EARL STRICKLAND VS TONY ELLIN – 1993 US Open 9-Ball Championship Finals

Hurricane “Tony Ellin” was taken from the pro pool scene much too young, back in 2000. Not many of todays pool fans have had the chance to see Ellin in top form. This is a rare chance to see the powerful break that Ellin was especially known for.

Here, he faced “The Pearl” Earl Strickland in the finals of the 1993 US Open 9-Ball Championship. Strickland had already won this event twice in his career, and was looking for career win number three.

This was a race to eleven, Texas express rules.
Grady Mathews and Ed Sheahan manned the commentary booth.

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Good evening welcome to another chapter on a Never Ending Story that of pocket figard history this time taking the form of the US Open n ball Championship I’m Grady Matthews along with Ed Cen and we’re at the finals Eddie why don’t you describe to our viewers what’s upcoming

Well I think we’re in for a very exciting match here uh Earl strickling playing with a confidence that super duper G oh I love that I love that Earl playing with extraordinary confidence as he always does and a very game Tony Ellen just defeating the great Mike seagull has an equal amount of

Confidence it’s going to be very difficult to pick the differences out here both having an absolutely extraordinary break yes they do and I look for a really great match here Tony Ellen got past the butterfly wi earlier in his initial match against Earl which he lost and he played just great against

Mike seagull and when he just defeated Mike seagel he was loose he was relaxed and he had a good time and he just turned into a terrific performance and I expect no less from him I agree also he missed one ball which is a very difficult shot the entire set this is a

Race to 11 the Texas Express rules and this is Tony’s favorite place to break from and let’s get going well I look at for him to make the one on the side here that’s what he’s been doing very successfully all tournament and he’s perhaps a little pumped up he’s pulled

It past the diamond for that matter but he’s pocketed a ball and he seems to have a reasonable shot at the one now it what ball is this by the corner pocket this is the four ball on the lower left a very difficult vantage point the three ball would be the next

Ball yes I think he’s just going to go back and forth here I don’t like him to even consider going over by the seven drawing it back no he won’t he wants to make sure he can hit to three well he has a little bit of a

Funny angle the good news for him I think is the fact that the four is fairly close to the pocket yeah but what’s he going to do with the five five by the he wants to get close to four if he can boy he’s had a good shot there that he

Did and as you go into these balls consider making possibly the five and the low right hand corner here or does he no he he can’t miss the eight and he can’t go into him I think we’ll see him use inside English and try to go three

Rails now he’s getting over here looking at where he can get there to pocket this five and right he goes in the corner and again if he makes sure he can at least hit the five if he doesn’t get where he wants to he could play a good

Safety I like that that’s the inside English right oh what a great shot he’s hit B the six was an unfortunate spot where the six ended up but how quickly he picked up on a three rail angle that was absolutely correct you have to play good aggressive nineball to defeat these great players

Well I think the fact that he’s in the finals of the US Open indicates the ability of Tony Ellen this five six must go in the side here what a great shot he’s hit well he’s got problems here now though he’s got an angle where he can

Get to the in Rail and come out two rails need a nice level queue and perhaps a touch of inside English and play the seven the lower up here in the right hand corner that’s what he’s doing I don’t think he can get above the seven

Maybe like to go the other way right that’s what I was talking about go right to the end nice watch out here and he’s got a funny little shot here also well I wouldn’t risk coming all the way well just to the middle of

The table Y no no reason to come all the way back hit this a little with low left hand English bringing it over the eight reasonably good shape see the fact that he’s in close proximity to the side pocket sometimes you don’t get as much English as you want he’s close

To the rail and you can scratch if you’re not careful see just the middle of the table like that I Ag and you don’t risk anything see how it’s going right towards the side now I’ll just take this I think the one rail and drift it down the center of

The table I don’t believe he’ll pull this one back well he might go two rails here if he’s got a little too much angle straight up and down or he can just lag it like that and he’s in great shape having been defeated by Earl earlier today I think he wants

To get this first game under his belt this is a big e but that match didn’t start like this one did well Tony take a 1 lead and considering all the the pressure that’s under Tony having lost the first match with well you know the sensations that must be

Going through this young man’s mind have to be singularly uh wonderful he’s got a chance to make pocket brard history and Tom Kennedy you know is the defending US Open uh champion who almost repeated in this tournament here with the Lost losing a very close match on the hill

But anyway this would be a great thing for Tony Ellen win this he’s certainly unlike Tommy Kennedy who hasn’t played an awful lot of time on the tour he has paid his dues side pocket and he got a very good kick with the que and the two

Ball there pocketing the one on the side he’s pocketing two balls is that the four by the right hand side pocket I believe it is only problem he may have here is from the five to the six the six eight ball blocking the six ball to the

Corner however where the five is will probably be able to drift down playing this is that the seven well I believe he can get under the seventh wall there pocketing the six and the lower right after the five yeah now he is going to use the

Bridge here I like him to draw this straight out one rail I I think he may play for the combination but 6 I wouldn’t I would yeah for the 68 I would play to get where you could go two or three rails underneath the six well he may be able

To put himself in a position where he can just roll the Q ball down off the five drawing it down and pocket the six in the lower right hand corner I don’t know for sure that it passes that seven ball does it but at any rate he’ll want an angle a

Little to the left of straight in on the five he’s going to I believe he’s going to go two rails here yank it over to right that’s what I was talking about how straight is he he looks like he’s gotten a little straighter than he wanted I think he’s got enough angle to

To punch it around there well he’s looking at that 68 combination well he could do that too does he hit this high with a little inside and D it down he could go all the way up play for the side to he decided to play the

Combination I tell you this is a tough shot Under Pressure here this is No Easy Shot well if he hits it good it’s for sure he’ll have position on the six just drawing the Q ball back he want to hit this a slow medium speed not hard like that nicely

Done very ni now just probably bring the Q ball back maybe an inch having a good angle in the seven to drift down for the nine I think he can stop the Q ball here oh you right about an inch is perfection and I got to tell you Ed I

