Vichiensoen Wins Viking Tour

By Bill Rosenberger

The Viking Cue 9-Ball Open Tour headed west to Villa Park, IL, to break the racks at Palace Billiards o­n November 6-7.  The venue, just outside of Chicago, drew many local players, including Noy Vichiensoen, who would earn his highest finish of the season.

Palace Billiards, a regular tour stop for the WPBA, hosts many local tournaments and is o­ne of the best places in all of Chicago, sporting 24 Brunswick Gold Crowns.  This weekend, owners Steve Hopper and John Abruzzo added $1,000 to the final prize pot.

The 50-player field heartily competed during the two days, but o­nly a few were left standing Sunday night.  Vichiensoen and Gordy Vander Verr both earned a spot in the hot seat match after going undefeated.  However, Vichiensoen sent Vander Verr to the west side to face Tom McCluskey in the semifinals. 

Vander Verr emerged from the o­ne-loss side with a win over McCluskey to earn a rematch with Vichiensoen.  The final match between the two local players went back and forth, but Vichiesoen took a late lead and ran with it for the 7-4 tournament victory. 

But both Vander Verr and Vichiensoen took home personal victories, as each of them recorded their highest finishes of the year. 

Results:
1st Noy Vichiensoen $600
2nd Gordy Vander Verr $400
3rd Tom McCluskey $300
4th Aaron Goodwin $175