Paula's Prowess Earns First Place

Nomar Paula went through a tough field and a long day before he arrived in first place o­n the Fury Florida Amateur 9-Ball Tour.  The o­ne-day event took place o­n July 25, 2004, at Bankshot Billiards in Ocala, FL.  With 54 players participating in the $500-added event, Tour Stop 12 was an event to watch as the players composed o­ne of the strongest amateur fields this season. 

Tour owner and promoter Kay Higgins of Kings Bay Promotions attended the event in order to train a new tournament director.  With plans of adding more tours next season, the Fury Tour recognized the need for more directors and is grooming Karen Alford to take over those duties o­n o­ne of the new tours.

Owned by Mike and Linda Kohn, Bankshot Billiards in Ocala, FL, has been in business for 10 years. The room is set up in tournament style with partitions placed around the play areas to separate spectators from players. The room is equipped with seventeen 9-foot tables, o­ne 8-foot table, a full pro shop, cue lathe for o­n-site cue repairs, and pool table sales and service. There is also a full bar and restaurant available, as well as a nightclub o­n the first floor of the building. 

Getting in o­n the action, Kohn, played some of the tour's top players.  His third match of the event was against last weekend's champion, Bobby Moore.  Moore shot out to a 6-3 lead, Kohn fought back until he claimed the 7-6 victory. 

Determined to make a comeback, Moore knocked tour points leader Larry Walthall out of the tournament with a 5-0 shutout before going o­n to win against Steve Foster 5-4 in the quarterfinals.

Jim Sandaler and Paula were the two left standing o­n the winners' side, bringing them together to face off for the hot seat.  Controlling the match from the beginning, Paula jumped into the lead and stayed there.  Sandaler was trailing at 3 when Paula sailed to the victory, shipping his opponent to the o­ne-loss side with a 9-3 final score.

Sandaler next met Moore in the match to determine third place. Although both players were exhausted from the long day, their play was still sharp enough for each to come through with many safeties and great shooting. But the final score showed that Sandaler was still o­n his game when he won with a 5-3 victory.

Paula and Sandaler battled it out late into the night in the race-to-9 final match.  Paula took the lead 6-3, but Sandaler fought back, bringing the score to 6-4. The matches continued, with Paula holding the lead and reaching 7 while Sandaler trailed by two racks.  Even though Sandaler kept o­n his heels, it wasn't enough to get past Paula.  Wrapping the match up as last call was announced, Paula claimed first place with a 9-6 win.

Results:
1st Nomar Paula $550
2nd Jim Sandaler $320
3rd Bobby Moore $220
4th Steve Foster $140
5th Mike Kohn, Larry Walthall $75
7th Julio Aquino, Pat Butler $60
9th Richard Murray, Wayne Hutter, Marty Linzy, Brent Preston $40

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