Like the abandon with which he’s approaching this match boy I know that this is exactly what Tony wanted to do establish an early lead keep ear off the table through to nothing Tony Ellen and extreme confidence is playing with having played two matches today in front

Of this crowd it seems that the Jitters and butterflies have certainly left Tony that’s for sure be interesting to see if he takes a little off this break like he did against Mike seagull Pat Fleming our Earth wild producer suggest that we even know who he’s playing because nobody seen right now he

And the referee have had a fair match together I don’t know that Earl will be involved in this there’s the one on the side he did seem to take a little off the break and he’s got a shot on he made two more balls I believe that’s the four and the

Seven in the middle I believe he’s made the one in the eight ball he’s got a problem with this so you think he perhaps might just come back kiss off the six bring this back a little miss the nine kiss off the six I think he’ll try

To go underneath the nine let’s see what kind of angle he’s got oh I think he wanted to kiss off that six and hit the nine which gave him a bad Angle now against the wishes of Pat we may get a chance to see Earl at the

Table well he’s going to play a safe here and this is the correct safety well for an opening shot I think Earl would like to have had something a little better than this well he’s got a one rail kick here too uh which might be the way to

Go problem is the nine comes into play a little bit well I like the two- rail kick here well I don’t because if it goes one rail and contacts the three on a fairly thick basis the QQ ball should stay behind uh the six and the 47 that’s

What he’s looking at well if he comes across the top he he may be able to hit this three across the top thinning it bringing the queue up the end at least leaving Tony long can he get under the oh I guess he can get between the four and five quite easily and

Kick oh that’s a bad hit see the nine I don’t know that he had a lot of room there for ER I I don’t know that that was a good shot selection he’s so used to hitting everything so perfectly that but that’s not the kind of shot that you

Want to to start your offensive show off with no I agree with that 100% he may find himself of down four or five games a nothing here without even pocketing the first ball well Tony needs to be careful here cuz the five doesn’t pass the nine I

Don’t believe he wants to get an angle where he can get on the fireball he’s got that he can follow the four or use high English and and just go one rail may have hit this actually like a little less angle I think here he’s got a

Little more angle than he wants he’s going to have to use inside yeah that’s what I mean just to come across is made the a little difficult with the inside English and I don’t know if he has the five he’s looking at it and it’s time to

Regroup here he perhaps shot that three a little bit too quickly without thinking about the angle he needed on the four well he’s going to twist us a little bit and he’s he can make it he’ll play the six in the same pocket nice considerable difference in the

Poise of Tony Ellen from the first match oh there’s no comparison towards the seven absolutely correct no reason to get queed here and just like that it’s three to nothing and you had a three to nothing without making it even a legitimate hit no he made a good hit on the L [Applause]

Well he no he didn’t he didn’t he hit an object ball oh you’re right you’re right I stand corrected sure been a lot of fun here this week I’ve seen a lot of old and good friends and told stories just just in general had a blast

Well I had a birthday this week so it was a little more fun at least that’s what I told most of the people it does bring a free drink from time to time a cursory inspection see if he takes a little more off to play this one ball in

The side like he’s been so successful with all week and powered it up again looks like he’s going to get the seven in the corner no no he do make anything well we get our first look at an offensive Earl Strickland not to be that Earl is offensive and off PCH of jogger

Uput well he’s got a nice shot 1 s combination he’ll just want to hit this in with no English yeah he’s going to roll this ball in making sure the one stays near the pocket he just play the Q ball he’s going to make sure he doesn’t snooker

Himself behind the eight ball there oh he’ll go straight across the table watch it he’s okay he’s got a problem with those that three ball cluster on the far left hand side think that machine from Alien is bothering a little bit behind there which happens to be the ESPN boom I

Guess he’s all right on those that’s the 578 yeah the five ball doesn’t appear to go in the leftand corner we get a look at that is five pass yeah I’m pretty sure it does the way he’s played position for the fourth must well he’ll go over to the side rail

Past the left hand side pocket and back out in the middle of the table very nice done now he wants to make sure he misses this eight ball yeah now you know the angle I like here oh this is the four here yeah he’s shooting the four okay and a 5 six from

There but he wants to be a little careful he doesn’t want to get an angle where he has to interfere with the eight ball there’s a nice shot of those three balls this is perfect here he’ll just roll this down a little right hand a little bit right but

He might not he might have a little more angle no I think he had has to go on the far side of the seven and eight he has a touchy shot with that seven ball he’s going to make sure well he’s going to come on the high side of them no he’s not

Okay it’s hard to tell with ear he had to Che that ball a little bit I believe I don’t know that he had a clean pocket with that he n take this out two rails middle of the table Yeah but he wants to make sure and make a ball first hit not rail

First on the F no I mean okay now do you think when he Pockets the seven he’ll try to bump the eight towards the side well he wants to make sure that he gets an angle where he can make the seven like he can’t avoid hitting the eight

Here right so he bump this towards the side of or make sure the q’s away from the eight and to have a shot in the corner well I would play it for the corner I was able to miss the whole ball what a great shot yes he was that was a

Terrific shot well he had a little more distance between him than we suspected all right one to three Advantage Tony Ellen I’m beginning to believe ear doesn’t even know that Tony Ellen has three games he doesn’t care what his opponent has as long as the set isn’t over he believes he’s a favorite

In any match in any City in any tournament in any country in the world well that’s a great way to field you got to have a positive aggressive attitude to defeat all the great champions in existence today there were seven players here from the Philippine Islands I

Didn’t see them barely miss a ball all week long yeah that’s certainly for sure with the Efron races Jose Pera Francisco Bustamante Lua and Dam see you know the names see I’m not familiar with even the names much well they frequent Emeral City Billiards when they come to New Jersey

And we happen to as do I will you make a regular habit of dispatching me well I think 10 six in the break is more than generous MH and he’s pocketed the seven ball on the side so we’ll get to see Earl with a full rack this is a tough shot uh he

