Kimbrough Gets Last Laugh

By Bill Rosenberger

For much of the day, the story revolved around Daniel Bellew, whose amazing comeback propelled him into the finals of the Viking Cue Amateur 9-Ball event at Mahoning Valley Billiards in Youngstown, OH.  But George Kimbrough made sure he was the last man standing at the December 19, 2004, event.

While Bellew was dominating the left bracket, Kimbrough and Mike Pistelli were breezing through the winners' side.  The two met in the hot seat match, with Kimbrough racing to a 5-0 win.

Pistelli headed to the semifinals to face Bellew, who had won seven straight matches, and he held o­n for his eighth with a 5-4 win.  In the finals, Bellew would have to win two sets against Kimbrough to complete his amazing comeback. 

Bellew held a 3-2 advantage early in the first set, but Kimbrough battled back to take the lead at 4-3.  Bellew took the next rack to the put match at hill-hill, but a miscue o­n the 4 ball left Kimbrough to run out the rack to win the tournament 5-4. 

Results:

1st George Kimbrough $650

2nd Daniel Bellew $400

3rd Mike Pistelli $250

4th Dave Slovick $160

5th Joe Armeni, Rod Shimko $70

7th Cory Young, Dan Madeline $45

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