Turning Stone Reaches Top Eight

Turning Stone Reaches Top EightTurning Stone Classic
by Rick Davis

As Sunday afternoon arrives, the top eight remaining players will descend upon the Turning Stone Classic, all hungry for the championship title. Getting from the opening rounds to the final day has been a long road, and many top players did not endure the entire trip.
Fighting through the winners’ side Saturday, Steve Moore continued his excellent play until Santos Sambajon Jr. sent him west after a 9-6 match. Also in that round, Tony Crosby fell to Canada's John Morra 9-3. Not everyone was having problems, though, as Joey Korsiak defeated Dennis Hatch 9-7, Joe Tucker 9-7, and Warren Kiamco 9-5 to stay alive. The bottom of that board was stacked with top-tier opponents like defending champion Johnny Archer, who defeated Erik Hjorliefson 9-4, and Jose Parica, who shut out Richard Broumpton 9-0. Those two winners met up in the next round, unfolding a double-hill show for the crowd that eventually saw Parica slip by 9-8.
On the one-loss side, carnage was everywhere, as only a select few could hold back that final loss. Coming off an early loss, Shawn "Big Bubba" Putnam fought back four matches until Moore pulled out a double-hill nail-biter to eliminate Putnam and advance forward. Rodolfo Luat was skipping through the chart nearby, eliminating a who’s who of the event with first a 9-2 thrashing against Gandy Valle, then back-to-back 9-7 wins over Hjorliefson and Mika Immonen. All of that led up to a double-hill victory over Crosby to reach the top eight.
Two of the top Northern players, Mike Davis and Dennis Hatch, took surprising early exits. After Davis’ first-round loss he managed to play through four matches until a 9-5 finish against Randy Labonte excused him from the event. Hatch, on the other hand, kept on the winners’ side a little longer, although even with a pair of one-loss side wins Paul Song came along with a 9-6 defeat to send him packing. Unfortunately for Song, “The Scorpion” was ready to sting, and sting he did with a 9-2 eliminating wallop.
Finally the top eight made their way into the light. On the winners’ side Sambajon faces Morra while Korsiak faces Parica. On the one-loss side Moore and Luat will meet, Moore having just knocked out Putnam, with Luat doing the same to Crosby, both double-hill. The final paring contains Archer and Kiamco, where each of these have just come off a big win, Archer eliminating Song 9-2, while Kiamco eliminated Jeff Kennedy 9-3.
Only a handful of rounds to go before the champion is decided sometime this evening.
Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

Pool Balls and Billiard Balls at LOW PRICES!!!

About the Author:
Inside Pool Magazine publishes billiard news. Definitive Synergy creates pool and billiard management software.