Needs to go go above the eight over to the side rail and back over between the 5’8 at least I believe that to be correct now one of the things Earl does Eddie when he practices he tries not to go into balls so does Buddy Hall that’s

The wrong way to play good eyeball he’d like to not hit anything there do you like him playing the 39 after that oh sure a little low left English nicely done but he went a a little farther down than he wanted to now he’s going to be forced to bump

This five or the eight ball in the middle of the table there I think he can risk going into the five unless I don’t see the angle correctly which is entirely possible he’s got kind of a difficult shot here he’s going to have to feather this ball and not that thin a

Cut actually if he hits the five thin I’ll probably get a shot nicely done wow you think he wanted to hit the five yeah sure that’s what he was planing to do is hit it real tickly and more or less stop all right here you pretend the

Three balls a q ball a touch of left English so you to put a little left English on the three you put right English on a q ball natural tendency to hit these two thicks so you play to overcut the combination slightly greately done combination based on your system ear

Well who could blame it this is probably the most prestigious nineball turn world I think without precedent I don’t know one that the players on the tour would rather win than this one no this this this tournament has a lot of flavor a lot of romance a lot of history just

Having the title US Open Champion I think is what many many of the players strive strive for all year long winning the World open is certainly a giant tournament but Barry Burman what he’s done has made this tournament the biggest one I think on the pbta tour oh

Sure he works tireless in that capacity I I even heard him earlier preparing next year’s prior to the end of this year watch got a nice kiss there yeah he did failing to pocket a ball it’s been a little fortunate here with the seven getting in front of the one ball and

Once again we’ll see Tony Ellen well Tony’s going to have to push here I believe all right I want your hypothesis now of where you would push well I wouldn’t push down by to five but I I don’t know though as I look at this that might be the only place you can

Go I tell you now that I look at this more closely I don’t see much that’s better he’s got to go down there you may rest assured that he won’t get this shot Earl will take this now Will Earl double Bank this one ball I think I would just go for this

Bank and I think Earl will too he’s possessed of great banking ability and I would try to go go naturally into the six ball I mean this is a way better than even Money Bank I just use some right English a kind of Center type hit on the Q

Ball he didn’t quite make the bank but of course he wanted to miss it if he missed it on the thick side nice left Tony with a piece of the one which will probably bring the Q ball down two rails well I would play the Q

Ball over behind the two six here I agree with that 269 actually oh he thinned it what a great hit now that’s always a measure of how somebody is performing or playing if you will their willingness to attempt a little feather shot like that Earl’s looking at at best the two

Rail kick and there’s the patented Earl glare and he finds ways to escape these seemingly impossible situations on a regular basis now I like two rails here not one this is not natural I don’t I agree with the three’s in the way unless he would just shorten

Jack the queue shorten the queue up now the two rail is natural nice medium speed just like that bring the que down and he unfortunately has giv Tony another offensive opportunity unfortunately for Earl those wanting Tony Ellen well he’s got to be careful here uh he cannot come below those he’ll just

Punch this and drift it out he’s got to just kind of lag it in he has a real nice touch for that sure he does I was just surprised the way he when stretched out over the table has the Finesse of that short draw stroke nice touch now I

Would probably play for the bank here if the four is the ball is just beyond the spot what’s the matter with just stopping a QQ ball and playing the Three cross side I like that shot see he doesn’t have an angle to get uh below the three and play it along the

Long rail unless he has a little more angle maybe punching it all the way over now you’re right he played for the bank all the way well he’s got to do that half pocket shots under the hot lights in front of hundreds of people the most prestigious event in the world uh boy

There are hundreds of people here for sure oh nice shot little inside English K the through ball didn’t want that to get away from him now I see him just drawing this or I’ll come back and Zoro this thing I think he can force this

Over to the rail and down one rail like so nice shot and how easy he’s making it look at the moment now uh two rails around the six or lag it up like so now he’s got a choice I might play this in the corner and just play the

Seven in the lower right hand corner pocket Bo he’s the perfect angle going to the eight and pocketing the eight to play the nine the side he’s in certainly command of this Frame boy you got to love the way this young man is playing don’t you playing

With a awful awful lot of confidence being the first Finals of his career of this magnitude of a tournament now Tony’s not inexperienced he’s played in quite a number of events and he’s played in a lot of gambling matches and everything and that’s the experience of stuff of which Champions

Require I think you’re probably right there I just wondered I know when he played uh Earl earlier today the lights big boom cameras swinging around him it very well could have affected him although it didn’t affect his statistics any oh that’s over with though I remember the taken it out of his mind

For sure the way he’s playing right now I remember the heady stuff of marriage the first time I got married but it wasn’t long until the everyday doldrum set in when she recognized what is it the five ball and the orange how does that go oh was the Jimmy Reed story yeah

Puts a five ball and an orange on the dresser when they can tell the difference the new one is in the new one comes in all right see if he Pockets this one in the side what’s our score 5 to three yes oh just hit the

Point well he did not make a ball on the break but he has snooker earl now if there’s one thing that kind of slows Earl down it’s this I mean Earl is playing as good a nine ball as as possible for a human being to to play I

Like him to push this ball to a jump shot I don’t think so he has yeah but he has no advantage over Tony Ellen that’s one of his strengths also I think more likely he’ll push for a reasonable kick maybe he’s going to jump it straight away oh he’s looking he’s a

Little close there well if he pushes for a jump shot I think Tony Ellen will take it he certainly knows Tony’s strength so he’s not going to put himself in a position to exercise those now what I like if I gauge where he’s going to push this to

Correctly it’s what he’s done he’s pushed to the jump shot well I think Tony will take this I might be mistaken now the two is down I guess right below the spot there so there’s a real good opportunity for if you were to make a

Jump shot to have a shot on the two well this is not a difficult jump shot Tony’s going to take this he’s got his jump queue in hand I be surprised if he doesn’t pocket the one yeah he’s going to pocket the seven looks well everybody seems to be happy

