Georgia Good for Nevel and Tush
Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour / Athens, GA
by Rick Davis
Billiard News – The wildly popular Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour swung into Brass Rail Billiards in Athens, GA, where over 100 competitors fought through the June 30-July 1 action. In the open division Larry Nevel kept control, while Sam Tush was on fire on the amateur board, and both players took their divisions undefeated.
In the open division the tour offered many of its all stars, but none pulled Nevel away from his goal. Early action saw young gun Landon Shuffett hand out a stunning 7-2 defeat to Hall of Famer Earl “The Pearl” Strickland before taking a loss to Southern terror Steve Moore 7-5. Moore found his way through the winners’ side to face Nevel in the hot seat match where former Viking national champion Nevel dispensed with Moore 7-4.
Over on the one-loss side Shuffett met Bruce Berrong in the quaterfinals to end his run as Berrong swept past Shuffett 7-3. Berrong was yet another victim of Moore’s early on, although after taking five one-loss-side matches Berrong had an opportunity for revenge as he faced Moore in the semifinals. Berrong ousted Moore 7-2 to make a final stand in the finals. Nevel had a solid event going that was too strong for Berrong to overcome, and at 7-5 the final match ended with Nevel racking up yet another Viking Tour title.
In the amateur division Sam Tush clashed with Dustin Byrd in the hot seat match and just managed to slip past after the double-hill showdown. On the one-loss side it was becoming the Eddie Little show as he made a stunning comeback. In the quarterfinals Little scorched Lewis McDaniels 5-1 then shut out Byrd in the semifinals. Tush waited in the finals as Little approached with a freight train of momentum, although 3-all was the closest Little got in the race to 5. Tush soon took over and claimed the match 5-3 to earn the top honors and event title.
Open Results:
1st Larry Nevel
2nd Bruce Berrong
3rd Steve Moore
4th Landon Shuffett
5th T.F. Whittington
Angelo Innessa
Amateur Results:
1st Sam Tush
2nd Eddie Little
3rd Dustin Byrd
4th Lewis McDaniel
5th David Shadden
Travis Dorn
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