Baraks Sweeps Big Orange Classic

By Steve Trinward, InsidePOOL Staff

Jamie Baraks swept the Big Orange Classic 9-ball tournament o­n Sunday evening with a rousing set of matches at Breakers Sports Bar in Knoxville, TN, earning him the $2,000 top prize in the process. It made his nine-hour drive from the Quad Cities region of Illinois well worth the trip.

Baraks, who two months ago won the Memphis 9-Ball Open with a stunning rise from the o­ne-loss bracket and a double-dipping of tour standout Jeremy Jones, did it o­ne better this time in Knoxville, emerging from the heap as the o­nly undefeated player in the house. His 9-3 final round slashing of local Scott Hafley followed a previous victory over the same guy (by the same score) in the winners' side final a couple of hours earlier. Hafley, meanwhile, had defeated Shawn "The Love Sponge" Putnam in a dogfight semifinal match 9-8 to get to the rematch.

Shawn Putnam had a busy afternoon, indeed, playing a total of six matches before being eliminated. He began and ended his Sunday with losses—both, as it turned out, to ScottHafley. The afternoon round went 9-7, as Putnam's dry break o­n the final game left Hafley with an open table. The late round was the aforementioned 9-8 thriller.

In between, Putnam survived Russ Edwards 9-6, eliminated Jonathan "Hennessee" Pinegar in a break and run fiesta 9-1, finished off Powers 9-5, and silenced young Corey Deuel (who had not o­nly won the mini o­n Thursday but continued to show remarkable skills throughout the weekend) 9-6. But the rematch with Hafley was just too much for Putnam, and he left with third place.

Although tournament director Shannon Daulton did not finish among the tourney leaders, he did pocket some cash as both the winner of Saturday's Midnight Madness and the runner-upin the mini o­n Thursday. He was also planning a golf tournament for Monday morning and had "about twenty guys" signed up for that competition, sure to provoke and provide both merriment and challenge for those who wanted it. He will be running the Big Orange again in February after the Derby City event and plans to make both that and this October showdown annual occurrences.

Results:

1st Jamie Baraks $2,000

2nd Scott Hafley $1,000

3rd Shawn Putnam $600

4th Corey Deuel $400

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