BUDDY HALL vs KEITH MCCREADY – 2003 US Open 9-Ball Championship

Two of the biggest personalities in the game as Buddy Hall takes on Keith McCready at the 2003 US Open 9-Ball Championship.

Fifty eight year old Buddy Hall, was known as “The Rifleman” and was one of the most feared players on the table when in his prime. He is a former two time US Open 9-Ball and Challenge of Champions Champion, and was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame in 2000.

Forty six year old Keith “The Earthquake” McCready won a number of titles over his career, but more important than that, was feared when in action. He notably played the role of Grady Seasons in The Color of Money, where he coined the phrase “It’s like a nightmare, isn’t it?”.

Of notable interest in this match, it was the first time that the measles cue ball was ever used in an Accu-Stats 9-ball match.

Hang out after the match for interviews with both players.

Jim Wych and Bill Incardona called all of the action at this one.

– – – – – – – – – –

You can watch matches from the 2018 – 2022 INTL 9-BALL OPEN and 2016-2022 Derby City Classic, 2015-2017 US Open 9-Ball, as well as other Accu-Stats Invitationals on Accu-Stats YouTube Members service: https://www.youtube.com/@AccuStats/join

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hello everyone and welcome to the
Chesapeake Conference Center for the
2003 US Open nine ball championships I’m
Jim White along with Billy and Cardona
day two here in Chesapeake and already
what a marquee matchup we’ve got for you
here today Billy The Rifleman buddy hall
versus the earthquake Keith mccreedy yes
they certainly are legendary players and
it’s quite unfortunate for both of these
players they have to meet so early in
the tournament you know Keith mccre at
one time around 18 1982 was regarded as
the best nineball player on the planet
buddy hall has sustained that reputation
for a long long time now The Rifleman
against the earthquake we’re going to
have a super match well I know the
players are waiting in the wings
chopping at the bit to get out here on
Center Stage so without further Ado
let’s hand it over to your MC Scott
Smith gentlemen you may lag for the
first break Let’s Get It On see Scott
Smith just bringing the players in now
and what a mouthwatering prospect this
is the earthquake versus The Rifleman
and Billy this isn’t going to be an easy
one to call but I know one thing we got
the best seat in the house we certainly
do Jim and but by the way you’ve heard
the term contrasting style well this is
certainly of the lag is Mr Hall these
two players our official for this
program is Steve Logan budd’s a very
methodical the free spirit M mcti well
you know he’s a little more aggressive
he’ll do something that we might think
he should not do but most often it turns
out right yeah he fires from the hip
doesn’t he and if that lag is any
indication the way play is going to be
here
today this is going to be a photo finish
from start to finish these two players
have faced one another a countless
number of times I really don’t know the
the record you know on on the times they
met one another but I would imagine it’s
fairly close probably with Buddy having
a little bit of the upper hand well I
talked to a few players and uh pundits
in the crowd here and just asking them
who they thought on paper might be
slight favorite and they gave an edge
just slightly to the man all set to kick
things off buddy up there in age right
now he’s around my age around 58 or 59
years old but he’s been able to sustain
his excellent play throughout throughout
his entire career I mean what a great
great player buddy hall is if you wanted
to emulate a player or copy a player
style it would be a player like buddy
hall yeah I’m quite surprised you
divulge that information so readily
Billy
well a break off very controlled just 19
mph from Buddy Hall he can hit them a
lot harder these players are going to
weigh up how that table is
breaking that’s an excellent point Jim
uh the characteristics of some tables on
on the break that is is that some some
tables give up balls more readily or
easily uh when the balls are broken
softly some tables you have to hit the
ball much harder to get protection off
the break we’ll find out how this
table’s playing well Budd he’s pushed
out obviously nothing that he fancied
looking at the table so it’s down to
mccre now to try and sort this dilemma
out very nicely executed shot Jim and if
you notice I ni his telestrator working
right here how he repositioned the QQ
ball behind this W balls right here and
also at the same time repositioning the
two ball at this end of the table
excellent shot
and now it’s the Houdini act for Buddy
Hall doesn’t look like anything easy if
you can get between that nine and the
pink four ball and for those of you at
home that four ball for television is
pink so don’t be confused we’ll allude
to it a little off a little more
often yeah and we will be giving you a
close-up shot of a q ball that I
guarantee you won’t have seen before he
wasn’t able to clear the six on it on
his way to going two cushions behind the
two hitting the two directly so that’s a
foul but but notice the speed that he
hit that shot with had he contacted the
two first he would have then hit it with
the speed to push the two down the other
end of the table hard enough for it to
reach the other end but not too hard for
it to come back back toward the end was
hit from sful intelligent shot but
really not executed as well as he would
have liked
to Keith just ensuring to leave himself
a nice angle on this four he wants to
slide back over for the five to the same
pocket
doesn’t take much time in preparation
not notice how quickly he sets himself
up and
fires well you talked about a contrast
in Styles and you’re seeing it right
away six ball position near the side
pocket this going just going to be the
problem ball if we if you can say
there’s a problem ball it’s going to be
this ball right
here these players have had ample
opportunity to practice before this
first rack it’s a race to
11 to stay on the winner side we’re
expecting a hurricane in this area very
shortly buddy hall right now is looking
at possibly an earthquake in Keith
mccre oh he’s over hit this Billy he’s
on the 50 yd
line very
missable a great effort this from mccre
in the wink of an eye he opens the
counts here in Chesapeake 1 nil over
buddy hall you know very important for
mccre to win the first game particularly
when if he was given an opportunity
which he did get an opportunity to win
the first game took advantage of it and
ran out very very nicely I might
add yeah confidence boosting visit as
well once he achieved qball in hand with
a foul extracted from Hall was smooth
sailing for mccre didn’t take much time
in doing it either and that can be tough
to fight can it Billy when you put racks
up on your side of the score sheet so
quick
psychologically that can be a difficult
Hill to try and climb that’s an
excellent point you brought out there
Jim especially against players
methodical buddy hall takes a lot more
time when he’s at the table thinking you
know psychologically that he has to do a
lot more to earn a game where McCree
only have to table half the amount of
time and earns the same number of points
you know that’s a psychological
disadvantage but I’m certainly sure
buddy hall has prepared himself for
things like that because that’s the way
he plays he understands the way mccre
plays he can deal with it there’s so
much experience out there that I don’t
think either player will be able to
impose his style in this match these
guys just know the game far too well
they read the table as well as anyone
that plays the game as I said two of the
Living Legends and look at mccre he was
trying to will that nine into the pocket
and almost
did unfortunately mccre didn’t make a
ball on the break but once he he got
unlucky by not making a ball break but
he got kind of Lucky by not leaving
buddy a shot on the one notice but
position of the one
ball Buddy’s looking at the table now
and he cannot see the one I’ll point out
to you exactly what what his problem
is well you know just something else
that just joged my memory is that
nineball coming so close to going in
there and look at this the one n right
away buddy hall
1 Keith mccre that’s just how quick nine
ball can be but I was just about to say
Billy that if that nine is made off the
break that’s a $500 bonus to the player
that makes it you know I wasn’t aware of
that Jim in other words if you make the
nine on the break the player who makes
the nine on the break gets a $500 bonus
cash on the spot it’s a sponsorship
bonus and no wonder mccre was trying to
will that nine in but in the end it’s
Buddy Hall who laughs last maybe we can
in a little while we can go back to that
nine ball that buddy just pocketed a
little while later what a shot that
buddy pulled out there though just
enough room to get that Q ball through
to the one and certainly that’s
something that we can possibly get
another look at because early days it
could be a turning point in this match
the last time buddy broke the balls he
broke him with the speed of 19
mph maybe just maybe he’ll change his
speed this time cuz he didn’t come up he
came up dry on the break the last time
he may may want to uh put a little more
speed to it or even even
hit him even softer what was that
exactly he got a ball down off the break
there but again he isn’t sitting as well
as he would have liked on that one but
he’s got a wall of colors to try and
hide that Q ball behind if he decides to
defend I don’t believe our teller shter
is working uh right
now he’s going to bank the oneand and at
the same time play position for the two
in the pocket underneath him he’s
backing the one softly very nicely
struck look at the CUO and perfect
position for the two slight angle on the
two after pocking the two Jim he may be
able to get the Q ball to go slightly
cross table position for the three in
the upper left corner and equally
important Billy had he missed the one he
had Keith mccre Barry didn’t he great
observation he may have the angle to
draw it straight back Jim let’s see what
he does with it three ball to his left
oh he took his eye off the
ball he was able to pocket the
two difficult to tell he may have gotten
away with that Miss I don’t know whether
Keith can get through to that two ball
and if body language is worth anything
that tells you he can’t that’s exactly
right as quickly he sees plays you would
know that he’d be down on the ball had
he had the advantage of pocketing the
two but it doesn’t look like he has a
