While struggling with his break, Bowman was playing his typical fast-and-loose style of play, running tables at an average of 90 seconds a rack.  Jeff Sergent, o­n the other hand, a little more methodical of a player, was in top form. He took the hot seat from James Baraks with a 6-3 victory. Bowman cruised to a 5-1 win to earn a place in the finals. There, however, Sergent played almost flawlessly and never missed a ball. Starting with a break-and-run, then taking advantage of a no-in break in the second game and bad safe in the third, Sergent quickly built a 3-0 lead. Bowman broke and ran out to take a game, but from there it was all Sergent. A perfect break and successful navigation of a difficult rack made it 4-1, and a then terrible break by Bowman, where nine balls remained in the rack area was no problem for Sergent, who continued to make everything he shot at. Bowman had a final chance when Sergent failed to make a ball o­n the break o­n the hill, but faltering position play led to a miss. Sergent played a simple lock safety, and Bowman missed the subsequent kick, giving Sergent ball in hand, the match, and the $3,700 (including players’ auction) first-place prize. Behind Bowman, Barakas and John Risko filled out the top four spots.

The Women’s 8-Ball event culminated in former touring pro Debbie Martin prevailing o­n the winners’ side, waiting for the winner of the third-place match that pitted Pam Bell against Jolene Herum. Bell, who won the 9-ball tournament here at the Windy City, was bidding for her second title and a potential sweep. She jumped to a 3-1 lead and smoothly ran out the final game after a miss by Herum.

Perhaps the four days of play took there toll o­n Bell, for in the final match she was far from her usual self, making several unforced errors and exhibiting a rare lack of confidence. For her part, Martin battled fiercely, and there was never a gap of more than a single game the entire set. With both players o­n the hill, however, Martin missed a bank o­n the key ball and was unable to close out the match. Bell, still “limping,” cleared the table to force a second set. There it was all Martin, as she ratcheted her game up a notch and that, mixed with continued erratic play by Bell, resulting in an amazing 5-0 whitewash. Ironically, this weekend was a mirror image of the Wisconsin State Championships, where Bell won the 9-ball event but was defeated in two sets by Martin.

Bell was able to salvage something of Sunday, however, as she and partner Cecil Messer came back from the o­ne-loss side of the Mixed Scotch Doubles 8-Ball event to prevail over Rebecca Gardner and Aaron Goodwin with a 3-0, 3-0 two-set win. Bell and Messer pocketed $500 for their victory over the strong 31-team field.

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