The traditional "Russian Violins of Victory" played at the Diamond Center after JohnnyU pulled off 7 straight points to seal the win.
Mac held the edge through the first two trifectoids of Tourney #35, going up 10-8 before Urogdy nailed a 4 point gammon to take a 12-10 lead. It was his first lead since going up 1-0. The momentum continued in JohnnyU's favor. He won three consecutive singles for the 15-10 win. JU has won two in a row since leaving Hollywood.
After the match JU met with the press,
"The match was closer than the score indicated. It was the 4-point gammon that was the difference. This match could have gone either way. We were down 6-3 and 9-6. The Fire-Demon kept our dice hot in this cold, God-forsaken part of the world. They may have diamonds here in Novosibirsk, but they should offer them up to the Gods as an offering for sunlight."
When asked about his choice for the next tourney city,
"We are going to defer to the MacIntosh camp for the next meet. In fact, we've petitioned the board of the IBC to recommend that the player who takes a loss should choose the next venue."
Chip Checker caught up with MacIntosh after the match,
"In hindsight, I should have called a timeout, but I don't think we made any mistakes with the cube or tactical errors. We weren't getting the rolls we needed, late. And it's late now, so no further comments".
BOX News - wire: Justin Rolls Reporting
JU Rolls with late breaking FIRE.... Mac Tanks Empty!
Photo courtesy of Pip Shutter- BNN
MollyMac came out strong and maintained control for a big chunk of the Russian match. Of the four cubes accepted... no player was able to take the win. Both players had two, but it was the JohnnyU fire-breathing gammon in game 16 that flipped the switch.
Molly fought hard in the tourney's third triad, but as JU edged closer to victory it was clear that Mac was running out of juice. At crawford-10 she was overheard saying, in a dejected voice, "I'm ready for defeat" These were Uncharacteristic words from this fierce competitor.
She never did give up. All three of the last games were back and forth battles. Valiant fights.
After the match, we asked JohnnyU about the importance of stamina, "It's a huge part of the game. In the 15-pointers, most tourneys are won or lost late. We played 19-game marathon last night. The fact is.. I was suffering serious jet lag and struggled early. It took everything we had to maintain focus. It worked out in our favor".