The Big Orange Classic Kicks Off

The Big Orange Classic Kicks Off InsidePOOL StaffThe Big Orange Classic began on Saturday, February 22, 2004, with a full field of 64 excellent regional and national players. This event is being held at Breakers Bar & Grill in Knoxville, TN, with Shannon “The Cannon” as the tournament director. The players are vying for the $5,000 total pot on 18 custom-made Hawkins tables.
With players like “Rocket” Rodney Morris, Jeanette Lee, Tony Watson, George Breedlove, John Brumback, and Bobby Pickle, the inaugural event has been a success from the beginning. There have been several upsets so far, the most notable with Morris being defeated by Robbie Langford in an early round and being sent to the one-loss side. Daulton also suffered one defeat already to Watson, and Earl Strickland was served a loss by Breedlove.Only 16 players will be returning to the tournament room on Sunday. In the winners’ bracket, Tony Mougey will face Breedlove, Lee will match up with Nick Hickerson, Robbie Langford will play Bill Bailey, and Watson will meet Robert Green. In the one-loss side, Brumback and John Changas will play, Strickland and Scott Hafley will match up, Jerry Grooms and Daulton will meet, and David Rowell and Morris will play.Similar to Music City Open’s Midnight Madness, Daulton staged an eight-person, single-elimination, winner-take-all event with a $250 buy in on Saturday evening. Bailey defeated Breedlove in a hill-hill thriller after Breedlove missed a tough kick on the 4. Watson dispatched Morris 11-8, while Daulton defeated Brumback, who took second place at last month’s Derby City Classic in the 9-ball banks division, by the score of 11-9. And Strickland sent Nashville’s Bobby Pickle off after a swift 11-4 victory. In the second round, Watson matched up with Daulton, in which Watson took a 5-2 and then a 9-5 lead over the tournament director and newlywed. He only allowed Daulton one more game before closing out the match with an 11-6 win. Strickland had his hands full with Chattanooga player Bailey, who took his match with “The Pearl” to the hill before he hung the 1 ball in the corner after an attempted jump shot, allowing Strickland to run the remaining balls out for the 11-10 win.The final match between Strickland and Watson, a North Carolina player who bets with both hands, was a hard-fought battle the entire length of the match. Strickland held a three-game lead when Watson came back and tied the score at 7 apiece and then moved into the lead at 9-7. A scratch on the break by Watson and then a break-and-run brought the score to 9 apiece. With a 2-9 carom, Strickland found himself on the hill, but Watson met him there after a safety battle over the 2 went his way. In the final game, Watson speared the 1 ball but hung it up in the corner pocket, and with the balls perfectly spread, Strickland was able to run out the last rack to win the match 11-10.Visit InsidePOOL for the latest in the sport of billiards and pool.

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