story and article from: John Corrigan
The Cue Ball in Salem hosted the third Oregon stop for the McDermott Tour on February 21st. Jim Lebold, owner, provided free Lattes, Capacinos, and donuts as well as the 9’ tables with Championship 3030 tournament cloth. Jim, manager John Corrigan, and Rod Bair directed the tournament.
While it was hoped to exceed the 64-player capacity advertised, only 36 players showed up. Having only 36 players and 21 tables available to play on allowed for making some changes to the tournament. The players voted to extend the races to 9 in the winners bracket, 7 in the losers bracket and 11 for the final match. Even with extended races, the tournament was completed in only 14 hours of straight play.
While the playfield lacked in quantity, it certainly did not lack in quality! Past McDermott Tour winners present included Stan Tourangeau, Brett Seyler, and Glenn Atwell. We also saw 25 players new to the tour, many of them local players. It was nice having a tournament that drew top players from the NW as well as bringing in some of the local talent. The low cost of the McDermott Tour card was appreciated by many of the local players not planning on competing in other events.
JD Doherty worked his way through the field, the hard way, to win the $900 first place prize. JD lost his first match to Russell Cearley (7-9) before winning nine straight matches to take top honors. JD defeated John Campbell 7-1, Stan Tourangeau 7-5, Mike Stevens 7-6, Lucas Thomas 7-3, Russell Cearley 7-2, Lee Remmers 7-4, Brett Seyler 7-4 and Glenn Atwell 7-3 before facing off against Justin Lilje. JD definitely worked hard for his money, playing virtually non-stop all day long. While those on the winners side had several breaks, those in the losers bracket didn’t have much of a chance to catch their breath. I think that the winner of the toughest draw had to be John Campbell who faced Glen Atwell in his first match and then JD in his second match.
Justin looked unstoppable taking the winners side. But after defeating Tony Bloom 9-6, Ron Migues 9-1, Bobby Schindler 9-3, Lee Remmers 9-1 and Glenn Atwell 9-7, he fell to JD in the finals.
The biggest surprises of the day were the quick exits from the field by Stan Tourangeau and John Campbell. John was out in two and Stan was out in three.
Tournament results:
1st $900 John Doherty, Everett WA
2nd $600 Justin Lilje, Portland OR
3rd $400 Glenn Atwell, Vancouver WA
4th $200 Brett Seyler, Salem OR
5-6th $110 Ivan Doty, Kelso WA / Lee Remmers, Portland OR
7-8th $60 Tony Balzer, Salem OR / Russell Cearley, Eugene OR
9-12th Josh Thomashefsky, Eugene OR / Paul Kirkland, Tacoma WA / Lucas Thomas, Keizer OR / Bobby Schindler, Salem OR
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