mike fuller shines at the 1st annual greg ferguson memorial 9-ball open in va beach, va!
Left to right: Mike Fuller, Ozzy Reynolds, RJ Carmona
The Action Pool Tour (APT) held its 6th event of
the 2011-2012 Session at Q-Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA on the
weekend of February 11-12, 2012. This event, which drew a strong field of
60 players, including 8 females, was dubbed The 1st Annual Greg
Ferguson Memorial 9-Ball Open in honor of the late Hampton Roads native.
Play began at approximately 1:30pm on Saturday, February 11th with several early upsets as current VA State 9-Ball Champion Chris Futrell defeated “Iron” Mike Davis and, on the live stream table, John Mitchelltree downed current APT #1-ranked player Brian Deska 8-7. Play continued until approximately 12:30am at which time only 12 players remained: 4 on the winners’ side and 8 on the one-loss side. Surprisingly, neither Mike Davis nor Brian Deska was among the players to return on Sunday. The winners’ side final four included VA Beach locals Eric Moore, RJ Carmona, and Nil Lim along with North Carolina native Mike Fuller. The one-loss side final eight included Chris Futrell, Jimmy Bird, Larry Kressel, Chad Pike, Junior Conway, Ray Reyna, Paul Helms, and Jerry Fitchett.
Sunday began on the 1-loss side with the elimination of Bird, Pike, Reyna, and Fitchett. The next round featured a highly anticipated winners’ side matchup between top Q-Master player Eric Moore and one of North Carolina’s finest – Mike Fuller. The match remained relatively close throughout but in the end, Moore downed Fuller 8-5. Meanwhile on the winners’ side, Carmona easily got past his good friend Lim 8-3. This set up two Q-Master locals, Moore and Carmona, for the hot seat. Moore jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead and it seemed that he would easily cruise to the finals. However, Carmona fought back and slowly notched his way back into the match. With the score 7-6 in Moore’s favor, he had only the eight and nine ball remaining to win the set. As he thin-cut a difficult but makeable 8-ball, it skid and hung by the pocket, allowing Carmona to tie the match hill-hill. In the final game, Moore again was poised to win the match as he ran the table but uncharacteristically missed a routine 8-ball. This gave Carmona two tap in shots for the win and a trip to the finals.
Meanwhile on the one-loss side, Futrell eliminated Kressel 6-3 while Helms downed Conway 6-4. The next round saw Fuller blast Futrell 6-1 while Lim squeaked by Helms 6-5. Fuller then easily advanced through Lim 6-2 for a rematch with Moore and a chance to get to the finals. Seemingly bothered by his previous loss, Moore couldn’t seem to get anything to roll his way as Fuller won 6-3. This set up Fuller and Carmona in the finals in which Fuller would have to defeat Carmona twice in the true double elimination format. The first set remained close but Fuller prevailed 8-6 to force a second and deciding set. This one was not as close as Fuller took command and did not relent as he won 6-3 and earned $900 cash plus free entry into the 2012 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship (a $500 value). After the final match, Fuller was all smiles as he explained that it was his 7-year-old son’s birthday and he promised him that he would win.
Other notable results of the event include the top female finisher, the 2nd Chance Tournament, and the Break & Run contest. Eight (8) females, Ann Reynolds, Cheryl Sporleder, Daisy Blancaflor, Cheryl Pritchard, Jacki Duggan, Wendy Pyle, Charlene Harvey, and Shawn Ferguson (widow of Greg Ferguson) competed in the event with the top placing female winning a $75 cash prize. After losing her opening match, Cheryl Sporleder won her next three matches to finish 17th-24th overall and tie Charlene Harvey. The two played a race to 3 deciding set in which Sporleder would prevail and take home the top female honor and $75.
The Break & Run contest, which had a payout of $115 per ball, was conducted on Saturday night. Sergey Sobakarev had the winning ticket and the opportunity at the cash. Not feeling confident in his break, he elected to have RJ Carmona shoot on his behalf. Everyone crowded the table as Carmona plowed the 10-ball rack. The balls scattered in frenzy but nothing found its way to a pocket. The total purse will progressively roll into the next event with a payout of $150 per ball!
Finally, after being eliminated in the very first Sunday morning match, Jerry Fitchett bounced back to win the 21-player 2nd Chance Tournament and earn $200. Coming in 2nd was Bill Duggan who earned $120, followed by Sean Sporleder in 3rd who earned $80 and Chad Pike in 4th earning $50. The completed brackets are posted on the Results page .
The Action Pool Tour would like to thank all of the players who came out to participate and the owner and staff of Q-Master Billiards for providing a fantastic venue, great food, and awesome 9-foot Diamond tables. This was a great turnout and we look forward to returning to this room many more times in the future for more great Action!
The next stop for The Action Pool Tour is March 17-18, 2012 at the notorious First Break Cafe in Sterling, VA. First Break is well-known for action and excitement and this event will be no exception!
The Action Pool Tour is continually looking for sponsors. If anyone is interested in placing an ad during our live stream, on our website, or any other sponsorship arrangement, please contact Tour Director Ozzy Reynolds at admin@actionpooltour.com.
