Well, this is it, D-Day! The day of reckoning. It's come down to mano a mano for all the marbles and bragging rights for the next year.
The draw seems to favor Europe, but it can only be decided out on the table, so here we go.
Billy Thorpe draws Jayson Shaw first and has to be the underdog. This will turn out to be a pivotal match in deciding the Cup.
Shaw has the first chance in game one, a relatively straightforward combination from the one to the nine. The balls are fairly close together in a near straight line and not far from the corner pocket. Jayson flubs the shot badly. An inning later Billy gets a shot on the one, which he makes. Then he can only bank the three ball, but that's not problem for the good banker that Billy is. That clears thing for a run out which a totally focused Thorpe completes without error. It's 1-0 USA.
Billy breaks empty and Shaw decides to lock him up with a safe. He does so but in the process the five falls. Jayson must shoot from here and he fouls. With BIH Billy runs the second rack. It's 2-0 USA
Jayson fights back with a nice break and run. He makes it look so easy. 2-1 now.
Billy breaks empty and Jayson punishes him again, with a perfectly executed run out. No wasted motion when Jay is at the table. 2-2.
Shaw makes two balls on the break and comes up with another little combination from the three to the four. Miss again. Thorpe fires in a superb cut shot down the rail on the three and he's off and running. He completes the rack. 3-2 USA, back in the lead.
Billy makes a ball on the break and tries a difficult rail first shot on the one. He grazes the one and it doesn't fall in. Referee Ken Shuman picks up the cue ball, thinking that he fouled. Oops! There was no foul and even Jayson said there wasn't a foul. They do a video replay and it's pretty obvious the one moved first. Just like at a basketball or baseball game they look at it several times, but the hit does not change :wink:, thank God. Finally they use the screen shot to replace the cue ball. All is well again. Jayson runs another rack to conclude that little fiasco. It's 3-3.
This game features a long series of safeties and jump shots that are well executed by both players. As in so many games the key to the rack lies with making the first ball and getting position on the second ball. Shaw gets that first shot but hangs the three ball a moment later on a shot he pounded too hard into the far corner pocket. Thorpe runs out from here. He's on the hill 4-3.
Billy breaks and makes a ball and has a shot on the one. What follows is the first pressure packed run out of day four. USA's most animated player is completely focused on the task at hand and doesn't acknowledge the crowd exhorting him or anything else for that matter, except the next ball. He makes them one by one, each shot with the fate of the MC confronting him. Only when he reaches a very make able nine ball does he allow himself to soak it all in. He shoots the nine in and releases all that energy in a huge yell. Billy Thorpe has defeated a giant and Team USA has a 9-7 lead in the race for the Cup.
(Part One)
The draw seems to favor Europe, but it can only be decided out on the table, so here we go.
Billy Thorpe draws Jayson Shaw first and has to be the underdog. This will turn out to be a pivotal match in deciding the Cup.
Shaw has the first chance in game one, a relatively straightforward combination from the one to the nine. The balls are fairly close together in a near straight line and not far from the corner pocket. Jayson flubs the shot badly. An inning later Billy gets a shot on the one, which he makes. Then he can only bank the three ball, but that's not problem for the good banker that Billy is. That clears thing for a run out which a totally focused Thorpe completes without error. It's 1-0 USA.
Billy breaks empty and Shaw decides to lock him up with a safe. He does so but in the process the five falls. Jayson must shoot from here and he fouls. With BIH Billy runs the second rack. It's 2-0 USA
Jayson fights back with a nice break and run. He makes it look so easy. 2-1 now.
Billy breaks empty and Jayson punishes him again, with a perfectly executed run out. No wasted motion when Jay is at the table. 2-2.
Shaw makes two balls on the break and comes up with another little combination from the three to the four. Miss again. Thorpe fires in a superb cut shot down the rail on the three and he's off and running. He completes the rack. 3-2 USA, back in the lead.
Billy makes a ball on the break and tries a difficult rail first shot on the one. He grazes the one and it doesn't fall in. Referee Ken Shuman picks up the cue ball, thinking that he fouled. Oops! There was no foul and even Jayson said there wasn't a foul. They do a video replay and it's pretty obvious the one moved first. Just like at a basketball or baseball game they look at it several times, but the hit does not change :wink:, thank God. Finally they use the screen shot to replace the cue ball. All is well again. Jayson runs another rack to conclude that little fiasco. It's 3-3.
This game features a long series of safeties and jump shots that are well executed by both players. As in so many games the key to the rack lies with making the first ball and getting position on the second ball. Shaw gets that first shot but hangs the three ball a moment later on a shot he pounded too hard into the far corner pocket. Thorpe runs out from here. He's on the hill 4-3.
Billy breaks and makes a ball and has a shot on the one. What follows is the first pressure packed run out of day four. USA's most animated player is completely focused on the task at hand and doesn't acknowledge the crowd exhorting him or anything else for that matter, except the next ball. He makes them one by one, each shot with the fate of the MC confronting him. Only when he reaches a very make able nine ball does he allow himself to soak it all in. He shoots the nine in and releases all that energy in a huge yell. Billy Thorpe has defeated a giant and Team USA has a 9-7 lead in the race for the Cup.
(Part One)
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