Putnam Perfect in Akron

By Mark Whiteside On Saturday, Oct. 12, Doc’s Action Billiards South was the scene as fifty-four players gathered for another stop on the Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour. Located in Akron, OH, the room was formerly known as Starcher’s and had been the scene of many top-level tournaments over the past two decades, but had recently fallen into disrepair. The face-lift was thorough and left a large rectangular room with about two-dozen Gold Crowns dressed in Championship cloth. The room was well maintained, had a pro shop, and the food was pretty good, also. The usual Ohio players were present, along with a good sprinkling of players from Western PA and WV. Troy Frank, Shawn Putnam, and Leil Gay were the favorites, but quite a few past Viking winners and high finishers were in the field. The action on Sunday included some wild finishes and stretches of dominating play. While trailing Dennis Jackson 6-4 in a race to seven, Justin Daniels was the recipient of ball in hand when Jackson scratched on the four. Daniels ran out the rest of the set while his opponent was glued to his chair. Daniels was then whitewashed by Tom Purich, 7-0, allowing Purich to challenge Putnam in the Finals. Putnam was masterful in the final match. He did not miss a single ball. He played safe twice, tying Purich up well enough that his entire match consisted of two kicks out of safeties and a lot of racking. Shawn is really playing well heading into the Viking Cue Tour’s Ohio Regional $5,000 added event next weekend in Columbus, OH and their $25,000 added National Championship at Northfield Billiards in Northfield, OH in November. Results 54 Players $3380 Total Purse 1st- Shawn Putnam 2nd- Tom Purich 3rd- Justin Daniels 4th- Dennis Jackson 5th- Troy Frank, Pat “Parma” Lewis 7th- Ed Becker, Kevin England 9th- Tony Love, Leil Gay, Jordan Grubb, Bill Bahny 13th- Rick Lee, Ben Zimmer, Marvin Walker, Lee Knight 14-Oct-2002 20:34 EST

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