No Stopping Nevel
Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour / Monroe, NC
by InsidePOOL Staff
Professional billiard player Larry Nevel terrorized yet another tour the weekend of June 7-8—the Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour. The open division, which he won, brought in 68 participants, including professionals like Dennis Hatch, Shawn Putnam, Ronnie Wiseman, and Sparky Ferrell. Burrkats Billiards in Monroe, NC, was the host location of this event, which boasted a $4,550 prize fund.
Nevel completely dominated the open division, sending all in his path to the left side of the chart. After receiving a first-round bye, he proceeded to make short work of his competition, using his crushing break and cue ball control against Bert Murphy 9-0, Zach Bock 9-2, Putnam 9-3, Eddie Little 9-6; Hatch 9-5, and then took the win of the first set of the finals against Ferrell 9-4.
Ferrell earned second place by roaring through the one-loss side after a 9-5 defeat by Putnam. He then bested Keith Kostsycki 7-3, Zach Bock 7-1, Jeff Abernathy 7-4, Wiseman 9-8, Little 9-2, Putnam 9-3, and in the semifinals defeated Hatch 9-6 to make his way back to the right side of the chart to face Nevel.
Open Results:
1st Larry Nevel
2nd Sparky Ferrell
3rd Dennis Hatch
4th Shawn Putnam
5th Eddie Little
Jeff Pruitt
7th Craig Gardner
Ronnie Wiseman
In the amateur event, Billy Holmes took his second first-place win. He rolled through the bottom half of the bracket undefeated, sending his opponents to the west side one after another. Holmes bested Raul Ortiz 5-3, Bob Beasley 5-1, Mike Templeton 5-1, and Daniel Gambill 5-2 before going hill-hill against Eric Easy E Charlton in the match for the hot seat, defeating him 5-4 only to face Charlton again in the finals. Another hill-hill match ensued, with Holmes taking first in the first set 5-4.
Amateur Results:
1st Billy Holmes
2nd Eric Charlton
3rd Kevin Varney
4th Corey Hockenberry