With Tony however he’s found himself snookered behind two balls well this is one of the rare times when I I I think I might Mass say this of course I think they’re playing all fouls for the TV man so that makes it makes it different the two rail kick and go

Between the what is that the 49 is probably best advised two rail go between the 49 oh I see okay 29 Excuse me yes trying to pocket the one ball or hitting it thin enough so that it would go back over by the three if you missed

It well you you want to have the QQ Ball come back up the table now he could go the other way too well the other way lends itself perhaps to the five if he I think he wants to put distance between him and the one ball

Always I like this shot if he has room to bridge it without shot that rather quickly for his difficult a shot as it was he’s going to he’s Shadow stroked it a couple of times well is that the four ball below the six there it must be the four

Ball Earl May just play for the 29 combination I don’t know he has indeed I think he would have liked to come out a little further Earl hits his type of shot real well though I don’t think he’ll have actually the way I think you’ll find Erol drawing this ball

If he should miss the ball the two will get down by the three and the que will come up table oh you’re not even thinking safy that’s the farest in his mind five to four [Applause] Ellen four stripin three oh it’s 43 43 I we’re game off I’m not so sure that Tony

Uh wouldn’t have been better off to let Earl take that jump shot though cuz Earl Earl intended to jump out with his regular que I don’t even think he used Q loses accuracy one thing about jumping balls with a long queue it does give you a little more accur accuracy well it’s

Kind of interesting what’s transpired here throughout the course of these commentaries Eddie I always aim thicker if I’m going to use a jump you I find that I overcut things and that’s how Tony what what happened to Tony there well arol pocketed a ball seems to have somewhat of a shot I

Believe that one will probably be able to cut into the side did not pocket a ball oh he didn’t I don’t know if this is makeable or or not of course we know about the maximum to cut a ball is 90° well he’s got a problem over here is

That the 4 five Grady on the left well here play to put him behind the 67 here if he don’t know that he got there all the way no in fact he may have left a bigard on that ball by the right hand side pocket doesn’t that look feasible to you

Now if he wants to play The Bard he needs left English I think he’s got plenty of room to make The Bard well he doesn’t have a whole lot of opportunity here other than that I think I think he has to be careful he doesn’t

Hit the three if he happens to miss The Bard he doesn’t want to scratch in the corner he’s going to want to take the one down by the bottom rail which will be the continuation of the cuq ball should he make the three in the side so

He does have a shot on the one I didn’t maybe he can’t cannot hit enough of it I thought he could I think he’s going to have to jack up in to make this I think it’s laying on the money I think oh no he oh it’s well unforced

Eras I know Tony certainly made the great Mike seagull pay for the unforced era that Mike made late in that match now is that the 4 five tied up by the left hand side Tony’s looking to see if that ball goes in the corner yes it is it’s the

Uh there’s a better little closeup of it I think he comes in this corner I think so yeah he’s got to be careful he doesn’t put the one on the rail here now why did he do that because it’s easier to get on the four ball from the two than the

Three right I agree with that you just pull this back a few inches that is uh about 8 in isn’t it so I’ve been told did too what’s Tony asking uh there’s a substance of foreign material perhaps on his hand is he called for a

Foul now he’s asking if it is a foul or something I guess I don’t know if he touches something he very well could have been called for a foul for his stomach hitting the six ball and this exactly what’s happened he’s fouled the ball they all ball fouls and I believe his

Stomach has touched the six ball and he very well could give Earl ball in hand now Earl very well maybe tell him to go ahead and shoot I’m not going to call it on you I don’t think I don’t think that’s what what’s transpired it’s a nice thought

Though they’re asking Pat Fleming the tournament director ball in hand it’s a foul ball in hand now that’s a very unfortunate spot for Tony Ellen Earl being very Trimm doesn’t seem to have that problem touched that is foul wow the the entire tournament was played with QQ ball fouls look what erl

Did here look at this he’s okay he’s going to hit this a little lower right I didn’t think okay well he must have that’s a very unfortunate incident for Tom I’m sorry for that too wait a minute now I just wonder did Earl call that F I don’t know but the audience perhaps

Out there the way their crowd’s reacting Earl May have called that foul I don’t know either that or Earl being the great Sportsman that he is saw the unfortunate thing that happened to Tony and said look I’m going to miss a ball like a Jimmy Connor had done one time in a

Tennis match no that’s not what happened I you may rest assur of that not I’m not saying anything bad about Earl uh he just got a little disconcerted and careless that’s all all righty well there are good decisions and bad decisions this one is certainly no exception I think that confuses [Applause]

It maybe we can find out exactly what did happen but I can tell you this much just like in other sports it’s usually a bad idea to have the audience against you what seems to be what’s transpired here well either one of two things if Earl missed the ball were they

Applauding Earl for missing the ball giving Tony back to the table or were they applauding Tony for having an opportunity to get back I think it’s two ways there be interested to find that if we find that out well I don’t know I I I I did notice that Pat Fleming made a

Decision and Tony Allen accepted it and just walked over to his chair and sat down Bo the end ball is just rifled in for Tony unfortunately has not much of a shot on the one he’s pocketed two balls well he he should be able to put Earl behind this

Ball over here the seven seven ball three ball whatever is like going over to the right there the three ball he’s a much better angle I think for that he’s got to be careful he covers this I wouldn’t do this easily I would make a thick hit on it

And do it so he move put some distance between him and the one ball well he got it there Nice Shot boy he got got in the right spot very nice got to be careful here of the scratch in the lower right hand corner yeah normally you would want to hit the

Bottom of the one but he’s too big a pocket there so I think he play to hit this thickly like so oh what a nice shot a great shot he’s covered the two ball Tony scratching his head that seems to become a trademark of some of the

Pros when they’re puzzled or don’t know what to do they scratch their head he can’t jump this he can’t jump this I don’t think here well the degree of accuracy jumping a ball very close is difficult well he’ll foro some accuracy in return for hitting it yeah I think

