Maidhof Reigns at 14.1 Billiard Qualifier

Maidhof Reigns at 14.1 Billiard Qualifier
Maryland Open 14.1 Qualifier / Glen Burnie, MD
by Skip Maloney
Bob Maidhof won at the Maryland Open 14.1 Qualifier, hosted by Big Daddy’s Billiards in Glen Burnie, MD, the weekend of July 12-13, earning top honors and paid entry into the World Straight Pool Championships in New Jersey in August. The $3,000-added event drew 32 players, who competed in opening round robin matches on Saturday and a single-elimination tournament on Sunday.
On Saturday, 32 players were grouped into eight round robin flights of four players each, chosen to maximize an even spread of skill levels. Playing 12 matches each to 100, the top two players in each flight moved on to the single-elimination tournament on Sunday.
The opening round of play increased the number of games necessary to win by 25. Barouty began his day with a commanding 125-5 defeat of Don Polo, while Maidhof was busy polishing off Moy 125-69. In the subsequent round of eight, Barouty defeated Chamberlin 125-45, while Maidhof eliminated Ed Deska 125-27. Shaun Wilkie, who’d eliminated Brett Stottlemeyer, and Steve Lipsky, who’d ousted Dan Heidrich, joined them in the final four.
In the final three matches, the number of balls necessary to win increased by another 25 to 150. Maidhof’s match against Lipsky resulted in the highest run of the tournament: 111 balls. He defeated Lipsky 150-2. Barouty, meanwhile, moved into the finals after besting Wilkie 150-91.
Maidhof started the final game with a couple of 30- to 40-ball runs and was out in front of Barouty by 97 balls (125-28) when, by his own admission, the nine or ten hours of pool he’d played that day started to wear on him. Barouty rallied, and while he stumbled a bit, making three fouls in a row for which he was penalized by 15 balls, he got within 10 balls at 140-130.
“I figured if I got another shot, that I better finish this thing off,” said Maidhof, “so on my next opportunity, I pulled a little energy out of me and did just that.”
In addition to the $1,000 first prize for Maidhof and $500 for Barouty, Maidhog was awarded automatic entry into the straight pool championships in New Jersey. The third-place finishers—Wilkie and Lipsky—played a single game to 150 for a second automatic entry slot, won by Lipsky 150-110.
Results:
1st Bob Maidhof
2nd Danny Barouty
3rd Steve Lipsky
4th Shaun Wilkie
5th Bob Chamberlin
Brett Stottlemeyer
Dan Heidrich
Ed Deska