Billy Thorpe sealed his second World Nineball Tour ranking accolade, comfortably defeating John Morra 13-3 to win the Battle of the Bull and the $17,000 top prize at Wolf’s Den Billiards in Roanoke, Virginia.
Two-time Mosconi Cup champion Thorpe strengthened his hopes of a return to the trans-Atlantic contest, adding to the McDermott Classic title that he clinched 18 months ago.
Thorpe’s unbeaten campaign in the Mother of States began with dominant victories over Landon Hollingsworth and Anthony Meglino, before he battled past Albania’s Eduard Bregu in an 11-8 win.
Texas Open champion Vitaliy Patsura provided Thorpe’s toughest test in the quarter-finals, although the Ohio-based cueist prevailed an 11-9 victor prior to his semi-final win over Skyler Woodward’s conquerer Gregorio Sanchez of Venezuela.
Canada’s Morra, meanwhile, reached his maiden WNT ranking final, beating the likes of Roberto Gomez and Oscar Dominguez. He was emphatically dominated in the title decider nonetheless, with Thorpe bursting into a 5-0 lead which proved unassailable.
Elsewhere, Tyler Styer was beaten in the last 16 at the hands of recent Texas Open winner Patsura, while world number eight Shane van Boening endured an 11-9 loss against Gomez in the quarter-finals.
The World Nineball Tour now returns to Vietnam for a double-header which includes the Hanoi Open Championship, with the next American event being the Beasley Open in Raleigh, North Carolina from November 5-10.
