Fuller Holds off Winters for Billiard Win

Fuller Holds off Winters for Billiard Win
Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour / Goldsboro, NC

by InsidePOOL Staff
Michael Fuller held off young gun Shane Winters in the final match of the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour’s December 8-9 stop. Hosted by Fast Eddie’s in Goldsboro, NC, this stop drew a field of 24 players for the $1,000-added main event.
To kick things off, an early bird tournament was held on Friday night, in which Mike Danner defeated Charles Jones 7-4 in the final match. In the junior tournament on Sunday, Mac Harrell defeated Justin Ward 7-1 in the final match. Junior players score points, which accumulate for the first ten events on the tour. The top point winners in each division will qualify for the 2008 Junior Nationals. Also on Sunday, a second-chance tournament was won by Dave Gray, who took a 7-6 win over Cary Dunn.
In the main event, Michael Fuller survived a close match against Sam Monday 7-5 before being sent to the one-loss side by Winters 7-3. Winters, having already defeated Wade Crane 7-5, continued his march to the hot seat with wins over Larry Faulk 7-5 and Peaches Fuller 7-3.
Meanwhile, Michael Fuller put together a run through the one-loss side by defeating Monday 7-5, Younger Chapman 7-1, Montez Lloyd 7-1, Charles Jones 7-3, and Peaches Fuller 7-6 to earn a rematch with Winters.
The final match was a single race to 9. Fuller took an early 4-1and then a 6-2 lead, at which point Winters got a break when Fuller fouled. Winters cleared the table and then broke and ran out the next rack. Feeling the momentum, Winters sank two balls on the break, but his hopes were dashed when the cue ball found the side pocket. Fuller took ball in hand and ran out for a 7-4 lead.
Fuller left himself bad shape and hung the 8 ball in the corner to keep Winters’ hopes alive. Winters made the last two balls to make the score 8-6. Although finally avoiding a scratch on the break, Winters was left with a difficult cut on the 1 ball. He decided to go for it and ultimately lost control of the table. Fuller finished the rack to win the match 9-6.