Nelvis tops Marianas Turkey Shoot 8-ball tourney

 Marc Brian Nelvis defeated Erwin Gomez to grab the championship in the 7th Annual Marianas Turkey Shoot 8-ball Tournament held last week at 19th Hole.

The competition was first-class and intense, with many top players watching helplessly as one mistake opened the door for their opponent to finish the game.

Nelvis earned $142.50, a frozen turkey, and the first place trophy for his efforts. Turkeys also went to Gomez and Chester Cuento, who took home $85.50 and $57.00 for second and third place.

The turkeys, and the $285 pot, drew 19 of Saipan’s best pool players in what was the most competitive, and possibly the strongest, field yet for the annual event.

Nelvis claimed the high ground early, besting Mei Rengiil, Norman Tenorio, Jerry Soriano, and Cuento to head the winner’s bracket.

Tenorio had beaten Rowel Mariano, while Soriano notched victories over Rick Rengiil and Taylor Watanabe, who had sent Victor Hocog to the loser’s bracket.

Cuento came out of the bottom half of the bracket, crowded with the three extra players who had made arrangements to come late. “We’ll stop at 16 spots next time,” said Ken Phillips of 19th Hole. “It’s tough for some players to have an extra game against this level of competition.”

Cuento topped Patrick Taitano, Nolan Cultura, Chester Hamoy, and Erwin Gomez before falling to Nelvis. Cultura gave Robert Sanciangco his first loss, and Hamoy had tough matches against Patrick Cepeda and Rolly Villanueva before falling short.

Gomez had his shooting eye, taking out Luis Fajardo and Juancho Mendoza and just falling short against Cuento. Mendoza had won against Nolas Kaliga.

In the loser’s bracket, Villanueva got past Cepeda but fell to Cultura. Sanciangco eliminated Taitano, Cultura, Tenorio, and Fajardo before falling to Gomez. Fajardo had been on a roll, playing excellent pool to oust Kaliga and Watanabe.

Mei Rengiil eliminated Mariano, then fell to Hamoy. Hocog eliminated Rick Rengiil but couldn’t get past Mendoza, who also took out Hamoy before losing to Soriano.

Gomez continued his strong shooting, eliminating Sanciangco and Soriano, then taking a tense rematch from Cuento. He missed a long shot he had been making all night in the championship and Nelvis calmly stepped up to close out the match.

Trophies went to the Top 5 finishers, with Soriano in fourth place and Sanciangco in fifth. Because of the late hour, Sanciangco and Mendoza flipped a coin instead of playing a game to determine fifth.

“I’d like to thank all of the players for patiently waiting for their turn in a long match. Special thanks to Jerry Soriano for being the only player to come in before the 7pm start time,” Phillips said.

Meanwhile, regular Sunday tournaments will continue, with only a $5 entry fee. Cepeda won last week, with Phillips in second and Kaliga in third place. There are also informal tournaments on any night if there are enough interested players.

For more information, contact Rose or Ken Phillips at 788-5929. (PR)