He’ll hit it he’ll kick this one rail tough kick be this is going to L his right he’s you know the kick I like here I like to go to the end rail the side rail I mean two rails right between the 8 n this is natural just a touch of left

English and he needs to hit about a half a diamond with a touch of the left angle so half the diamond over from the far left hand corner with a touch of the left now this is tough yeah and he’s got a scratch in the side potentially if he hits this thin

Oh wait a minute oh he’s touched the five he did touch the five earlier so now Earl’s back well Earl made a great kick shot yes he did and ear will get right to work here he’s not going to doesn’t seem to be any problem he’s

Going to make sure he gets a little bit of angle on the five he does he wants to make sure after he Pockets the five he’s not hanging on the rail there right that’s the only way he could really get in trouble here he’ll punch this out one

Rail I think a little low left English that’s perfect like so same thing here he doesn’t really want to be straight in on the seven may just pull this out a foot or two like so very nicely done now he can go one or two rails according to the straightness of the

Angle I think we’ll see him yank this two rails if he has any angle at all right he’s got the angle two good shot now I don’t even think he has to go to the rail no he certainly makes short work of a nine ball rack yes he does five to

Four and great n ball just like we’ve watched all week here at to US Open Ellen five Strickland four I’m still interested to see we’ll have to check and see exactly what happened when Tony touched the six ball whether or not in fact Earl did call that foul I don’t

Know we’ve been informed uh by our statistician and general Troublemaker I’m just kidding about that that Earl did not call a foul and he’s pocketed the one in the left hand corner three balls incidentally but he’s got a difficult difficult position here with a two ball being right below the side

Pocket well he’s got a cross Corner bank but it takes a he’s looking at it now that’s a one of what as you commonly referred to as warp speed yeah no I wouldn’t do that I’d roll this up about 6 in do have shorten this ball well he’s

Got a four rail safety too like well that’s what he tried was a four rail safety H the six but the reason I would have rolled it up 6 in is to tempt my opponent to take it right good point and Tony’s in great shape here

He’s got a natural angle to get on a three ball great speed there guarding against the scratch in the side right and five ball of course is is next six ball oh he’s in great shape here he’ll probably get he wants to get about straight in yeah I like going to the rail

Here real conducer to good position he said that absolutely perfectly but the point there is a little harder is better than a little softer well stated Ed well stated perhaps a bit out of context now he just punch this out one natural rail I tell you what uh I kind of like

Tony’s Tempo he’s real comfortable up there at the table he’s not agonizing over anything nor is he really rushing and I think for the people of ESPN they love to see see a match like this which both players playing very quickly of course they’re missing they’re totally devoid of our Sterling

Comments that makes it Tony Ellen 6 to4 is that correct that is correct but here is where Earl is perhaps is most dangerous you don’t want to let Earl get to the table with some great shot and have him string a four or five on you

You need to try to do that that’s yourself it’s the only defense against him just the best defense against an Earl Strickland certainly is an offense yes indeed see if he can lighten up on the break and make this one in the sign oh he’s pocketed a ball

Oh he’s pocketed two balls and the one goes needs to be careful here I tell you what I like here Ed I like following up on the left side of the two ball and planning to play it in the right hand side pocket that way he can hit a

Relatively level Q shot I think he’s going to just roll this easily and have a natural angle from the two to the three about like oh all right he had a much better angle than I thought I thought he had more more uh more of a cut on that he didn’t I like

Him almost to stick here drifted over a little bit he needs a little bit of angle to get to the five here and have a good angle from the five to the six sure they’ll want the QQ ball roughly in that position after he Pockets it three that’s a little too much

Angle you don’t want that much angle what I like here is going two rails here you you you go one rail then two rails just beyond the left hand side pocket and that way you can hit the three a little more firmly like this now this is an ideal angle that’s

About as good as you can get there but that’s hard to flag it in and have the QQ ball end up like this now he wants to be careful not to shirt foul something else a little low rting look beautifully done he a shirt F or a stomach foul how

Should we call that well Tony is trimmed down a little bit uh actually he looks pretty hail and healthy I’m surprised how thin Earl has gotten he’s plays a lot of golf EX well marriage in nineball tournaments will do that to you I think he’s got an angle where he

Can’t go to a rail he’ll have to just pull this back oh no he’s going to follow it okay go one rail straight down I think well he came a little straighter up than he wanted to not that this isn’t makeable now he doesn’t have the angle to use the low

Left so this one he’ll use just no English at all just rolled this in I think with a little high ball well here the Q ball will come back down the end rail I think that’s the kind of speed I I consider most effective here just like that all right s to

Four exactly how many notches do you have on your wedding I don’t after my last divorce I threw my wedding ring in a lake I really did careful I mean I didn’t even take it to the pawn shop where it would have been redeemable for something that was a

Toxic waste area as I recall get fou but my ex-wife is living rather nicely thanks in no small part to the fact that I have to pay her every month all right here we go see if he makes the N see I’ll take a little bit off to make this one on the

Side well I think he’s giving that up here since he’s pocketing balls he’s made three balls on the break but a very difficult shot in the one well I think you just take a bank at this everything’s going pretty well there’s not a great safety here why not go ahead

And take the bank and hit it at a speed that should he miss the bank to roll it back by the plate in the middle of the bottom rail mhm well I know Tony wants to shoot he’s in the rhythm of things no place to push for sure no there’s no sense pushing

Here does he play the safe and two ra this I don’t think he’s going to play safe he’ll probably pull a q ball back good speed had it going any he was in perfect position this is tough here for Earl because he can’t risk going behind the

Eight and if he tries to go behind the 267 there’s a lot of key holes there plus Tony can jump balls with with uh great ease and accuracy oh he’s made the two ball I believe he has a shot at the one hit to and that

Was a very fortunate thing to happen to Earl well sure because he leaves a shot on the about to he was about to be behind in this match had that not gone in seven games to four he’s already behind seven to four yeah I thought seven

