Putnam and Lac Control Season Openers

Putnam and Lac Control Season OpenersTiger Pool Tour / Hagerstown, MD

by Rick Davis

The Tiger Pool Tour’s 2007 season got underway February 17-18 at Hagerstown Billiards in Hagerstown, MD, where a 113-player field emerged in the open division and 25 players mixed things up in the ladies’ division. My-Hanh Lac recovered nicely to comeback and claimed the ladies’ title, while Shawn Putnam kept firm control in the open division, winning the event undefeated.
Putnam didn’t give up more than four racks in the race-to-7 format, and after six match wins he found himself in the hot seat match. Along with Putnam, Danny Mullhollen found his way to the hot seat match, and although most of wins were much closer, he had the credit of defeating a top Southeast player, B.J. Ussery, as well winning as an additional match, for he had not drawn an opening bye as Putnam did.
On the one-loss side, many of the favorites were being handed pink slips. Mike Davis took a shocking first-round loss, and although he fought back five matches, he still had a disappointing finish. Shaun Wilkie, another top Northern player, also took a rough opening round, then after nine match wins on the loss-side he was forced to be satisfied with a top-eight finish. Amidst all this action, Matt Krah, another Northeast star, was slowly creeping through the field decimating opponents left and right to reach the quarterfinals.
As the dust settled, the final few matches decided everyone’s fate. Putnam defeated Mullhollen to take the hot seat, and on the one-loss side Ussery flew past Krah only to wind up knocked out himself after Mullhollen eliminated him in the semifinals. With a rematch ready, Mullhollen came out swinging against Putnam, but “Big Bubba” would not be shaken as he defeated Mullhollen again, this time to claim the first-place finish.
In the ladies’ division, new mom Pam Treadway put on a show as she hardly gave up more than three racks per match. After five wins, including defeating Zinnie Panju in the hot seat match, Treadway was sitting pretty. On the one-loss side it looked like Kathleen Lawless was mounting a comeback, although after four wins she fell short against Lac, who eliminated her in the quarterfinals. Sueyen Rhee also had some momentum, with five one-loss side wins of her own, but once again Lac stood in the way, besting her in the quarterfinals. Lac breezed past Panju in the semifinals and then dealt the final blow against Treadway after a double-hill battle in the finals to claim the tour’s first event.
Open Results:
1st Shawn Putnam
2nd Danny Mullhollen
3rd BJ Ussery
4th Matt Krah
5th Richard Barney
Danny Green
7th Alan Duty
Shaun Wilkie
9th Eric Moore
Kevin West
Justin Daniels
Greg Sabins
Ladies’ Results:
1st My-Hanh Lac
2nd Pam Treadway
3rd Zinnie Panju
4th Sueyen Rhee
5th Kathleen Lawless
Teresa Savage
7th Kim Smith
Gwen Dickert
9th Kathy Friend
Marcie Hanifee
Malea Haacke
Dona Sellman

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