill Bailey and then defeated up-and-comer Danny Smith 11-5 to continue his winners’ side campaign. Rafael Martinez and Sparky Ferrell will play on Sunday as well, with Martinez advancing over Cliff Joyner 11-7 earlier in the day and Ferrell defeating Johnathan Teder 11-6 to earn his return for Sunday.
On the one-loss side, Jonathan Pinegar bested Gabe Owen 11-6 and will play Josh Roberts Sunday, while Teder will face Nevel and Vilmont will play Billy Young.
The $1,000 entry 10-ball ring game is set to go off tonight and will start at $50 a game per player and will rise in price all the way to $800 a game toward the end of the match. The high-caliber field includes Larry Nevel, Shane Van Boening, Johnny Archer, Steve Moore, Alex Pagulayan, Billy Young, Bobby Pickle, and Cliff Joyner. Stay tuned for breaking news about this challenging match.