Friendly Final in Hampton Ridge Tour

By Bill Rosenberger

The Hampton Ridge Tour made its sixteenth stop at Drexeline Billiards in Drexel Hill, PA, and to the delight of the audience, two best friends reached the finals.  The event, held October 24, saw Matt Krah and Josh Brothers reach the final match to play for first place and bragging rights.

The two friends took different paths during the tournament.  Krah battled through the winners' bracket, with victories over Brandon Diodato 7-2, Rob Hart 7-5, Jack Springfield 7-3, and Eddie Abraham 7-6 to reach the hot seat.

In the hot seat match, Krah faced Jack Weltch, who was also playing well.  The two battled back and forth, but Krah came out o­n top 7-5.

Meanwhile, Brothers was blazing his trail through the o­ne-loss side after a stumbling in the first round to Randy Schwager 7-4.  He came back with wins over James Keegan 7-3, Lou Patrikios 7-4, Jimmy Fusco 7-5, Rapheal Saldava 7-4, Bob Maidhof 7-4, and Weltch 7-5 to reach the finals against Krah.

In the finals, Brothers and Krah were both expecting a tough challenge.  The close friends often play together and know each other's strategies.  They traded games back and forth with neither getting ahead by much.  Brothers was able to grab a late lead and hold o­n for the 9-7 victory.

Results:
1st Josh Brothers
2nd Matt Krah
3rd Jack Weltch
4th Bob Maidhof
5th Eddie Abraham, Rapheal Saldava
7th Joe Scott, Jimmy Fusco
9th Scott Devecchio, Randy Schwager, Jack Springfield, Carmen Lombardo