Abernathy Upsets Sambajon Jr.; Putnam & Barak Battle Today

By InsidePOOL Staff
 
James Baraks, who has never lost a Viking event he has played in, advanced at Palace Billiards o­n Friday night over Leil Gay.  The 110-player field is down to 64 as play gets underway today. 

The Villa Park, IL, poolroom has all 22 tables going for the weekend matches, and with the bracket dwindling down, more top-ranked players will heading to the west side. 

Baraks, an Illinois native, will face Shawn Putnam, who sent Charlie “Hillbilly” Bryant to the o­ne-loss side.  Bryant’s opponent will be decided later today. 

The Putnam/Baraks winner faces either Jeff Abernathy or Niels Feijen, who both emerged with wins o­n Friday.  Feijen came through with a dominating performance over Eddie Balderas, while Abernathy went down to the wire against Santos Sambajon Jr.  With the match at hill-hill and Sambajon controlling the table, it looked even to Abernathy like his fate was sealed.  After Sambajon nailed the 8 ball, the cue rolled back farther than he had planned, leaving him a tough shot o­n the 9.  As he shot it, though, it looked as if it was going right in, but the ball rattled the pocket, and a surprised Abernathy drilled it home to earn the 11-10 win. 

Troy Frank also fell o­n Friday to Shannon Daulton, while Chris Orme and Jon Kuchero also advanced with wins and will face each other today.  Another marquee match up today will be Ronnie Wiseman versus Earl Strickland.  Both players have been o­n fire since the tournament began Wednesday, but something will have to give today.  The winner will go o­n to face either Gil Hernandez or John Schmidt, who also play this afternoon. 

Katrine Jensen, Feijen’s girlfriend, fell in her second-round match, but ousted Joe Waugaman and will play John Palmer today in an effort to survive.  Larry Nevel, who was upset by Eric Lundgren o­n Day 1, has taken two straight against Rebecca Wagner and Kevin Matlock.  Nevel plays Tony Davenport, who ousted Colin Hopper o­n Friday. 

The $25,000-added national championship event will wrap up Sunday with the final match set to start at 7 p.m.  There aren’t any clear favorites as of yet, but Saturday’s matches should paint a clearer picture for who might emerge o­n the last day of play.