Buddy Hall signs a fan's cue before his match with Jose Parica.
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Side Rail News
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Buddy Hall prevented a Filipiino Final Four with his victory over Santos Sambajon, 9-8, in the late match Saturday, but int he corner of his eye he saw Jose Parcia crush Johnny Archer to advance into the one-loss semifinal against Hall.
Hall had remained undefeated until 8 pm last night when Rodolfo Luat beat Hall 9-8 to move into the winnerıs semifinal against Francisco Bustamante, who handed Archer his first loss, 9-5.
Of Bustamante, Hall, Luat and Parica, Jose Parica easily faced the hardest road. Dealing with elimination in every match, Parica had to beat Earl Strickland, Kim Davenport, Buffalo, N.Y., upstart Dennis Hatch and Archer to play today.
The winner of the Bustamante/Luat will advance to the title match while the loser faces the winner of the Hall/Parica test.
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With all due respect to Francisco Bustamante and Rodolfo Luat, the Matchof the Century will take place at noon in the loserıs bracket of the Camel Pro Billiards Series Denver Open.
While the National Football Conference championship usually decides the Super Bowl winner, the one-loss semifinal match between Buddy Hall and Jose Parica wil determine the winner of the Camel points series $50,000 first-place bonus. Coming into the host
Denver Merchandise Mart, Hall had 540 points with Parica trailing by only 15 points. If Parica gets by Hall, Parica will earn enough points to win the top prize. The loser of the match will receive $25,000.
A few days earlier, Hall called the potential matchup a "storybook finish" to the Denver Open but also joked that he didnıt really want to win the big bonus by having to play Parica in the finals. Unfortunately for Hall, his fear has come to life. It shou
ldnıt faze Hall, escpecially in the way he has performed all year.
Yet, while Hall has thrived on the Camel Series, his disdain for the breaking requirements is obvious. "I donıt break well from the D," said Hall. "I donıt get the same action as Bustamante or Archer. They just knock the fire out of it." Although that ma
y be one reason why Hall has not won on the Camel Series, his consistency will pay off to the tune of at least $25,000. As he keeps saying, "As long as Iım healthy, I can play with anyone."
So now he plays with Parica for $50,000. Parica knows whatıs on the line but resigns himself to know that he may not be completely in control of his own destiny. "If I win or lose," says Parica with his index finger pointing upward, "itıs in His hands." W
hen asked what he meant, fellow Filipino Victor Ignacio clarified, "Itıs in Godıs hands."
Actually, now itıs in the hands of either tournament director Scott Smith or assistant t.d. Dave Vandenberghe. Parica will most likely request one of those two to rack the balls for him again. However, Parica is relaxed. "I feel pretty good," he said with
a smile.
See sidebar for tournament results.
Action starts at noon mountain time.
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