Nevel and Walker Take Marietta Billiard Stop

Nevel and Walker Take Marietta Billiard Stop
J. Pechauer Southeast Open Tour/Marietta, GA
By Skip Maloney
For the third weekend in a row, Larry “The Truth” Nevel stepped into a billiards tournament and stepped out with the first-place prize. On Memorial Day weekend, he joined a field of 38 entrants in the $1,000-added J. Pechauer Southeast Open Tour stop at the Side Pocket Cue Club Grill in Marietta, GA, and did it the hard way, defeating Steve Moore twice for top honors.
Already on the one-loss side, Nevel was faced with tournament director Tommy Kennedy, whom he bested 9-5, dropping him into fifth place. He then went on to defeat Jason Richko in the quarterfinals and then turned to face Jesse Middlebrooks, who only won two of the eleven games that delivered Nevel to the finals against Atlanta’s Steve Moore.
Nevel and Moore fought back and forth to double-hill in the first set of the double-elimination finals. With two balls left on the table in the final game and the cue in Moore’s hand, it looked as though Moore was going to take it, but he missed. Nevel stepped to the table, sinking the 8 but watched as the cue ball traveled a little farther down table than he’d anticipated, leaving him with a long bank to finish the game. He made the bank, won the game, and moved on to the second set.
They struggled again. Back and forth to a second double-hill game, where Moore committed a foul prior to the break. Moore handed Nevel the ball, and with ball in hand, Nevel touched the 1 and hooked Moore. They wrestled back and forth through a few successful kicks that managed to nudge the 9 ball out of what was still a fairly tight pack of balls in the center of the table. Until Moore missed. Nevel set up to shoot the 1 ball, and a carom knocked the loose 9 ball in to win the game, set, and tournament.
In the amateur event Sunday, Bryant Walker defeated Jeff Hooks 7-1 in the finals to capture the first-place prize in the $500-added event. Walker had sent B.R. Tatum to the one-loss side earlier in the day and defeated Jeff Tabet in the subsequent hot seat match.
Open Results:
1st Larry Nevel
2nd Steve Moore
3rd Jessie Middlebrooks
4th Jason Richko
5th Tommy Kennedy
Johnny Archer
7th J. R. Rossman
Ron Park
9th George Rothrock
B.R. Tatum
Craig Houghton
Jeff Tabet
Amateur Results:
1st Bryant Walker
2nd Jeff Hooks
3rd Jeff Tabet
4th Denny Singletary
5th B.R. Tatum
John Hossman