[POOL] Results

[John Valdes]

First night of the winter session was yesterday against No Sweat. It was a closely contested night, with all but one match going to the final game. We won 2 and lost 2. We only had 4 players, so the 5th match will need to be made up.

Brian and Paul played the 1st and 2nd matches concurrently against Mike and Rick, resp. Brian's was a 2:6 while Paul's was a 3:3.

Brian was making shots, but unfortunately so was Mike, not giving Brian many opportunities. Mike took the 1st game and Brian the 2nd, but Mike denied him another win. Brian went down 1:6.

Paul lost his 1st game but took the 2nd and 3rd to put the pressure on Rick. Rick returned the pressure by winning the next game and getting out to a quick lead in the final hill game. He just about had Paul trapped, but with good coaching from Brian and good execution by Paul, Paul was able to shot out of it and get to the 8 first for a match win, 3:2.

I played next against Jim in a 2:3. We both started out shooting poorly, each missing shots we should have been making. Thankfully that gave me enough turns at the table that eventually I managed to sink the 8 before Jim. In the next game, I relaxed and concentrated on my fundamentals, and before I knew it, I had run all my balls in and the 8 with most of Jim's still on the table for another win. I took the match 2:0.

Az played the 4th match against Gary, a 2:5. Gary is a master of defense, and when he wasn't making shots, he was leaving Az with nothing to shoot at. Az did a great job shooting out of most spots, but at the cost of not being able to sink anything, and he soon found himself down 0:4. As the match progressed, Gary's aim began to waver, and Az capitalized to win the 5th game and take the match to the hill. Az continued pressing in the final game and got to the 8 before Gary, but unfortunately he missed his shot, leaving it easily placed for Gary to clean up for the game and match, 1:5.

Overall, a respectable start. Next week we play Nice Shot, 7 Bucks.

John