Krah Climbs to the Top of Hampton Ridge Stop

Matt Krah claimed first place and his first win o­n the Hampton Ridge 9-Ball Tour at the $400-added event hosted by Boulevard Billiards in Allentown, PA, o­n June 27, 2004.  The tough field included competition from tour regulars such as Phil Sherman, Brett Stottlemyer, Joey Landi, and tour point leader Josh Brothers.

Arriving o­n the o­ne-loss side after Lee Holt defeated him earlier with a 7-5 decision, Brothers met Sherman to battle it out for fourth place.  The match seesawed until Brothers was up 6-4, but Sherman fought his way back to bring the game hill-hill.  Brothers, who was up for the next break, relegated Sherman to fourth when he broke the 9 ball in to win 7-6.

Holt secured his first hot seat of the season by commandeering the table and sending Krah to the o­ne-loss after shutting him out 7-0.

It looked like the semifinals were going to favor Brothers when he shot out the hill while Krah was trailing at 4.  However, Brothers started making some serious errors, which allowed Krah to close the gap by tying the game at 6.  Looking like he was going to take the win, Brothers shot the 9 but left it hanging in the pocket.  Krah took advantage of the sitting duck to win the match 7-6.

Krah was off to the finals to face Holt again, but this time victory was Krah's.  Holt scored first but was left trailing when Krah took the next seven consecutive racks.  With Krah in the zone, Holt was able to manage o­nly o­ne more rack to bring the score to 7-2 before Krah took the 9-2 win.

Results:

1st Matt Krah (pictured o­n right)

2nd Lee Holt (pictured o­n left)

3rd Josh Brothers

4th Phil Sherman

5th Joey Landi, Brett Stottlemyer

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