Paul Everton Masters the Tri-State Tour’s Third Stop of the Month
November 23, 2009
Justice Eagan (2nd) & Paul Everton (1st)
On Saturday, November 26, a field of 28 players headed to Master Billiards to vie for a top prize of $650 at this amateur B/C/D event. Paul Everton would walk away the winner of this tournament, only three weeks after undergoing surgery. Even with swelling and pain, Paul couldn’t resist the temptation to play pool… a sign of a true die-hard!
His route to victory entailed wins against Ronny Cochachi (7-4), Duane Toney (7-3), and Masatoshi Ebihara (7-5) on the winner’s side, where he then lost to Justice Eagan (7-4). Eagan then went on to claim the hot seat after a hill-hill (7-6) win over Rene Villalobos.
In the final four of the one-loss side, Ron Mason had a dominating 7-1 win over Trevor Heal, while one of the Tri-State’s fierce female players, Emily Duddy, defeated Masatoshi Ebihara (7-4). Emily went on to defeat Master Billiards house player and manager Romeo Singh (7-2), but Ron would fall to Paul Everton (7-6).
Everton continued on to defeat Emily Duddy (7-3) in the quarterfinal, as well as Rene Villalobos (7-4) to reach the finals.
Paul Everton then faced a rematch with Justice Eagan in the finals, where Eagan jumped to an early 4-1 lead. But, Everton battled back to tie 4-4, and continue his streak to lead 7-4, having won six consecutive games. But, Eagan was not giving up just yet, and he fought back to a tie at hills, 8-8, where Everton finished off the match to win the event.
Congratulations needs to go to Justice for his strong showing, he clearly dominated until the finals. Both Paul & Justice deserved to win, but someone has to come out on top and on that day, it was Paul’s turn.
Justice Eagan (2nd) & Paul Everton (1st)
The Tri-State Tour wishes to thank Matt Carter of Sterling Gaming for his support of this tournament and the sport of pool.
Payout:
1st Paul Everton $650
2nd Justice Eagan $345
3rd Rene Villalobos $220
4th Emily Duddy $100
5th/6th Ron Mason, Romeo Singh $55
This was the first time I have seen Justice Eagan play. I was very much impressed with his heart and determination to win. Justice has been playing with several top open players recently in PA, mostly in Gallery Billiards, and it is clear that the hard work is paying off.
Justice’s style to me is a mix of old school and new school. “Mike Sigel” and “Tony Robles.” His game, in my opinion, is knocking on the door of semi-pro level.
Emily Duddy originally from California is one of New York’s top prospects on the women’s professional circuit. While working hard on her pool game in NYC, Emily is also building a career to supplement her pool habit and make ends meet.
Whether you are an aspiring artist or entrepreneur… making it in the city is can be very difficult. Thankfully, players who truly have a buzzworthy game allow their talent to break out once in a while. I watched several of Emily’s matches and she showed grit and a “no quit” attitude. In this event she impressively battled back from a 6-0 deficit in one match while always leaving it all on the table throughout the tournament.
Kudos goes out to Emily for her remarkable 4th place finish. Keep up the good work and everyone at NYCgrind.com hopes to see this accomplishment build on your past successes to allow her to move on to the next level.
Kudos to Paul Everton for snapping of this Tri-State event, I watched as he had a super-impressive journey towards closing out this win. Paul’s ability to bounce back after his operation and fire the balls in the way hid did proved courage and heart.
His break was really turning heads, which made me think…. this guy just had an operation performed, really? Keep up the good shooting Paul!