Match Coverage

Defending Champion Eliminated

Apparently Joe Cutler isn't too intimidated when facing a former U.S. Amateur Champion. You see after suffering his first loss of the tournament, Cutler rebounded, and rebounded in a big way. After the loss, Cutler defeated 1998 U.S. Amateur Championship Runner-up Dan Lavioe. For his efforts, Cutler won the right to face two-time U.S. Amateur Champion Henry Brodt. Not phased by Brodt's previous success, Cutler took the match 7-3.

That win meant Cutler advanced to a match-up against defending U.S. Amateur Champion Robert Hall. Cutler again showed no intimidation. He opened the match by winning the first two games in the 9-Ball set. Hall would even the match with consecutive victories of his own though. In the fifth game, Cutler made a critical error when he failed to make a fairly routine shot on the 9-ball. Instead of dropping the ball in the corner pocket, the 9-ball rattled in the pocket and came out. Hall would go on to win the game, and take his first lead of the match 3-2. But Cutler didn't let the setback slow him down.

Cutler would win the next two games, and then managed to break-and-run in the eighth game before the players switched to the 8-Ball set. In the first game of the 8-Ball set, a vicious defensive battle ensued after Cutler cleared his object balls and buried the 8-ball in the corner pocket behind one of Hall's object balls. Cutler would eventually prevail to win the game after a nice bank shot to pocket the 8-ball in the corner. Cutler finished Hall off in the tenth and final game to earn a 7-3 victory and keep his championship hopes alive.

Henson Looks to Avenge Last Year's Loss in Finals

James Henson came up just short in his bid to win the U.S. Amateur Championship in only his first appearance in 2001. Henson was defeated in the finals last year by Champion Robert Hall. While some players might struggle after such a lost, Henson (also known by his fellow players as "Shorty"), has been effected very little.

Henson remains undefeated in this year's U.S. Amateur Championship after defeating Scott Tollefson 7-5. With the win, Henson advanced to the final round for the second year in a row, and assured himself of a return trip to the 2003 U.S. Open Pro Event, as he can finish no lower than Runner-up in the tournament.

Tollefson loss to Henson was only his first of the day, and he will try to rebound from the loss later in the day.

Cutler Ousts "King Henry"

This year's U.S. Amateur Championship will not be the year two-time champion Henry Brodt earns his third title. Brodt was defeated by Joe Cutler of Farmingdale, N.Y., for his second loss of the tournament. Cutler suffered his first loss of the tournament Sunday morning, losing to Fredrick Wenker of Baltimore. Cutler regrouped to defeat the 1998 U.S. Amateur Championship Runner-up Dan Lavoie of Mt. Dora, Fla., to match-up against Brodt. Cutler dominated in the 8-Ball set, shutting Brodt out 5-0. Brodt dropped the first game of the 9-Ball set to send Cutler to the hill, but mounted a brief comeback, winning the next three games to cut the lead in half. That lead was too much for Brodt however, as the New York native finished him off in the four game of the 9-Ball set. Cutler moves on to face another former U.S. Amateur Champion, 2001 winner Robert Hall, who suffered his first loss of the tournament earlier in the day.

Newcomer Hands Defending Champion First Loss

Lack of experience in the U.S. Amateur Championship didn't seem to have much of an effect on Scott Tollefson of Arvada, Colo. Tollefson handed defending champion Robert Hall his first loss of the tournament with a 7-5 win in Round 16. The players split the 9-Ball set 4-4, before switching to 8-Ball. Tollefson took control in the 8-Ball set winning three of four games for a 7-5

win over Hall. Tollefson advances to a match-up against 2001 U.S. Amateur Championship Runner-up James Henson in Round 18. Hall will face Joe Cutler of Farmingdale, N.Y. Cutler defeated two-time U.S. Amateur Champion Henry Brodt to advance.

Former Two-time U.S. Amateur Champion Looks to Regain Crown

As a defending U.S. Amateur Champion, you're usually one of the players everyone is looking to beat. When you've won two U.S. Amateur Championships, there's no doubt, everyone is shooting to knock you off.

That's all old hat to Henry Brodt, known by some in the U.S. Amateur circle as "King Henry." It's been three years since Brodt was last crowned Champion in this event, but even with the added pressure of being the man everyone wants to beat, Brodt has still managed to place no worse than the Top 10. For a former champion though, the Top 10 just doesn't cut it.

