By Mark Whiteside

On Saturday, Oct. 12, Doc’s Action Billiards South was the scene as fifty-four players gathered for another stop o­n the Viking Cue 9-Ball Tour. Located in Akron, OH, the room was formerly known as Starcher’s and had been the scene of many top-level tournaments over the past two decades, but had recently fallen into disrepair. The face-lift was thorough and left a large rectangular room with about two-dozen Gold Crowns dressed in Championship cloth. The room was well maintained, had a pro shop, and the food was pretty good, also.

The usual Ohio players were present, along with a good sprinkling of players from Western PA and WV. Troy Frank, Shawn Putnam, and Leil Gay were the favorites, but quite a few past Viking winners and high finishers were in the field. The action o­n Sunday included some wild finishes and stretches of dominating play. While trailing Dennis Jackson 6-4 in a race to seven, Justin Daniels was the recipient of ball in hand when Jackson scratched o­n the four. Daniels ran out the rest of the set while his opponent was glued to his chair. Daniels was then whitewashed by Tom Purich, 7-0, allowing Purich to challenge Putnam in the Finals.

Putnam was masterful in the final match. He did not miss a single ball. He played safe twice, tying Purich up well enough that his entire match consisted of two kicks out of safeties and a lot of racking. Shawn is really playing well heading into the Viking Cue Tour’s Ohio Regional $5,000 added event next weekend in Columbus, OH and their $25,000 added National Championship at Northfield Billiards in Northfield, OH in November.

Results

54 Players $3380 Total Purse

• 1st- Shawn Putnam
• 2nd- Tom Purich
• 3rd- Justin Daniels
• 4th- Dennis Jackson
• 5th- Troy Frank, Pat “Parma” Lewis
• 7th- Ed Becker, Kevin England
• 9th- Tony Love, Leil Gay, Jordan Grubb, Bill Bahny
• 13th- Rick Lee, Ben Zimmer, Marvin Walker, Lee Knight

14-Oct-2002 20:34 EST