Well I must have slept during that one match that one game I thought it was 6 to four what a difference of 8 to 4 versus 7 to5 oh no kidding that’s a nice very [Applause] nice four I’m sure passes the eight on the lower

Right got to be a little careful with it if he only has a half a pocket this is a tough position play to get to the six Ball What’s oh that’s the three ball I thought that was a seven now he’s got the right angle to get on the

Six this one to come over above the six here it’s about as good as you could put it if you had Bowl in hand I would think sure well what I do with this shot I I play to go two rails and that’s what he’s going to do I don’t think draw this

He’ll go two rails around the nine that’s just very natural and it’s going to be seven to five as soon as Earl Pockets this nine ball the potential of a 1010 sweat seems to be looming well could certainly come to pass and remember my Omen if you will

Will that Earl is most dangerous from here I’ve seen him run out some sessions from this position well with his attitude Earl believes he’s supposed to run out from here he plays with more confidence than anyone I’ve ever seen Mr nineball machine that he is I’m surprised ever already didn’t have a now

Look what he’s he moved to the other side of the table he’s pocketed two balls and it looked appears difficult shot the one ball here you like to bank this or cut it right well yeah he he he’s a terrific Banker uh well Rich Richie Ambrose was a guy known as Mr

Nall uh Greg Stevens nickname was big train and his wife came in the pool room one night she didn’t know that they called him that the pool room and somebody said hey big train you want to go go eat and she said who are you talking about and I said Greg and she

Said big train huh oh that’s a bank I don’t think you see Earl missed too often no no he can’t believe miss the one ball well now for Tony um I wouldn’t risk trying to shoot between stuff I would just pull this out maybe a foot and stay on the left hand

Side of the six ball as we view it on the believe he may have be taking a break right one second I want to uh pay a special thanks since we’re on a break for a couple minutes to a couple people that have done a lot I believe Tony Ellen is taking a

Break yeah Tony’s taking a a bath break I think Mackie to please stand and Alan Hopkins the president of the per tour please stand [Applause] all right we’re back the score 7 to five Advantage Tony Ellens and he’s got an opportunity to extend his margin of lead

To three games I know Earl’s still kicking himself from missing that bank it’s I think he took a little bit too much for granted it’s one that he often often makes in a very high percentage just can’t believe he missed it absolutely the right way to play that

That way he’s assured of been able to hit the two ball now do you like him going two rails here oh what’s the next ball is that the three on the upper sure I like going two rails around this around the nine oh he’s bumped the nine

And that’s certainly going to come into play here I do believe he has a three in the side not a great degree of difficulty but I think he wanted to play that three in the corner well unless I miss see this he could also play the

Three off the nine oh he’s looking at it straight in I don’t think he’s thinking of AUM here at all well that way he could just stop the Q ball he may just roll this and cinch the three and the five being fairly General easy position

For him natural I think he’s just going to roll this three in he doesn’t want to touch any balls if he doesn’t have to at this point the light at the end of the tunnel is starting to show up well you know what he kind of made a

Motion with his queue he knew that was game ball now I would go over on the right side of the six here no reason to risk inside Eng just so boy that could have been disaster for him want to be careful here he’s get he’s got a bridge beautifully beautifully

Done and you have to like the way he’s playing don’t you turn this in with touch of the left English like so and we’ve got an 8 to five SC Tony ell I think what ton is going to have to do here is not think about the US

Open Strickland five well play this like he plays any other set because somehow in the background the Earl is sitting there and Earl even though he’s trailing eight games to five is such a threat just wonder what’s going through Tony’s mind having never been in this well there shouldn’t be anything in his

Mind really when this game is best played uh the mind is kind of vacant uh I mean all of the uh the little basic things are subconscious he needs to just continue what he’s been doing that’s why he’s pocketed a ball in the break made the two ball didn’t he yes

And he’s got the three down below the is that the seven b now here’s a spot I want to bring out a point here now I wouldn’t Bank this I I would just pull this QQ ball down behind this ball two rail the one ball down by the seven right and

And he just very well may be pumped here well it’s really discouraging to a good offensive player like like an Earl Strickland to have to start off without much to shoot at he’s going after this he’s going to bank this ball great position on the three

Ball now this would be the four down the lower left I believe and here again he’ll just come out roughly in the middle of the table making sure that he can hit the four ball okay wow now I don’t know that he had to

Do that at all no he didn’t and uh if he looks at this tape afterwards I think he’ll realized he had the same kind of position play the last rack now he’s unhappy with himself I think if he wins this match he will look at this tape however I think

If he loses this match I don’t think it’s a real good possibility of Tony viewing this one he’s not going to want to see that shot again should he lose this one well he’ll have to watch it on ESPN anyway we maybe we’ll edit the tape for

Him and take that shot out Grady what do you think I don’t know he still got a chance here he’s going to he went after that all the way I think but he hit it hard to give him a chance to have a say well I he you got a pretty fortunate

Roll very tough Earl can’t shoot at this being behind 8 to five uh it might be his last turn at the table but where do you play safe do you try to bank this two rails down by the plate no one one rail I would like that and back over well got

To be careful all well he’s hit a great safe he’s made sure he’s covered the two ball well that’s the right shot he had the seven and nine to get behind with c b he’s left Tony in a very difficult spot Tony’s very fortunate to be back up

This game getting a good break on missing that four ball or missing position on the four ball why do you think he elected to back that up when he shot the three instead of just bringing it out to the middle of the table well he he kind of of uh got

Up there and just two two stroke I don’t think he realized that he could have just come out in the middle of the table and been fine do you go ah is he going after this well Earl Strickland with ball in hand is about I guess it’s like 38 against the

Knife is that fair at 50 Paces oh sure sure all right now he’ll just stay below the six here just pull this back a little bit now he can go with rightand English one rail two rails what I call the Zoro shot yeah kind of the Z

Shape nicely done and I suspect he’ll play the eight in the long corner come off the rail a little bit kind of ball I know Tony would like to have that position played back 8 to six play Tony but ear is bre and I just wonder that one failed

