Fitch and Taylor Tops on Viking Tour

Fitch and Taylor Tops on Viking Tour
Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour / Greensboro, NC

by InsidePOOL Staff
The Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour rolled into Greensboro, NC, the weekend of September 29-30. Hosted by Shooter’s Billiards, this stop crowned Shannon Fitch and Richard Taylor tops in the open and amateur divisions, respectively.
Fitch first faced off against Southeast terror BJ Ussery, defeating him in a hill-hill nail-biter. He then bested Jeff Baumgarner 9-2, Randy Hatten 9-0, Sparky Ferrell 9-5, and Robert Ray 9-5 for the hot seat. From the West Coast, Rafael Martinez started off his event with wins over Trevor Jefferson 9-2, Thomas Sansone 9-3, and Larry Cheek 9-1 before being sent to the one-loss side by Ferrell 9-4. Martinez collected himself to best Jeff Pruitt 7-4 and Mike Fuller 7-6 before matching up with Ferrell again, this time in the quarterfinals. After defeating Ferrell 7-4, he went on to the semifinals against Ray, whom he bested 7-3. In the double-elimination final match, Martinez experienced success in the first set, winning 9-3, but Fitch came back in the second set to win the title 7-2.
In the amateur division, Taylor went undefeated through the path to the finals, notching wins over Dee Wylie 6-2, Chris Cubbage 6-1, Arnold Hamlett 6-3, and Mike Preston in the hot seat match 6-2. Hamlett faced down Matt Karbowski 6-2 and Pete Sawyers 6-1 before his loss to Taylor. Hamlett recovered to defeat Anthony Arney 5-3 and Mike Preston in the semifinals but could not overpower Taylor, who bested him 6-2 in the final match.

Open Results:

1st
Shannon Fitch

2nd
Rafael Martinez

3rd
Robert Ray

4th
Sparky Ferrell

5-6th
Harry Florence

Mike Fuller

7-8th
Johnny Walker

Randy Hatten

Amateur Results:

1st
Richard Taylor

2nd
Arnold Hamlett

3rd
Mike Preston

4th
Anthony Arney

5-6th
Chris Cubbage

Kent Lacy

7-8th
John Craig

Pete Sawyers

Sandler Sweeps Southeast Tour

Sandler Sweeps Southeast Tour

J. Pechauer Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour / Vero Beach, FL

by InsidePOOL Staff
Jim Sandler bested a field of 29 billiards players the weekend of September 29-30 to capture first place on the J. Pechauer Southeast Open 9-Ball Tour. This stop was hosted by Cunningham’s Pool and Darts in Vero Beach, FL.
Sandler enjoyed a virtually unchallenged run through the one-loss side, though he barely squeaked by his opponent in the hot seat match, Mike Mallen, to escape with a double-hill victory. Sent to the west side of the chart, Mallen was faced with Mark Coats, who had just ousted Tommy Kennedy in a hill-hill match. Mallen had little trouble disposing of Coats, winning their match 9-5 to earn a rematch with Sandler. However, yet another hill-hill match transpired with the same results as before—Sandler ended up winning 9-8 to take first place.

Open Results:

1st
Jim Sandler

2nd
Mike Mallen

3rd
Mark Coats

4th
Tommy Kennedy

5-6th
Tony O’Donnell

Craig Rogers

Dechaine Outlasts Them All on Joss Tour

Dechaine Outlasts Them All on Joss Tour

Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour / Waterville, ME

by Rick Davis
The Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour held their second billiard stop of the season over the September 29-30 weekend at T.J’s Classic Billiards in Waterville, ME, where a strong 32-player field came out to do battle. After the carnage had cleared, past champions, tour regulars, and other favorites all fell to Mike Dechaine, who went undefeated after offering up two days of solid play.
On the winners’ side Dechaine made short work of the chart, clearing it up in the hot seat match where he defeated Bucky Souvanthong 9-6. Then, on the one-loss side, the rest of the top eight were clawing and reaching to advance further.
Top national player and multi-time tour winner Dennis “The Hatchet Man” Hatch was slowly making a comeback from an early loss in day one. Hatch ousted Walter Szydlowski 9-2 then shut out Pete Bowman 9-0 to reach the quarterfinals. Nearby, the winner of the season’s first stop, Marc Vidal, eliminated Bruce Carroll 9-5 to catch up with Hatch in the quarterfinals. Hatch wasted little time and knocked out Vidal 9-3 and then kept up his streak by eliminating Souvanthong 9-5 in the semifinals.
With the finals on hand and the true double-elimination format in effect, a great match unfolded. Hatch took the opening set with a 9-7 squeaker, but in the second set the players hit the brakes and the score kept close. After a 7-all score Dechaine pulled away one rack to get on the hill and then inched over the line, taking the final rack to earn the event win after the 9-7 final set victory.

Open Results:

1st
Mike Dechaine

2nd
Dennis Hatch

3rd
Bucky Souvanthong

4th
Marc Vidal

5-6th
Bruce Carroll

Pete Bowman

7-8th
Chance Chin

Walter Szydlowski

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