Scott Tollefson Wins 9-Ball Division in Reno

By Mark Whiteside

            The finals of the U.S. Open Bar Table Championship 9-ball division stretched into early Saturday morning with the final 9 ball pocketed by Scott Tollefson of Arvada, CO, at the end of two races to nine against Jeff Heath, who had beaten Tollefson in the king seat match rather handily, 9-2.

            The tall, blond Tollefson, who was the runner-up in the U.S. Amateur tournament last November, had beaten Jose Parica o­nce already earlier in the tournament. This odd-looking pairing, with the Colorado resident standing about 6’5” tall to Parica’s barely over 5’ stature, squared off in the semis after the Filipino left Edwin Montal in fourth place with a 9-4 victory. Tollefson completed that difficult task of beating Parica a second time to set up the rematch with Jeff Heath of Loyalton, NV, about forty miles outside Reno.

            The contrast in styles between the two players made the final excellent viewing for the many spectators. Where Tollefson was fiery and wears his emotions o­n his sleeve, Heath was quiet, efficient, and showed almost no emotion. In the first set, Tollefson played very strong, aggressive, run-out pool while charging to an 8-2 lead in a race to 9. In this string of games, he scored o­n five break-and-runs or run-outs after Heath broke and gave up the table. Over the next five games, Heath did most of the playing, while his opponent spent most of his time in the chair. After tightening the race to 8-7, Tollefson, o­n the alternating break format, broke and ran out again to win the first set 9-7 and pit himself against Heath for a second and deciding set.

            The next set began as a dogfight, with the players matching each other game for game until the score stood at 5-5. Tollefson broke and ran o­n his next two break opportunities and separated those two games by running out seven balls after a Heath missed shot to get o­n the hill 8-5. Heath broke and ran the next o­ne then cleared the 7,8, and 9 balls after Tollefson missed a bank o­n the 7, bringing the score to 8-7 Tollefson with Heath breaking. Heath made the 4 o­n the break and then completely missed the 1 o­n a thin cut, giving Tollefson ball-in-hand. The 9 ball had rolled to the jaws of a corner pocket o­n the break, allowing Tollefson to make the 1 and play position to carom off the side of the 2 and sink the final 9 ball, securing him the victory and $5,000 first prize. Afterwards, Tollefson was o­ne happy, excited player with his first big tournament win. As the 9-ball division winner, Tollefson can now attempt to double up and win the 8-ball division and the $1,000 bonus that will be paid if he can win both divisions.