Position shot is going to come back to him in the ultimate Fashion well the crowd is the buz and who could blame them this is what Championship n ball is all about something you just said which I missed the crowd you’re fire till next year actually I uh accepting that one vacuous moment the crowd seemed reasonably well divided’s and they’ve been that way here

Ever since I’ve been playing here they sh all the players with respect made the one inside May pocketed four balls on the break seemingly not to have much of a shot at is that the three that’s in next I really can’t see the ball or is

That the two in front of them on the rail that’s the two in front of them he’s right excellent he can kill this he’ll just pull this past the side with a little right English little kill switch here no special problem there now straight in on the five you stop you

Shooting the six and then the nine uh he’ll probably jump this off the rail a little bit to ensure he won’t be on the rail shooting the six now I’ll be able to punch it off the rail a little bit so he doesn’t have I

Don’t think he wanted to be on the rail shooting the oh right that’s a good point Eddie and really either side of the six or straight in he’s all right here he’s just going to go up on the other side of the nine Earl is smooth now going to be

Eight games to s in a never closing time boy what what a big game that was wow I’m sure I’m sure he’s probably the best thing he can do is just forget about that shot right now I don’t think he’s going to be able to dwell on that and

Get back in action but my God he’s got to be thinking of his probably trying to force himself to forget that shot think positive thoughts get back to the table and put this would you know what that’s like that’s like being on a on the 18th

Hole of a golf course and you got a pretty nice lead and you hit your ball intentionally on the side where they having out of bounds so he didn’t have to come close to those two balls yes that I agree with well ear on now has pocketed

Another ball in the break but can he get on this two ball see he I don’t know that he see he’s got to put low right English on the Q ball that’s a two in the middle of the bottom rail here uh and take this three rails I

I like him going one rail with low right English coming across like you suggested well he’s got to do that he’s not going to go three rails I push him on the wrong side of the ball well the other three pocketing it over to the other side he said it absolutely perfectly Bo

He made that look easy that was not an wow thought could Chan for Earl and he’s a game down well he’s always created the stir he a very crowd pleasing player is that the four or the eight forward I can tell it by the way he played position now did he go two

Rails around the five here I would but he can come straight up too I like going a little above the six here I don’t really like staying below it here like so draw this straight back or does he use that rail well I don’t know if he’s

Straight in here we’ll know yeah he’s straight Welly that’s about Ballin hand type position from there that it is well we’ve talked about it in many of Earl’s matches in the past Eddie uh Young Tony Ellen has to hope that he gets back to the table that 100% earl

Now is on cruise control he’s got Auto he programs himself to play meticulous nine ball and I think he’s got himself program to that at this point it would so appear well we’re drawing ever near to the inevitable climax of this great event eight a piece the finals of the US

Open and once again I query could you possibly ask for more no reason naturally for Earl to change his break position I think this this crowd would like rather have seen a race to 13 just to make it longer possibly see great nine ball Earl as

Here comes the one he does have a shot in the upper leftand corner and again he’s pocketed two balls is that the two on the right hand side right yes I believe it is this is a hard shot though see when he cuts the one to his

Two of the four I can’t tell at this vantage point but it is the next ball all right uh when he cuts the one to his when he cuts the one to his left it puts right English on then it it throws it it curves slightly from left to right it’s

A tough shot see the most natural way to make this is with a little right English um he struck the ball perfectly that he did w boy I’ll tell you Tony Ellen made a position error and Earl is absolutely putting nail after nail into the close of this

Match he’s going to have to stay on the right side of the five ball here he’s going to bump the F well he’s left himself a fairly difficult shot he’s got a Pock this isn’t too tough he play in the right hand corner just cinch the ball knowing

He’s got automatic position a little left English and he’ll go over to oh about a diamond and the half on the lower left hand side rail and back out he like to be roughly in the area of the spot now why do you put a little left

Handing to help you make the five that’s natural it’s outside English what makes his shot not so difficult is that he’s close to it well he looks like he’s using using a high ball Center pocket well if you can hit it like that there no problem Earl’s on autopilot he can go

Around the nine I wouldn’t I would come up one rail here and he went around the nine around the nine sure well either way is all right there his way is probably better he’s in the finals and we’re not hit that a little harder I think that he wanted to but he’s absolutely

In position here one rail well you know I don’t like one rail here I’d rather hit just past the side and go two rails so I don’t have to completely lag it oh he didn’t have as bad an angle as we thought it he was perfect I just it’s

Amazing the one position ever Tony Tony Ellen has made may keep him in the chair for the rest of the mat he’s he’s taking the lead in the match for the first time at 98 Strickland n Ellen eight now that’s a three for Earl or is that a four was 8

To five when uh Tony made when Tony made that position was it 8 to five or 8 to six no it was 8 to five it would have been 9 to5 had Tony gotten out that right rather than wow what a difference 995 versus 98 and Counting the other way

Yes or 95 versus 89 I guess you should say sure no reason for Earl to move oh I don’t think you’ll see him do anything but break exactly in the spot he’s been breaking from he been pocking this one ball on the side with consistency well he hasn’t pocketed the one but he

Did pocket a ball well Tony’s going to get come back to the table now you know the way this is lying Ed I might just take the kick of this oh I think he’s definitely going to kick this ball and he wants to hit the low side of the one

Kicking the one down table bringing trying to bring the C ball back under the three and he has the five there b like so what a great shot that was a CL shot here’s Tony making a position has put himself in a position from a run out to kicking with a four

Game difference jump stick jump stick well he’s got what’s tough about this shot either side of the one he hits if he uses a center ball H or maybe even a little draw a scratch and he doesn’t want to jump off the table Al’s made a successful hit but he’s also

Given aoll an opportunity to close out this that he has AR is going to have to play an angle here to uh is that the two up near the 90 yes and the three of course is down towards the bottom of the monster so he

