Johnny Quoits dominated the proceedings at the HHSDOI, conceding a mere total of seventeen points in five consecutive wins to completely overwhelm the field in the 2023 Pearl Harbor Invitational. The win is believed by the author to be the most dominant in the event’s storied thirty-one year history.
Johnny Quoits – 2023 Pearl Harbor Champ
The tournament, contested by a talent-laden field of eleven players, was conducted over a period of two days for the first time in its history. Play kicked off Friday evening with Pre-Quarterfinal matches, the first of which featured five-time champion The Wrench pulling out a hard-earned victory over defending champ King Crush 15-10. In the concurrent match at the other end, Johnny Quoits worked his way to a solid 15-8 win over 2023 third-place finisher Chad, which proved to be the closest Johnny would be to tasting defeat all tournament long. The third and final match of the first round saw the shot of the year with Crazy Joe Fesi throwing a six-pointer on the anchor, only to surrender a five-pointer to the Hitman on the very next round. The Hitman went on to win 15-13 in one of the most exciting matches of the weekend.
If that wasn’t exciting enough, the first quarterfinal of the evening produced a stunning ending as three-time champion and finalist in the last three Pearl Harbors, The Commish, staked himself to a 14-7 lead but was unable to find the elusive final point as Coach K came storming back to send the 2023 runner-up to the loser’s bracket in a wild 15-14 result. The second quarterfinal on the left side of the winners bracket was just as exciting, with the Hitman making a series of clutch shots to barely edge Kid Spata also by a score of 15-14. The two quarterfinals on the right side of the bracket featured contestants with a total of eighteen combined Pearl Harbors, however lacked the drama of the left side with Johnny Quoits prevailing over the Doctor and The Wrench downing Pusscakes both by scores of 15-5.
Over in the losers bracket, The Commish and King Crush both posted consecutive victories to advance to Saturday. Chad, The Doctor, Kid Spata, Fesi and Pusscakes failed to advance past Day 1.
Johnny Quoits demolished The Wrench 15-1 in the first winners bracket semifinal, while the Hitman ground out a hard-earned 15-11 victory over Coach K in semifinal #2 to conclude play on Friday evening.
Play resumed on Saturday morning with The Commish defeating Coach K while The Wrench prevailed over King Crush for the second time in the tournament. The Wrench then moved into the losers bracket final in another thrilling 15-14 match when The Commish failed to execute a draw shot by a fraction of an inch with the anchor on the final shot of the match.
Johnny Quoits came in hot on Saturday morning, earning a 15-1 win over the Hitman in the winners bracket final. The Hitman then raced out to an 8-1 lead in the losers bracket final only to see the Wrench come storming home to secure the win and move on to the Final. The Final, featuring a pair of five-time champions, did not live up to expectations as Johnny again found little resistance on his way to locking up his sixth title in the event. John last won Pearl Harbor in 2019 after winning four titles in a five-year span in the nineties. The victory also left John with eleven career majors. Congrats to Johnny Quoits on an amazing win.
The league now heads into its customary holiday recess, with play resuming on January 5. Happy Holidays to all.
Haddon Heights Shuffleboard League 