shot on the two you have to go to
probably play some sort of a safety and
he’s going to throw his back out if he
continues with that
move a lot of body
English okay the eight ball is now
hanging in the corner of pocket I do I
do not believe the two can can contact
the eight because of the position of the
five that’s the four I’m sorry that’s
the four but he might be able to play a
2 48
combination oh opting to play a soft
safety which really didn’t work out well
for him see now have a look at that Q
ball folks we talked about it earlier
it’s got dots all around it and it’s
going to be able to very clearly show
you the spin that these players are
imparting on
it both attacking and defending this is
going to be like an instructional
booklet right on your television sets
now this isn’t really that easy of a
situation for him to deal with Jim it
really isn’t isn’t that easy easy of a
safety so he’s going to have to probably
reposition the QQ ball down the other
end of the table and back of the other
balls down there he ran into the three
and trying to do that but it wasn’t easy
he tried to do exactly what I describe
but really didn’t do it as well as he
should have McCree now takes his chair
leaving buddy a very long difficult shot
on the two he’s going to play the 28
here
Jim and a lot of distance between that
two and eight Billy that makes the shot
a lot more difficult than it might
appear mind you it looks pretty tough
even from this
seat oh great effort from Buddy Hall
there but he’s not finished perfectly on
the two no he lost control of the two
ball quite often when you play a
combination you lose control of the
combinating ball the ball you hit first
after pocketing the combination you have
to be sure that you’re able to control
that ball and then that in that instant
he wasn’t able to do that but it wasn’t
easy because they had to hit it with
some speed had he rolled it the
possibility of scratching was there so
therefore he had to hit it with some
speed now I wonder if he’s contemplating
going to that side cushion well it looks
like that he might play a a two to three
cushion safety with the Q ball behind
the uh the nine and the
four I don’t know well he’s looking he’s
now he’s looking to kick the two but if
he kicks the two in what future does he
have in playing position for the red
ball the three ball the other end of the
table he’s going to have to play it with
speed but he is looking at that side
cushion he’s trying to kick this in
and he hit it with speed exactly like he
said he may he hit it with speed but he
was unable to pocket the two mccre now
steps to the table Matt’s tied up one
game a piece balls are
spread over the table but uh not exactly
uh what I consider an easy out here Jim
now this is far from look at the cuq
ball heading towards the side pocket
too I don’t think Keith wanted to to be
straight on this three that four is over
the opposite side of the table now and
the nines on the same side of the table
offering a a problem if if you which
what he was able to deal with now
pocketing this ball there’s the five
pass the
seven the way he played that it doesn’t
and certainly doesn’t
now possibility of a
billiard that’s a possibility he can
Bank to five he can play the bilard or
he can maybe play some sort of a safe
knowing mccre is going for the billiard
here first
call and you saw the hand go up in
disgust he doesn’t take a lot of time to
sight gets down and let’s
fly rack number three of a possible 21
it’s a race to
11 buddy hall with a chance to see his
first lead but he’s got to complete the
three ball clearance
here he not shy into a very large pocket
Jim these pockets are cut smaller than
the
uh in the standard siiz
pocket as you see what I mean he didn’t
hit that ball that badly but didn’t even
come close to pocketing the
ball grey back at the
table he may even Bank this because of
the uh position of the seven
ball see he can hit the seven and either
make the seven or the five he didn’t
make either but look he made the seven
the other end of the table and that’s
pretty fortunate for mccre well that’s
what you do you know if you hit them
hard you drop to your knees and scream
out calling all Pockets a work for mccre
there Lady Luck plays a
card I don’t totally agree with the way
he played that particular shot I thought
he had more more of an angle notice uh
the shot he lift was up with on the nine
very difficult shot lot of body movement
too Billy he was up off the que almost
before the tip had struck the Q ball I
thought he should have considered
playing a different route on the seven
to the nine than he did accepting a long
difficult shot on the
nine oh that was a great shot from Buddy
Hall into a very acute angle into that
side pocket but Keith mccre knows he had
the first look at it but it’s Hall
plotting his beat up on his side of the
score sheet 2-1 to The
Riflemen yeah the way the mccre opened
up the match running out flawlessly in
rack number one I expected him to uh do
a lot better in this particular in the
last last particular game than he did
you know he aired a couple times to in
that game I didn’t think he he should
have safe to say Billy there’s been a
few mistakes made in this one but it’s
still the early going in this match and
players trying to settle in the nerves
have to be playing a
role but buddy hall all set to kick off
in rack
four pocketing a ball on the Breck if he
needs a push off the fourward he which
he got one but the five ball has come
between the Q ball and the one
ball yes that’s a Saving Grace as far as
Buddy’s concerned but again kick off
that side cushion for
mccre excellent shot hit it with the
feed repition the C ball in an area on
the table to have a shot on the two to
three balls to the right of the two he’s
going to have to go two cushions around
the nine seven and eight
here I think he flew at the nine there
because in contacting the nine with the
QQ ball there was no way he was going to
get position on the two think he took a
flyer at the nine
Billy
and he can count himself lucky if he
hasn’t left the
two and again judging by Buddy Hall’s
look at it he
hasn’t well pocketing the two is a very
very difficult task in itself attaining
a shot on the three is just just as
difficult considering the position of
the three and the position of the Q ball
it’s going to hit the two going to the
left of the table and it’s going to go
into with a lot of potential interfering
balls with the five and the eight so now
he’s now see he’s elating now is going
to diminish the accuracy of the shot
somewhat unless he’s playing a
safety he just played a safety and
nothing he had was simple but uh
figuring the position of the two in
relation to the three and the possible
traffic he to deal with he uped to play
of safety yeah and he’s also bumped that
pink four ball into a safer position too
that’s going to make it a little more
difficult to the first player that buys
himself a chance
mccre has to be careful here because the
CUO may run into the nine oh he he
actually played the nine
again so he’s throwing caution to the
win he’s a very aggressive player
borders a line of haphazardly play but
uh you know he’s won a lot of
tournaments and we really can’t uh
second guess him and he’s also one of
the players that the other players come
out to see they never know what they’re
going to get from Keith
mccre buddy hall know he’s got a chance
at the two the three in the open but
that four is already causing some
concern but a very methodical player
realizing exactly what Jim pointed out
he’s going to have to play position on
the three to possibly deal with the
position of the four and the five the
four and the five at the other end of
the table I think he got a little too
thin on the three here Jim and also the
six ball in the center of the table is
also a problem there’s a chance here
Bill if he can’t get onto that four ball
and it’s very difficult to tell from our
perspective right now he may want to try
and get that QQ ball closer to it where
he can wedge the that Whitey right in
behind that
five and lay a real good hook on mccre
well we’re going to know if it goes cuz
he’s perfect to do anything even if he
does elect to try and hook Keith he’s
perfect and if that four goes he won’t
get that Q ball into a better position
to attack it than this yeah he’s in an
ideal position to put reposition the
Cubo behind the five but he also has a
possibility of banking the four across
Corner if I see the angle
right now he oped to shoot the shot that
you thought he had and he made the four
ball three in the side he didn’t want
that look at that Q ball wedged up to
that five that was one he didn’t want to
see disappear I kind of like if it’s
possible for him to play play the Q ball
behind the nine and the Seven that’s the
other end of the
table he’s he’s very close to the five
he should Elevate slightly repositioning
the CU ball behind the nine which is at
the other end of the table let’s see
what he does with it bit of a problem
here bill that he knows that five is
going to be in close proximity to that
corner pocket if he does leave it well
he’s a great player and sometimes great
players have to make great
shots see now he’s looking to see
exactly where the Q ball needs to
be
see see what he well he hit it too
thickly and he really didn’t get the CU
ball the speed of the cube ball that he
wanted to get from the ball from the
from the CU ball there tough shot this
for mccre
though excellent shot mccre is an
excellent shot maker
Jim well he won’t get a better chance to
snipe a rack than this
one all balls are lying perfectly on the
table it’s all stop stop and
stop just the way the book
says and this is going to level things
up
here the 2003 US Open nine ball
championships and we’re seeing a beauty
unfolding 22 Keith mccre and Buddy Hall
and it’s going to be the earthquake to
break off in rack number five the one
dog make that ball roll
I thought buddy misjudged that safety a
little bit there in his last opportunity
at the table he wanted to get the C Ball
much further down table I thought I
matter of fact I thought he was going to
hit the five a little more thin than he
hit it and play the long side opposed to
the short side but that’s not the way he
saw it and obviously it didn’t turn out
well for
him well you see a lot of animation with
mccc’s break just watch that queue the
way he throws it
up excellent break look at the Q ball
repositioning itself in the center of
the table an ideal position on the table
to end up with on off the
break 19 mph that seems to be about the
speed both players like to hit the hit
the brake with around 19
