T.J. Davis and Barry Emerson
Hawley’s Billiards in Dallas, Texas hosted its inaugural $1,000 added Lone Star Billiards Tour 9-ball event this past weekend, October 13-14, 2012, pulling in 57 players that filled (2) 32 player brackets for Open & Amateur divisions, including 8 women on Sunday. Among the notable participants on the Open side were T.J. Davis, Al Mason, Barry Emerson, Tuan Nguyen, Crispian Ng, Robert Clark, and Richie Somner. In the Amateur division, Chris “Woody” Smith, Conner Chinan, Joseph Pruiett, Eric Renteria, and George Merchan were just a few amateurs who came out to test their skills on the Lone Star Tour.
Play ended at a reasonable hour on Saturday night, whittling each division down to the final 12. On Sunday, play resumed at 1pm with winners’ bracket rounds in both divisions. The Open 9-ball division final 8 winners’ side saw Houston’s Tuan Nguyen fall to Robert Clark 9-1, and Gene Albrecht succumb to Dallas’ T.J. Davis, 9-2. Walt Anderson defeated Michael Guo 9-7, while Al Mason steamrolled Richie Somner, 9-1. After a second round loss to Somner, Barry Emerson won 5 consecutive matches with 7-0 wins over Nguyen and Anderson respectively. Chris “Woody” Smith made his way through the one-loss side, eliminating Walter Hawley and Somner, until he met up with Crispian Ng who ended his run, 7-4. Back on the winners’ side it was Davis over Clark, 9-6, and Mason passed Anderson, 9-2. It was a classic Davis v. Mason hot-seat match for the Dallas pool fans. Mason pulled ahead 4-1, but Davis capitulated in the sixth rack when he kicked in a 4-ball then took off to secure a 9-6 host-seat win. Back on the one-loss side, Clark overcame Ng 7-3 to meet a streaking Emerson. Emerson took out Clark 7-6, then Mason, 7-3, for a total of 7 consecutive matches to reach Davis in the final. With bar cue in hand, Davis defeated Emerson, 9-6, going undefeated in the star-studded Lone Star Open division.
In the Amateur division, the final 8 on the winners’ side saw Joseph Pruiett defeat Chris “Woody” Smith, 7-6, and Conner Chinan fall to Mark Whit, 7-0. Eric Renteria sent Richie Somner west by a score of 7-4, and Crispian Ng defeated Vince Tovar, 7-5. Whit defeated Pruiett, 7-3, and Renteria ousted Ng 7-5. Whit barely won the hot-seat over Renteria, 7-6. On the one-loss side, Smith defeated Chinan 5-4 and Tovar fell to Doug Pitts, 5-4. Smith eliminated Ng, 5-0, and Pitts defeated Pruiett, 5-3. Pitts devoured Smith 5-1, then Renteria, 5-0. Pitts won an astounding 8 consecutive matches after a first round loss to Tovar, to meet Whit in the finals. The first set went to Pitts, 7-6, which brought his record to an incredible 9 consecutive match wins. In the final race to 5, both players grinded it out till the very end. At 2-2, Pitts won two more games which placed him on the hill first. Whit responded with 3 straight games, winning the final set and his first Lone Star Tour title, undefeated.
In the Ladies 9-ball division, Orietta Strickland secured wins over Trisha Abadilla 7-0, Monica Anderson 7-4, and finally Courtney Molina for the hot-seat, 7-0. After losing her second match to Molina, Cindy Cole came back to face Amber Stone, who was making a play of her own. Cole took a 4-1 lead but failed to close, losing the match, 5-4. Molina bested Stone, but fell to Strickland in the final, 7-3. Congratulations to Orietta Strickland on her first Lone Star Tour win!
Many thanks to Walter Hawley for hosting a great event and to the Lone Star Tour sponsors for their continued support; Poison by Predator Cues www.poisonbilliards.com, Delta-13 Rack www.delta-13.com, www.PoolWebsites.com, APA of North Harris County, and Gulf Coast Billiards. Congratulations to Janie Blair who won the Poison cue raffle. Tournament photos will be posted at www.facebook.com/lonestartour. Visit our facebook page and “Like” us.
The next event will be the $2,500 Added Lone Star Tour Finale III on November 23-25, 2012. The $500 added One Pocket division sponsored by the APA of North Harris County will start Friday, November 23rd with a 7pm auction. Open & Amateur 9-ball auctions will start Saturday, November 24th at 12pm with Ladies Bar Box 9-ball and Junior 9-ball divisions beginning on Sunday, November 25th. Download the 2012 Lone Star Finale Flyer at www.LoneStarBilliardsTour.com.
Open
1st T.J. Davis $470/$300
2nd Barry Emerson $300/$160
3rd Al Mason $220/$100
4th Robert Clark $110
5th-6th Walt Anderson, Crispian Ng $65
7th-8th Chris Smith, Tuan Nguyen $35
Amateur
1st Mark Whit $400/$300
2nd Doug Pitts $290/$140
3rd Eric Renteria $200/$100
4th Chris Smith $100
5th-6th Crispian Ng, Joseph Pruiett $50
7th-8th Coner Chinan, Vince Tovar $25
Ladies
1st Orietta Strickland $100/$70
2nd Courtney Molina $75/$20
3rd Amber Stone $25