In his quest to return to the finals of the U.S. Amateur Championship, Brodt, of Glenview, Ill., met up with Robert Devoe of Blockton, Mass., on Saturday afternoon with both players still undefeated.

Devoe, another former U.S. Amateur Championship competitor who previously finished as high as 33rd Place, won the lag to begin the match, and chose to take the break. Brodt opted to begin the match in the 8-Ball set.

Devoe came out firing against the former champion, pocketing the 6-ball on the break and then running out the table before Brodt could even get a shot. It looked as though Brodt might not make it to the table again in the second game until Devoe sank the 8-out-of turn, losing the game and evening the match at one game apiece.

Once Brodt finally did get a turn to shoot, he made the most of it and took a commanding 4-1 lead winning three consecutive games to close out the 8-Ball set. Brodt maintained the momentum as the players switched over to the 9-Ball set. Devoe regrouped to win the next two games of 9-Ball, to cut Brodt's lead to two games.

Brodt quickly went back on the offensive to win the ninth game, and closed things out in the tenth for a 7-3 victory. Brodt continues his quest to regain the U.S. Amateur Championship on Saturday evening.

Defending U.S. Amateur Champion Continues Quest to Repeat

If defending U.S. Amateur Champion Robert Hall is to repeat as champion this year, he's certainly got his work cutout for him. Hall may have been a relatively unknown in the U.S. Amateur ranks at this time last year, but since he captured the U.S. Amateur crown, he knows he's the man to beat.

An undefeated Hall faced a tough challenge when he met Ed Porter of Tampa on Saturday evening. Both players started off rather cautiously in the 8-Ball set, exchanging defensive shots back and forth. Erring on the side of caution played into Hall's favor as he took an early 2-0 lead in the match. After Hall missed the 6-ball in the corner pocket in the third game, Porter came out shooting and ran-out the table to cut Hall's lead in half.

Hall showed some sharp shooting of his own in the fourth game after Porter scratched on the 14-ball, and managed to increase his lead to 3-1. Hall secured a win in the fifth game as well, despite some missed shots by both players. Hall used a 4-9 combo to take the sixth game, giving him a 5-1 lead.

Porter, who's no stranger to the U.S. Amateur tournament, refused to go down without a fight against the former champ however. Porter used a 6-9 combo of his own to get his second victory of the match to pull within three games.

The win would be Porter's last however, as the defending champion proved too much, winning games eight and nine for the 7-2 win.

Heavy Hitters Go Head-to-Head Early On

Rowell v. Henson

If you had to predict a winner in the 2002 U.S. Amateur Championship, the names David Rowell or James Henson might not be bad choices if you were looking for an odds-on favorite. You see Rowell, of Birmingham, Ala., has already been crowned U.S. Amateur Champion, that in 2000. James Henson nearly took the title last year before hitting a roadblock in Robert Hall in the finals.

Typically a match-up of heavy favorites like this doesn't take place until late Saturday or early Sunday at the U.S. Amateur Championship, but these two went head-to-head in Round 3 - both players first match of the tournament.

Both came out shooting, much to the delight of a large crowd of onlookers, many of whom who were also competing in the tournament, and stopped to take-in the match.

Henson, also known as "Shorty" in the Washington D.C. area, won the lag to begin the match. Henson, in what some players might consider a bit unconventional, decided to give the break to Rowell however, and instead chose to start the match off in the 9-Ball set.

The move appeared to backfire initially as Rowell sank the 8-ball on the break, and then proceeded to pocket the 1-5-balls as it looked like he might run-out from there. However, he missed a shot on the 6-ball, giving Henson a tough shot that he managed to pocket with ease. Henson ran out the table to take a 1-0 early on.

Henson took the second game, after a Rowell scratch. Rowell captured the third game with some sharp shooting to cut Henson's lead in half. Henson again went on the offensive in the fourth and fifth games to build a commanding 4-1 lead. Rowell, showing the composure that helped win him the U.S. Amateur title just two years ago in the same location, battled back to win the next three games to even the match heading into the 8-Ball set.

Rowell won his fourth consecutive game to take his first lead of the match with a win in the ninth game. With momentum clearly in Rowell's favor, Henson managed to regroup to even up the match in the tenth game, and then wore Rowell down in the next two to finally win the match 7-5.

After the match, Henson explained his strategy behind giving the break to Rowell after winning the lag.

"Most people say that 8-Ball is my best game, but I feel like I can play good 9-Ball too. I wanted to win six games of 9-Ball, but my opponent was very good. I was up 4-1, but he came back," said Henson after the match.