Tale Of The Tape: Sonya Thomas Vs. Hall Hunt

Hall Hunt and Sonya Thomas will square off this Labor Day in Jacksonville for a seat at the Krystal Square Off V World Hamburger Eating Championship.

While the Chattanooga Qualifier proved to be a cake walk for “Humble” Bob Shoudt, this Labor Day’s Krystal Square Off Qualifier in Jacksonville is shaping up to be a grudge match of epic proportions between two of competitive eating’s biggest stars: Sonya Thomas and Hall “Hoover” Hunt.

So who has the edge? Let’s break it down.

“The Black Widow” is one of the sport’s all-time greats, and on paper, she has the edge over Hoover in both experience and numbers. She’s one of a few eaters who has competed all four years of the Krystal Square Off and she has never lost a qualifier. Her personal best at Krystals is 62, which she did back in 2006. Her lowest tallies were 42 and 46, which she did at the 2004 Chattanooga Qualifier and 2004 finals, respectively. Since then she’s been over the 50 mark at every contest, averaging just above 53 Krystals lifetime. Most recently, she qualified for last year’s World Championship by downing 51 Krystals and went on to eat 58 at the finals.

As for Hall, he missed the first year of the Krystal Square Off, but he more than made up for that absence by competing in three qualifiers in 2005 alone, each time improving upon his performance, going from 24 to 26 to 30. Looking at the EatFeats database, Hall has competed in a total of six Krystal Square Off qualifiers in addition to his three final appearances over the past three years, so he actually has an edge over Thomas on the number of times he’s handled Krystals. That experience has helped him make considerable strides over the years. Last year he took down the Jacksonville Qualifier by wolfing down 49 Krystals and he went on to gobble up 51 at the finals to finish in 7th place.

In addition to steadily improving at every contest, another plus for Hall this Labor Day will be crowd support. He’s a Jacksonville local and the steady roar of “Hoover…Hoover…Hoover” from the audience may give him the extra edge needed to propel him to victory.

Finally, Hall lives in Krystal country with Jacksonville one of the fast food icon’s biggest markets, so he has plenty of opportunities to train. Thomas, on the other hand, is a few hundred miles away from the nearest Krystal, and as stated the other day, she hasn’t been practicing. So the first Krystal to her mouth since last year’s final will likely be the one she eats when the 8-minute clock starts on Monday.

So who do you think has the edge? And what numbers do you think these two eaters will put up?

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