mph at the table nice position on the
four the five adjacent to the uh to the
four the seven looks like it’s going to
cause a bit of a problem bill right near
that side pocket if we can get a closeup
of that seven relation to that side
pocket maybe we can determine whether or
not he’s going to have a problem little
later on let’s take a look at
it but certainly looks as though it’s
going to be very dodgy to get that Q
ball into an area to attack that seven
and keep the Q ball out of the side
pocket you know the way he’s playing it
looks like to me the seven will go into
the side pocket because he had an option
to bank the seven the six excuse me to
the other side pocket and P’s been
kissing it off the seven yeah he’s
banking the
seven
that was a long ways away now has he
gotten away with
it considering the position of the eight
in relation to the seven it you know was
asking an awful lot of himself to bank
the seven and come up with a shot on the
eight you know because they were both on
the same side of the table and after
backing the seven particularly with the
angle he left himself with he was going
away from the eight but he will play a
good safety locking up the CU ball
solidly behind the nine
here he want to get a
cushion and if he’s Frozen him to the
nine he’s going to have a a lot of
problems
here mccre comes out of his chair and
weighs up
this dilemma that he’s got to try and
extract himself
from the two cushion Escape seems to be
favorite but
again after the contact Bill lot going
to be left to luck well he’s going to to
hit this with speed Jim
oh he’s hitting it softly I don’t agree
with this I think I think he should have
hit it with speed because hitting it
softly gives buddy too many
options buys himself time if nothing
else now one option buddy has is to go
cross table trying to reposition the Q
ball on the other side of the eight
spinning it with left hand English and
if you notice the red circles on the QQ
ball you’ll be able to see the rotation
of the cube Ball by watching those red
circles start spinning around they’ll be
using a lot of left hand engl spinning
the Q Ball Watch behind the on the other
side of the
eight look at the spin but he didn’t hit
it hard enough Jim had he hit it harder
notice the position of the two ball the
way he was traveling he would have Wi on
the other side of the eight solidly
locking up
mccre no he just couldn’t sight it and
you can see him offering his hand up
and looking for a little sympathy from
the
crowd
game number five it looks like it may go
mccc’s way Jim wow great shot on the
seven
there he doesn’t take much time does
he nine deposited and Keith mccre once
again with his nose in front here 3-2
over buddy
hall well that was a second time buddy
came up short off of a safety play the
last time he was at the table he was
frozen to the five at the other end of
the table came up short on the way down
down table the same thing happened again
he’s not putting enough stroke into the
ball and I don’t expect him to continue
to play this sty or this way I expect
him to pick up his speed because he’s a
great player and he’s proven himself
throughout his entire career what a
tremendous player buddy
Hol snap mccre winding it up now rack
number
six in the race to 11 the one into the
side pocket still trying to will that
nine into into a pocket and scoop the
500
cash he’s got a shot on the two as
well that’s exactly what ke mccre was
looking to do solidly locking up buddy I
don’t really see very many ways buddy
can hit the two with a matter of fact
he’s going to be very hard pressed to
hit the
two
there’s a good shot of M
3ti kind of talks to himself a little
bit get a chance I want to show you a
lady that is responsible for Keith
mccc’s
Resurgence be his girlfriend that’ll be
sat to his immediate right we’ll have a
look at
her now is Buddy gotten away with
there’s Jenny Jenny Malloy I can tell
you they’ve been together for about 2
years now she met him at the capital
city event a couple years ago and she
wasn’t looking for a boyfriend she told
me but she hooked on to Keith mccre and
she is over the
moon nice story that one she’s actually
a court reporter in the Washington DC
area that’s where they’re making their
home right now both Keith and
Jenny she won’t be happy to see that
three stay out but she also knows that
buddy hall doesn’t have a clear path to
it well you know that was like more of
less a built-in safety had he missed the
three realizing that he hit it with the
proper speed reposition the C Ball
behind the four buty now steps to the
table looking to kick again the last
time he was at the table he he had also
had a
kick 50 plus years of playing
experience on display here in the form
of Buddy
Hall that was buddy in the Hall of Fame
Billy oh yeah most certainly is Buddy
Hall is budy buddy was inducted into the
Hall of Fame I believe it was a year
before this the last
year and you know it took some time for
him to be uh nominated for the hall Fame
a lot longer than I thought it would
because of what he’s done the accompl
accomplishments he’s met made in this
game and not being the hall Fame was
such an injustice yeah you know what
he’s looking at now he’s going to look
to bend that Cube ball he’s going to
have to hit into that bottom cushion as
we look with a lot of left hand Spin and
watch that Q ball bend back towards that
right hand cushion and he’s going to hit
it low too which will bend it by hitting
it low it’ll it’ll take off that cushion
it’ll Bend like Jim said it’s exactly
what he did executed the perfectly Jim
well you can mark that one down that’s
the shot of the match to this
stage
executed On Demand by The
Rifleman
this shot has to be hit
cleanly nicely struck he got such a
beautiful stroke long flowing action and
silky
smooth six to the seven J the seven
position to the left of the six he’s
going to have to get good on the six get
an angle on the six to drop nicely for
the seven because he only has two
pockets to play the seven in the upper
left and the lower left hand corner
so it’s imperative for him to get a nice
angle on the six he needs to get over a
little bit
further and it looks like he looks like
he’s a little awkward slightly he’s got
a slight angle but maybe maybe not the
angle that he wanted to end up with
Billy I’m going to tell everyone at home
that you were leaning there to try to
get a better look I do that in front of
my television set quite often too it
doesn’t change
anything stunning that in and he’s got a
nice angle on the seven now well he
would probably rather ended up straight
on the seven considering the position of
the eight of the other end of the table
he may have to go cross table and going
cross table Jimmy has to hit the seven
with a harder speed and when you do that
you you you make the your pocket Place
smaller yeah as you’ve already noted
these
pockets are very
unsympathetic no he hit that well
Jim had to miss contacting the nine and
accomplished that and now perfect on the
eight and this is looking a lot like
33 we’re playing on the diamond table
with 860 s cloth a withth balls and
using the sardo rack the equipment is
the best we have to offer and the
players are also the
best nine to PA ited and Buddy Hall
confirms that score line now the first
six racks have been shared here in
Chesapeake and I tell you that kick shot
that buddy made was spectacular you
called it before he made it let’s take
another look at
it yeah it’s one thing to see the shot
it’s another to execute it but that one
went
in as though buddy had it in its sights
from the start and it laid the
foundation for victory in that rack
Billy Maybe after buddy breaks the balls
we’ll take another look at it but let’s
take a look at his break
now the repositioning of the Q ball
after the balls will break broken and
the uh the speed that he hits to break
them he’s just followed through with
that Q ball that might well take him out
of position on the
one but he didn’t make anything anyway
so it’s a long one ball for Keith mccre
and I don’t know whether it offers
position to the two or not the six ball
lying next to the two the one ball
straight in I don’t think he has much
future in pocketing the one coming up
coming up with a shot on the two wow
what a what a shot I mean I mean and it
didn’t take much time just pocketed a
very difficult shot easy
game again same shot well again you’ll
see a lot of it mccre will show you so
many shots he’s a fantastic shot maker
but those misses creep in sometimes when
they’re very unexpected now buddy has to
be careful here Jim he wants to play the
two three combination but controlling
the Q ball may be a problem he’s going
to be going into the area where the
sixes on the other side see sees where
he’s standing right now he knows if he
hits the six and he’s able to play the
two three combination successfully and
hits the six he may find himself behind
the nine he doesn’t want to end up there
Jim so therefore he’s going to have to
do a little bit of thinking how he’s
going to handle this
situation taking a lot of time he weighs
everything up he’s a very methodical
player isn’t he yes he is I like a lot
of extra spin spinning between the nine
and the six he may be going into the
nine here with the cute ball
watch that was very surprising Jim I
mean that was very surprising he is an
excellent bang poool player you have to
have a lot of confidence in your bang
poool game in order to play a shot like
that combination was rather
simple that great bank shot from buddy
now has forged an opening a good
positional shot back down to the orange
five he would like to be in the center
of the table more toward the nine maybe
maybe a foot foot and a half closer to
the nine off the center of the
table he’s got to come down he’s got to
get down he’s got another foot foot and
a half to go well he’s willing it down
leaning
back I don’t know whether he’s got
enough to Snick this five into that side
pocket or is he going to bank it as well
if he can contact the seven at before
hitting the cushion after cutting the
five in the side he’ll then go off the
seven he’ll then go off the seven and
and then go cross table that way but if
he can’t hit the seven before contacting
the side cushion he’s going to have a
problem all he was able to back to seven
before hitting the side cushion he’s put
himself at a perfect line on the six Jim
very nicely controlled shot there made
to look a lot easier than it was these
top players they can judge those
billiard shots and sort out where that Q
Ball’s going to
go and never look in
danger he had two options there J he
could have played the low side of the
