Midwest 9-Ball Tour Finishes Up at Shooters Billiards – Sparky Ferrell and Julia Gabriel Prevail


Sparky Ferrell

The Midwest 9-Ball Tour stop at Shooters Billiards in Olathe, Kansas has finally finished up. On Sunday, the $3400 main event started off with the final sixteen on the winners side of the brackets and the final eight on the one-loss side. Some of the more notable match-ups on the winners side included Shane Van Boening v. Josh O'Neal; Buddy Hall v. Dustin Gunia; David Matlock v. Chuck Raulston; Sparky Ferrell v. Kent Henderson; and Shane McMinn v. L.V. Abernathy.

But, in the end, the hot-seat match was played between Sparky Ferrell and Shane McMinn, ending with Ferrell making a determined statement with a 9-1 outcome. The semi-finals saw Shane McMinn face off with David Matlock to no avail as he was forced to settle for third place and a 9-6 finish.

The final round ended with David Matlock and Sparky Ferrell running into each other with Matlock forcing a second set in this true double elimination match – Matlock took the first set 9-6 and the momentum flip flopped to Ferrell in the second with the same score ending the event for Matlock.

The $600 added women's division started the day off with the final four on the winners side including matches scheduled between Julia Gabriel v. Kristin Werner and Melissa Little v. Karen Lincoln, while the one-loss side brought back only six opponents. The hot-seat match ended up being played between Little and Gabriel, with Gabriel having a slight advantage and finishing the set off 7-5. Once the field narrowed itself down to the final two, Rhonda Pierce and Julia Gabriel remained. The finals ended with Gabriel on top with 7-5 showing on the score board.

An added bonus, the Saturday night $200 entry mini-tournament that started at almost midnight drew eight people total. With races to eleven, single elimination and winner breaks, this entertaining tourney ended with Chad Vilmont and Joey Gray splitting for first/second place monies.

The tour would like to thank Shooters for being gracious hosts, along with all spectators and participants. The next tour stop is the Mike Betts Memorial 9-Ball Tournament at Magoo's in Tulsa, Oklahoma, March 1-2, 2008 - this will be a $3000 bar table event. For additional information on the tour, visit their website at www.9balltour.com

Results (main event-paid down 24 spots, but provided less):
1st Sparky Ferrell $2200
2nd David Matlock $1600
3rd Shane McMinn $1000
4th Buddy Hall $700
5th/6th Chuck Raulston/Shane Van Boening $400
7th/8th Chad Vilmont/Daniel Neldner $300

Results (women event-paid down 6 spots, but provided less):
1st Julia Gabriel $500
2nd Rhonda Pierce $350
3rd Melissa Little $200
4th Kristin Werner $100

Results (mini tourney):
1st/2nd Chad Vilmont/Joey Gray $1600 split