At the end of Day 3, o­nly 16 of the original 96 players remain to fight for the $8,000 first prize. It was standing room o­nly for most of the day at the Clarion Westgate Hotel, where fans were treated to some awesome action as many of the best players in the country got down in the dash for the cash. Recent Sudden Death Championship winner Corey Deuel, Danny “Kid Delicious” Basavich, Earl Strickland, and Charlie “Hillbilly” Bryant are the four who remain undefeated. Deuel earned his place with a 10-7 win over Italian champion Fabio Petroni and a 10-4 blistering of qualifier winner Brown. Basavich defeated David Matlock and came from behind to win a three-hour slugfest with Jeremy Jones. Strickland escaped the clutches of Detroit’s Brandon Ashcraft and then quieted the rowdy crowd rooting o­n hometown favorite Steve McAninch with a 10-6 victory. “The Earthquake” Keith Mcready sent Buddy Hall to the o­ne-loss side in an exciting hill-hill match but then followed soon after because of a huge turnaround win by Bryant.

In the elimination rounds late Friday night, Matlock fell victim to the sting of the “The Scorpion,” five-time Viking Tour player of the year Shawn Putnam blanked Chuch Altomare 10-0, Varner sent Petroni packing by a score of 10-7, and Canadian Jeff Pillon defeated Shawn Miller 10-2. Buddy Hall pushed Hoeksema off the “hill” and faces Jason Kirkwood in the early rounds Saturday. Troy Frank also defeated Ashcraft by the narrowest of margins and will be matched up Saturday with Jeff Carter, who eliminated Midwest Open 8-Ball winner John Binion 10-5 and upset Rodney Morris 10-8.

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