The Fast Eddie's 9 ball Tour held its eighth event of the year on August 21st and 22nd. As usual, Summer Bowen, General Manager of the Embassy Oaks-Fast Eddie's location, and her staff were ready and waiting. They always perform excellently as the host site.
Some very familiar faces were missing at this event, but it is that time of year and there are a lot of tournaments going on around the country. Jeremy Jones, Edgar Acaba, and David G. were in North Carolina, while Cliff Joyner, Charlie Bryant and Gabe Owen were in Baton Rouge, and all did quite well.
Registration yielded 63 men in the Open division and the competition looked and proved to be quite tough. Top picks were, Chen (Lee) Jui-Lung, Marco Marquez, James Davis Sr., Steve (Lizard) Smith, Robert Newkirk, Gilberto Martinez, James Davis Jr., Rick Stanley, Shane Harvey, John Weeks, and Kenney Greer.
There were also many new and welcome faces as the Tour membership continues to grow and grow.
There were many close and exciting first round matches, which got the crowd stirring quite early. Chicago's Marco Marquez and Germany's Mark Tschundi put on quite an exhibition to get things started with a nail biting hill-hill match. Marco fought back from a 5-0 deficit to eventually win the opener, but found respect for Mark as he played very well.
There were many tight and exciting matches, as players seemed to be focusing very hard on this event. As we have learned though, all Fast Eddie's 9 Ball Tour events are very competitive.
Finishing 13-16 was Gilberto Martinez of Laredo, Jeremy Owens, Gilbert Lopez, and Tony Cuellar, all three from San Antonio.
Jose Zaragosa, Robert Newkirk, Cory Anderson, of the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and Rick Stanley of the Austin landed in the 9-12 position and had fine showings in doing so.
The 7th-8th slots were filled by Austin's Kenny Greer. who is always a crowd favorite, and the talented young man from Germany, Mark Tschudi.
Marco Marquez who lives in Chicago and James Davis Sr. from Bastrop had to share the 5th-6th spots. Both these men are fine and seasoned pool players and on any given day can hang in there with the very best. They will be heard from again.
Neil Khan works full time and isn't afforded a great deal of time to dedicate to his game. As of late though, he has been practicing more than usual and it really showed as he turned a very respectable 4th place finish. Neil tallied some very impressive matches.
Third place went to Steve (The Lizard) Smith. Steve is always fun to watch as his style of smooth play makes the game look so easy. Like Timex, he just keeps on ticking.
Chase Rudder is from Ft. Worth and it fun watching this young man progress with each and every event. Chase also turned in some very impressive wins and continues to open eyes all over the state and region. Chase earned the right to face the winner of the winner's bracket, Chen (Lee) Jui-Lung.
Chen proved to be too much this day as Chen won the finals match by a score of 9-5. Chen, the quiet man who resides in Dallas, continues to score well in each event he enters. We congratulate him on his first Fast Eddie's 9-ball Tour victory.
A special “Thank You” goes out to The Custom Cue Connection, Cue Sales & Service, Schuler Cues, Mystick Cues, Annie O Cues, Hustlin Clothing, Teodora's Tacos, Alamo Courier, Alamo Pest Control, and Quality Used Cars for gracious support.
Just as a reminder, you must play in four of the first eleven events to qualify to enter the December Season Finale. See you in Beaumont September 18-19.
Complete Payouts:
1st Chen (Lee) Jui-Lung $2860
2nd Chase Rudder $2070
3rd Steve Smith $1360
4th Neil Khan $860
5th/6th Marco Marquez, James Davis Sr. $510
7th/8th Kenny Greer, Mark Tschudi $320
9th/12th Jose Zaragoza, Rick Stanley, Corey Anderson, Robert Newkirk $120
13th/16th Gilberto Martinez, Gilbert Lopez, Tony Cuellar, Jeremy Owens $80
