The first Memphis BCA 8-ball Open was held on January 28-30 at Billiard's East in Memphis, TN. The BCA sanction event was actually a combination of four separate tournaments: Open, Handicap, Ladies Handicap, and Jack & Jill. All four tournaments used the BCA points system playing a total of ten games. The event had $800 added and was sponsor by Memphis BCA and Professor-Q-Ball.
Howie Hipson of Cordova, TN bested a Open field of 27 competitors by upsetting favorites Lanny Charles (BCA Master) of West Memphis AR and Nic Vita of Memphis , TN. Hipson deafted Lynn Smith of Texarkana, AR 71-51 in the final match of the tournament to capture the $450 first place prize.
In the Handicap event, Krishna Ravinuthala of Olive Branch, MS came from the losers bracket to take home the first place prize of $500. Gene Fisher (75) from Atoka, TN took the winners bracket but was defeated by Ravinuthala 77-62 in the finals. Hipson came in 3rd in this 32 player tournament.
Lauren Massey of Memphis took both ladies handicap and Jack & Jill events. Massey took the $250 prize in the ladies event by defeating Lynda Chorvat of Bartlett, TN 83 to 78 in the finals. Massey and Mark Thronton of West Memphis, AR took the $250 in the Dutch Scotch doubles event by defeating Gene Fisher and Meg Hodorowski of Memphis 89-73 in the final match of the weekend.
Overall there were 106 participants in the inaugural event with a total payout over $3000. The next Memphis BCA event will be held March 11 thru 13 at Highpockets in Memphis, TN. This event will be a qualifier for the BCA National 8-Ball Singles Championship. There will be an Open event, Handicap event, and a ladies handicap event. This will be a BCA sanctioned event and you must be a BCA member to play.
Results:
Open
Howie Hipson $450
Lynn Smith $185
Nic Vita $80
Lanny Charles $60
Handicap
Krishna Ravinuthala $500
Gene Fisher $225
Howie Hipson $100
Pete Lertchala $75
Ladies
Lauren Massey $250
Lynda Chorvat $110
Sherry Falcon $70
Angie Ferrell $45
Jack & Jill
Lauren Massey/Mark Thornton $250
Meg Hodorowski/Gene Fisher $110
Lisa Henderson/Tony Crofton $70
Mandy Bailey/Billy Smith $45
