Great Southern Billiard Tour Delivers Excitement

Great Southern Billiard Tour Delivers Excitement

By Michael Basha
If Shane Van Boening plans on winning the Great Southern Billiard Tour event this weekend, he will have to do it from the B-side. Jesse Middlebrook managed to defeat Van Boening in the second round 11-10 after building a 9-4 lead. A dry break from Middlebrook invited Van Boening to fire off some rounds as he broke and ran seven consecutive racks to reach the hill. A miss from Van Boening on the hill allowed Middlebrook to clear the table and then break and run to close out the match.
WPBA touring pro Helena Thornfeldt accomplished a similar feat, advancing past Johnny Archer 11-5 after running an eight-pack and keeping Archer in his chair, but was defeated by Sparky Ferrell 11-6 soon after. Archer’s and Van Boening’s losses put them on a collision course, and they will match up at 11 p.m. tonight in round four of the one-loss side.
Steve Moore dismissed Music City Open runner-up Tommy D’Alfonso 11-7 in his first-round match u-, but Larry Nevel posted a six-pack en route to an 11-1 win over Moore in the second round and will play Jesse Middlebrook tomorrow.
Alex Pagulayan is in fine form and has a collective score of 33-7 after three rounds. “The Lion” hasn’t allowed an opponent to score more than four games so far on his way to the fourth round tomorrow.
Also in the fourth round so far are South Carolina’s Josh Roberts, tour director Shannon Daulton, Louis Ulrich, and youngster Danny Smith, who defeated Jonathan Pinegar 11-9 and will face Chad Vilmont tomorrow. Also scheduled to play Saturday are Rafael Martinez vs. Cliff Joyner, and Ulrich vs. Billy Young.
The 9-ball banks ring game is set to go off Friday, with Pagulayan, Daulton, Joyner, Fargo, and Young all paid up to compete in the $1,000 entry event.
Shannon Daulton has announced “Cash on the Light,” a song by Larry Gibson, as a theme song for the Great Southern Billiard Tour. Larry Gibson has attended the tournament to perform live for the event, and the song can be heard on cowboyentertainer.com.
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