Field Trimmed to 26 in Derby City Classic 9-Ball Division

Field Trimmed to 26 in Derby City Classic 9-Ball DivisionEighth round kicks off with nine undefeated including Archer and ParicaWhile the appreciation for the less lucrative billiards disciplines has always been a hallmark of the Derby City Classic, the fans come out to see the stars of 9-ball. Even with the absence of Efren Reyes, the fans are pouring in for one last night of excitement before the DCC winds down with Saturday night’s finals. With the beginning of the eighth draw underway, an undefeated Johnny “The Scorpion” Archer will face the awe-inspiring Dennis Orcollo live on the Billiard Club Network. In the seventh round, Archer dealt the young Canadian sensation John Morra his first loss in a 7-4 match, while Orcollo took his first loss to Charlie “On the Hill” Bryant.Derby City Classic image galleryDiscuss the Derby City Classic
It’s down to the very strongest of the strong at the DCC, those with either the stamina to fight through three massive fields and still have time for action, or the specialists who have confined themselves to the rotation-based event. Bryant has shown strength, and following his 7-2 bruising of Orcollo with those devastating breaks, he’ll play Rafael Martinez-Chavez, who himself upended Ralf Souquet on the BCn table with a fortunate 7-6 escape when last year’s 9-ball champion scratched on the case 8-ball. For Souquet’s title defense, he must overcome an undefeated Francisco Bustamante in the round’s most storied match-up.Archer carries on to represent the impressive Atlanta group, while fellow Georgia resident and 9-ball banks winner Steve Moore’s chances of sneaking past Reyes to take the all-around crown have ended in a thrilling 7-6 loss to Jose Parica. “The Iron Man” is still undefeated, and the crowd’s cheers of “Jose!” will help him against his countryman, Gandy Valle, in this eight round of play.Gabe Owen, Larry Nevel, and Rodolfo Luat are without a loss as well, and play last barrel stalwarts Ike Runnells, Mika Immonen, and David Broxson respectively. Morra plays Niels Feijen, who has no losses either. In the only battle of undefeated players in the draw, Cinicinatti’s Shannon Murphy carries on his amazing tournament (and his guaranteed under-21 honors in the all-around) against the dangerous Chad Vilmont. Murphy is fresh off ousting Buddy Hall 7-5, “The Rifleman” responsible in tandem with Bobby Pickle for Reyes sitting the rest of the tournament out.Rounding out the group of stellar matches are tilts between Johnathan “Hennessee” Pinegar and Donnie Sinkhorn, a local player who knocked Corey Deuel out 7-6 in the previous round. Cagey veteran Ron Wiseman will try his hand with the weary but seasoned Englishman Darren Appleton, while Dallas backroom battler Joel Barnes will carry on from his defeat of Mike Davis in the previous round to do battle with the fresh-off-a-bye Thorsten Hohmann. Davis will face Filipino threat Lee Van Corteza, who has caused a stir since his first trip to the States during Barry Behrman’s U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship in September.If all this great 9-ball wasn’t enough, George Breedlove and “Little John” Macias are mixing it up in some 10-ball in the action room down the hall, while George Breedlove’s talented and personable wife Jeannette Lee is signing autographs just outside the tournament arena. Others mix it up next to her lucky husband in the Derbyshire Dining Room, as the last moves for backers and railbirds get weary players up for the dough. A one-pocket mini tournament is scheduled for tonight as the demands on tables for main event matches finally subside. Stay tuned to InsidePOOLmag.com for an update on tournament play when the night’s rounds have concluded, and let your voice be heard as a voter in the action/entertainment award race by visiting our Derby City messageboard.Just prior to post, the eighth draw concluded. Sixteen players will return tomorrow, six undefeated. The list of unbeatens is as follows: Archer, Bustamante, Feijen, Murphy, Nevel, and finally Owen. Joining them will be Pinegar, Wiseman, Valle, Parica, Martinez-Chavez, Hohmann, Broxson, Luat, Van Corteza, and Vilmont. Full details of the matches just played will be included an update after the staff mixes it up in Friday night action.

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