McCreesh Undefeated Again While Friend Claims Her First Title

by Andy Lincoln

The Planet Pool 9-Ball Tour returned to First Break Café in Sterling, VA, for Stop #8 the weekend of July 17-18, 2004. The new room owner, Larry Zabel, and the loyal tour sponsors made this a $1,750-added event. The tables were newly covered with Simonis 860 cloth to the enjoyment of the 99 players that converged o­n this player-favorite room.
A strong field was in attendance so high-powered match-ups were inevitable o­n Saturday afternoon. Billy Stephen sent Pooky Rasmeloungon to the elimination bracket early with a 7-5 decision. Sam Monday from North Carolina took down the crowd favorite Keith McCready 7-4, while Kevin West soundly defeated Don Steele 7-2. Joining these three winners in the final eight were Jim Henson; Mike Davis, returning early from a tough trip to the World Championships in Taiwan; Alan Duty; Ryan McCreesh; and newcomer Larry Averman.
On Sunday, McCreesh was unthreatened with a pair of 9-5 wins over Duty and Stephen. Sam Monday also advanced with a 9-7 score over Davis and a convincing 9-3 win over Henson. The hot seat went to McCreesh with another 9-5 score against Monday. Don Steele was knocking them down o­n the o­ne-loss side, defeating McCready 7-5 and edging past Henson 7-6. Billy Stephen sent Davis to the sidelines with a 7-2 defeat before being bested by Steele 7-3. The veteran Steele then slipped past Monday 7-6 to take o­n the unstoppable McCreesh. With a quick 9-2 thrashing, McCreesh earned his third tour win of 2004. All three wins have been undefeated runs.

Open Results:

1st Ryan McCreesh
2nd Don Steele
3rd Sam Monday
4th Billy Stephen
5th Mike Davis, Jim Henson
7th Keith McCready, Steve Betts

Twenty-six ladies came in Sunday morning for their event, and by late afternoon, the final four undefeated came down to Tina Meraglio from Ohio taking o­n Heather Doherty from New York and Lois Scafone up against Kathy Friend. Meraglio came out o­n top 7-3 to take o­n Friend, who edged past Scafone 7-6. Friend took her first hot seat with a 7-4 score over Meraglio. The elimination bracket contained some upsets, as Teresa Savage sent Jin Hee Park and WPBA pro Sueyen Rhee to the sidelines. Points leader Malea Haacke put an end to Savage’s run before being upset by Scafone 5-3. Dougherty eased past Scafone 5-1, who settled for fourth place. Doherty proceeded to place Meraglio into third with a 5-3 score to set up the final with Friend. In the final match, Friend raced out to a 6-2 advantage but stalled. Doherty tied it up at 6-6 in the race to 7. A beautiful 9 ball cut with the bridge gave Friend her first Planet Pool 9-Ball tour win.

Women’s Results:

1st Kathy Friend
2nd Heather Doherty
3rd Tina Meraglio
4th Lois Scafone

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