seven or the high side of seven he’s
played the high side of seven
repositioning the CQ ball
now maybe somewhere around right of
center of the
table I kind of like the other way going
toward the
eight but I’m not going to argue with
this man at the table you don’t win very
many arguments with him not if they’re
full body contact
arguments perfect line on the eight now
he’ll Pock the eight swing the CBE ball
cross table for position on the nine for
the lower right hand
corner looks like he’s starting to
settle down now and what made me believe
that was his was his option to bank the
two when he had the two three
combination it too softly he’s under hit
this he hit it too softly this is the
type of shot that you’d still expect
these players to get yet but again
they’ve got to get those negative
thoughts out of their mind before they
attack them cuz this is missable and
Buddy knows it should have been
easy and no
danger buddy 43 in front now of Keith
it’s a race to 11 just to remind you and
he’ll be breaking off in number eight
now this is a danger area for mcre he
cannot allow any more opportunities to
elud him to to escape him every
opportunity he gets from now on he’s
going to have to take advantage of it
because buddy seems to be settling down
and he’s starting to play the game he
knows how he can knows knows to play and
and if McCree doesn’t take advantage of
the opportunities he’s he’s getting he’s
going to be in a lot of trouble in this
match well Billy you also alluded to the
fact that appears as though buddy hall
is starting to settle in and evidenced
in the fact that he banked that two ball
that’s a sign of confidence it certainly
is I mean I didn’t even think it was an
option rack eight buddy crashes into
that diamond cluster looking for a color
to depart the playing surface and I’m
not sure there’s any friends there hit
the ball is rather hard too I think I
don’t know how hard he did strike the
break with but it was a lot harder than
he has been striking with but in spite
of that you up dry on the break MCC at
the table like I said before it’s very
important for mccre to do well with this
opportunity
balls are spread quite nicely over the
table Jim shouldn’t be any problems out
here for a player the status of theti
well that was a great shot right there
he had a very little window to slide
that to past the three he’s overdrawing
it but maybe he’s gots in another angle
on the four which is okay four five the
other upper lower left hand corner six
behind the
seven has to be careful he do run into
the nine here
well he went with inside English to
avoid contacting the nine and using the
English Miss missed the five ball in the
corner pocket even though he missed it
and he’ll be ruing the shot he’s not
left it for Buddy Hall that’s the
situation a total eclipse Facing The
Rifleman right now now you can look at
this in two different ways if you’re
Buddy Hall you can say wow I got unlucky
he missed the ball and I’m hooked or you
can say well he missed the ball he
should have been out now I have an
opportunity to do something with it and
I think that’s the way buddy would
be proceeding here he’s happy to get
back to the table he’s got a chance can
he spin this enough to get that five
it’s very close Jim very close I think
it’s going to need a little bit of a
massay
here or hit it
softly see he just couldn’t stay on that
cushion long enough to pocket to
five and I don’t know whether or not he
got second prize well he can mccre can
pocket the five but coming up with a
shot in the six isn’t as easy as it
appears unless he has a natural follow
angle which he
did okay the six and the uh seven could
be played probably in the same pocket if
I see the angle right for my advantage
point now the eight is perfect line on
the seven now the drop nicely for the
eight and the eight seven 8 n shouldn’t
be any problem you have to get you have
to get it in quick when mccre is at the
table he played is like a guy that’s
double parked outside he should he
should consider consider himself quite
fortunate to have won this game Ty he up
four games a piece and that’s exactly
what he’s done 44 again mccre and Buddy
Hall serving up a feast of nine ball
action here and nothing to choose
between these two legends it’s not easy
out there Jim I don’t I don’t I hope I
don’t seem like I’m overly critical but
it’s not easy out there for either
player you know those pockets on the
diamond table are cut smaller a lot of
people here you know that’s focusing on
this feature match you know it’s a very
important match for both of these
players this is a very difficult
situation they’re confronted with here
well under the TV lights and the
pressure of the biggest tournament in
this country the US
Open is this six going to find its way
not
today let’s take a look very very
quickly at the position of the two on
the left side of the table behind the
five
in relation to the one that’s where the
problem is right here Jim getting from
the one to the two he can pocket the one
after pocketing the one will he brush
the six with the qqo excuse me that’s
that’s the seven will he brush the seven
with the qo if he brushes the seven with
the QB he’s going have a
problem so we opt to play a very
intelligent safety behind the
seven that’s all he could do
as you said Billy shooting that one and
attacking from that position didn’t
afford him position to the two no point
this shot should be hit with speed
here he really hasn’t left buddy
anything easy to deal
with if you noticed Buddy’s expression
he’s trying to figure out what he has if
anything and I don’t think he has
much
he’s making his own line of cues now as
buddy
hall there a lot of top players and
former top players
of the direction they’ve chosen Nick
Varner most notably and Mike
seagull he’s got the bank
[Applause]
shot I certainly don’t see anything
jumping out at the
two he played the two-way shot there Jim
looked like to me that he tried to make
the bang but if had he missed it he
didn’t figure to give up much because of
the position of the 25 and the seven but
he poked at the bank and now what does
he have not much like you said not much
at
all he’ll take some time over this Billy
he bought himself this position I don’t
really see what he has I don’t think he
has a good safety he certainly doesn’t
have a good offensive shot
you know this is quite a dilemma he’s
faced with here
Jim it’s a fine mess you’ve got me
into why did you make the
bank he’s going to have to come up with
a a spectacular
shot you know what he could do he could
draw the Q ball behind the
nine or he’s banking the two and going
up table with the QQ ball watch He’s
backing the two underneath
him he’s back second the two underneath
him he’s going up table with the Q ball
notice how perfectly he struck that Trot
Jim what a creative and well executed
shot just saw a little table management
there from buddy
hall now that shot was a very creative
shot and very well executed and a lot of
player people out there really didn’t
appreciate the shot they just executed
but uh I didn’t want that to go on
another and mccre made a nice kick two
cushions Bud he has left buddy a shot on
the two the six ball is hanging in the
lower right hand corner pocket but I
don’t know how close to that corner
pocket the six actually
is well the amount of two ball that’s
sticking out behind that nine he may
have no choice but to attack the 29 or
the 2 six sorry right he does he does
have that as as probably his only
option but it may not may not play as
simple as it looks the only other option
is to hit it very thin and cut it to the
side cushion and let it float down near
where the the Diamond sign is the middle
of those diamonds and run with the Q
Ball but I think he’s going to take the
two six combination on here and he’s no
and he’s not guaranteed to come up with
a shot on the two after making the six
here looks like he jumped a little bit
on that shot he left crey a very long
demanding
shot he definitely went after it
Bill whether he’s going to pay the price
for the
miss
we can have a good chuckle these two my
buddy has an option here Jim he can bang
it to into the six which looks like the
right shot but I don’t know because of
the position of this of the four ball
may end up hooking him if he makes the
combination I kind of like buddy
repositioning the cuq behind the three
at the other end of the
table
see even if he would have made that he
may have had some
problems not
really I know what’s going to happen MCC
mccre is going to probably play the 26
Billard but he got to be very careful
with the Q ball he it’s that six dead on
the Q ball could follow it into the
pocket and then he’s going to have to
control the two well that’s pretty good
at controlling the two but I don’t know
if the if he can hit it directly because
the eight seems to be in in the path of
the Q ball or the Q ball have to run
over uh let’s take a look at it rail
first
possibly I think so
Bill and he’s missed it that two is into
that pocket pretty
deep well the two to the three shouldn’t
be a problem as the three to the four
shouldn’t be a problem the four to the
five may be a problem considering the
position of the five in relation to the
side pocket that seems to be a question
whether or not the five could be
pocketed into the side
pocket Le sure to leave himself a nice
angle on that four ball and depositing
this three into the corner you know he’s
got rather Awkward on the three straight
in on the three really didn’t want to
get straight on the three he wanted to
get some sort of an angle which will
enabled him to get closer to the four
now he’s going to have to more or less
draw back by 6 in or
so
you got a nice angle on the four it
looks like the five may be able to be
pocketed into the side
pocket and if he can pocket the five in
the side gem he shouldn’t have any
problem for the remainder of the
rack just having to strike it a little
harder than he would have liked
possibly a little movement coming into
that
action if mccre can’t attack from here
and it doesn’t look like he can I think
Buddy’s going to be faced with a pretty
Grim proposition when he comes back to
the table
again well we are looking at two of the
finest Nall players in the world at one
time uh buddy hall undoubtedly one of
United States greatest players
undoubtedly you mistake there from mccre
though bill that was not a difficult
snooker this is a long shot as you get
up there an age and I can attest to this
as you get up there in age these long
shots be much much more
difficult queued that one as sweet as a
nut oh he certainly did hit it very
softly but yet got that nice nice back