By Tour Staff
Payouts
1 – Mike Fuller $1,400
2 – RJ Carmona $600
3 – Eric Moore $400
4 – Nil Lim $300
5-6 – Chris Futrell $200
5-6 – Paul Helms $200
7-8 – Larry Kressel $120
7-8 – Junior Conway $120
9-12 – Jimmy Bird $80
9-12 – Chad Pike $80
9-12 – Ray Reyna $80
9-12 – Jerry Fitchett $80
Top Female Finisher: Cheryl Sporleder – $75
Long Distance Travel Bonus: Mike Davis (Florida) $20
Play began at approximately 1:30pm on Saturday, February 11th with several early upsets as current VA State 9-Ball Champion Chris Futrell defeated “Iron” Mike Davis and, on the live stream table, John Mitchelltree downed current APT #1-ranked player Brian Deska 8-7. Play continued until approximately 12:30am at which time only 12 players remained: 4 on the winners’ side and 8 on the one-loss side. Surprisingly, neither Mike Davis nor Brian Deska was among the players to return on Sunday. The winners’ side final four included VA Beach locals Eric Moore, RJ Carmona, and Nil Lim along with North Carolina native Mike Fuller. The one-loss side final eight included Chris Futrell, Jimmy Bird, Larry Kressel, Chad Pike, Junior Conway, Ray Reyna, Paul Helms, and Jerry Fitchett.
Sunday began on the 1-loss side with the elimination of Bird, Pike, Reyna, and Fitchett. The next round featured a highly anticipated winners’ side matchup between top Q-Master player Eric Moore and one of North Carolina’s finest – Mike Fuller. The match remained relatively close throughout but in the end, Moore downed Fuller 8-5. Meanwhile on the winners’ side, Carmona easily got past his good friend Lim 8-3. This set up two Q-Master locals, Moore and Carmona, for the hot seat. Moore jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead and it seemed that he would easily cruise to the finals. However, Carmona fought back and slowly notched his way back into the match. With the score 7-6 in Moore’s favor, he had only the eight and nine ball remaining to win the set. As he thin-cut a difficult but makeable 8-ball, it skid and hung by the pocket, allowing Carmona to tie the match hill-hill. In the final game, Moore again was poised to win the match as he ran the table but uncharacteristically missed a routine 8-ball. This gave Carmona two tap in shots for the win and a trip to the finals.
Meanwhile on the one-loss side, Futrell eliminated Kressel 6-3 while Helms downed Conway 6-4. The next round saw Fuller blast Futrell 6-1 while Lim squeaked by Helms 6-5. Fuller then easily advanced through Lim 6-2 for a rematch with Moore and a chance to get to the finals. Seemingly bothered by his previous loss, Moore couldn’t seem to get anything to roll his way as Fuller won 6-3. This set up Fuller and Carmona in the finals in which Fuller would have to defeat Carmona twice in the true double elimination format. The first set remained close but Fuller prevailed 8-6 to force a second and deciding set. This one was not as close as Fuller took command and did not relent as he won 6-3 and earned $900 cash plus free entry into the 2012 U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship (a $500 value). After the final match, Fuller was all smiles as he explained that it was his 7-year-old son’s birthday and he promised him that he would win.
Other notable results of the event include the top female finisher, the 2nd Chance Tournament, and the Break & Run contest. Eight (8) females, Ann Reynolds, Cheryl Sporleder, Daisy Blancaflor, Cheryl Pritchard, Jacki Duggan, Wendy Pyle, Charlene Harvey, and Shawn Ferguson (widow of Greg Ferguson) competed in the event with the top placing female winning a $75 cash prize. After losing her opening match, Cheryl Sporleder won her next three matches to finish 17th-24th overall and tie Charlene Harvey. The two played a race to 3 deciding set in which Sporleder would prevail and take home the top female honor and $75.
The Break & Run contest, which had a payout of $115 per ball, was conducted on Saturday night. Sergey Sobakarev had the winning ticket and the opportunity at the cash. Not feeling confident in his break, he elected to have RJ Carmona shoot on his behalf. Everyone crowded the table as Carmona plowed the 10-ball rack. The balls scattered in frenzy but nothing found its way to a pocket. The total purse will progressively roll into the next event with a payout of $150 per ball!
Finally, after being eliminated in the very first Sunday morning match, Jerry Fitchett bounced back to win the 21-player 2nd Chance Tournament and earn $200. Coming in 2nd was Bill Duggan who earned $120, followed by Sean Sporleder in 3rd who earned $80 and Chad Pike in 4th earning $50. The completed brackets are posted on the Results page .
The Action Pool Tour would like to thank all of the players who came out to participate and the owner and staff of Q-Master Billiards for providing a fantastic venue, great food, and awesome 9-foot Diamond tables. This was a great turnout and we look forward to returning to this room many more times in the future for more great Action!
The next stop for The Action Pool Tour is March 17-18, 2012 at the notorious First Break Cafe in Sterling, VA. First Break is well-known for action and excitement and this event will be no exception!
The Action Pool Tour is continually looking for sponsors. If anyone is interested in placing an ad during our live stream, on our website, or any other sponsorship arrangement, please contact Tour Director Ozzy Reynolds at admin@actionpooltour.com.
By Tour Staff
Payouts
1 – Mike Fuller $1,400
2 – RJ Carmona $600
3 – Eric Moore $400
4 – Nil Lim $300
5-6 – Chris Futrell $200
5-6 – Paul Helms $200
7-8 – Larry Kressel $120
7-8 – Junior Conway $120
9-12 – Jimmy Bird $80
9-12 – Chad Pike $80
9-12 – Ray Reyna $80
9-12 – Jerry Fitchett $80
Top Female Finisher: Cheryl Sporleder – $75
Long Distance Travel Bonus: Mike Davis (Florida) $20
