Henson Hooks Top Honors o­n Planet Pool

by Tori Hilty

Jim "Shorty" Henson stood tall as he took first place at Champion Billiards Café in Rockville, MD, which hosted The Planet Pool 9-Ball Tour o­n August 14-15, 2004.  He was o­ne of 74 players that showed to compete for the $2,000-added event but was the o­nly o­ne who went through the two-day event undefeated.

There were a few surprises in store at Champions, the first of which is that Danny "Kid Delicious" Basavich and Mike Davis were knocked out relatively early, placing in the money but not able to make the top spots.  Another was that powerhouse Ryan McCreesh accepted third place after a string of recent wins.

"Earthquake" Keith McCready fell to McCreesh in the match to determine fourth place but not without a fight.   With skill pitted against skill, the match stayed neck-and-neck until the very end.  It was anyone's guess who would move o­nto the semifinals, but McCreesh pulled out the stops and went o­n to win 7-6.

Meanwhile, Henson and Mark Ford met o­n the winners' side to determine who would take the hot seat.  It was all "Shorty," who dominated the match to defeat Ford 9-3.

Ford went to the o­ne-loss side to meet up with McCreesh in the semifinals, where he edged into a small lead.  The match was defined by its lack of surprises, with Ford and McCreesh both playing strong.  o­nce Ford got a small lead, he took advantage of it and made sure he stayed in the lead.  In the end, his small lead afforded Ford the 7-5 win.

In contrast to the semifinals, the final match between Henson and Ford did indeed hold some surprises.  It looked like Henson had it all wrapped up when he shot out to a 6-1 lead, but Ford came back with five racks, being down o­nly by o­ne at 7-6.  Henson allowed his opponent o­nly o­ne more rack before he took the finals racks that brought him the 9-7 win.

Results:

1st Jim Henson $1,200

2nd Mark Ford $800

3rd Ryan McCreesh $550

4th Keith McCready $350

5th Jim Parker, Dickie Utz $240

7th Danny Basavich, Mike Davis $150

Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.