Shuff double dips Reynolds in the finals of the Action Pool Tour!

Apr 16, 2012

The Action Pool Tour (APT) held its 8th event of the 2011-2012 Session at Break Time Sports Grill & Pub in Salisbury, MD on the weekend of April 14-15, 2012. The event drew a strong field of 40 players, 16 of which were Pro (AA) or Semi-Pro (A) ranked players. The field included the likes of Matt Krah, Josh Brothers, Kevin West, Brandon Shuff, Brian Deska and Brett Stottlemyer just to name a few.
Play began at approximately 1:00pm on Saturday, April 14th with no significant early upsets. However, as the day wore on, many of the top players suffered surprising losses. At the end of Saturday, only eight players remained; four on the winners’ side and four on the one-loss side. The winners’ side final four featured an unlikely group: Tour Director Ozzy Reynolds, Brian Deska, Danny Bell, and Fred Scott while the one-loss side final four included Kevin West, Paul Helms, Derek Schwager and Brandon Shuff.
Sunday began on the winners' side with Reynolds upsetting Deska 9-7 in the live stream match while Bell downing Scott 9-6. This set up an unlikely hot seat match-up between Reynolds and Bell. The match remained extremely close throughout with neither player ever taking more than a two-rack lead. With the match tied 8-8, Reynolds had to decide between a razor thin cut on the 6-ball down the end rail or a safety play. He eventually decided to play offense and cut the ball down the rail and into the pocket; leaving perfect position for the run-out and the win to claim the hot seat.
Meanwhile on the one-loss side, West took apart Helms 9-2 while Shuff easily defeated Schwager 9-1. The next round saw Shuff defeat Scott 9-5 while West eliminated Deska 9-3. This set up a Shuff and West showdown which remained close with Shuff eventually notching a 9-7 victory. Shuff then picked up Bell who was fresh off a tough hill-hill battle with Reynolds. Bell looked determined and jumped out to an early 5-2 lead. However, Shuff began to “hit a gear” and soon took control of the match and won 9-6 to earn a trip to finals against Reynolds.
Shuff would have to defeat Reynolds twice in the true double elimination format. To everyone’s surprise, Reynolds played flawlessly early and quickly took a commanding 6-2 lead. He ran the next rack and left himself a routine 9-ball to take a 7-2 lead. However, he inexplicably missed, leaving an easy 9-ball tap-in for Shuff. Reynolds then broke and ran the next rack to take a 7-3 lead. However, Shuff fought back winning the next two racks. With the score at 7-5, Shuff played safe on the 1-ball leaving Reynolds snookered behind a cluster of balls. Reynolds jumped the cluster and made the 1-ball while also leaving great shape to run the rack and take an 8-5 lead. Although Reynolds had a few opportunities to end the match, he made several errors along the way. Shuff took advantage of every error and with terrific play, eventually won the set 9-8. The second and final set wasn’t nearly as close. With Reynolds appearing deflated by squandering the previous set and Shuff playing terrific, Shuff cruised to a 9-2 victory and claimed the tournament win. The completed brackets are posted on the Results Page.
Other notable results of the event include the top female finisher, the 2nd Chance Tournament, and the Break & Run contest. Four (4) females: Ann Reynolds, Cheryl Sporleder, Nikka Angeles, and Daisy Blancaflor competed in the event in which the top placing female would win a $75 cash prize. Nikka Angeles prevailed and won the top female honor.
The Break & Run contest, which had a payout of $140 per ball, was conducted on Saturday night. UAE native Abdulla Mohammed had the winning ticket and the opportunity at the cash. Everyone crowded the table as Mohammed plowed the 10-ball rack, pocketing the 10-ball which had to be spotted. However, Abdulla was forced to kick at the 1-ball on his first shot. He kicked and hit the 1-ball but it did not find its way to a pocket. The total purse will progressively roll into the next event with a total payout of $160 per ball!
Finally, after being eliminated early on Saturday, Cheryl Sporleder bounced back to win the 8-player 2nd Chance Tournament to earn $90. Coming in 2nd was her husband, Sean Sporleder who earned $50, followed by Paul Oh in 3rd with $20. 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 owners and staff of Break Time Sports Grill & Pub for providing a fantastic venue, great food, and awesome tables. We look forward to returning to this room in the future for more great Action! A special thank you also goes out to Ray Hansen (AKA: Bigtruck) for providing a fantastic live stream with complete commentary over the entire weekend and Pooltrax.net for providing live player statistics. Thanks also to our sponsors: Lambros Cues, Magic Ball Rack (CSI), AzBilliards.com, PoolActionTV, and Steve Lingafelter.
The next stop for The Action Pool Tour is May 5-6, 2012 at VIP Billiards in Catonsville, MD.
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 – Brandon Shuff $800
2 – Ozzy Reynolds $500
3 – Danny Bell $350
4 – Kevin West $250
5-6 – Brian Deska $150
5-6 – Fred Scott $150
7-8 – Paul Helms $100
7-8 – Derek Schwager $100
Top Female Finisher: Nikka Angeles – $75
Long Distance Travel Bonus: Ray Hansen (Texas) $20