The 26th Annual National Team Championships came to a close Saturday in Las Vegas. Teams from throughout North America came to the Riviera Hotel & Casino to compete for more than $800,000 in guaranteed prize money.
Masters Championship
Play 2 Win - Plays to Win
The Masters Championships concluded with Play 2 Win, Robert Ray, Johnny Griffin and Jimmy Faircloth from Raleigh, NC playing Dream Team, Kenneth Brisbon, Jason Kirkwood and Richard Schmiegel, Jr. The Masters Division is a modified single elimination tournament, with no skill level limit. Individual player matches are a race to 7 playing 8 games of 9-Ball and 5 games of 8-Ball; team match race is 2 out of 3.
Jason Kirkwood and Johnny Griffin were the first to play. Griffin earned the break and chose to start with 8-Ball. Griffin captured the first four games before Kirkwood was able to catch a break. Ultimately after 11 racks, Griffin won 7 to 4.
Dream Team put up Richard Schmiegel, Jr. in the second match-up against Robert Ray. Schmiegel redeemed Dream Team by winning nearly six games in a row; however, Ray felt the pressure at the end and ended up capturing the match.
Going into the third match, Play 2 Win was up 14 to 10. Play 2 Win put up Jimmy Champions - Play 2 Win - L to R: Johnny Griffin, Jimmy Faircloth, Robert Ray Runners-Up - Dream Team - L to R: Richard Schmiegel, Jr., Kenneth Brisbon, Jason Kirkwood Faircloth against Dream Team’s Kenneth Brisbon. Brisbon captured the first game; however, it wasn’t enough once Faircloth had a chance at the table. Faircloth took the final three 8-Ball games and Play 2 Win won the 2006 Masters Championship.
”The whole experience was wonderful,” said Jimmy Faircloth, “we came in with the idea that we don’t just play, we play to win. We used what worked best for us, we started with one line-up and stuck with it, everyone contributed to the win.”
