Wilkie Wins and Rhee Rules on the Falcon Tour

Wilkie Wins and Rhee Rules on the Falcon TourAndy LincolnThe Falcon Cue 9-Ball Tour returned to the beautiful and spacious Orange Ball Billiards in Rockville, MD, for Stop #8 on June 21-22, 2003. This was another $2,000-added event made possible by Falcon Cues and Orange Ball Billiards. There were 71 competitors in the open division, with 19 ladies playing in their Sunday women’s division. Everyone was excited to be playing on 29 Brunswick Gold Crown tables that played perfectly with brand new Simonis cloth.This was a powerful field that saw the return of Amar Kang and “Earthquake” Keith McCready, while “Mad Max” Eberle was visiting from the West Coast, and most of the regular tour players were in attendance. Saturday was packed with early excitement from some strong matchups. Ryan McCreesh started out strong, sending BJ Ussery and Eberle over to the one-loss side. Last event’s winner, Mike Davis, fell to Jim “Shorty” Henson, and points leader Kang was defeated by the fearless Pooky Rasmeloungon. By early Saturday night, the field was trimmed down to 24 cash winners returning on Sunday.
By early Sunday afternoon, the winners’ side was down to McCready taking on Henson and Alan Duty challenging Shaun Wilkie. McCready came through with a 9-6 victory while Wilkie cruised into the hot seat match to meet him. Wilkie was full of confidence and rolled right through McCready 9-5. The one-loss side was no bargain, with several players capable of winning the whole thing. McCreesh and Henson rose to the final four, with McCreesh taking that match. McCready wanted another shot at Wilkie and put a stop to McCreesh’s run. The final match was mostly back and forth, with McCready maintaining a slim lead. With a 5-7 deficit, Wilkie stayed focused and fought his way to take four consecutive games to win the tournament 9-7. First place paid $1,100, with $700 for second.The women’s event on Sunday saw some surprises, as the points leader Sueyen Rhee took a new path to the finals. Twenty-year-old newcomer Amanda Pasko played with her new favorite Falcon cue and sent Rhee to the one-loss side in the mid-afternoon. Pasko then took on Amanda Smith for the hot seat but was defeated 7-2. Rhee placed Teresa Diller into fourth place and then gained her revenge on Pasko 5-2 in the rematch. Smith was sitting comfortably in her first tour hot seat, and Rhee was determined to show her why they call it “hot.” Rhee won the first set 7-4, but Smith refocused and came right out in the second set to go up 3-1. The battle continued until the score inevitably wound up at 6-6. Rhee dropped the final 9 ball, however, taking home $360 for first, with $230 going to Smith.Rhee stretches her women’s points lead, while Keith McCready and Amar Kang trade spots at the top yet again. The Falcon Cue 9-Ball Tour’s next event has moved to First Break Café in Sterling, VA, for the weekend of July 19-20, 2003. Complete results of all events are available on the website at http://www.FalconCueTour.com.For the latest tour results visit InsidePOOL

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