--- title: "Waddingham, Van Boening Headline National Shootout Field in Cherokee" url: https://billiardnews.net/waddingham-van-boening-headline-national-shootout-field-in-cherokee published: 2026-11-03T13:15:16Z updated: 2026-11-03T13:15:16Z summary: "The National Shootout begins Tuesday at Harrah's Cherokee: Waddingham defends, Archer gets a rematch, Van Boening and Woodward in the evening session." author: "BilliardNews Editorial" categories: ["Tournaments"] tags: ["8-Ball", "Cherokee", "Grand Finals", "National Shootout", "Ultimate Pool USA", "league pool"] lang: en --- # Waddingham, Van Boening Headline National Shootout Field in Cherokee *The 32-player Shootout breaks Tuesday on the TV table: Craig Waddingham defends, Johnny Archer meets the man who beat him last year, and the first round runs past midnight.* The week's showcase event begins Tuesday. The National Shootout — Ultimate Pool USA's headline invitational at the National Grand Finals — breaks at 10 a.m. Eastern on the TV table at Harrah's Cherokee Casino & Resort, with sixteen first-round matches running past 11 p.m. and a champion due late Wednesday. Promoted through the run-up as a 28-man invitational, the draw published on DigitalPool in fact carries a full 32-player bracket: 31 invited names plus Landon Hollingsworth, who claimed the last seat in Sunday's last-chance qualifier, edging Coby Jaap 6–5 in the decider. ## The ones to watch Craig Waddingham returns to defend the title he won over Justin Bergman in last year's final — and Bergman is back too, closing the night against Chase Stumfoll. Waddingham opens his defense against Jordan Helfery in the early afternoon. Johnny Archer gets an immediate shot at revenge. The two-time world champion meets Declan Brennan at 2:30 p.m. — a rematch of last year's quarter-final, which Brennan won. The evening half of the draw is the heavier one. Shane Van Boening, Skyler Woodward, 1996 world 9-ball champion Rodney Morris, Oscar Dominguez, Chris Melling and Tyler Styer all play after 6 p.m., with Woodward and Eric Charlton in the final match at 11:15 p.m. Styer arrives with family momentum — his wife, Margaret Fefilova-Styer, won the [National Women's Shootout](/fefilova-styer-beats-benoit-to-win-ultimate-pool-women-s-shootout) on Monday. Tom Cousins, billed on the league's own broadcast as Ultimate Pool's No. 1 player, plays the second match of the morning against Hayden Ernst. And Joven Bustamante, a Shootout winner at the league's Kansas City stop, meets qualifier winner Hollingsworth at 6 p.m. ## Format and schedule Every match is played on the arena's TV table and streamed on the Ultimate Pool USA YouTube channel. The Shootout runs under UPL 8-Ball rules on 7-foot tables: single elimination, alternate break, no jump shots or jump cues, and a 30-second shot clock in play. All sixteen first-round matches go off Tuesday between 10 a.m. and 11:15 p.m. Eastern. The last 16 resumes Wednesday at 10 a.m., quarter-finals begin at 6 p.m., and the semi-finals and final close the event Wednesday night — the last ball of the tournament scheduled for 10:30 p.m. The Shootout purse has not been published. ## Tuesday's first-round order of play All times Eastern. - 10:00 a.m. — David Matlock vs Manny Perez - 10:45 a.m. — Tom Cousins vs Hayden Ernst - 11:30 a.m. — Gerson Martinez vs Shane McMinn - 12:15 p.m. — Dennis Hatch vs Sam Henderson - 1:00 p.m. — Craig Waddingham vs Jordan Helfery - 1:45 p.m. — Roberto Gomez vs Shane Thompson - 2:30 p.m. — Johnny Archer vs Declan Brennan - 3:15 p.m. — Tyler Styer vs Jesus Atencio - 6:00 p.m. — Joven Bustamante vs Landon Hollingsworth - 6:45 p.m. — Joe Prince vs Ricky Evans - 7:30 p.m. — Rodney Morris vs Alex Olinger - 8:15 p.m. — Chris Melling vs Joey Gray - 9:00 p.m. — Oscar Dominguez vs Brandon Shuff - 9:45 p.m. — Shane Van Boening vs Dalton Comstock - 10:30 p.m. — Justin Bergman vs Chase Stumfoll - 11:15 p.m. — Skyler Woodward vs Eric Charlton ## Also on Tuesday The open events join the card in the evening: the National Mixed Pairs begins at 7 p.m. and the National Pairs at 8 p.m., each a 64-pair tournament played race to 6 with partners alternating shots. Both run through Friday — the full program is in our [Grand Finals week preview](/ultimate-pool-usa-grand-finals-league-pool-s-biggest-week-opens-in-cherokee). Every draw at the Grand Finals is tracked live on DigitalPool.