Continued Ups and Downs at North American Open

Continued Ups and Downs at North American OpenThe North American Open Tour is continuing to provide headlines with its ups and downs, as the fourth day of matches gets underway. Nick Mannino, who suffered a minor heart attack on Sunday, made an appearance Tuesday night to the delight of his fellow tour players, while Larry Nevel (pictured right) and Corey Deuel both quit in the middle of their matches. Tournament director Scott Smith said he's disappointed in both players for making the decision to quit. "It's not fair to the fans, the players, or the people sponsoring these events," Smith said. "I'm going to recommend that the UPA levy fines on both players for their actions." Deuel walked out in the middle of his Tuesday match with Danny Basavich, and Nevel quit during his Wednesday afternoon match with Charlie "Hillbilly" Bryant. No further details were available on this situation. On a lighter note, Mannino told tour promotor Jim Dawson and Smith that he had a minor procedure done and would be fine. "We were all surprised when he showed up," said Smith. "We're all glad he's okay."
Meanwhile, many of the matches on Tuesday provided plenty of excitement for fans and players alike. Out of the eight winners' bracket matches, four of them went to hill-hill. Johnny Archer had a 10-9 lead over Timmy Hall, but watched as Hall came back and tied it up and actually had a chance to run out in the last match. But Archer escaped with the win and will face Tony Crosby this afternoon. Raj Hundal and "Rocket" Rodney Morris both pulled out 11-10 wins in their matches. Hundal broke and ran the final match against Mike Davis to pull out the victory, while Morris battled Bryant back and forth until he came out a winner. Hundal and Morris will now face one another today. Basavich watched his 5-0 lead disappear, as Jeremy Jones strung together six straight wins to take the lead. With the match at 10 apiece, Basavich broke and ran up until the 8 ball, but he missed a tough shot, leaving Jones to finish out for the win. Jones will face Charlie Williams, who defeated Steve Lillis 11-3. John Schmidt and Santos Sambajon Jr. both walked away with 11-2 wins over Danny Harriman and Jimmy Court, respectively. The two will match up later today. In the west side, Gabe Owen faces Davis, with the winner taking on Bryant tonight. Robb Saez and Harriman both won their second matches yesterday, putting them on course to face one another today. Basavich will face David Rowell, and Luc Salves plays Jeff Abernathy. Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news from the North American Tour Opener.

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