Wants to get an angle where he can come three rails off the two ball or two rails the four oh he’s playing for the three now okay now I think we’ll see him two rail this going towards the four ball okay that’s a four by the nine okay

Well that makes the rack easier little low left and bring it around yeah it does one two and then position going towards the four ball so he doesn’t have a speed problem boy he’s in control here well I would go uh two more two rails here sure

Between the six and seven came under the six what Nice Shot very nice very nice also nicely done perfect angle going to the seven boy he is playing outstanding outstanding 91 sure I tell you you really have to be careful now look what’s transpired here from a

Position in which Tony Ellen could have adopted a 9 to5 game Advantage he has not had a single good shot to shoot at he’s losing he’s going he’s about to go behind 10 games to eight what a difference from winning 95 potentially going to 108 which barring someone lifting the

End of the table that’s the score they wow Earl St on the hill he’s one he is CAU I think Earl well may expect to make them 10 Ellen 8 boy I feel for Tony um I wouldn’t mind well I they’re both friends of ours uh we like Championship pool close exciting

Matches I feel for him to the extent I certainly would like to see him get another good shot so would I and I think this crowd would love to see this go 1010 however ear will not with the exception of Earl there’s a formidable obstacle in the way in the form of one

Earl strickler well I have well that’s going to put it ear oh the crow loves it you know what Earl and I have in common with M initials the only thing Inon we have boy Tony just feels like he’s been given New Life all right three rails between the 3

Six he’s got to make sure he misses the three here doesn’t want to go too short doesn’t want to go he did he got lucky there and the three goes inside oh take a deep breath here it’s so easy to get short on that as it comes off sure

It is I often look at that shot from the plus two angle as we spoke of earlier about three cushion Billiards and all aspects of all games seem to show up in each and every other one doesn’t make any sense grd it makes perfect sense especially

Wow Tony was given New Life there and I think he may have just taken that two ball a little bit for granted thinking of the three being close to the side now it would surprise me a great deal if Tony got back to the table yes I agree I

Might Bank this ball unless I see this if he doesn’t have a comfortable angle to go around the nine I might Bank this let’s see what Errol strickman does put the kill switch he was all right yeah I wasn’t sure he could do that I think Earl is looking for the

Reef of roses well he’s got it for all intents and purposes uh this is a draw back and get uh straight in on the seven about like so stop the QQ ball shoot in the 8 and nine and collect first place check perfect angle wow well this is another edition

Of the US Open another notch in the que of Earl Strickland [Applause] a shy is well hey expects to be there that’s how he plays cool he he believes with all his heart he is the best n ball player in the world and I’ll tell you he

Has a lot of reason to believe that well let’s give him credit he play great nineball here all week long absolutely did I don’t know what the closest match he had all week was well Tony played great here that one position error just changed the whole tone of the match

There’s Earl with his wife and a lovely couple they make and Earl has become $115,000 richer that he has oh what a nice paint freeze that is well if you want to order any of these great tapes call the 800 number a stats 1 800 828 0397 tell them your edn and Grady

Matthews friend if you want that won’t get you a discount from our boss but it will get you a quality product Ed it’s been a genuine pleasure indeed A Slice of Heaven Grady well I’m I’m going to bid you a good evening and I’m going to

Bid you a good evening and thank you a lot gry guy we all love him as you know he uh one day hopefully will be the Uso Champion I’m sure he will if he plays the way he did all week he’s a great competitor of proud pleaser at this time

Ladies and gentlemen I’d like to present the runnerup plaque he’ll get his check for $8,000 soon to Mr Tony Ellen [Applause] w [Applause] thank you very much well it’s since since 1987 that this is a tough tournament to win believe it or not as you all the

Players will tell you it’s the toughest tournament to win because all the players come to the US Open so it’s he’s a now a three time Champion has been since 1987 long overdue to a tremendous player great player uh he been down in history is one of the best players to

Have ever played the game of nineball and this time ladies and gentlemen this here for our 1993 USIC [Applause] champion [Applause] [Applause] before Earl says a few words I’m going to get Tony up here to St first rightfully so Tony come on up here they want to hear you [Applause]

Baby uh I just want to thank everybody for giving me the support they have it’s really inspired me this week and uh I’ll keep coming back and trying as long as I’m planing you guys are great thanks this man we waiting six years for this speech so hang hang in there okay here

He is our champion would like to say a few words for as many as you like I’ll make this as brief as possible but uh it’s been a long time since I won this tournament it seems like uh every time I win and there three or four years

In between or three you know three years and then I win three years win but Barry is right this is the hardest tournament in the whole world to win I’ve been all over the world and played everywhere of course I have one in Asia I hope to one

Day but I still think us hope is a hardest turnour to win I’d like to thank Jim Mula he’s done an outstanding job with the runs of tables here this week and I’d like to thank ESPN they’re they’re really doing a great job for us

And we need them we really need ESPN and most of all I’d like to thank the fans this is the best turnout I’ve seen in six months I’m telling you I’m glad to see it because I was getting a little bit of worry thank you I will give this check that he can’t

Cash he can’t pocket but I’m going to do that in just a moment uh one second ESP we’re going to do this live or we’re going to do it later as far as the presentations are concerned yeah I ask Alan if you will so we’ll know what’s happening hey this is

Great nobody’s left I love it we to start another tournament tomorrow Tommy Kennedy we still love you [Applause] Tommy in the [Applause] world get next as small as you are man give me hey I can’t help if you got me don’t it on me my what we’re going to do ladies and

Gentlemen so we won’t have to hold you up we’ll do this uh later I guess if that’s okay but formally right now this is a nice one okay cost me 200 anyway this is a nice one and Earl you better put this on your wall I’ll keep

It I don’t throw it the trunk take care of it and cherish it for the rest of your life next to that plag once again ladies and gentlemen Mr Earl strickman 1993 us non ball Champion J want to take a coup I can stand in front of okay conr ladies and

Gentlemen thank you very very much for making this the best yet next year I promise be even better love you all God bless you thank you very much for being here thank you very much I love thank you very Much