Young Ousts Strong Field o­n Midwest Tour

By Bill Rosenberger

Doug Young captured the Midwest 9-Ball Tour victory at Terry's Billiard Club o­n November 14-15 by going undefeated over a tough 79-player field.  The Texas native beat out many local Topeka, KS, players who tried to win o­ne for their hometown crowd.

The event, which was played in a separate event room at the club, was lavished with a generous $2,500 in added money, while the players enjoyed great food and the company of many spectators.  Going into the Sunday's final matches the $1,000 first-place prize seemed to be up for grabs, as many players stepped up their games in an effort to earn it. 

Young and Sam Hammack were two of those players with their eyes o­n the prize.  They met in the hot seat match, which was anyone's game.  With the match tied at 7, Hammack was set to break, and he managed to sink a couple of balls, but o­ne of them was the cue ball.  Young had ball in hand and ran out the rack and then broke and ran the final rack for the 9-7 victory and a spot in the finals. 

Gary Abood was awaiting Hammack in the semifinals, and Abood was excited to get the match going.  He jumped out to an early lead and carried the momentum o­n to a 9-6 win. 

The final match was a double-elimination, and Abood needed two sets to knock out Young.  In the first set, Young didn't have his break working for him, and Abood took advantage of the opportunities, winning 9-5. 

In the second set, both played more intense.  Abood jumped out to a big 7-3 lead, but he wasn't able to do much after that.  In the eleventh rack, Young broke and ran to get within 3.  o­n the next break, Abood came up empty, and Young ran the rack to get to 7-5.  This same sequence took place in the next two games to even the score at 7-all.   Abood finally got a chance in the next rack, but he left himself stuck o­n the 9.  Young made a tough shot and sank the 9 ball to take an 8-7 lead.  In Game 16, Abood broke but scratched, leaving Young with ball in hand.  Young made quick work and ran out the rack to earn the tournament victory. 

 Results:

1st Doug Young $1,000

2nd Gary Abood $650

3rd Sam Hammack $500

4th Steve Rector $330

5th Floyd Reasons, Mark Churnin $200

7th L.V. Abernathy, Jeremy Vulgamore $150

9th Calvin Lawton, Mike Harwood, James Calvert, Randy Spencer