Baraks Gets the Bank Two Weeks In A Row o­n Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour

By Tori Hilty, InsidePOOL Staff 

James Baraks gave a repeat performance of his last week's Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour stop by taking top honors at Pockets in Crestwood, IL, the weekend of April 30-May 1, 2004.  A field of 92 players, 18 of whom were ladies and juniors, descended o­n the brand-new poolroom to vie for a purse totaling $2,850.  Baraks breezed through the field without anyone touching him, but he got a run for his money from feared Chicagoan Ike Runnels and local Gil Hernandez. 

The room was very posh, possibly even the "greatest tournament room in the Midwest," according to tournament director Mark Haddad.  The players and spectators alike marveled at the space available that made it easy to play and watch the action comfortably.  Also commented o­n by the players was the easy accessibility from the interstate-no more waiting in traffic! 

Things started to heat up in the quarters where Tom Stathis Jr. faced off against Runnels.  There was a brief discussion as to whether Stathis exchanged the cue ball in the third rack that had tensions mounting for the rest of the match.  Stathis did not seem to be affected, as he played well throughout the match to beat out Runnels, relegating him to fourth place. 

The excitement didn't wane as Baraks and Gil Hernandez met each other in the hot seat match where Hernandez was defeated and sent to the o­ne-loss side.  Hernandez then had to battle Tom Stathis through a very tight game that went hill-hill to gain a victory and his second face-off with Baraks, this time in the final match. 

Early in the match it looked like Hernandez was going to take the top spot, but then Baraks came back from a 5-2 trail running through an astounding five racks in a row to beat out Hernandez 7-5.  This put Hernandez in second place, his second week in a row placing in the top five, and Baraks gained his second consecutive win o­n the Viking Tour.

Results:

1st  James Baraks                                

2nd  Gil Hernandez                                  

3rd  Tom Stathis Jr.                                  

4th  Ike Runnels                                         

5th  Duane Tuula, Keith Svitanek                 

7th  Luis Colon, Paul Navarrete                   

9th  Eddie Balderas, Tom Spencer, Chuck Hall, Rich Kryfka                

13th  Glenn Rogers, Edward Grau, Gordy Vanderveer, Henry Brodt       

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