spin on the Q ball and theying the Q
ball to come back in perfect line for
the five that’s the way you expect buddy
hall to play and that’s the way I’ve
always seen him play you and it’s really
surprising to me when he misses some of
the shots that he misses at him I’m
saying to myself he shouldn’t be missing
these kind of shots but you
know he’s a competitor he’s a competitor
and he’s going to play and play and play
until he can’t play
anymore and he’s played extremely well
throughout his right extremely well just
one good positional shot from the 8
to9 and a lead that buddy hall seems to
have
enjoyed for a better part of this match
will once again
materialize albeit the
narrowest of leads at one
rack
and there you go you can put it in the
bank now 54 buddy hall in front of Keith
mccre I don’t know if it’s true or not
but I heard that buddy was in poor
health several months ago and he lost
some weight maybe that’s uh that’s been
burdening him some well I actually heard
the same thing I know when the World
Championships were on a few were hoping
that he was going to make the trk across
the Atlantic over to Cardiff Wales and
represent the United States of America
in the world championships along with
many of his
colleagues but you know buddy doesn’t
like to fly does he Bill uh no he
certainly
doesn’t and whenever we have a
tournament on the west coast he very
rarely shows up because the distance
between where he lives in Florida and in
the west coast California Nevada rack 10
but he all set to crack into
them he switch side to the table with he
was breaking the balls from pocketing
the one in the side
pocket 19 mph didn’t really let up or
increase the speed of the
break two ball straight in three ball on
the other side of the table seven ball
position in the center of the table a
potential interfering ball
Jim maybe going
forward staying away from the
seven spinning the Q ball as you can
very clearly see coming to rest near the
center of the table now this ball has to
be struck softly because of position of
five or excuse me other four on the same
side of the table near the side
pocket you can play this with a lot of
bottom a slow drag shot kill the speed
of that Q
ball that’s that’s exactly the way he
sees it as well five ball position near
the lower corner pocket fourball has to
be struck cleanly because of the
position of the
five yes no room for error
here and he has the six bog to uh
somewhat just to make life a little more
difficult his Bridge somewhat here you
know it’s going to he going to diminish
the accuracy somewhat he’s going to also
his Bridge hand
nicely struck ball just feathered the
five but not enough to keep it out of
the pocket now he has to be careful on
this shot J because of the position of
the seven that’s where he would like the
Q ball to be where the seven is now but
since the seven is there he can’t
reposition the Q ball there so therefore
he has to figure another way of working
around
it
notice the spin he’s got to get away
from the seven which he’s nicely
done very nicely positioned yeah I like
the way he played that bill I thought he
drw straight up the table and take the
seven out of the equation that again
showed a lot of confidence and QQ ball
control great
execution I mean if you want to model
your game like I said before after a
player it would be buddy hall buddy hall
knows how to play and he plays like he
knows what he’s doing and gets the
results he can walk the walk and talk
the
[Music]
talk and for being such a big man in
stature he has such a Grace when he’s at
the
table
and one of the shots actually led him to
this position was when he had that long
shot on the three ball where he had a
drag stroke it like you said he did and
he executed it perfectly we’ll take a
look at that shot just a little
one buddy hall now two racks in front 64
over the earthquake Keith
mccre some terrific QQ ball control and
a slow drag shot here that we talked
about earlier and just killing the speed
of the QQ ball you can see the bottom as
those dots on that Q ball slide across
that cloth and he didn’t hit it with a
lot of extreme left hand English just a
half a tip of left hand English but
mostly with that RO with that draw
stroke that stopped the action on that
QQ ball before it contacting the three
slowed it up he hit it with a good
stroke but the QQ ball didn’t have the
speed that he hit it with because of the
the back
draw increasing the accuracy of the shot
and giving getting the full effect of
that
shot well buddy slightly into the
comfort zone now with the two rack
cushion I believe it’s the first time
either player in this match has had a
two- game lead exactly right Bill if can
he increase on that 19
milph nicely stck struck break pocking a
ball on a Breck got getting a kiss off
the
three and willing that one ball to stop
so that he’s got a shot at it and I
think it
did the two balls positioned above the
nine and it looks like that the the
angle that he has Jim that he can go two
cushions toward the five ball which is
positioned slightly beneath and to the
right of the Q ball he’s looking to go
two cushions further down table playing
position for the two in the
side
now the threes at the other end of the
table so wherever he ends up he’s going
to have to end up with an angle off the
two to get back off the table for the
three this is a very very important shot
in this rack he jumped a little bit Jim
and where the cuq ball went and if you
if you can go back on your tape at home
or whatever knows when he struck that
ball he jumped up in the air that’s a no
no even good players make mistakes like
that well certainly buddy will be
thinking about that shot for how long
well that’s down to Keith
mccre now mccre has ball in hand on the
one now he should be able to reposition
the C ball for the two to drop nicely
for the three I don’t I don’t know if
he’s if he got straight in he he’s done
a good job he’s got the proper angle had
he ended up with the other angle he
would had a problem In fairness bill at
this level given the position of the
balls and with ball in hand you’ve got
to get out from
here now he’s got to have to use the
bridge here cuz he he can’t reach this
you’re going to have to use the bridge I
don’t know how dep he is is using the
bridge because he’s an excellent
opposite hand uh player he doesn’t
really use the bridge that
often well he he missed the three ball
badly and this time he didn’t hook buddy
now we’re going to watch buddy draw the
ball in this particular shot Jim it’s
rather a lengthly shot a lot of distance
between the Q ball and the three ball
and the four ball is position down the
other end of the table now he has an
option here Jim he can draw it maybe 6
to 8 10 in or he can really put a stroke
on it drawing it further past the past
the five I think he’s better off just
drawing it about 10
in maybe following it
here well he with fort with to run into
the seven now he’s come up with a shot
on the four see he didn’t strike the
three ball accurately enough had he
struck the three ball where he wanted to
he would do the Q ball straight back by
hitting get the three ball slightly to
the right the Q ball then went to the
right going into the seven and
fortunately he’s come up with a shot on
the four it’s not by any means an easy
shot carries a lot of
distance I’d certainly rather be
shooting this than in my chair watching
it if he gets it good chance he’s going
to land on the five the natural angle
takes that Q bowl over towards the five
exactly he’s really struggling out there
Jim he’s GI he’s given mccre a lot of
unexpected opportunities and but he’s
still leading six to four so he should
consider himself fortunate at the hill
that still had that two- game advantage
AG MCC is looking to
uh to break too short that that
Advantage somewh by 6 to5 here well this
is going to narrow the Gap a little this
will go a long ways to steadying the
Keith mccre ship it’s been wavering
slightly but if he can still pull this
one out what a horrible show no he’s
okay he’s all right not what he wanted
but you see I thought he I shot that
shot to very very quick he had a lot
more options very nicely executed shot
by the way had a lot more options for
positioning the C ball on the other side
of the seven well I started talking
there bill before I saw the ball check
off that top
cushion and an easy nine for mccre to
pull one back to 65 narrowing the Gap to
six to five and this is going to be a
very close match Jim as we
expected Keith has to be full of
confidence right now after failing with
his first attempt at Q ball in hand
coming back and still seizing the rack
he got to put him in good stead you can
see he’s pretty happy about it they
won’t put this
on you what call it’s not too difficult
to get a smile out of Keith mccre at any
time is it no he’s a very vocal player
at the table he likes to talk to his to
his opponent he locks he likes to talk
to the spectators you know especially
when he’s really playing his best game
then you’ll really hear the jabber out
there that’s why he’s such a popular
player because they love to listen to
him when he’s at the table especially
when he’s raining balls
in well he got one into the side pocket
off the
break he’s got a glorious opportunity
now to try and get back on level terms
with Buddy Hall and it won’t take him
long to do it as you alluded to
earlier no
good shot there just needs to keep that
keep all out of the side oh that’s
unlucky for mccre and he knows
it no way he could have legislated for
that three cushions and right into the
bottom of the side pocket guess like a
dagger through his heart that one bill
and he also has the luxury of
positioning the Cubo on the table giving
him the perfect angle to get from the
four to the five and the five ball was
the problem ball on the table now he has
Cub ball hand on the four so therefore
positioning on the five shouldn’t be any
problem he would like to end up with a
slight angle on the five to Play Slight
angle on the five that’s that’s a little
thinner than he wanted to end up with
Jim a little too slight for your
liking little too slight for Buddy
Hall’s liking too
apparently buddy certainly not happy in
the way he’s been
playing but very resilient player player
that can start playing flawlessly at any
time tough
shot beautifully struck shot notice a c
ball Jim two rails cross table and
perfect line for the six that was a much
better shot than what buddy hall made it
appear
he had to get enough bottom into that Q
ball to swing it past the side
pocket and negotiate that five into the
corner any type of a shot on the seven
should suffice either angle or even
