The trio that battled for the 70-79 medals in 2008 played exciting pool again this year. Mr. Harbaugh survived the first two rounds before dropping into the loser’s bracket, where, after two elimination-round victories, he was ousted in five games by Mr. Divver. Mr. Harbaugh took the bronze medal.

Mr. Divver and Mr. Frazier were left for the finals. Their match for the gold went the full five games with Game 5 going down to the last shot. Only the 8-ball was left on the table. Mr. Divver attempted a “safety” but left Mr. Frazier a shot, which he made to capture the gold. These were very exciting matches throughout the age group.

John Parbouni, who was a bronze medalist in 2006 and finished fourth in 2005, finally achieved gold among the 50-69 group. Mr. Pardouni had to defeat Lee Ealley twice in the tournament for the victory.

In the 80-plus age group, another upset took place amid great action. Jim Trolier, last year’s gold medalist, was eliminated in the third round and finished with a bronze. Then, Walter Craig and Jim Finch went five games down to the last ball for the gold medal. In Game 5, Mr. Finch had a chance to sink the 8-ball but his shot came up an inch short. Mr. Craig, stepped up and calmly dropped the 8-ball for his first Maryland Senior Olympics billiards championship.

In the women’s bracket, Rose Burroughs of Waldorf swept through the tournament for the gold medal. She advanced to the finale by going 6-1 in two matches, but she faced tough competition from three-time gold medalist Marilyn Oglesby in the championship match, where she prevailed 3-2 in games for her first billiards gold. Ms. Burroughs had previously captured a silver in 2005 and bronze in 2004.

2009 Billiards Results
The billiards championships were held Sept. 22-24 at the Margaret Schweinhaut Senior Center in Silver Spring. Winners had to capture 3 of 5 games in a match to advance through the tournament, which was an 8-ball, double-elimination format. The tournament is played under the Billiard Congress of America (BSC) rules. Under these rules, the player must call the pocket for each shot:

Men’s
50-69
Gold—John Parbouni, LaPlata
Silver—Lee Ealley, College Park
Bronze—Mike Divver, Aspen Hill

70-79
Gold—Roscoe Frazier, North Bethesda
Silver—Bobby Divver, Bowie
Bronze—Jim Harbaugh, Greenbelt

80-and-over
Gold—Walter Craig, Silver Spring
Silver—Jim Finch, Silver Spring
Bronze—Jim Trolier, Potomac

Women’s
All Ages
Gold—Rose Burroughs, Waldorf
Silver—Marilyn Ogelsby, White Plains
Bronze—Peggy Childers, Baltimore