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Joyner Pulls a Double-Dip to Win Red Stick Classic by Bill Fuller  One-pocket aficionado Cliff Joyner came out on top of an impressive list of players that included the likes of John Schmidt, Gabe Owen, Charlie Bryant, Scotty Townsend, and David Matlock to take home first place and the big purse that went with it at the Red Stick Classic. With players representing eight states and three countries showing up in Baton Rouge, LA, on August 20-22, 2004, anyone who thought the play was going to get tough was absolutely right.
Owners Tony Dowden and Bernie Calvaruso personally guaranteed $14,500 in cash, bringing the total purse to a hefty $19,730. To make the event even more exciting, some of the top picks found their way to the one-loss side early, leaving nowhere to hide on the chart. But as the tournament rolled into to the cash rounds, many of those same top picks were out of the event, including as Bryant, Schmidt, Townsend, Reed Pierce, and Wade Crane, all of whom were forced to go home without cashing. Highroller Lil' John and Owen tied for fifth place after Rene Rendon defeated Lil' John by the score of 7-6 and Owen fell to Filipino threat Edwin Montal 7-4. Montal was having a great time on his vacation travels from Canada when he decided to stop in and play, only to have Rendon send him back on vacation, finishing fourth. Showing everyone that he came to play, Bobby Johnson defeated Joyner in their match for the hot seat by moving his opponent to the one-loss side with a 7-5 score. But Joyner managed to keep himself in the game by sending Rendon packing in the match to determine third place, defeating him 7-5. Using a true double-elimination format, Joyner needed to win two sets to claim first place. Hot from his last win over Rendon, Joyner took the first set 7-2 as if Johnson was not even in the house. Joyner came out firing again in the second set and ran to a 5-1 lead before sending the cue ball flying off the table on the break. Johnson then ran out that rack and broke and ran another to bring the score to 5-3. Joyner again failed to win from his break, allowing Johnson to bring the score 5-all. Finding his break, Joyner reached the hill first with 6-5. After some back-and-forth play, Johnson composed himself and knotted it at the hill. Coming down to the final rack, Joyner broke and scratched. Johnson came to the table with everything open, leading the spectators to believe it was all over for Joyner until he shot the 4 ball and came up short for shape behind the 8 ball. Johnson attempted a jump shot on the 5 but miscued, resulting in a foul that gave Joyner the opening he needed. Quick to capitalize on the error, Joyner ran the rest of the rack and took the Red Stick Classic title and $7,500 in cash for his win. Results: 1st Cliff Joyner 2nd Bobby Johnson 3rd Rene Rendon 4th Edwin Montal 5th Lil' John, Gabe Owen Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.
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