SUPERSTAR said:
With Keith and Stalev, they were playing on that table that was all by itself on the other side of the glass and booths in the small room right? Away from the majority of the tables?....
SUPERSTAR, I remember that table, in front of the bar and alongside the semi-finals/finals area.
That is the table that Larry Lisciotti and Evgeny played the one-pocket set, with Larry getting beat. Before the match began, the barking back and forth between Larry and Evgeny was funny. I think they were playing even, if I recall.
That was a really cool tournament, and the pool room in Chelmsford was set up really sweet. The room which housed the majority of the tables up front is where the match took place between Keith and The Russian. Watching Keith and Evgeny size each other up, expressing their opinions on what was a "fair" game (even though neither of them knew how the other one played), with Lisciotti chiming in intermittently, I'd have to say there were about 50-plus people standing close by, hanging onto every word out of their mouths, including me.
Myself being a little green on the tournament trail at that time, I wasn't aware of the fact that Keith had played in Chelmsford previously accompanied by Dennis Hatch. I never did find out what mischief the two of them may have gotten into (not sure I want to know either), but I do remember the look in the owner's eyes as he was welcoming Keith to Chelmsford. Diana Hoppe [Poolpics by Hoppe] was doing her thing, and there was another lady professional photographer from Canada in attendance, both snapping pictures left and right. Some of the photos may be in the AzBilliards Picture Gallery.
Evgeny and Keith stalled for a while. When Keith would suggest a game, the Russian would walk away and discuss it with his entourage. He didn't speak English very well, but he understood money and kept baiting Keith by waving his bankroll in the air, and Keith's nostrils were wide open.
They ended up agreeing on the long-rack banks, even. As the crowd moved towards the designated table, I remember feeling a little wee bit uncomfy when I noticed Evgeny's Russian buddies grinning, rubbing their palms together in unison.
It wasn't an easy win for Keith. The first set took the longest. He had already been knocked out of the tournament, and he was, shall I say, feeling no pain, thanks to Anheuser-Busch.
Folks were side-betting, Keith was barking every time he got to the table, and Evgeny would squeal every time he made a good shot, yucking it up in Russian with his crew. I do remember Earl Strickland had just finished playing his match in the other room, and when he was getting ready to exit the building, he spotted the action, decided to check it out, and parked himself on a stool in the back, unnoticed.
Keith caught a gear and made some unreal bank shots. When he heard Earl call out his name "Eeeeeether," it seemed to give him the fuel to take it to the next level. The Russian was a gentleman gambler and made good on the money, which I promptly tucked away for safe-keeping. It was getting late, and I was looking forward to getting out of there "with the cheese," but as you might guess, Keith agreed to play Evgeny once more, same stakes, same game.
This set didn't take long at all. With confidence and playing on Evgeny's dough, Keith crused on ahead rapidly. The Russian finally unscrewed his stick, but wanted a rematch at a later date. There's a little more to the story -- the caliber of play was topnotch -- but that's a pretty good summary of that match-up.
JAM