straight in wouldn’t be bad ended up
straight in on the seven now drawing the
K ball straight back for the eight the
nine there the foot spot looks like that
65 lead he has may even be lengthened
here
nothing to do from the 8 to the nine
just feather that Q ball a little
further away from that side cushion it
should be leaving a very simple nine for
The
Rifleman an unfortunate scratch in the
side pocket gave gave Hall the
opportunity to lengthen this lead he
took advantage of it looks like after
the after this game Jim it’ll be a 75
Advantage for
Hawkins nine disappears it’s in this
account now 75 confirmed buddy hall over
Keith
mccre buddy will slot that beat over
and offer a little conversation to mccre
but that was a victory three it was
manufactured by a terrific shot on that
five Bill yes it was and and and as thin
as he was on the five it took a very
accurate hit on the five to pocket it as
cleanly as he did pocket it and still
able to get the control the Q ball and
the speed of the Q ball ending up in
position that he ended up with that was
a beautiful shot beautiful
shot he’s been getting he’s been getting
much more production on the break
breaking from this side uhoh scratching
in the side
that’s certainly a momentum stopper
mccre once again at the table with an
excellent
opportunity ball in hand notice position
number three the problem ball on the
table the three ball is positioned on
the right side of the table the six is
blocking the pocket for the three the
two ball on the other side of the table
he would like to end up somewhere in the
center of the table with the Q ball on
the two to go cross table in between the
six and the three with the Q ball well
Keith’s already had a good look at the
table he’s got a nice angle on the two
as you suggested bill so this the key
shot in rack number 13 and it certainly
is like you said the key of shot here he
comes nicely struck he’s going to hit
the six he’s going to end up a perfect
shot on the
scen beautifully executed
shot six to the seven depending on how
far that seven is away from that uh side
will determine whether or not he’ll be
pocketable on the side or not so he
wants to end up with an angle on the six
here Jim he needs an angle on the six he
can’t afford to get straight you’ll also
notice the way Keith mccre holds his
back hand he’s very much a sidearm
player you see this from a a younger
shorter player that was learning to play
the game this is the way mccre learned
to play and he just stuck with it didn’t
he yes he has and he and now he’s going
to draw the ball on the other side of
the side very nicely
struck didn’t take much time in running
the balls in this particular
rack that’s that’s an
understatement nine deposited 76 buddy
hall over Keith mccre heating up here at
the conference center in
Chesapeake been very interesting match
up at this point Jim very
interesting well mccre does it in Whip
It fashion buddy hall is a lot more akin
to the turtle in this race isn’t he just
methodical and looking to get to the
Finish Line
first could you imagine
that mccre will offer a few words again
to the people watching and to
his colleague sat in the opposite chair
there buddy hall but he needs a ball
down off the break rack 14 the one in
one in the side he’s got a shot on the
two let’s take a look at the three the
three ball positioning itself behind the
seven at the other end of the table
certainly a problem he does have an
angle on the two if he cuts the two in
the Q ball should go somewhere in the
direction of the
37 opening up the 37 perfectly struck
ball look at the results you got with
that
[Applause]
shot there was only a smattering of
Applause there from the
crowd I can tell you that that one
could well be a showstopper five to the
six has to be right here because the six
is on the same side of the table as the
five is it looks like he’s got on the 50
yard line here Jim he’s got a little bit
of a problem here it doesn’t appear that
he does but he
does excellent excellent shot that was a
beautifully executed shot by mccre well
this is the best Keith mccre has looked
in this match and I wonder if he’s not
starting to get the bit between his
teeth he’s getting his Q arm moving a
lot more and with alarming regularity as
far as buddy hall is
concerned once again not wasting much
time and running the balls on the table
and all of a sudden that 75 deficit he
was facing now becomes 77
disappears nine down and Buddy Hall
probably saying don’t hey it was only a
couple seconds ago I was at 7even to
five that’s that psychological
disadvantage buddy hall is confronting I
think Keith was a little more concerned
about getting that crease in his pants
God I have showing the people again he
was losing it sat in his chair when
buddy hall was at the
table just as we promised there was very
little to choose between these two and
mccre with the advantage momentum has
switched chairs
and rack 15 invites mccre back to break
off poing again the one in the side he
has to come up with a shot on the two
Jim he’ll be at a disadvantage pushing
here oh is that a disadvantage bill
because the push shot is is really a
gambling effort isn’t it it’s a shot
where you feel well I don’t want to
leave him anything to attack from but
having said that if he gives it back to
me I’ve got to have a reply too well in
answer to your question is it a
disadvantage anytime you give your
opponent an option it’s a disadvantage
because he has the right to take it or
to give it back to you so anytime you
give away an option you’re out of
disadvantage and I’m certainly sure he’s
going to give this back to mccre I’d be
very surprised to see him take this
shot
to me it’s an outside chance of him thin
cutting the two just top side of the six
as we look and lay it around the five
ball and run off the two cushions with
the Q ball just depends what buddy likes
and as you suggested Billy he’s going to
turn it right back over and we’ll see if
mccre plays that shot and what you said
is correct but but you know you can look
at a golf a golf player and say he can
get hole in one here and look at this he
executed the shot exactly the way you
described it he got a hold in one
I don’t know if Buddy Hall is going to
like the shot that is going to be
inviting him back to the table well I
tell you mccre knew what he needed to do
when he pushed that area but he knew
what he had to do by accepting the shot
it was quite difficult to execute the
shot the way mccre showed us that he
could but he opted to give it back to
mccre Now find himself in a very very
difficult
situation great players make great
shots excellent hits
excellent hit and got rewarded for it
noce position of the Q ball in the two
ball he does have a shot on the two but
it’s not an easy shot and that really
doesn’t carry natural position he may
even play a safety
here not this gentleman he flies by the
seat of his pants this is a very
difficult shot as well if he Ops to
shoot to three he’s going to have to hit
it with with an elevated stroke going to
the side cushion with the Q ball playing
position for the four
Lu well he wasn’t able to put the three
down but it wasn’t an easy shot by any
means this time he’s left Bud’s having
quite simple and if if you go back and
in this in this match and take a look at
the Times mcre missed he didn’t really
leave buddy that easy that
often well that was a tough shot that
faced him on the three it’s not
nearly that for Buddy Hall he’s just
concerned with leaving himself an angle
on the four to get that Q ball the
opposite side of the table for the
orange five next and it’s a big big
problem he’s confronted with here too
Jim by the way that’s an excellent point
you brought out from the four to the
five is this rack right by the way if he
can get from the four to the five he’ll
win this
rack again you can see that dotted Q
ball that affords us the opportunity of
seeing what spin these top players apply
to that Q ball now he’s going to go two
cushions up table now watch that upper
left hand corner pocket it’s a big
pocket Q ball will be coming close to
that corner pocket now watch and watch
the angle the CU ball
takes one two he wants to hit it hard
enough get down there for a shot on the
five but yet not too hard where he would
scratch that was the problem with that
shot that’s why he came up
short but now he has he’s got come with
a fairly fairly difficult shot on the
five
here but a heck of a lot better than H
get two too hard ending up in the in the
pocket with the Q
ball thin cut on this five and by
cutting it thin he may run into the six
or the nine so therefore he’s got some
problems he confronted with
him he missed the six and he missed the
nine so this should work out it should
work out
I don’t know uh from from my vantage it
should work out for Keith mccre yeah
yeah it looks like it has well that’s
unlucky though Bill really isn’t it
Murphy’s Law coming into effect here
that Q ball could have landed anywhere
but there and given buddy hall a chance
at the six but now it’s going to be
nothing more than running for the
weeds there’s no way he can attack from
this position I kind of like them to
elevate sing the QQ ball to the bottom
cushion where the nine is and back
behind the
seven saying the six ball over this way
and over
here he’s not elevating well maybe
wonder if he can cut this in
it looked like he was touching he may
be I think he went for that he did go
for
that and he almost made it I didn’t Oh I
thought he was closer to the 16 so did I
bill but what a risky shot that was for
Buddy Hall I guess he wanted to seize
the moment he knows that mcc’s been
firing back at him and he wanted to try
and put pay to it immediately and just
not give mccre another look at the
table and it’s not worked out for Buddy
Hall well this isn’t an easy shot here
Jim positioning the QQ ball so closely
to that side
cushion no no that’s not going to
work mccre very quickly off the queue
again and he wants to go
and slam that chair into about six
different pieces right now see buddy has
a couple options here he can go forward
two questions or he can draw a back a
foot or so oh what did he do
here well this is not in convincing
fashion I think it’s fair to say but it
never says how just
who and Buddy Hall is going to be
looking at this nine to once again keep
himself just in front of Keith
mccre
and there you have it 87 buddy just
three racks away from the finish
line but he had to have a few looks at
it and mccre certainly
knows that this was a rack that Buddy
Hall May
well have been given as opposed to just
winning outright it’s one of those that
mccre lost well when he when he
