Morris Comes Back to Best Hundal

Morris Comes Back to Best Hundal
Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour / Raleigh, NC

by Skip Maloney
Professional pool player “Rocket” Rodney Morris followed up on a hill-hill hot seat defeat at the hands of Raj Hundal by returning in the finals to win 9-4, capturing the first-place prize in the Jacoby Custom Cues Carolina Tour the weekend of June 7-8. The $1,000-added event drew 25 billiard entrants to Babineau’s in Raleigh, NC.
Earlier Sunday, Morris and Hundal moved into their hot seat match following defeats of Mike Fuller and Robert Ray, respectively. Morris couldn’t capitalize on the momentum, falling to Hundal and moving into the semifinals.
On the one-loss side, Cary Dunn defeated Sidney Champion, who had just eliminated Mike Davis from the tournament. Wade Crane, in the meantime, dropped Peaches Fuller into the seventh-place slot. Dunn and Wade then defeated Mike Fuller and Ray to face each other in the quarterfinal match. Crane advanced with a 7-5 win to face Morris in the semifinals. Morris ended Crane’s tournament with a 7-3 victory and turned to challenge Hundal a second time.
Morris and Hundal struggled back and forth to a 4-4 tie in the finals before Morris took command, winning the next five to capture the first-place prize. Morris’ victory also earned him an entry into the Carolina Open in October, though he narrowly missed an opportunity at extra prize money, offered to any player who ran five racks. While he’d closed out the tournament by winning the last five games, he’d allowed Hundal opportunities to shoot, which cost him the supplementary prize.
Results:
1st Rodney Morris
2nd Raj Hundal
3rd Wade Crane
4th Cary Dunn
5th Mike Fuller
Robert Ray
7th Sidney Champion
Peaches Fuller
9th Mike Davis
Doug Jones
Younger Chapman
Leroy Bryant