As BJ Ussery, Jr. was battling for the hot seat versus Larry Pittman at this past weekend’s (Feb. 3-4) TOP Tour Winter Classic, the eventual winner of the event, Venezuela’s Gregorio Sanchez, was competing in his first of five loss-side matches that would earn him a spot in the finals. The loss-side streak began when Sanchez was defeated in his third, winners’ side round by Pittman and ended when he defeated Pittman in the semifinals for a double (elimination) shot at Ussery in the hot seat. Sanchez double-dipped Ussery to claim title to the $1,000-added, 2nd Annual PremierBilliards.com’s TOP (The Open Player) Tour Winter Classic which drew 36 entrants to Dot’s Cue Club in Rocky Mount, NC.
After organizing a few scattered Open events in 2023 to supplement regularly scheduled stops on his PremierBilliards.com’s Q City 9-Ball Tour (handicapped), tour director Herman Parker came into 2024 with a number of scheduled events on his PremierBilliards.com’s TOP Tour calendar. That schedule launched with this past weekend’s Winter Classic and will continue on the weekend of Feb. 17-18, when the TOP Tour holds the $1,500-added, 12th Annual NC State 9-Ball Open at Breaktime Billiards in Winston-Salem, NC.
Sanchez downed his first three opponents (Tracy Hardie, Robbie Shelley, Justin Knuckles) by an aggregate score of 21-11, giving up four to Hardie and Knuckles and three to Shelley. Not burning up the felt, so to speak, but chalking up generally average scores in straight-up races to 7. And then, in a winners’ side quarterfinal, he ran into Larry Pittman, who’d started his day off by sending Mike Davis, Jr. to the loss side 7-5 and then defeated Jose Irizarry 7-2. Sanchez came within a game of making it a double-hill match vs. Pittman, but Pittman pulled out ahead near the end, sending Sanchez to the loss side 7-5 and drawing Jason Rogers in one of the winners’ side semifinals.
BJ Ussery, in the meantime, got by Joe Hyatt, Jr. 7-5, shutout Russell Stalls and in a winners’ side quarterfinal, sent Mac Harrell to the loss side 7-3. He drew Joey Tate in the other winners’ side semifinal.
Ussery got into the hot seat match with a 7-3 win over Tate, as Pittman worked on joining him by defeating Rogers 7-4. Ussery claimed the hot seat and waited on the return of Sanchez.
Sanchez was on his way. He’d followed his loss to Pittman with a victory over Steve Page (2), eliminated Mike Davis, Jr. (3) and drew Joey Tate. Rogers came over to the loss side and picked up Kelly Farrar, who’d lost his winners’ side quarterfinal match, double hill, to Tate and defeated Delton Howard (1) and Josh Heeter (2).
Sanchez advanced to the quarterfinals 6-2 over Tate. Farrar joined him after the elimination of Rogers 6-4. Sanchez took the quarterfinal match 6-4 over Farrar and had the pleasure, so to speak, of meeting the man who’d sent him to the loss side, Pittman, in the semifinals.
Sanchez wreaked his vengeance on Pittman 6-3 and turned to face Ussery in the hot seat, waiting for him. The first set of the true double-elimination final proved to be the better of the two, with Ussery and Sanchez coming within a game of double-hill, only to have Sanchez get out in front to win the set 7-5. The race was reduced to 6 for the second set and Sanchez allowed Ussery only two racks before claiming the Winter Classic title 6-2.
Tour director Herman Parker thanked Dot’s Cue Club owners, Robert West and Jesse Gilbert for their hospitality, along with title sponsor PremierBilliards.com, BarPoolTables.net (Randy Tate), TKO Custom Cues and Realty One Group results (Kirk Overcash), Dirty South Grind Apparel (Angela Harlan-Parker), Federal Savings Bank (Alex Narod), CHC Underground (Chris Clary) and AZBilliards.
As noted above, the Premierbilliards.com’s TOP Tour will pay a visit to Breaktime Billiards in Winston-Salem, NC in a couple of weeks (Feb. 17-18) for the 12th Annual NC State 9-Ball Open. In the meantime, the PremierBilliards.com’s Q City 9-Ball Tour will pay a visit to (more or less) its own backyard this weekend, as the handicapped tour is hosted by Big Back’s Burgers and Brews, in Princeton, WV this weekend, Saturday, Feb. 10.
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