reposition ball so close that side
cushion I knew he had a problem with
that shot very difficult
shot but it’s been it’s been a very
interesting match both of these players
have played well at times and then again
miss shots we didn’t expect him to miss
but nevertheless it’s been a very
interesting match and it looks like it’s
going to stay interesting well the break
has yet to befriend either
player and Buddy turns the table
over just one rack clear of
mccre that doesn’t look too bad the two
available bottom left as we
look good positional shot to the three
here bill and the hard work will have
been
done three or the six to the seven
Seven’s Frozen in that side pocket
drawing the Q ball stopping in between
the five in the six I don’t know if that
was intended I don’t know if that was
planned either he’s on he’s on the right
side of the three overcut the three no
he made
it got a perfect angle on the
four everything’s in the open for mccre
here see mccre runs into a lot of balls
where his P buddy hall stays away from
balls very good point and a rule of
thumb is if you don’t have to move him
don’t
so when buddy watches Keith play at the
table it’s disgusting to him it really
is because he’s such a perfect player
Ford him you know he stays away from
balls he plays with the racks the way
racks should be played he has perfect
patterns you know and he and when
someone runs into a ball I know it’s
certainly Against the Grain as far as
he’s concerned how can he do that but
that’s what he’s going to be seeing
playing MCC a lot of it and in the
meantime when mcrey Pockets nine after
game 16 we’re going to have
a we’re going to have a photo finish
game
88 nothing between them and mccre will
be breaking off I think he’s showing you
right now what he thinks of that spotted
QQ ball one looks like it’s got measles
yeah that’s that’s a great point you
know I said to you before the match
began that you know that would be a
distraction to me that spot all those
spots on the CU there are six red
circles on this cuq ball and they were
put there so we could detect or are
distinguish which what kind of English
is is imparted on the QQ ball well
that’s right Billy but the players had
the option and they both elected to play
with it and it’s the same for both of
them but I don’t think they’re going to
opt to do that the next match they play
in one in the side possibility of a long
shot at the two
here mccr still has
that accuracy I mean the long shots
doesn’t seem to bother him
much 47 years old I think it’s about
time they started the bother
him
really he went for the three ball
combination
there I think that’s one he might live
to regret if Buddy Hall has anything to
say about it he
will every time it seems that mccre has
come back at buddy buddy has been able
to reply the Buddy’s going have to
thread the needle here on the on the
three to the four with the Q ball let’s
see how he let’s see how he attacks this
Jim watch the QQ
ball there’s nothing easy about this
shot a lot of interfering balls here he
had a shot similar to this earlier and
he banked it not a bad
option he’s going to avoid the traffic
oh and he did he once
again playing very good position on the
on the flo but the problem he’s left
himself with here Jim is he has too much
of an angle to stay on the same side of
the table that the five positioned on he
may have to play this with a lot of
speed and in doing so that seven becomes
a big ball could he could be end up a
back of the seven here
Jim and the shot BEC much more difficult
but look at the speed and accuracy that
he hit that shot with that was a very
very difficult
[Applause]
shot he had to have
it and now he’ll just softly roll this
five into the bottom corner pocket and
leave the six into the
side but that was a great effort on that
four ball Bill and that was the only way
he could get out perfect execution Jim
that’s exactly the way he needed to play
the shot and exactly the way he played
it notice all the circles on that Q ball
he came up a little bit short again at
least that’s why he he looked like he
did but it doesn’t seem to me on the
monitor that he come up short no he’s
fine and if you look back in history in
scores of Buddy Hall’s matches you’re
going to see he wins a lot of Cl close
matches and you know that’s a plus for
him or anyone because when you win close
matches that means you got it at the end
you know how to put your opponent away
and it’s about survival isn’t it it’s
not necessarily how good your your aame
is it’s being able to Stave off
elimination when you know you’ve
struggled and allow yourself to play
better down the road exactly you
know and Buddy eyeing up this long eight
again just softly follow through for the
nine into the opposite corner pocket in
pressure
situations buddy hall seems to be there
it’s a lot of character and it shows at
the end at the ends of
matches and this nine will put him 98 in
front there it is he wants two more rack
wins to stay on the winner side here in
this year’s US Open buddy hall nine
Keith mccre eight yeah there are certain
players that just know how to win and
when it gets down to the nitty-gritty at
the end of the match is in the red zone
they’re there you can count on them
because that’s they they feed off of it
they know how to win and having that
experience of being in the winter circle
before doesn’t hurt either winners know
how to
win
and Buddy his idea of a perfect rack is
to see that nine
disappear I don’t think he’s going to
end up with anything on the break let’s
take a look where the two balls going to
finally end up one ball straight in two
ball can be pocketed in the side the
three in front of the lower right hand
corner the four near the five up table
this rack is like almost a throw in here
Jim this is the tough shot here if there
is one in this rack the three to the
four looks like he’s ended up a little
bit short on the four here Jim he’s got
to control the two ball down that end of
the table for position for the
five look at that arm swing out he’s so
animated but he held the Q ball where he
needed to hold it Bill six ball very
conveniently positioned in front of the
side seven beneath the six eight on the
Jason side of the table no problem
here
well mccre isn’t going away is he he
just keeps getting up and answering the
Bell oh my that’s that’s known as a
commentator’s curse unexpected foul
there Jim I don’t I’m not saying you put
it on him you know
but that was so unexpected to see
something like that happen I think Buddy
Hall was getting ready for a 99 score
line now 108 appears to be on the cards
here for him but you know I like to I
like to uh say something about what just
happened there mccre ended up straight
in on the seven now he had a very easy
option to go further down or or stay
short of the seven giving him a nice
angle on the seven did it softly he
ended up straight in on the seventh so
we had to draw the QQ ball back down the
other end of the table toward the eight
that’s why he jumped over the seven he
had to get down deep on the QQ ball
wasn’t able to do it yeah if he left
himself a nice angle he wouldn’t have
had to do that with the Q ball Bill
point in the meantime buddy hall the
grinder that he is is now going to
attain a two game advantage in this
match 10 games to eight needing himself
needing only one game yeah more
importantly put himself on the hill on a
cusp of a victory over
mccre nine deposited and he’s there but
he just wants one more rack win now to
stay on that winner side see see nine
balls nine balls a game of percentages
even though it appears that you have
have a simple out you got to stay
focused you got to keep your mind on
what you’re doing now Watch What Happens
here yes again as you said though Bill
had he left himself the angle he
wouldn’t have had to move that QQ ball
around so much and it came back to bite
him and bite him hard he knew he needed
a lot of backs spin on the Q ball so the
more backs spin you need the deeper you
hit the Q ball the lower you hit the Q
ball and the lower you hit it the more
possibility of something like that
happening
rack number 19 108 the score line in
favor of Buddy
Hall a chance here now
to move one step
closer to the US Open title stay on that
Winner’s
side once again coming up dry on the
break but he does have a 10 108
Advantage Jim finding himself on the
hill so therefore he can be happy about
that but he hasn’t been pocketing balls
on the
break mccre at the table has had his
chances needs to get that QQ ball behind
the
nine be delighted with that effort watch
what the C Ball looks like it has frozen
himself itself to the nine and if that’s
what it did buddy is going to be very
very hard pressed in hitting the one
here and the balls spread so nicely over
the table if you can get a nice shot on
the one whoever it may be shouldn’t have
any problem getting out from the two to
three may be a little bit of a problem
but uh the B the remaining of the balls
on the table look how nicely they’re
positioned very difficult situation he’s
confronted with here very difficult I I
I I I make him a very big dog to strike
the one
here mccre is hoping you’re right he
can’t afford any more mistakes now his
back’s up against the wall with Buddy
being on the hill and we’re all
accustomed to that term hanging by a
thread that’s exactly what mccre is
right
now at least this way though if he hits
it there’s a chance he could make it but
he’s got to hit it and he didn’t so it’s
going to be ball in hand for Keith mccre
just confirms that that Q ball didn’t
touch the one ball now getting getting
from the two to the three Jim may be a
problem so positioning the Q ball on the
two he should take his time and figure
out where he should position the QQ ball
going from the two to the
three I like down near the bottom
cushion
myself even if he has to bump the three
of you like two cushions toward the
three hard like this here even if he
bumps the three it’s okay okay well he
opened up path of the cuq ball from the
two to three quite nicely with that shot
but he was creative I like what he did
there CU it’s because because position
on the three is the ball game in this
particular rack everything else in the
open and he’s nicely onto the three
now now he just can’t afford to get
careless
[Music]
see how nicely the balls are
positioned I don’t foresee any problems
here I don’t think mccre does
either being such a Carefree person
begin with I don’t think he ever sees
any problems but uh in this instance I
totally agree he certainly doesn’t see
any problems for the remainder of the
rack it’s 10 to8 and he’s looking to
narrow the Gap 10 to
