Danny Hewitt, a 26-year-old French Canadian from Montreal, Quebec, had to be talked into the New Jersey trip by his good friend Alex Pagulayan, and after his first-round loss to countryman Claude Bernatchez, the odds of him emerging from the event with the $20,000 first prize must have seemed miniscule. As Hewitt began his journey o­n the o­ne-loss side of the board, the winners’ bracket was moving steadily forward. In the end, Ronnie Alcano, the smooth-stroking young star from the Philippines whose style reminds o­ne of Francisco Bustamante, with the super loose grip, limp wrist, and soft stroke, faced Hall of Fame player Jim Rempe, whose steady, slow play secured the hot seat.

In the meantime, Hewitt was advancing steadily through the o­ne-loss bracket until he and Bustamante were the final players with o­nly o­ne bullet left to fire. Hewitt’s found the mark, as he defeated our Player of the Year 10-5, depositing Bustamante in fourth place. Next he faced Alcano, where he squeaked out a 10-9 win to move forward to face Jim “King James” Rempe in the finals. Rempe had won seven matches in a row in order to occupy the king seat. By contrast, Hewitt, after losing his first match, had to win 11 matches in a row with his back to the wall to reach the same point.

The final match was tight all the way through, with neither player gaining a large advantage. Through the first dozen games, Hewitt gained a two-game margin a couple of times but was unable to pull away before Rempe tied the score at 6-6. From that point forward, the scores were as follows: Hewitt 7-6, tie 7-7, Rempe 8-7, tie 8-8, Rempe 9-8, tie 9-9, hill-hill. In the deciding game, Hewitt drove the cue ball off of the table o­n the break, giving Rempe ball-in-hand. Rempe made the 1 and 2 before playing safe off the 3. A short safety battle ensued o­n the 3 until Hewitt again gave Rempe ball-in-hand. Rempe made the 3 and then the 4, but in the process he hid himself from the 5. Again, a short safety battle ensued and Hewitt, failing to hit the 5 ball, gave Rempe his third ball-in-hand of the game. Rempe, with five balls o­n the table between himself and $20,000, cashed in the 5 and then the 6, but in the process rolled squarely behind the 9. He was able to hit the 7 but not to sink it. Hewitt was then faced by a simple four ball out that he easily converted for the first major title in his professional career .