Viking Victory for Gay

by Tori Hilty

Making an impressive bid for first, Leil Gay, more commonly known as "J.R.," came back from the o­ne-loss side to defeat Dennis Jackson in the finals of the Viking Cue Open 9-Ball Tour.  The weekend of August 14-15, 2004, saw the tour roll into Northfield Billiards in Northfield, OH, to kick off its new season, welcoming a total of 54 players to the event.  Many local players came out to cross sticks, including Chris Szuter, Shawn Putnam, and Ben Zimmer.

Szuter sent fellow Ohio player Putnam to the o­ne-loss side early but then was eliminated by Zimmer, being forced to accept fifth place.  Zimmer then met Putnam in the quarterfinals, where Putnam was victorious.

The two remaining players o­n the winners' side were Gay and Jackson, and they each battled to stay undefeated.  Jackson edged his opponent out to reach a final decision of 7-5, sending Gay to the o­ne-loss side to face Putnam.

With both Putnam and Gay playing well, things were neck-and-neck for most of the match.  Gay managed to get in the lead, leaving Putnam behind at 5 while he took the win with 7, earning a rematch with Jackson in the finals.

Set o­ne of the double-elimination finals started off with the players keeping things tight, but then Gay got into a groove and shot out to take a 7-4 win.  With Jackson o­nly shooting at safeties left by his opponent, Gay gained an insurmountable lead and took first place by claiming a final score of 7-1.

Results:

1st Leil Gay $1,070

2nd Dennis Jackson $700

3rd Shawn Putnam $500

4th Ben Zimmer $300

5th Chris Szuter, Ron Martin $100

7th Don Walls, Tulio Antonelli $75

9th Chuck Blink, Tony Love, Matt Hojnowdski, Mark Cimperman $50

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