nine yes it’s the last chapter yet to be
written in
this and Keith mccre deposits the nine
10 n now
confirmed two to play and he needs them
both well he can’t give uh Hall an
opportunity at this day to the of the
match because Hall will definitely take
advantage of it as as you well know he’s
a great closer and the only reason it’s
10 to n now is because mcre Le solidly
locked them up the last rack Hall
offered the kick with the bridge and
really made a great attempt to do so
unfortunately MC ended up with ball in
hand for Hall that is and ran out now
it’s 10 to nine very exciting match so
Keith all set winding it
up rack number 20 of a possible
21
PA mention something mccre mcre
start counting the beads in reference to
what I don’t know but uh I think
everything was as it should be pocketing
the
one the two the three balls going to
come to rest blocking a portion of the
pocket but actually maybe even enlarging
the
pocket this rack looks like it’s laying
rather routinely he hit the wrong side
of the three and he went he went the
wrong way with the Q ball that is
careless play that’s what I’m talking
about Buddy Hall knows how to win not
Keith grey doesn’t but that was pure
carelessness
there controlling the Q ball and in that
instance was absolutely essential very
very nicely struck ball kicking it all
the way up table leaving buddy hall a
very long difficult straight in shot on
the three something I wouldn’t want to
be at the table
shooting well this will be a real
examination in cumans ship a long
straight three ball and talk to me about
cumans ship you have to have good
technique you have to really hit the
cube ball perfectly in order to get it
to go that straight line down the table
contacting the three accurately enough
to pocket it I mean these shots look
difficult on the practice table bill how
do they feel when you’re on center stage
of a major
event and the TV camera is breathing
down your back
needing only one game to win the match
very difficult shot looks like he’s
almost going to have to roll it if he
hits with speed he he also runs the risk
of
scratching look how softly he’s rolling
it oh my cumans ship tell me about that
shot Jim that shot was maybe the shot of
the match buddy hall just got his
University
degree talking about a particular
discipline and he had to slow roll it to
leave the long pink four available and
now if he knocks this in and stops that
Q ball
dead could be the beginning of the end
as far as the Winner’s side for Keith
mccre I tell you what he’s gone out in
styve he’s able to run the balls here
you can say the
championship that he has has come out
right here the championship caliber
player that he
is great long shot again wiped its feet
before departing the table he doesn’t
like it he looks like he straight in if
he’s straight in he has a problem he may
even have to draw it straight back to
where it is now if he’s straight in you
know he doesn’t want to do it but if
it’s straight he’s going to be forced to
do
it and he’ll shoot the right shot yep
he’s going to have to come straight back
Jim now he’s ended up with a bank on the
six he didn’t want to hit the hit the
the8 he wanted to avoid contact the8 but
fortunately it looks like he does have a
bank cross side and in this position
Billy you’d still favor the shooter
especially when you can Bank a ball like
buddy hall absolutely buddy hall superb
allaround
player it came up
short now that was really unexpected
he’s a great great Bank pool player and
I thought for sure he would put that in
but as this match has gone so many
unexpected things has
happened well actually Keith mccre had a
little wave for us up
here I think he
uh he senses that his time has
arrived and a chance
for a hill hill
match it looks like that’s exactly what
we’re going to see here Jim 1010 to see
who goes on in this tournament
EXC and there you go the simplest of
nines for a 1010 score line and McCree
will be breaking for the
victory cigarette
time he going to take a
break 10 10
mccre is going to take that very short
break we’re back with the deciding rack
here and what a way to kick off our
coverage of the 2003 three US Open nine
ball championships we got treated to
quite a match here Bill In fairness I
think uh not one that they’re going to
file in their memory banks but
nevertheless it’s been a lot of fun to
watch it certainly has it’s been a lot
of fun to watch this match it’s exactly
right and uh one of these players are
going to have to be confronted with a
long journey on the loser side if they
expect to win the tournament the other
one with an advance on the winner side
mccy pocketing a ball on the break let’s
take a look at the way the balls are on
the table the one ball no problem the
one to the three and the three to the
four should be the answer to this
particular rack because the five six
seven and eight are positioned quite
nicely this is the key shot right here
from mccre and Hall’s hoping that if he
makes the mistake it’s right now because
not too much of a possibility of making
a mistake
Hereafter well that one in the
tradesman’s entrance if you take a look
at Hall’s face right now he can it’ll
tell the story he doesn’t figure to get
back to the
table well this is about composing
yourself all those hours of
practice buddy hall I think sees the
writing on the wall he doesn’t figure to
get back to the table and he knows it he
got straighten on the five he ran into
the
seven excuse me he ran into the A and he
couldn’t back it back the seven cross
cross across the side but uh he played
well
mccre mccree’s got an awkward angle on
the stick here Jim you know I mean this
there’s still some some excitement left
in this match he has the wrong angle on
the six that’s careless play he has the
wrong angle on the six he’s going to
have to go forward with a high ball he
may even miss Q
again and you saw look a close look at
buddy hall man suffering in his chair
and having to watch this the Finish Line
was in his sights only scant minutes
ago talking about players winning close
matches if you go back in history and
look at look at mccc’s results and his D
matches played he’s won a lot of 1110
matches and he’s won another one it
looks like it yes he’s finished in style
the earthquake Keith mccre an 1110
winner over buddy hall and Keith mccre
stays on the winner side and it’s down
to The Rifleman to fight his way back on
the
[Applause]
losers well hi everyone again and uh we
caught up with Buddy Hall just after the
match and buddy I want to thank you for
taking the time to uh hook up with us
here but I think it’s fair to say you’re
not really happy with your performance
out there well you we could always play
better you know lot of chances and uh
missed opportunities but let me ask you
about the experiment with the Q ball
buddy with the dots on it a lot of
players would not have chosen to play
with that ball it’s uh they ask us uh if
we would mind playing with it and uh the
thing the thing that bothers me the most
about the ball is is it it deflects a
lot more than the the normal ball uh so
like if you have to use low right
handing to spin a ball in or something
you’re allowable to hit the ball very
full it’s h it’s really a hard ball to
play with because you can’t tell how
it’s going to come off of your Q-tip
yeah well certainly it was an experiment
that we wanted to uh to try and show the
folks at home the spin that you guys
were playing on that QQ Ball but it can
be very off-putting when you see all
those red dots on that Q ball well it’s
a good idea this is a good idea um to to
let people see this but the the red dots
as far as the players are concerned that
isn’t what bothers you that’s not what
bothers you what bothers you is just the
way the ball actually comes off the
Q-tip uh this ball it’s it’s a great
idea but this one is not uh the quality
of the uh of the triangle ball with the
super arabus that the triangle ball or
the new SQ ball ball of the super arth
or even the uh the centennials with a
blue circle Q ball those are great balls
this is a little below that standard I
think but now this can be improved to
the point to where it would be great for
for television it doesn’t bother the
players to look at that but it’s not
good it it doesn’t react good to the
Q-tip well uh buddy I know that uh when
you talk people listen and I can tell
you something I know we’re going to be
seeing a lot of you back on the B side
hopefully you’ll our Center screen again
here but folks there you have it buddy
hall the ball was not quite there for
Hall well uh Now Keith mccre a very
happy winner and Keith it wasn’t a
convin wasn’t a convincing performance
but a win is a win Fort it was a
fortunate win um we have the Q ball I
mean it’s been given you know gave me a
little bit of problems to start out in
the game and uh in the middle of the
game gave him a a little bit of problems
and I was just fortunate to be on the
side of U an 1110 win instead of usually
a 1110 de feat or I mean I wouldn’t have
mind so bad if I would if I would have
played bad or played good and lost but
playing bad and winning sort of gives me
a little confidence it’s all about
survival isn’t it I mean it’s uh if your
bad play can still get you through Keith
then you can live to survive again right
well you got well it’s actually I feel a
little bit better than what I just did
about 15 minutes ago when it looked like
it was all over with but um you know
Buddy’s a great player can’t take
nothing away from buddy and you know
we’re both you know both struggling on
our game a little bit I’m still trying
to find my uh my stroke because I keep
going with from one shaft to another
shaft then I go from a different CU ball
to another CU ball and I really haven’t
been playing as much as I should but I
mean I still feel I can still compete
you know if if I get a you know a couple
plays under my belt and I still think I
can be there and but as you know I feel
bad for Buddy and actually it I got
lucky on the end of uh uh when he broke
the balls he broke the balls about three
times there in a row and he didn’t make
a ball on the break which helped me in
the game and uh um luckily I made a
couple balls on the break on the end and
put myself back in it well it was a nice
break and finish I know you’ve got an
army of fans here Keith and you’re
growing them by the uh by the day so if
I get to the last day I’ll have a lot
more well listen all the best we’re
going to be watching you on the winter
side and get him there you go the Earth
the earthquake is still going to be
rumbling here in Chesapeake and that’s
all from Center
Stage
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