Hill-Hill Thrillers Punctuate Viking National Championships

by InsidePOOL Staff

Day 3 of the Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour's National Championship event has wound down, leaving 16 players in the winners' bracket and 32 on the west side of the chart. Tonight's winners'-side matches have seen a plethora of hill-hill nail-biters, with some surprises in store.

Viking Tour Championship photo gallery

Last night's ring game crowned Shane Van Boening the winner over John Schmidt, Corey Deuel, Larry Nevel, and Tony Crosby. The entry fee was $500 per man, with each player receiving 10 chips. Every 10 minutes saw the bet increase until players began slowly dropping out. Down to three players after a couple of hours, twice Deuel rattled the 9 ball and left the next player, Schmidt, hooked behind the 10 ball. Unable to pocket the 9, Schmidt ended up helplessly handing two racks to Van Boening, which caused a major turnaround in the game's finances.

In the winners' bracket round this evening, Deuel struggled in his match against Ernesto Contreras but ended up winning 11-5, though he was not playing at his top form. "It's a little disappointing, but that's about it," commented Contreras, who didn't seem too disappointed about his performance in general. "I felt like I was playing really good, and I let him off the hook. I made some crucial mistakes, I got some momentum going my way, and then I tried to overpower a ball for who knows why, but I did it. I mean, he's a world champion. I felt pressure playing him, but the nerves were there for the first game or two, and then after that, you get into a comfort zone, you're like hey, he plays just like everybody else."

Melanie and Johnny Archer had a happy announcement today: They are expecting their second child sometime around July 21, 2007. "It was Johnny's birthday gift," explained Melanie before Johnny's 10 p.m. match. "His birthday was Sunday, November twelfth. I took a test Saturday night, and it was kind of iffy, so I took another one Sunday morning, and so I told him, and he said, 'Oh yeah, that's a great birthday gift!' So we're very excited."

Steve Moore pulled through a back-and-forth battle against Brian Capps, eventually winning 11-7. "I was up six-three and he ran a four on me … and then it turned around, and I won five in a row," said Moore afterward. Moore's next match will be against Cliff Joyner tomorrow afternoon.

One of the featured matches was between Van Boening and Shannon "The Cannon" Daulton, in which Daulton took an 11-7 victory. "I played pretty good in the match, he played a little bit bad. I got shots after the break and he didn't. Very simple," Daulton stated.

Regarding his opponent, he added, "Great player. Probably the most improved player in the last two years that I've seen in a long, long time. He's somebody to beat, I'll tell you that."

There were five hill-hill matches in the winners' side this evening. U.S. Open champion John "Mr. 400" Schmidt squeaked by 11-10 over U.S. Open semifinalist David Broxson, Sparky Ferrell won over Chicago's Ike Runnels in hill-hill thriller, Dennis Hatch defeated Jesse Middlebrook 11-10, and Keith Bennett over Larry "the Truth" Nevel in yet another double-hill match. The latest match to finish was between Johnny Archer and Stoney Stone, in which Archer received ball in hand twice in the final rack but hung the 6 ball, handing the match to Stone. Additionally, Anthony Morgan bested Monica Webb 11-5, Cliff Joyner scooted by Tony Crosby 11-8, Earl Strickland defeated Aaron Nacabre 11-5, and Tony "Shrimp Boat" Watson won 11-7 over Chuck Dorsett.

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