Luc Salvas and Winner Danny Hewitt

Resources:

Photo Gallery
www.stanjames.com
Canadian 9-Ball Tour

Canadian 9-Ball Tour – Event #4 Valleyfield, Quebec

Sunday started with 12 players making their way back to Doolys Billiards in Valleyfield.

With only four remaining in Valleyfield it would boil down to Danny Hewitt vs Stan Tourangeau for the hotseat and Erik Hjorleifson vs Francis Crevier in the B side semi final.

Francis Crevier got off to a dream start against Hjorleifson, much to the delight of all the Quebec pool fans in attendance. He benefitted from a couple unforced errors to pull into a comfortable 5-1 lead. Crevier maintained his four rack advantage to lead at 7-3 with Hjorleifson at the table and facing a rack winning opportunity. This match was not to be for Hjorleifson as he was made to suffer through a series unfortunate breaks and to make matters worse his form leading up to this match had completely deserted him. Given a final opportunity Crevier swooped in to take the last two racks and book his place in the B side final with a 9-3 win.

In the Hewitt vs Tourangeau encounter it was the favorite Hewitt that seized the initiative and won the first three racks to keep Tourangeau firmly planted in his chair. Hewitt had been practicing very little before this event and it was apparent that his fresh outlook meant there was no pressure being applied from within. Fortunately for him, Tourangeau was not applying any pressure from without as he pulled further in front to lead 6-1. When the lead held fast at 8-3 to Hewitt it meant that Tourangeau had no more room for mistakes. Known as a tenacious fighter Tourangeau would be asked to dig in his heels and stop Hewitt from winning the one rack he needed to advance to the final. Rack number 12 went to Tourangeau prolonging the celebration from the Hewitt fans and bringing the score to 8-4 Hewitt. They would not have to wait long however as the very next rack saw Hewitt home and dry with a very decisive 9-4 win. Hewitt would now await the winner of the Crevier vs Tourangeau match to see who his opposition would be in the final of the Canadian 9-Ball Tour event #4

The B side final of Stan Tourangeau vs Francis Crevier brought familiar memories back for Tourangeau as he once again would be facing an opponent with a decided edge in fan support. Tourangeau did not enjoy the best of starts just to make matters worse and he quickly found himself 4-2 down to Crevier. It had become very clear to players and fans alike that Francis Crevier had emerged as a force on the Canadian 9-Ball Tour. The next two racks were split giving Crevier the two rack edge at 5-3. The see-saw battle continued with both players exchanging the next four racks meaning Crevier was still ahead by two at 7-5. This ratio of rack exchange would suit Crevier much better than Tourangeau as the players were nearing the finish line of the match. An unlucky scratch after a terrific swerve shot from Tourangeau allowed Crevier to get to the hill at 8-5. The pain would be over soon for Tourangeau as Crevier would only need one more rack to book his spot in the final against Danny Hewitt with a 9-5 win.

The final was a race to 11 racks between two of the most consistent players in Quebec over the past two seasons. Francis Crevier came from the losers bracket to face Danny Hewiit who had yet to taste defeat. The match started with Hewitt grabbing an early lead at 2-0. Following a rack win by Crevier he immediately relinquished the table with a scratch off the break in rack four. This gave Hewitt the chance to restore his two rack lead at 3-1. Hewitt continued to take advantage of every opportunity and increased his lead to 7-3 with his break clicking on all cylinders. His game was also peaking at just the right time as he forged in front 9-5 thereby sending a message to Crevier that he was not going to accept anything less than a first place finish in Valleyfield. Having won this very event at the Valleyfield stop last season, Hewitt came into the final day knowing exactly what he would have to do against an elite field of opposition. Even though Crevier was matching Hewitt shot for shot he could not seem to overcome the early deficit that he had created for himself. Hewitt cleared the balls to take rack number 15 and with that arrived on the hill leading 10-5. With his back against the wall Crevier made short work of rack number 16 to trail 6-10 to Hewitt. A tactical battle in the next won by Crevier pulled one more rack back bringing the score to 10-7 in Hewitt’s favor. As is the case with Hewitt however, every time pressure is applied he responds the only way he knows how and the 18th rack would be all the he would need to win his first Canadian 9-Ball Tour event of season three. The final score was 11-7 to Danny Hewitt over Francis Crevier but in the end all the fans in Valleyfield were the winners as they were all treated to a fantastic weekend of 9-ball.

The Canadian 9-Ball Tour wishes to thank its sponsors, Indigo and Chapters bookstores, Cineplex Odeon Entertainment, Canada Billiard & Bowling, Dufferin Billiards, Stan James Sports Bookmakers, Iwan Simonis table cloth and Aramith billiard balls for their support and adding to the success of the tour. We would also like to acknowledge Doolys Billiards and its owner Luc Salvas as well as all the fans and players that continue to offer their support of the Canadian 9-Ball Tour.

Above is just part of the great news article by Canadian 9-Ball Tours Michael Wright, to read the rest or for all Canadian 9-Ball Tour information including all the event brackets and tournament prize money payouts please visit the official tour website at www.Canadian9BallTour.com .